I have to add more images of Beryl. With her Norwegian sweater, lipstick matching the tank paint, and eager speed she was a strong woman in the male-centric racing world. A lot of people said it wasn’t the place for a girl. Too dangerous. Or they didn’t want to share the excitement!
She was to move onto larger machines but the FIM pulled the plug. What could have been? She worked in management for Sainsbury;
MotoLady of motoladies.
March 8th is a day to honor and celebrate women worldwide. Here we’ll appreciate the achievements of one in a realm dominated by men: road racing. A North London gal, she married a motorcycle dealer and with it a keen interest in fast bikes. She rode a 50cc Itom at various venues such as Snettertop and Brands Hatch eventually becoming the first solo woman to complete a two-lap of the Mountain Course in the 1962 Isle of Man TT. Stirring up the Establishment her international racing license was revoked, the TT waiting another 15 years before women rode in it again. Truly a pioneer and inspiration.
CAD: allowing the machine to be built in vector space within a drafting program so the assembly of components can be put together and tested before a lathe is spun, mold is formed and bolt netted.
This is the powerplant to Triumph supersport Daytona. A compact behemoth of horsepower. To think its capacity is only a couple of dozen cc’s more than my forty year old Bonnie.
Color coding parts helps differentiate the workings too.
Café Rocket Goldstar from BSA. Sitting pretty in the sunny forecourt of the famous Ace Café on the North Circular NW10. I know these bikes to the nut and bolt having restored one and think they’re a marvelous piece of road kit.
The smilin’ gal is just distraction…
Large scale canvas: a near lifesize painting of a Triumph Bonneville by artist John Robertson. (As the watermark says).
Moody, with textured contrast. Good line of motorbike form and geometry. Looseness to the brushstrokes yet firm deliberation.
I’d hang this on my wall…
As the glow of embers were dying in the British motorcycle industry during the early eighties there was a sole flame flickering. The Triumph T140W a 750cc with bells and whistles from a 70’s technology than the fresh superbike era of 1983. The Ninja 900 was 12 months away…
If it is mechanically tight in sure its a fine machine… Twin discs, electronic ignition, cast wheels suitable for newer rubber. I kinda like it.
I do like a good comic book cover. Here’s Captain Triumph: bicep swiping punches and jodhpur winged trousers and knee-length boots. No doubt he hares about on a 30’s Triumph Twin.
Next Week: Captain Future….. Wizard of Science!
The two major American motorcycle makers have bikes going back well into the last Century.
Here is an original condition 1915 Indian from Springfield MA. Just needs a few essentials for a go at the Coast-to-Coast Cannonball Run.
In another corner sitting idly and in more complete condition is a late 30’s/early 40’s Harley Davidson Knucklehead. My favourite Milwaukee Moto.
Again both are located in Pickers Store …. Photos by Dean Rennie.
A frame display of leather jacket patches seen by our correspondent Dean Rennie on his trip to Iowa. Each to display the wearers allegiance to the British marque. The oak leaf is perfect: an English Oak Quercus robur.
And so goes the salutation of the great Spock. Today saw the passing of Leonard Nimoy at the age of 83. Photo is his Mission Impossible character Paris looking logically cool.
Watching an old TV show from the early eighties. Starring Tom Selleck as the titular private investigator turned Hawaiian gallavanter for thriller writer Robin Masters (voiced by Orson Welles). He gets to blast around in his employers Ferrari 308 GTS. It is the classic mid engined sports car in red.
von Dutch style! My intrepid roving reporter Dean Rennie was in LeClaire IA at the American Pickers store. Owner Mike Wolfe and TV partner Frank Fritz were on the hunt for a rare motorcycle. A cruiser framed item with a Volkswagen flat four engine shoehorned in. They discovered it under a dusty tarp in a barn. The VW badge remarking its provenance. Here a photo of the bike displayed at their location just north of the Quad Cities.
I like the sign hung in the window… Need one for my workshop…
“Rouler à moto, c’est comme écouter de la musique en stéréo, vous faites vraiment partie de l’environnement”.
That’s the words of fast femme Marianne Weber, Belgian reporter speedster who was as comfortable going rapide on a motorcycle as most of us are in a lounge chair.
Her racing steed from 1947 a Triumph 3T 350cc. One of Triumphs first post war racers.
“Riding a bike, it’s like listening to music in stereo, you are really part of the environment”. Good words.
geordiebiker.com 