The village where I grew up has recently gone through a reconnection through Facebook. People who stayed, people who left, images of people as children, images of those no longer with us. Here’s a photo of one residents mother and friend in 1950 on a Triumph Trophy TR5 . This was taken along Oliver Road in the North Northumbrian town of Wooler.
Any self respecting vintage Triumph owner never leaves home without one! Here’s a near original set in aged patina ready to be rolled up, packed in the toolbox and taken on the road. Spanners? Check; Whitworth both open-ended and closed. Spark Plug wrench? Check. Tire irons? Some call ’em spoons, others levers but yep, check! Tappet spanner and feeler gauges? Check; tickety-tackety goes the engine in purring state! Spoke wrench? Check. Can’t be having wobbly wheels after the bumpy cobbles of Dent or the rutted tracks of the New Forest! Air gauge? Check! Pump is on the frame too lest a flat be had! Puncture kit? Check; complete with crayon, glue and vulcanized rubber patch. Grease gun? Grease gun? Yup, grease gun! Check! A small travel sized one should do, gotta keep ’em wheels a-rollin’! And finally screwdriver and pliers? Check, check. They’ll come in handy for something I’m sure…
What about electrics? Lucas? Uhuh! Well, three Hail Mary’s and a How’s your Father should do for that – good luck on that one old chap.
(This kit is currently available on EBay for $200.)
“A bloomin’ combination Gromit!” One way to show off the town square annual display. Here’s a superb show in the guise of our plasticine pals Wallace and his trusty companion Gromit.
Welshman Mike Prankerd went a step further taking an old 500cc BSA, giving it a rich red color and bolting on a similarly colored Watsonian chair complete with stuffed hound and started haring around for public good laughs.
A cracking good show.
Finally one for the album so to speak is this cutaway diagram of the sidecar outfit in a classic technical penned illustration. This is taken from one of the light-hearted Haynes manual for Aardman contraptions used on Wallace’s adventures. It even has the folded-up aircraft piloted by Gromit as his chair is separated from his master and takes to the skies.
Nearly as good as a bit of Wensleydale…
A rather perky lad sits proudly on his masters new late 30’s Triumph 5H.
It reminded me of Nipper peering expectantly into a gramophone speaker horn listening for His Masters Voice.
Even today the graphic is recognizable for the British music industry – although a bumpy industry of late.
I like this Gromit version….
Superlative Sales: back in the day if you wanted power and speed it had to be Triumph. It says so on the tin!
US distributors Johnson Motors plied its prospective customers with roads of adventure across the length, breadth and height of the country.
Clean graphics, supporting descriptions and colorful layout could entice any two-wheeled devotee.
When eyelids droop and limbs tire here’s a swell little bed to have a quick forty winks. A spot to reverie the roads you’d like to be swooping along in seasons to come. Getting in and out of this cit might be troublesome with a knocked knee or stubbed toe… However: “Sweet dreams!”
An open day at Motoworks Chicago I just HAD to try the latest Thruxton for size. “Like a Glove” is my response. Looks good from all angles and detailed nicely! Now where did I put that piggy bank?
This small cast metal toy motorcycle has a clunky charm to it that would surely fill any youngsters imagination with two wheeled deeds of daring-do. Indeed it has a striking resemblance to the noted stunt team of the Royal Signal Corps.
Here’s a First Day Cover type commemorative posting of a Royal Mail stamp with the classic Triumph and uniformed white helmet rider tearing across the mailing in fine style. This actual mailing was even more special using Forces mail to an Earls Court Cycle exhibition in 1980. Charming stuff…
A Winter Weather Advisory: drifting snow and plummeting temperatures here in the Midwest allow alternate moto activities to be planned and undertaken.
Winterize your ride! Don’t let a salty ice crust build up or an errant plough tip it into the road side snowbank. Take it into a dry indoors where the typical preparations, maintenance and upgrades could be undertaken. Plenty have written about the furlough storage needs so I’ll not go into them here.
Or you could put studs on your tires, dress in weather appropriate hard and whizz around a frozen lake oval. Here’s a Tiger being put through such paces. It looks fun!
Tomorrow morning temperatures are expected to be -20 Fahrenheit… With won’t chill reaching fifty below…. Stay Warm! Me? I have my Cub Project to plan!
A braw Scot’s based advert proclaiming the virtues of another mode of transport in the garage… Thus could be revisited for today! Perhaps it could say: ” make your first car a motorcycle!”
Again, good clean graphics of a cartoon nature. Two-color printing used to great effect from the kilts tartan, swooshing scarf, and the red “2”.
“We twa hae run about the braes,
and pu’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin auld lang syne.”
Robert Burns
Photo by BA Motos with story behind photo here:
http://thebullitt.blogspot.com/2012/09/ride-your-own-biography-ba-moto-on.html?m=1
Seven times Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher is in critical condition after a skiing accident in the French Alps. He’s in an induced coma with lowered body temperature to enable a speedy recovery.
He was wearing a helmet, which probably saved his life. Skiing has just become more familiar as a helmet wearing sport for personal safety.
Schumi also takes to two-wheels on occasion; gunning a bee-colored Triumph Sport in this shot. Although being one of the highest earning sportsperson he is a huge contributor to worthy causes, most notably UNICEF.
We wish him a swift and full recovery!
A simple orange window’d backdrop sets off this Tiger well. The slogan is to the point too! Speed and efficiency in a Triumphant package; letting the akimbo’d rider visit the sights of Britain.
In a similar vein this blue advert scheme gives the rider and his Thunderbird something to ponder on: Exciting is the key word here! Those integrated lines look so slick even today.
The green green grass of home lets us view a smashing ride from the pilots eye view if a crisp airbrushed photo of the 350. De Luxe? Delightful!
geordiebiker.com 