Dave Grohl: screaming frontman to Foo Fighters and once drummer to grunge band Nirvana as well as latter day percussionist to Them Crooked Vultures. He enjoys two-wheels too; though I must make a departure from Brit Iron for a post, he love the potato-potato drumming beat of a Harley.
Seeing as we’re on a music rock ‘n’ roll let’s delve into the two-wheeled antics of a pair of the fathers of rock: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Well Keith has always been a skinny malinty so the diminutive Triumph Cub seems like the best choice for him.
The right-wing brother of the great Christopher Hitchens said of Keith: “a capering streak of living gristle who ought to be exhibited as a warning to the young of what drugs can do to you even if you’re lucky enough not to choke on your own vomit”. His long endured reputation stretches ahead of him. But he sure can write a guitar riff or two!
Whilst he’s toting around some manorial grounds such as Stargroves. I can’t see him riding the public roads, Sir Mick take the controls of a Honda. Well ‘you meet the nicest people’. Hope he gets some satisfaction.
Not the Ace of Bass but the punks punk. Malcolm MacLarens enfant terrible Sid Vicious seen here with his leather jacket and lip turned scowl hoofing along a London street seemingly atop a Honda.
Well here’s how it’s done! A strapped down Moto on a flatbed trailer… Well how else can a brazen youth barely out of his teenage angst bare his skinny pale chest and sip his beer.
As the story unfolded his spirally punk lifestyle caught up with him in a New York gaff. Nancy Spungen found an untimely demise with a single stab wound and Sid ended up on Riker’s Island. Out on bail in early ’77 he was found dead of a heroin overdose a few days later.
His final written words were apparently: “Bury me in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots. Goodbye.”
I wonder… “My Way” indeed.
To celebrate The Man in Blacks birthday here’s a very little known film that Johnny Cash wrote the soundtrack for (along with Carl Perkins and Bob Dylan). It starred Robert Redford as a happy-go-lucky racer, Big Halsy Knox, who chases the adventures offered of both track and ‘field’; he takes on a mechanic sidekick, Little Fauss, who looks up to him, and true a early 70’s buddy movie ensues.
There are allegiances made and broken; a love interest, in the form of a drop-out muse played by Lauren Hutton, as the fabulously named Rita Nebraska; and of course super racing cinematography both on-board and track-side.
But Cash’s droll voice powers through with his balladeers songs.
Rollin’ Free
Ballad of Little Fauss and Big Halsy
Happy Birthday Johnny!
Long before one Don Maclean wrote That song the boys were having a great time riding a wave of youths popularity. After a long tour in May 1958 they took a side trip from Lubbock to Dallas to pick up some mo’orsickles. The Harley D dealerships told these young whippersnappers not to touch their machines; across town at Ray Millers Triumph showroom they received good enough treatment to pick up a few of the latest models of Brit Iron available at that time.
Buddy took an Aerial Cyclone; J.I. a Triumph Trophy; and Joe B a Triumph Thunderbird. Story goes they then rode ’em back across town to the Harley dealer to show off their new rides, then hauled along the highway to Lubbock some 350 miles away. I bet they were singin’ all the way!
Here’s a period advert for the Ariel…
The Aerial eventually made it to the Waylon Jennings estate; as you know he gave his seat on that fateful flight to Buddy. It’s a nice looking bike fit for one if the true founders of rock ‘n’ roll.
The great Ziggy Stardust of Martian Spiders fame is 66 today! That’s right David Jones, aka David Bowie has a birthday celebration today so we’ll see how the sad clown fits into the moto-world… For starters he IS the sound of the 70’s defining a look and music that moulded the next generation, or two, or three, in a refreshing style of glam, punk, funk, soul and rock all together and all alone. His alter ego persona over the decade would allow him to reinvent his ideas, always staying a step or two ahead of everyone else.
Here’s a super image from his early career, sitting around with Lou Reed & Mick Jagger, while Lulu looks on (she is of course a Lawrie so there’s a family connection somewhere!)
Of course he has so much to look back on with his 66 years; here he is as the titular Thomas Jerome Newton in The Man Who Fell to Earth.
Saw this Bonnie on Craigslist earlier… under those long legs and sissy bar is a nice little runner. Banana yellow for a banana bike. Two and a half grand and she’s yours. This was the first year of the oil-in-frame set-up and was supposedly a tall seat. You’ll need an upended crate to get on this perch!
As Harry Belafonte said:
‘Work all night on a drink a’ rum
Daylight come and me wan’ go home
Stack banana till the mornin’ come
Daylight come and me wan’ go home”
…and if you’re going to go fast, you’ve got to be able to stop too! I’m slowly acquiring parts for the front end to set up a disc brake system. The conical drum brake standard to the ’72 T120R is okay for delicate slowing maneuvers but when you need to slam on the anchors then they’re more comical in reality, you always have to think ahead with traffic and have a potential run-off space – which you should do anyways when riding!
Basically as the front end of the late model 650 and it’s beefier 750 younger brother (the T140V or TR7) were much the same; all I have to do is swap out the fork lowers, add a caliper, hoses and brake lever with master cylinder, and change the wheel to a disc braked one. Well, the eBay searches have been going well, indeed some items are coming with extra stuff that I can flog off to pay for itself. Get some new seals, stainless hoses and stainless pistons then Bob’s yer uncle, the Bonnie will then ‘HALT’ on my two-fingered command!
With your feet on the air
And your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head’ll collapse
If there’s nothing in it
And then you’ll ask yourself
The car CD player has been non-stop Stranglers all weekend whilst driving around errands, social events and motorcycle maintenance. Jean-Jacques JJ Burnel, is of course the bassist and major writer for this punk band extraordinaire. He is also an ardent Triumph rider.
Where would ‘Peaches’ be without that heavy bass riff?
“I had been in a motorcycle accident and I’d been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race. Having children changed my life and segregated me from just about everybody and everything that was going on. Outside of my family, nothing held any real interest for me and I was seeing everything through different glasses. Even the horrifying news items of the day, the gunning down of the Kennedys, King, Malcolm X…I didn‘t see them as leaders being shot down, but rather as fathers whose families had been left wounded.”–Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s career was going stratospheric when, on July 26th, 1966,he took his Triumph out for a jaunt and managed to wrap it, and himself around a stationary object. Some believe it was a front to just jump off the planet chaos. Here’s an interesting painted interpretation of his mishap. It was his birthday on the 24th.
Rockabilly Rider: The Homewreckers front man Danny Dean takes his early rock music seriously, especially when sporting a greased pompadour to his rocker bike like this Triumph. You could take this puppy down for a rumble along Beale Street to Sun Studios for a session with your Gretsch, Double Base and Drum backed band of anti-establishment misfits.
Ozzy’s son Jack proudly stands by his sharp looking Thruxton. Black on Black colour scheme in keeping with family values notably Pappa Osbourne’s band “Black Sabbath”.
Not being Paranoid or anything; but Brit Iron seems more appropriate for an old rocker than a chopper.
Little Drummer Boy: Micky Dolenz of The Monkees enjoying a caper aboard a Triumph. That recognizable squinty face with floppy quiff streaming behind the BritIron speed.
The wee Monkee passed away today, aged 66, though eternally youthful. Their music and zany escapades are for sure a big part of growing up and maintaining a bright view of life. Here he’s on his 60’s Honda CB450 ‘Black Bomber’.
geordiebiker.com 