St George – patron saint of England. It seems fitting that a saddle cover emblazoned with his crusader inspired red on white cross is available for a Triumph Bonneville. His lance was called Ascalon, which apparently is the name Winston Churchill gave his private aeroplane during WW2. His horse is always depicted as white.
Motoworks – open house down at Johnny Scheff’s excellent dealership. Triumph, Ducati, Royal Enfield and Vespa all represented. Service also caters for BMW. Sunny weather, burgers and good chat. The vintage license plate with 68 GIT was an old Bonnie.
Cartoon – burly and surly character and his ’67 Bonneville illustrated in fine style by Quique Maqueda. Other graphic offerings can be seen on his blog: Magnificent Men Flying Machines.
Tat’s a nice motorbike- late sixties Bonnie laid up outside an Inking establishment. Lifetime Tattoo is a parlor located in Denver so our Coloradan ‘Lydia’ enjoys mile high biking of the British kind.
“Lydia, oh! Lydia, say have you met Lydia
Oh! Lydia, the tattooed lady
She has eyes that folks adore so
And a torso even more so
Lydia, oh! Lydia, that “Encyclopedia”
Oh! Lydia, the Queen of tattoo
On her back is the Battle of Waterloo
Beside it the Wreck of the Hesperus too
And proudly above the waves
The Red, White and Blue
You can learn a lot from Lydia…”
Attorney J. Cheever Loophole
WAAF – Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, furthering our WW2 flight theme look at this tiger gaped Bonneville. Jerry can pannier is a appropriate detail, and the big wartime yellow ringed roundel seals the deal. As they say: ” Smoke me a kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast!”
Dr Jekyll – the beast within. Specialist motorcycle performance component guru Norman Hyde has a solid history in making Triumph run quicker and faster. Under the tutelage of Doug Hele at the Triumph Racing Development Department he cut his teeth on making Bonneville’s and Tridents go like the clappers. Records were made on the drag strips with his meticulously engineered machines. Norman looks rather dapper in his weskit & jaiket astride a newer Bonneville for which he’s developed many performance parts.
My Bonneville has Norman Hyde rearsets and clubman handlebars… well, I think it goes quicker…
QA/QC – Ex-racer Sidney Tubb gives a “hot-off-the-presses” T120 Bonneville’s a once over as they roll of the factory line. He was ‘shop foreman in the early sixties when this photo was taken.
Clubman – getting the Bonnie prepped for the oncoming riding season. Controls reverted to the low bars to get the cafe look back. New liver-colored grips and a pair of mirrors to make sure my 6 o’clock is kept on the radar. Weather is on the up and up …
The Quiet Beatle – George Harrison would have been 75 today; whilst John & Paul collaborated to create some of the most memorable songs, and Ringo was one of the greatest drummers; it’s George whose music stays with you in a deeper more spiritual way. The triple album ‘All Things must Pass” is a mainstay of my Desert Island disk list. Here he looks happy on a Triumph Bonneville photographed by wife Pattie Boyd. “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”
Beefy Bonnie – classy rear-end view of a 70’s Triumph. A magazine advert promoting the good price of this five speed model which at £501.93 or you could get the doughty Tiger for £459.56. For reference the weekly wage was £40 a week, a loaf of bread 10p, a pint? 25p.
Sweeping Lines – The Bonnie will be getting the low bars put back on for the coming riding season; the upright ones are a bit ‘tall’ for my comfort. So to maintain the cafe appearance I’ve been delving into the interweb’s selection of road racers prepared using the T120 as a basis. One item is the use of swept-back downpipes: they’re a nice touch for speedier proceedings.
Passionate Motorcyclist – tank full of gas; warmed-up engine; riding kit that fits like a glove; and a smile of contentment: it’s the two-wheeled lifestyle.
Assembly Required- an object is the sum of its parts. This Knolled Project is laid out on a blue tarpaulin ready for a component check. Looks to be fairly complete with some items requiring finishing or cleaned up. One of my favorite kinds of jigsaw!
Light at the end of the Tunnel – heading into the darkening days of December it seems the warming weeks of Spring seem far away. Well, it passes quick and before we know it days lengthen and temperatures rise.
Deepening Shadows- one thing about riding at this time of year is the light is low and the world around you has a sharp contrast between light and dark. Makes for great black & white photography. The photo was taken along The Melvin Amstutz Expressway IL 137 in Waukegan.
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