Here’s a beautiful lightly custom Triumph, bobbed and given a nice monochromatic appearance centered on a tank painted and pinstriped by the hand of Von Dutch (a.k.a. Kenny Howard); motorcycle and hotrod custom painter and pinstriper extraordinaire from the sixties. This bike sold recently at an auction of Bud Ekins items by Bonhams.
Several years ago Kawasaki came out with the W650, a short lived cult classic which had the looks of a British twin, even more so than the then newly debuted Triumph Bonneville, and the unleaking, electric unfailing reliabiliy of a modern bike. Well Team Green have come out with a larger one, to compete directly with the Bonnie perhaps, but this time in classic Kawasaki colors of the time. This should sell by the truckload… sign me up!
I’ve doctored a couple of photo’s of the bike to give it a more vintage quality. Very period looking. Evocative of halcyon days ripping along english country lanes…
Motorcycle showman extaordinaire ~ Evel dominated the stunt world of riding through several decades, fans eagerly waiting for him to jump cars, buses, fountains, and the Snake Canyon. With star spangled cape flying, there always seemed to be some sort of spill on the landing ramp, stretcher borne exit and shaky ‘thumbs up’ from the rider who, I’m sure, introduced many a boy to the daredevil world of motorcycling. Where does Triumph come in? Well one of his most famous jumps was over the fountain at Caesers Palace in Las Vegas NV. He rode a Bonneville 650.
Now, any boy growing up in the mid-seventies yearned for the popular Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. I had the chopper. Rev up the ‘energizer’ and watch him go. Ramps were set up in schoolyards, across back lawns and along the streets. My figure of Evel suffered a fractured ankle: a piece of the wire armature poked through the thick rubber skin. Much like the real guy!
Smaller die-cast bikes also apeared; raced alongside my Britains bikes. These modelled after Harley Davidsons, his latter s’steeds’. Now, honestly if you were going to jump over things would you want a lump of iron like a Harley under you?
There was even a toy marketed soley for girls, Derry Daring with pink jumpsuit, long blonde hair and matching stunt cycle and energizer: classic stuff…. sadly this didn’t make it over to the UK. I wonder how many girls were inspired to ride?
I took the bike out both days this weekend; one trip heading north through the winding roads lined with fall colored trees, the otehr south along the lakefront upon the gentle rollercoaster that is Lake Shore Drive. Perfect weather…
A couple of things I loved looking at growing up was how things were put together; two forms of which were real things with cuttaway parts (the cuts always painted red) and the inner workings on show, sometimes with a hidden motor somewhere making the whole contraption move. Here’s a Triumph in such a manner:
The other was engineering illustrations beautifully crafted by the manufacturers draughtsmen. No AutoCAD back then, just pen and ink. True works of art with perfect line weights, hints of solidity and true understanding of how things not only go together but also work together.
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