Let’s keep on events and life of one hundred years ago. Horses needed fed and the noises of the whizz-bangs startled them. Pour petrol in the flat tank; set the oil lubrication, air in the balloon tires, leather drive belt tensioned and off you go.
It also became everyday transport for the lad about town post conflict.
“We’ll be home for Christmas” was the typical retort of the lads in Europe as hostilities commenced in 1914. Well a century later we know that wasn’t the case. Four years of ever increasing devastation. Trench warfare as the 20th Century machine age began. The soft tissues of life lost…
Triumph Motorcycles had their single cylinder Model H utilized to get much needed messages to the front lines from the rear echelons.
Other uses included adding a machine gun to a sidecar combination.
The 90km from the Ypres Salient to Calais probably took an hour. The Front at Ypres was maintained for four years.
A whiff of drilling and smattering of grinding I managed to fit the splined KTM kick start with the wider swing arm to the cub. Basically drilling a through hole to fit a cotter pin. Broke three bits to get through the hardened steel. And my Dremel died when fine tuning the fitting. But it works well and looks capable whilst folding neatly against the engine.
We just drove along one end of Rt66 today: Lake Shore Drive here in Chicago.
A fashion shoot where cool meets beauty atop a Triumph. Jean Shrimpton the original supermodel celebrates her 72nd birthday today. Here is an image from a February ’65 Harpers Bazaar with Steve.
Photography by Richard Avedon. “Set your Nikon to 1/125th and f1.4 and smile baby, smile!
Up on Wooler Common in the rolling foothills of The Cheviots. The heather clad upland which was a backdrop to my childhood. Here are members of the Glendale Motorcycle Club out for a romp across the grassy moors. Sometime in the early fifties these lads all seem to have new rides; be they Triumphs, Beezas, Norton’s, Enfield or Matchless. Goggles, caps and great coats seem de rigueur.
All bow to the might and power of Team Green: the new roadworthy 1000cc Kawasaki H2 Hyperbike. The latest interstellar rocketship to hit the roads soon.
It’ll be like riding a two-wheeled fighter jet. Gobbling miles, straights, corners and licenses with nary a blink. Experienced riders ONLY!
Cagers will see this Sith-Lord faced missile beaming down on them and watch it vanish to a speck ahead. Race bike technology at the finger and toetips of the velocity attendant to rein-in the 200 bhp available from the supercharged inline four.
The mercurial quicksilver finish appears as a flash under a blue sky. Mirrored visor obligatory.
Dang, I’m spending my lottery ticket winnings like water out of a fire hose…
’72 Norton Commando Combat 750. Original condition $6,500.
1970 Triumph Bonneville 650. 100% original $7,500
A couple of prime classics to pick up locally….
Lottery ticket success a requirement…
A suitably sized, thorned and fire-breathing pillion makes a great companion when Norton rode, highway bound. Kids storybook of a moto girl enjoying the open road. A perfect book to teach kids it’s okay to Be Yourself;no matter what that may entail. Roald Dahl would have been proud!
Keeping in the theme of the weekend, well sort of, here’s a classic pulp fiction book cover. Using master of movie macabre Boris Karloff as promotion these fantasy thrillers jacket art is needed to fulfill the promise of the writings. Cliches aside!
But to run from a fire breathing flying behemoth wearing a haz-mat suit, shooting a laser weapon over your shoulder whilst haring away on a 200cc Triumph Cub…. Good Luck!
The annual celebration of those departed when candy skulls and marigold adorn the gravesites of family and friends. Calacas, or skeletal, figurines denote the life of the passed living.
Though a Mexican tradition it roots stem from precolonialism Aztec culture.
Hallowe’en and the dead shall rise… Well this chopped, hacked and generally abused moto might need more than Dr Frankenstein’s theatrical efforts to awaken with a hearty rort. Even though it says Triumph on the coffin tank the engine looks like a Yamaha… Scary!
Other Frankenbikes:
Boris Karloff styled GI Joe figure with combination.
A dude and his bride highway bound on a pumpkin colored chopper. What torque do you need to tighten neck bolts?
Tea and biscuit Boris?
The standard kicker interferes with the new rearset trials pegs. So I have obtained a KTM kicker with swing-out. It still needs the peg to be hinged up to operate but I already do this with the Bonnie so it’s no bother. However the Triumph uses a cotter pin, the KTM a spline fit. I’ll need to fanagle some attachment to transmit the downward hoof to turn the engine over.
ATGATT
Well shod and layered Triumph rider heading for the open road. Packed bags and loaded panniers two-wheeled adventure bound. I found this researching for a possible new lid. The Phil Read Arai is a nice one.
The black with three pointed flash was his race helmet colors.
Here’s one of his original full face helmets. Makes the Arai look like a space helmet!
What 180mph looks like in a 40 zone. Insect splatter mandatory. This is aboard a burly Suzuki XR69 handled in very capable hands of Lee Johnston.
Here’s the hedgerow-eye view of said classic racer. A racebike harking back to the magicians touch of an engine tuning alchemist Pops Yoshimura.
Well a piano can’t play the finest symphony if its out of key…
Best mod for an old Triumph motor is to shoehorn it into one of these finely fettled frames. One day a suitable donor engine might turn up…
