Sixty Eight – a pair of freshly minted Bonneville’s with their owners under the delicately suspended span of the Mount Hope Bridge between Bristol & Portsmouth on Rhode Island across Narragansett Bay. Engineering marvel is a backdrop to a motorcycle marvel. The bridge opened in 1929 a decade or so before Ed Turners development of the parallel twin engined machines that would culminate in the classic 60’s Bonnie’s.
Serpents Kick – brass pedal and hoof: some brutally ornate bobbers have bespoke components such as this well wrought kick-start lever. Something quite sinuously pleasing about it.
Poster – strong graphical imagery for the Small Heath armory and motorcycle makers. From gun to enjun they were one of the big British exports during the days of the Empire. The pre unit twin cylinder motor is the centerpiece of this ‘colliery banner’.
BSA Bobber print – crisp ink impression of a lowrider Beeza by artist Blake Wiley. Thumbprint signature is a neat touch.
Magic Arrows – Stark graphic with multicolored speedy arrows and definitive action of the (then) new Triumph triple superbike.
Burnin’ Rubber – classic Ed “Ratfink” Roth pen & ink illustration of a screaming Triumph drag shooting off for a sub ten second run at the strip. Great dimensional logo in speedy perspective and nice smoke detail around the fat rear tire.
Stamp – we need to mail ourselves out of this potential mess. An unknown future lays ahead which could set the world into un chartered territory.
Tanks a Lot – one of the reasons for scooting about the boonies beyond Chicagoland yesterday was to stop in to see Ed Zender at Morries Place in Ringwood. I enjoy just looking around the place; always interesting British esoterica on hand to ogle. Some of the classic details are just marvellous to peruse: the sunny orange and chrome Victor tank; worn out pinstriping over a sky blue AJS tank; mid century orange scheme on the chrome framed Rickman; and the jewel-like ruby starburst badge on a Lightning. Better than an art gallery for me….
Basket Case – I’m going to sharpen my secateurs and coppice some willow to weave into a basket of wicker. Toting groceries, tools, parcels or small children. So hip it has a waist.
Philatelist – beautiful classic British bikes adorn these stamps used to mail letters, postcards, and parcels across the country & world. Issued on July 19, 2005. QE2 looks one way while the motos head the other.
Krazy MotoSickles – old chewing gum cards of custom bikes and a bunch of kooky riders. Very sixties/seventies. Ed Roth aka Big Daddy, would be proud!
” Wot is …is…what aint…aint…! ”
Balloon Bonneville – around the world on Triumph wheels. Etsy Artist Douglas Thompson creates fun prints of travelers atop that classic British twin on the whim of the winds.
Woof: “Whatcha doin’ up there?”
Black ‘n’ White & Red all over – more goodies spied at the weekend. A one lunged shark motif Suzuki grimacing down the road. The half century patina on an original complete Triumph Cub. The beautiful lines of a BSA A10 with stacked rifle emblem on the three cornered timing cover. And the L-twin Ducati which in this case included a bevel drive sight glass, polished tank completed the cafe style.
All good stuff.
Traffic Zapper – scooter traveler to carry out much needed shopping in a gridlocked urban environment. A very elegant lady in her a-line dress will be like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.
Dry Transfer Graphics – sheets of lettering, symbols and line work were used for crisp artwork before desktop publishing on computers. I remember rubbing down titles and labels letter by letter, or tracing fonts from the extensive catalogue. Here’s their motorcycle line work used for scale elevation or plan drawings. It’s all CAD Adobe Photoshop or a plethora of other graphics programs we use today. Now don’t get me started about Letratone or Letraline…
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