Tess – certainly a story of mans best friend; this friendly pet is the dearest to her owner, Marko Mudryk in Wisconsin. So much so that he’s selling off items to pay for insulin shot for her diabetic condition. Even selling his Triumph… a good friend of his set up a fundraising page to assist. GoFundMe
She looks such a lovely hound.
Tank Art – some cafe youth look on whilst the steadiest hand puts the finishing touches to a mammoth tank for their Triumph Norton hybrid.
Quelle heure est il? The many faces of Triumph timepieces. One through teelve and zero to sixty; timers and calendars; velocity and minute bezels; leather strap or stainless bracelet. With smartphones watches are becoming defunct, but I’ve gone back to wearing one for ease of timekeeping. The Chronograph lives on!
‘Ump Day – What do you get if you cross a Triumph and a Greeves? A Grumph! Perfect name for a mutt; even with immaculate pedigree. Offered the choice of a Rickman Metisse or this… pretty hard choice.
Oiler – here’s a stunning graphic advertisement from a late sixties magazine with no. 1 Gary Nixon powering his Triumph flat tracker in a somewhat psychedelic manner. Castrol
Tee Shirt Fashion – wear what you believe! One thing about this ubiquitous short sleeved item of clothing is that they can promote ideas, express thoughts, present art, denote vision, advertise companies; the written word; or a graphic style. It’s like a walking billboard, moving, a breathing gallery. Here are some speed loving characters garbed appropriately in the t-shirt garment: Barry Sheene sporting a Gary Nixon top (Venezuelan rider Johnny Cecotto is seated next to him); Steve McQueen and his Triumph brand across his chest, coffee at the ready; Jackie Stewart and his F1 Elf; and Burt Munro – the worlds fastest Indian.
After last weeks brush with spring-like 60’s temperatures the true nature of February claws its icy talons back into our locale. We’re experiencing close to single digit wind chills right now. An inventive Triumph chopper owner takes snow removal into his own hands with this street-sign homespun plow. No snow here right now… perhaps if a whiteout beckons I’ll finagle a shovel attachment onto the Cub…
Pre Cub- a smaller Triumph before the Tiger Cub was the Terrier. At 150cc the diminutive scoot was a pocket watch against the larger carriage clock scaled 500 & 650 motos. But hey when you just need it to be motorcycle o’clock any two-wheeled machine will do! Miss Bobbie certainly appears happy.
Swarfega! – working on old motorcycles can be filthy work. I always find myself with oil ingrained hands even after a minor fuss of the bike. When doing the sprocket there was two chains to deal with, a road crud encrusted underside, some aluminum filings, and general grubbiness.
Three Twins and a Triple – let’s close the week off with this clutch of Hinckley goodies. The new cafe 900 Street Cup in bumblebee yellow striping and black engine cases certainly looked the part. A pearly tanked Speed Triple sitting like a repose cat ready to strike its prey. ‘Hard tail’ Bobber sits low and purposeful (I felt a bit cramped on it) ready to customize with a catalogue full of eye candy. Finally the sublime Thruxton in ‘Go-Faster’ red: I could look at this all day…
For some reason I didn’t take any photos of the Tigers… the 800 seems to be the most practical bike out there.
A Good Viewpoint – there’s nowt better than being in the pilots seat of a fast motorcycle. Low bar angle, poise for streamlining, and a speedo maxing out at the double ton. The Big Green ZX14 from Kawasaki is one such beast. Surely a rocket of the ballistic type. It feels sturdy. Then there’s the cockpit of the Thruxton. Beautiful detailing and exquisite visual balance. I’ll take one of each please!
L❤️VE IS – gazing adoringly at the sublime lines of classic British motorcycle engines. They are the pulsing heart of these machines; the very cardiac cycle of an industries history. These examples were beautiful examples of their marque on display at the motorcycle show.
Customs Officer – there were some superlative one-off builds at the show. Here are a couple of period Triumph bobbers in similar style yet very different execution. One has a brushed finish, luscious tank paint, open primary case, and a Jow Hunt magneto for spark. The other was polished to a mirrored finish – nearly to the point of distraction- with a sublime red flake frame paint job. All great work though.
On Display – plenty of new motorcycle models to ogle over, swing a leg over, and consider as real-world rides. The vast acres of Rosemont Convention Center contained the shiny, colorful products of the two-wheeled industry. Obviously Triumph was well represented, but we also enjoyed the models from Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and the Big Kawasakis. Indian Vee-Twins; Royal Enfield singles; Guzzi’s and Ducatis; and the sumptuous Teutonic BMW’s. A splendid collection of vintage cycles, as well as the usual polishes, sunglasses and patches. I’ll spend the coming week posting the show offerings (we don’t need to look at the Moto-chatchkis.)
The Thruxton is a gorgeous bike, but I think I’m a bit tall for it. The larger GS styled bikes are more my going.
Oh yeah! They had complimentary tattoo’s too.
At the third stroke it shal be eight thirty precisely- fancy illuminated dealership wall clock. Backlit with neon it would let salesmen know when it was their tea break or buyers know how long they’d been ogling the latest models.
geordiebiker.com 