Play was so much simpler in days past: you wound your toys up and watched ’em fly around the floor. No batteries, no motor; just nicely pressed metal parts and a character sitting astride.
March 5, 2016
A Clockwork Fruit
March 4, 2016
My other car is a Tractor
The Great Jim Clark would have been 80 today. Borders farmer from Chirnside he went on to become one of the most likable and naturally talented driver behind the wheel of any car. Sadly we lost him in ’68 at the Hockenheimring track in Germany.
Just look at those dapper driving brogues.
March 3, 2016
Throw-back-Thursday
When I first started to learn to ride in London 20 years ago I purchased a small bike to get to grips with two wheeled motoring around the Capital. Advertised in Loot for £1,000 was a Cagiva Roadster 125. I took the train and my money to somewhere in West London, rod this around a loading bay and with a naive grin handed over my cash and sped off back into town to start my riding life.
The two-stroke was great for zipping around town without getting into trouble, though the Italian make had its fare share of electrical and mechanical issues that with hindsight seem simple issues to overcome, back then seemed like huge obstacles to overcome. An education commenced that continues to this day!
March 2, 2016
New Boots
A dark chilly winters evening is the ideal time to swap over wheels. The alloys shod with Michelins fit like a pair of new roping gloves on a steer herder. Can’t wait to get ‘er out onto the road this spring.
March 1, 2016
Dewi Sant
St David’s Day- enjoy some leek soup and sniff the daffodils. I unearthed this late sixties photo of some enthusiasts haring up the Llanberis Valley in Snowdonia. Wrapped up for a damp weekend during the Dragon Rally, an annual gathering organized by the Conwy MCC early in the year to ensure mud, rain and general character building efforts are encountered.
February 29, 2016
Leap Year
Our Bloke Guy Martin takes flight with his Smiths Triumph in 2015 over the infamous humpback Ballaugh Bridge on The Isle of Man TT.
Even more impressive is Harvey Williams catching air on his 125 BSA Bantam in 1952. Fag is lit too!
February 28, 2016
Academy Awards
And the Oscar goes to… Triumph!
The British bike has been used in numerous films over the ages from the fifties, sixties and eighties: Marlon Brando in The Wild One, Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, to Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman. Latter day films include Carrie Ann Moss as Trinity (appropriately riding a Speed Triple) in The Matrix, Glen Hansard in Once, and last years Jurassic World with Chris Pratt roughing it on a Scrambler.
February 27, 2016
Ranger
We’ve seen this truck before… It’s rescued a couple or three breakdowns on the Bonnie in years past. The white Ford Ranger owned by Dean Rennie. It’s been up on chocks for a couple of months while the brake lines were getting replaced. Today I gave Dean a hand at dropping the truck bed back on. A solid little work horse.
Though discontinued in the US in 2011 there arewhisperings from Detroit to bring back this mid-sized truck platform .
February 26, 2016
Nose Art
Thinking of clear spring days for those early season rides. Just need a glamour gal sitting on a bomb to complete the scene.
Photography by Derek Queensberry
February 25, 2016
Thunder Bird
After hoofing it around on the Indian I’m investigating what classic tourer Triumph has to offer. Their 1700 Thunderbird LT is a close match. It’s 270 degree timed parallel twin must give a v-twin sounding thump. Floor boards for rider and pillion alike, tall windscreen, leather bags and var nigh 100 ponies on tap.
Route 66 beckons…
February 24, 2016
Pass me a 3/8th Whitworth…
A well stocked tool wall from a vintage workshop in Oxfordshire.
February 23, 2016
In the desert you can remember your name
Park Boulevard passing through Joshua Tree National Park (formerly Monument) is sixty miles of perfect blacktop that meanders with the natural geography of this 800,000 acres of Californian desert. The monzogranite rounded by eons of water and wind erosion give an otherworldly atmosphere. You really feel like your venturing across a Martian plain.
10 out of 10
February 22, 2016
Roadmaster
Well, the trip is over and the bike had to go back today. It handled admirably on smaller roads and bigger highways; solo and two up. The engine and pipes get a bit hot as traffic slows but cools off with speed and the adjustable windscreen gives superb protection.
February 21, 2016
Where the Streets Have No Name
Joshua Tree National Monument- quite a lovely road through the desert surrounded by Henry Moore-like rock formations and the sentinel Yucca that give the park its name.
February 21, 2016
Injun
1800cc motor – ample sized vee twin lump lets the bike stroll along at a good clip even two-up. Some highway miles, town bumbling and mountain ascents were all taken with great aplomb.
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