George Harrison would have been 77 today. His music was more thoughtful especially his opus-like triple album All Things Must Pass. He also supported the arts as a movie producer and had an interest in racing, both Formula One and Motorcycle Grand Prix. Here he is with Barry Sheen #7 at some racetrack. Barry is wearing a non-flammable racing outfit rather than his usual leathers so must be getting in a four wheeled racer.
Leroy Mize, 73, of Oskaloosa, crafted a 1965 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle out of oak and walnut. Spending over 1,000 hours cutting and piecing together the wooden Bonneville, it is an exact replica of his actual racing motorcycle.
Filming the Impossible | back in the day trying to capture the thrills of the road one had to mount considerable weighty cameras to yer bounce. Here’s Graham Hill and Steve McQueen loaded up with the old analogue contraptions that ran old school film stock. Now we have miniature lightweight high definition cameras to accomplish this. So I bought myself a new toy…
Speed Thrills | More of former cyclist Victoria Pendleton as she promotes vintage two wheeled racing. This old Triumph is fettled for high velocity with those narrow vertical bars.
Le Mans | Went to the flicks to see Ford vs Ferrari. Staring Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles. It tells the story behind the creation of the GT40 and its development and subsequent domination of the 24 hour race in the latter half of the sixties. Two Thumbs Up.
Percy Tait (1929-2019) – when it comes to the history of Triumph motorcycles one man is noted in the very foundation of that company. Beginning his career with Triumph as a 21-year-old factory worker he quickly rising in the ranks and started racing for the works team on the latest machines. It is reckoned he amassed over 1,000,000 miles test riding cutting edge motorcycles under the engineering eye of Doug Hele. As well as Grand Prix races he took part successfully in Isle of Man TT competitions. 750cc triple Slippery Sam is one bike that is forever connected with Percy. In his later career he went on to develop the 500cc Suzuki GP bikes for Barry sheen. In retirement he became a champion sheepsheet breeder. A giant of the history of British motorcycling, Percy Tait sadly passed away last weekend. at the age of 90.
Chequered Group | Sunny smiles under a Californian sky. More of the Hockie clan after an H&H race. The sled looks like it’s had fun in the dry sand and dirt.
Tired Out Triumph! Where there’s a will…. here is Hare ‘n’ Hounds racer supremo Charlie Hockie in the SoCal desert after an equipment mishap. Charlie was a contemporary of Brothers Bud & Dave Ekins.
Technical Tracker by Triumph | accurate linework in this engineering illustration of a fast looking oval dirt machine.
Black Backdrop | Heavily Modded late sixties Triumph Bonneville fettled for the drag strip. Nice Union Flag motif on the tank knee scoops.
Racer, metal fabricator, mechanic, TV personality Jessi Combs was killed while trying to push the envelope for a women’s speed record. She died tearing across a dry lake bed in Oregon in her rocket powered car at over 400mph. A strong talented person, she was an encouraging inspiration to girls and women nationwide. RIP Jessi Combs (1980-2019)
The City on the Lake | a selection of the fantastic images captured by my pillion Ali as we sped around the triathlon course. The skyline is a marvelous backdrop to such an event.
Dolly Grip | the moto crew organizer Patrick kindly sent me this photograph yesterday that he captured as I was heading up the off ramp onto Lake Shore Drive with Ali the photographer aboard. Tomorrow I’ll upload a couple of the images Ali captured from the pillion stance.
Triathlon Triumph | What better steed to be on to offer vehicular support for the 36th Chicago Triathlon than a triple cylindered Tiger. Ten volunteer riders showed up under Lake Shore Drive at a coffee and donut fed 5am to give facility for race officials and photographers during the cycling portion of the iconic swim-bike-run endeavor. I had Ali, a Turkish photographer, as my pillion taking him around the course to memorialize the huge effort put in by the entrants. The weather was perfect (though the swim was cancelled due to unsafe lake conditions) and we all had a great time.
Desert Sled | awesome artwork of Steve with obligatory fag in mouth getting ready for some dusty hare across the arid SoCal landscape. By TM Fritz
