The village where I grew up has recently gone through a reconnection through Facebook. People who stayed, people who left, images of people as children, images of those no longer with us. Here’s a photo of one residents mother and friend in 1950 on a Triumph Trophy TR5 . This was taken along Oliver Road in the North Northumbrian town of Wooler.
Any self respecting vintage Triumph owner never leaves home without one! Here’s a near original set in aged patina ready to be rolled up, packed in the toolbox and taken on the road. Spanners? Check; Whitworth both open-ended and closed. Spark Plug wrench? Check. Tire irons? Some call ’em spoons, others levers but yep, check! Tappet spanner and feeler gauges? Check; tickety-tackety goes the engine in purring state! Spoke wrench? Check. Can’t be having wobbly wheels after the bumpy cobbles of Dent or the rutted tracks of the New Forest! Air gauge? Check! Pump is on the frame too lest a flat be had! Puncture kit? Check; complete with crayon, glue and vulcanized rubber patch. Grease gun? Grease gun? Yup, grease gun! Check! A small travel sized one should do, gotta keep ’em wheels a-rollin’! And finally screwdriver and pliers? Check, check. They’ll come in handy for something I’m sure…
What about electrics? Lucas? Uhuh! Well, three Hail Mary’s and a How’s your Father should do for that – good luck on that one old chap.
(This kit is currently available on EBay for $200.)
“A bloomin’ combination Gromit!” One way to show off the town square annual display. Here’s a superb show in the guise of our plasticine pals Wallace and his trusty companion Gromit.
Welshman Mike Prankerd went a step further taking an old 500cc BSA, giving it a rich red color and bolting on a similarly colored Watsonian chair complete with stuffed hound and started haring around for public good laughs.
A cracking good show.
Finally one for the album so to speak is this cutaway diagram of the sidecar outfit in a classic technical penned illustration. This is taken from one of the light-hearted Haynes manual for Aardman contraptions used on Wallace’s adventures. It even has the folded-up aircraft piloted by Gromit as his chair is separated from his master and takes to the skies.
Nearly as good as a bit of Wensleydale…
A rather perky lad sits proudly on his masters new late 30’s Triumph 5H.
It reminded me of Nipper peering expectantly into a gramophone speaker horn listening for His Masters Voice.
Even today the graphic is recognizable for the British music industry – although a bumpy industry of late.
I like this Gromit version….
Forty spokes, forty nipples (yes the wee things that screw onto the spoke providing tension), an alloy rim and a freshly axle’d hub. I have good photos of the left and right side lacing patterns too.
One side done – second effort after not getting the right cross pattern. When turned over it starts to untangle like a wiry spider…
Deliberate care with getting the correct length and inside and outside line set. On the brake side each repeats every fourth hole, with the dimple aimed appropriately, and cross spokes back six holes.
Then on the other side each also every fourth but the cross spokes back ten holes…
Nip the spokes hand tight and basic stability is attained.
Now to True…. Removing hop and wobble!
Nope! Not for a boot; nor an antimacassar doily neither: but the front wheel. Getting things sorted and ready to build the front wheel for the Cub. A 21″ alloy hoop, to match the rear 18″ one and forty new Buchanan spokes.
There are four different spokes for inner and outer hub rim as well as left and right side.
When you look at the typical pattern it has a geometrical elegance to it. A ferris dance of tensions on the ‘cycles primary component of conveyance. The wire spoked wheel was invented by Yorkshireman Sir George Cayley (1773-1857) who was also the father if aerodynamics. Understanding the principles of flight a century before the Wright Brothers. The optimism and supporting scientific and engineering progress of the times were truly present in “Eeh bar gum! Ar George” .
The Cubs fork steering head cleaned up nicely with the three coats of paint removed over the past few evenings. I kinda like the raw steel appearance of ’em. However I’ll may go down the typical gloss black. Or….. Racing Green?
Wednesday, being the middle of the work week is traditionally the point at which the uphill battle of the start of the week begins its downward course towards the weekend. So here are some other humps to enjoy: Seat Humps! Of course for some it’s ‘ump day every day!
To strip the old paint off some parts I’m using the interior friendly Citrustrip. It is working great for a couple or three coats of orange, white and black enamels.
Daub it on, leave for a day and it bubbles the old paint allowing it to be simply scraped off. A couple of applications should see the parts sorted ready for cleaning, priming and spraying. On another Vitamin C note I’m cooking up a batch of Kumquat marmalade.
A hefty bag was brought north by my bosses Claire & Ryan; picked from their tree in Louisiana.
I haven’t even scratched the surface of this bushel!
Superlative Sales: back in the day if you wanted power and speed it had to be Triumph. It says so on the tin!
US distributors Johnson Motors plied its prospective customers with roads of adventure across the length, breadth and height of the country.
Clean graphics, supporting descriptions and colorful layout could entice any two-wheeled devotee.
When eyelids droop and limbs tire here’s a swell little bed to have a quick forty winks. A spot to reverie the roads you’d like to be swooping along in seasons to come. Getting in and out of this cit might be troublesome with a knocked knee or stubbed toe… However: “Sweet dreams!”
An open day at Motoworks Chicago I just HAD to try the latest Thruxton for size. “Like a Glove” is my response. Looks good from all angles and detailed nicely! Now where did I put that piggy bank?
A frequent glamour model for The Sun’s third page pinup was the curvy Samantha Fox. The British tradition in the late Twentieth Century of adorning the tabloids with young nubile girls to maintain a ‘phwoar’ for the working male population. As well as sellin’ millions of inky ‘news’ rags to line the pockets of media moguls like Rupert Murdoch.
We have scanty fronted leathers here for Ms. Fox and a razor sharp looking Harris GPZ 550 – pure 80’s: Phwoar! And in another pic with probably one of the last Meriden models off an assembly line we have our Friday Fox aboard a Triumph…
She also had a singing career, but, let’s not get into that….
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