– as promised here’s a new sketch of one of Matt Triumphs. This is the Bonnie which I’ve had for 10 years bought from a West Chicago biker gang as a ‘project’. Well she looks quite picturesque now.
December 4, 2020
Toecutter
– KZ1000 ridin’ charismatic gang leader in a near dystopian Australian outback. also Toyal Shakespearean actor, poet and artist. “Anything I say? What a wonderful philosophy you have. Take him away.”
December 1, 2020
Figurehead
– 70’s hip ‘n’ cool aboard the lazy lines of a Yamaha twin. Pure City of Angels vibe.
November 30, 2020
Sketch
– found pencil study of a Norton 750 engine. I’ve been warming up my HB’s & ink pens for a more dedicated sketching programme that I will be undertaking over the winter.
November 21, 2020
Family Tree
DNA
– For over six decades there has been a Tiger model in the Triumph line-up. Each generation epitomized the riding needs of its time.
October 18, 2020
Only 50p
– I was spoaching through some boxes in our basement when I happened upon my collection of early 2000ad comic. In orbit every Monday. A couple of back to back advertising pages caught my eye. One for a kids sport comic called Tiger, mostly about football, but it had a snippet about Barry Sheene who was at the time at the top of his popularity. The other page was for the statistical card game Aces (like the other Top Trumps game) also promoting the prowess of the GP rider.
October 14, 2020
Do you feel lucky punk?
– I just caught the tail end of this 1973 Clint Eastwood film and saw that the “Death Squad” cops were riding ‘67 Triumph T100R Daytona 500cc bikes. Earlier in the movie they rode Moto Guzzi’s Eldorado’s, also in police livery, however the stunt riders preferred the nimble characteristics of the smaller Triumph for haring across the decks of the decrepit aircraft carriers for a final showdown.
October 7, 2020
Red Adair
– whilst driving around the West Suburbs earlier this week I heard a throaty growl behind me. Coming up alongside was this tomato-red Stingray. The ‘74 model probably houses a 454 V5 Big Block engine. Looking a little rough around the edges, the owner, sporting a sturdy mustache, looked like he drove straight out of the mid-seventies.
September 21, 2020
Repair 101
– Moon River fender fix. The fine dust kicks up under spirited acceleration as the Apollo 17 astronauts venture up the slope of Taurus-Littrow valley in search of geological samples. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt were the last people to venture past low earth orbit nearly 48 years ago. A damaged fender was repaired by taping moon maps together and clamping them across the mesh tires.
September 20, 2020
How much is that doggy in the window?
– on our return drive from a weekend away we stopped at the hipster town of Three Oaks MI. In one of the dusty window displays at an old hardware store stands a couple of vintage bikes. A 750cc Triumph Bonneville and a Norton Commando. I’ll have a 1/2lb bag of 6d nails please!
September 12, 2020
Baz
swim out and meet the bloody thing!” Barry Sheene (1950-2003) He would have been 70 yesterday.
September 1, 2020
Lord of the Rings
– on this day in 1979 a NASA probe became the first to encounter Saturn and its impressive rings. A gold anodized aluminum plaque designed by Carl Sagan, was attached to the robots body in case in some distant future should it be intercepted by some alien intelligence its graphics may explain its origins. We’ll be long gone by then… but at least in some far flung corner a little hint of our existence will be drifting about.
August 4, 2020
Raspberry Beret
Early seventies chopper with hard tailed chassis supporting a banana seat and bent rebar sissy.
August 2, 2020
The Boss
A young Bruce Springsteen captures the hearts of a disillusioned working class America with his music in the seventies. Lyrics that resonated and a beat that was alive. He rode motorcycles to escape the familiar and explore a country seemingly on the brink.
July 20, 2020
Hippie Ride
– Tonka Motorcycles in British Columbia used this period image for their catalogue of custom parts.
