The brake project ensues. After several weeks of slowly accumulating, cleaning, assembling the components for the upgraded stopping power on the Bonnie I was finally able to put parts back on the bike. After much finagling several fitments I have come to realize the basic upgrading from one model to a latter one may be a little more involved than one might think.
Hope to wrap this one up on a week or two (weekends only); hope she stops like a crowbar in the spokes!
Plenty of smashing cars at the Auto Show but the 911 Carrera 4S sure looked purdy… Its sparky twilight blue gave those classic Porsche lines a a pleasing appearance. Hints of the exactly half Century original design shine through. From its nose to its tail.
I bet it goes and stops like the best of ’em! I know it’s out of the realm of my ownership but I can look…
One notable two-wheeler was seen last evening at the Auto Show: a custom Harley Davidson propped up next to an all black ’69 GTO. The engine was a shiny piece of art and the cycle work a careful balance of cleanliness and line. For example the rear drum brake was hydraulically activated with the line running within the frame tubes, a suicide gear lever under the left thigh and omitted front brake as well as the throttle lines inside the handlebars created the perfect minimal handlebars. p.s. this moto is actually an award winning custom chopper by Gas Monkey Garage which is televised for The Discovery Channel’s Fast ‘n’Loud show.
The black car? A slick ripplin’ black highway speedster.
Here’s a stock photo of FRED, in the desert… The rose color looks canny under a bright sun with a scrub landscape behind it and blacktop stretching into the distance.
Four Wheels Good: well sometimes! Under the glistening lights of the vast halls of the McCormick Convention Center the Chicago Auto Show displays the latest in automobile offerings. Of course the common or garden varieties are there but I like to look at the tasty fast, expensive and unattainable autos…
Jaguar F Type sport model sir? Yes please!
The brand spanking new Corvette Stingray? Abso-bloody-lutely!
John Cooper Works Mini? Aye aye captain!
Well what about an old late 1940’s Ford Truck? Could be just the ticket! And price!
A box o’ parts: it would be mechanical fun to find a Triumph’s engine parts filling a large cardboard box and having a smashing time with assembly. You could have Hughie Hancox’ assembly video playing in the background!
Just add long and winding road ahead rushing towards you at a rapid pace: this is a sight for sore eyes in the depths of the winter Moto-hibernation. Pair of Smiths clocks with needles ready to spin clockwise; low bars ready to lean into (don’t worry the velocity created wind blast will support you!) and a throttle ready to be wrung-out.
Go on lad give ‘er some wellie!
Port Elizabeth, South Africa. More family two-wheeled shenanigans, this time my Great Aunt Lil. A happy biker chick on her BMW R60, at what looks like the early seventies. My grandfather George Lawrie’s sister-in-law.
Now then! Here is a great photo of Aunt Lil’s sister, Aunt Jean, taken a few years ago, she flew over to visit for her sister’s 90th. She had to have a go on her nephew, Gordon’s latter day Beemer, the sublime GS1200.
Slowly but surely the Moto-family-tree is being formed!
Another one from the family vault. A very period image from circa 1918 of my great-great aunt Jessie. It looks like a visit to a summer chalet. She’s dressed appropriately for the English roads of the day. After a little research I find the make and model of this bike: a Royal Enfield 225L. This one with the transverse barrel tank was the ladies model with lower cross bar for their long dresses. Apparently a popular model too; it was later used by the Women’s Army.
225cc and about 9hp… Just enough power for those quiet roads of a century ago.
Great Scot! Sir Sean played James Bond in one last outing in the early eighties… Not a Cubby Broccoli Eon Productions Bond; but an adaptation of the Fleming Thunderball novel and subsequent movie of the same name in ’65. Connery is seen zooming around on a square faired Yamaha 650, including jet launch ‘gadget’. A far cry from Fiona Volpe’s machine gunning BSA from the original! As a couple of side notes the screenplay (uncredited) for NSNA was written by Ian laFrenais and Dick Clement the writers for two great Geordie TV sitcoms: “What ever happened to the Likely Lads” & “Auf wiedersehen Pet”. Also a serious gearhead (and outstanding comedian) Rowan Atkinson, also starred in the film (his Geordie barman from Not the Nine O’Clock News is a classic! “Everest. That’s brewed by the Jormans in the Himalayas.”
After the strong arm tats from a few days ago, here are some for the other Brit Iron marque: B.S.A. One a depiction of the stacked rifles logo, the other of a track racer.
A well illustrated photorealistic tattoo of a flat track beeza haring along at a good clip.
However I think graphically the Gold Star badge would make a tremendous piece of skin art. You’d better be careful, here in the ‘States, BSA also stands for the Boy Scouts of America; so you might end up with some quizzical faces looking at you…
Clean comic illustration of a draughting board where some inspired moto-engineer is dreaming up a bob-framed bike to house his Triumph twin engine. A navajo Zapotec rug underfoot give a nice backdrop to the overhead point-of-view; that particular angle chosen so the table lamp illumination lights the object of interest, that being the drawing itself. A technique that reminds me of Joseph Wright of Derby and his outstanding piece “A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery”;
The illustration of particular review, however, is crisply illustrated by Adam Nickel. Go look at his other motorcycle related images… nice stuff!
Here’s the Wright piece, painted in 1766 it describes, for visual explaination, the use of a lamp in place of the sun. This was novel for its time as paintings representing awe were religious in nature; here technology and science is what gives wonder to the lit faces.
It’s my Pa’s birthday today, so to celebrate it GeordieBiker style I dug out this Papa-Son movie still. Indiana and Henry portrayed of course by Harrison Ford & Sean Connery respectively. “Do you call *this* Archaeology?”
A clean white blanket of snow covers all; not to much to require much digging out mind, but enough to stymie all but the most ardent of riders. Warm clothing, studded tires, and a decent old hack. Not so here in Chicago… The two-wheeled crowd are all inside with their moto’s warmly ensconced ready for that first spring day. Or, having cycle-surgery being undertaken such as my ride. Here are a couple of neglected bikes seen on my local dogwalk. A long legged Suzuki 850 ready for the long haul, and a Honda VT Shadow 750. Both quite sculptural in their wintry cloak.
Here’s the local biker club for the North East, based in Newcastle it’s members are all Geordie Bikers. No doubt sports bike, touring, standards, classics: all two wheeled Moto’s and the roads of Northumbria to enjoy. I can but dream…
Some recent unearthed family photos included a couple of gems with my grandparents. George and Muriel, posed with George’s work bike. He was an AA man who plied the roads of North Northumberland. He ran about on a BSA combination, very similar to the Norton he rode in North Africa during WWII. George’s Uncle Cuthbert looks on.
They lived at an old stone terraced cottage called Whitsun View in the middle of the small rural market village Wooler; that’s where I grew up; nestled in the foothills of the Cheviot. I’d love to take to the lanes on an old single between the Coquet and the Royal Tweed.
Here are a couple of images of the yellow AA motorcycle outfit as well as a shot of two ‘officers’ in full regalia on their steeds.
“To our Members we’re the Fourth emergency service”
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