LEGO – always a favorite for learning about building and creating. Here is a motorcycle themed set I’d never seen before. A motorbike dealership set from 1984. Complete with showroom, helmet display and office, as well as a little flower bed out front.
Driving with Dog – Exploring remote muddy woodland trails, on the hunt for a small conifer to decorate, sometimes your companion needs to be an attentive hack passenger. “Bark if you spot any suitable candidates George!”
Friday Feline – another fine outfit set-up for fun with a capital F and that rhymes with S and that stands for sidecar. We’ve surely got fun right here in Chi-town City…
Thursday Hack – a trifecta of combinations. Top is the utilitarian Dnepr; a Soviet vehicle built like a tractor with two-wheel drive. Center a jovial Pannonia from 60’s Hungary, the Duna sidecar is aeronautical in style. And last, but not least, at the bottom is a mercurial Vespa scooter and bomb nosed sidecar – a loop around the Colosseum and whizz back to the Trevi Fountain…
Don’t mention the War – winding up a suitcase gramophone this period dressed BMW R75 owner carefully took out old crimson labeled 78’s from their protective manilla sleeves and played the likes of Marlene Dietrich across the parking lot. The combination had a small trailer that would have been used to tow matériel into hard-to-reach front line positions.
The car holds a non-functioning MG42 machine gun whose air cooled muzzle looks fearsome. The driver had a very Teutonic air about himself which completed the outfit.
Red Square – center of the socialist world. May 1st celebrates the workers of the world and their stand for the rights of the laboring class. Started after the Haymarket Affair in Chicago which occurred after striking action for an 8 hour day turned into a riot. The Ural combinations ride in a formal line through Moscow in 1951. Soviet era banners fly from the GUM department store behind.
Sidecar Camel – this little fella seems quite content to be driven around in this homespun combination. Turquoise Ural looks great under the Steppes sunlight.
This is a still from the 2008 Kazakhstan film Talpan (Tulip).
“a sweet and funny tale of a young Kazakh man, Asa, who has been recently discharged from the Russian Navy and lives in the remote steppes with his sister and her family. While he dreams of becoming a herdsman, he is also actively looking for a wife and has his eyes set on Tulpan, the daughter of a neighbor, who is also the only eligible young woman in the area.”
Dad’s Army – classic BBC comedy from the seventies. Currently being repeated on Netflix; well written, and superbly acted. Captain Mainwaring and his second in command Sergeant Wilson in charge of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard which includes Lance Corporal Jones, Privates Frazer, Walker, Godfrey and Pike…
Jade Chair – seafoam pearl combination mounted to a suitable Trident ready for the driver and passenger. Operating an outfit is on my to-do list…
Winter is Here. As January draws to a close we’ve had a couple of unseasonably warmer days here in Chicago. Don’t let that fool you! It’s forecast to snow later this week and plunging temperatures are anticipated again. Here’s a classic image of an AA officer coming to the help of a broken-down Hillman Minx.
Combination Lock – ready to drive around the Ring of Kerry with your partner by your side is this emerald patterned sidecar outfit a la Trident. Quite daring in its appearance but back in those days all this psychedelic were the rage.
“Oh, we ain’t got a barrel of money,
Maybe we’re ragged and funny
But we’ll travel along
Singing a song
Side by side.”
On The Road – the missus and me are off for a few days trip across this great country. Through Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania looking for sights fun, curious and hidden. Wish we’re were in a classic sidecar outfit like this happy couple! #roadtrip
Flying Car – a beautiful red Moto Guzzi Falcone combination outfit from last weekend. It gleamed in the sunlight like a cherry. #Motoblot #MotoGuzzi
“Cracking toast Gromit!” As part of the frenzied inventor with his dedicated sidekick hound, and as one of the youthful hearted pensioners in a long running sitcom, Peter Sallis became a household name as a cheese and cracker gastronome and Holmfirth scallywag respectively. Sadly he passed away today at the grand age of 96. His voice and demeanor were calm and reassuring and he seemed to fit both characters perfectly.
“Did I lock the door?”
Man’s Best Friend – a nifty rig for a modern Norton with leaning capabilities this owner is enjoying the company of his hound on road-bound outings. These rideable combinations from Schwenker allow the true motorcycle experience that normal rigidly mounted rigs can’t achieve. Doggles let pooch alllow the “wind to blow through his feathers”.
