Needle and Thread: back when, the world had simpler pleasures for couples looking for togetherness. The seventies was a decade of crafts, self improvement, gaudy colors and macrame. But in the end you just had to get on yer bike and go for a spin across the fields.
Full of cold. So lying on the sofa in the den, Charley keeping me company and reading Ted Simon’s second Round The World book “Dreaming of Jupiter”. 28 years after his legendary Jupiter Travels narrative globe trekking on a Triumph Tiger he takes to the roads again aged 70 on a BMW.
“Woe betide the leaders now perched on their dizzy pinnacles of triumph if they cast away at the conference table what the soldiers had won on a hundred bloodsoaked battlefields.”
― Winston S. Churchill,
Words from the past ring true in any age.
Today on the local Craigslist is a clean three year old Bonnie for just under seven grand. Just over the State line in Fontana Wisconsin.
Walking the dog near work today I spied these two Triumph. A Thruxton and a Tiger. The BIG Tiger. Oh to have such a choice… Kinda like the long legged mike muncher; looks like I would fit it like a glove on a chickens lip.
When Eric von Zipper adore someone, they stay adored! So was the tenet of cheesy biker chief of the Ratz gang on the klutzy Beach movies of the sixties. As well as Frankie Avalon crooning to a spunky Annette Funicello; there were deadhead surfer dudes, scanty gals dancing on the SoCal sands, and Paul Lynde pitching in with his campy nasal quips.
Harvey Lembeck played our chain swinging leather clad biker. Sometimes seen squirreling around on a Triumph. Others a Honda.
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.
geordiebiker.com 