80’s and 90’s actor Val Kilmer passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 65. Several notable roles in many successful movies. Ice Man in Top Gun, Doc Holliday in Tombstone to name a couple. His Jim Morrison in The Doors was memorable. I met him in New Mexico many years ago and he recognized my Geordie accent due to some time filming The Saint in Newcastle.
La Motocyclette
A 1968 erotic romantic drama film directed by Jack Cardiff, starring Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull. It is based on the 1963 novel La Motocyclette by André Pieyre de Mandiargues. Released as Naked Under Leather, it was the first film to receive an X rating in the United States.
She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single “As Tears Go By” and became one of the lead female artists during the British Invasion in the United States. Faithfull’s maternal great-great-uncle was Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose erotic novel, Venus in Furs, spawned the word “masochism”; also inspiring one of the best songs written by Lou Reed and John Cale for The Velvet Underground.
Marianne Faithfull 1946-2025
We saw the passing of a great humanitarian last weekend. He accomplished so much after his presidency which is over 4 decades worth. A naval lieutenant on a submarine and farmer gave a solid base to take on his life of service.
There was a Judge Dredd story from 2000ad in 1978 with his face upon Mount Rushmore. classic Brian Bolland artwork.
“Okay. Why Not?”
Famed racing legend Mary McGee who passed away a couple of weeks back at the age of 87 started her motorcycle racing career as a suggested sidetrack from her car racing shenanigans. In 1960, while she was racing a Porsche Spyder in Santa Barbara, California, the car’s owner, Czech race-car icon Vasek Polak, suggested to McGee’s husband that she should ride a motorcycle to improve her car-racing skills. When he told her, McGee responded with, “Okay. Why not?” She became the first woman to hold an roadcracing FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) licence. Friend Steve McQueen suggested she get into dirt bikes and attend SoCal desert races. She rode Husky’s well into her 70’s after moving to Nevada. Mary McGee nee Connor 1937-2024
On Any (Sun)Day
Ambassador to the sport, Malcolm Smith, passed yesterday at the age of 83. Known as a pure racer for his cool and smooth operation of his bikes at speed over any terrain. Part of the American team in the ISDT and ran the Mexico 1000. Later racing the grueling Paris Dakar with four wheels.
Most known as the riding buddy of Steve McQueen in the classic motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday.
Smith said of his first real motorcycle, the Lambretta 125 he bought for $329, “I took it home and started riding and never stopped. It gave me freedom.”
A splendid ride amidst the color of this season. Blue sky backdrop against the fiery foliage of maple trees.
Autumn Fires
In the other gardens
And all up in the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over,
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
Robert Louis Stevenson
A visit to the Air & Space museum in DC included an exhibit about the chase for speed. Part of which was the thrill of flight on two wheels. EK was the king of leaping buses, canyons, rivers and the like. Here was one oh his Harley Davidsons used for airy antics.
Labor Day weekend was spent riding clockwise around Lake Michigan. Via Green Bay and the Upper Peninsula across the Mackinaw Bridge and down the west shoreline of ‘mainland’ Michigan. Perfect weather, more than perfect roads that seemed endless and camping too!
Great weather for attending the motorcycle show at MCC in Villa Park. Plenty on display and many others of the riders who came to look. I sketched this 40’s wartime BSA. The same my grandfather George possibly could have ridden in Egypt. George Lawrie was born 114 years ago yesterday, and passed away 59 years ago.
Donald Sutherland plays a nazi agent in this 1981 film The Eye of the Needle. Knowing plans about D-Day he needs to report back to Berlin with a U-Boat meet-up off Scotland. Ending up on a remote “Storm Island” he takes up with a woman who is emotionally estranged from her husband who lost his legs in an automobile accident on their wedding day just as he was about to head off as a Spitfire pilot. As our protagonist is being pursued by Scotland Yard he commandeers a Velocette motorcycle to hare through the glens of Scotland. He ditches it in the sea after just crossing the Connel Bridge which crosses Loch Etive. The film was directed by Richard Marquand who went on to direct Return of the Jedi for George Lucas.
Indiana Dunes hinterland was a nice part of the route today. Perfect summer weather and fairly quiet roads. Brunch at Froehlichs Bakery as a mid-ride stop was a breakfast treat.
Enjoyable morning in Winnetka wandering amongst some gorgeous motorcars. German, British, Italian, Swedish. The sumptuous curves and elegant lines covering midcentury engineering. The weather was perfect to match the machinery.
A nice build from Revival Cycles using a modern Royal Enfield 650 as a donor. Reminds me of my Tiger Cub in appearance, but this looks more purposeful for the job at hand.
Based in Austin TX they have some photos of this build haring around an arid SoCal location. Splendid just!
This year’s Motoblot event had plenty to look at. From older model cars and bikes to newer models being featured by dealers. Weather was hot as usual and the rockabilly music loud as an unmuffled engine. There was an ‘85 Kawasaki Ninja parked up too. Nice to see it!
Film
We went to see this film tonight. Based on photography and recorded interviews from the late 60’s and early 70’s it follows a bike club in Chicago as they make their way through the Midwest on Harleys clad in oily leather jackets emblazoned with “Vandals”. Tom Hardy is leader, Austin Butler the too-cool-for-school member and Jodie Comer is marvelous at his wife. Two-Thumbs up!
geordiebiker.com 