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…
A well stocked tool wall from a vintage workshop in Oxfordshire.
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
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.
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.
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.
Picked up the big hauler today. Pulls like a train and is as comfy as a Chesterfield. After the aged but lithe Bonnie it was a little ponderous but once you swing it around along the road your muscle memory syncs in with its needs.
Here we are in the hinterland of Southern California catching some winter sun, enjoying a taste of mid-century modernism and heading over to Joshua Tree on an Indian (which we’ll be picking up tomorrow).
The weather is just perfect!
It’s sometimes a matter of how we roll. Chopper’d BSA and a couple of seventies dudes tottering along the drag looking for a suitable spot to chill the day.
折り紙 The intricate craft of origami. Paper folding to create various object. Plane to solid. Here’s a wee paperbag motorcycle. Perhaps Gaff left it for Deckard.
Heading north along the Wisconsin shoreline of Lake Michigan you’ll end up in the narrowing peninsula of Door County. A Midwestern backwater of the northwoods with freshwater on your port and starboard. Highway 42 dodders along in a lazy meander through the trees which from the look at these images can be enjoyed any time of year. Autumn is of course the best.
My recommendation? Don’t order the Fish Boil!
Hope y’all have that someone special to enjoy the rigors along the road of life with.
Pink Floyd’s immortal words: another brick in a wall. Before the pasted billboards advertisements were directly painted onto the brickwork of buildings. Spalling chips add to a weatherbeaten appearance, a powerful message scripted across the running bond.
P.S.
It has been pointed out that this is a 2-Stroke such as a Jawa. Or it could be the German TWN Triumph… So kids; if you’re asked to paint an advertising mural, get your imagery correct!
Barbour jackets are de rigeur in the damp climate of England. Whether with a Purdey double barrel over your arm, a pair of Red Setters sniffing out a hedgerow or, like this lass here, taking a classic British twin for a gallop along the country lane. Waxed cotton to ward off bramble, stone and drizzle, ample pockets to tuck a hip flask and silk scarf in, and wool liner to keep the damp chill at bay.
A woodland Sprite in its natural surroundings. A damp day on the Talmag Trial glimmers off this Vincent Comet. It makes my Cub look like a common toerag. 
Girdraulic fork at the front end and a hardtail rear. Phil’s box spine frame acts as the fuel tank for a narrow profile. It’s a nice looking greenlane tool.
Ably photographed by: http://kevindean.zenfolio.com/
geordiebiker.com 