Hell’s Thunderbird! Our chef with attitude Gordon Ramsey heads into the wind trying to boil off his pent up anger stirring his soups and sauces. The 1600cc Thunderbird his ride.
May 14, 2012
North Town
Another look again at that Norton ES2 seen at the weekend. This candy sweet little number has received a careful restoration to the nut and bolt. A half liter cracker.
The cherry-pie a la mode colour scheme gives a period appearance further enhanced by the polished chrome and powdercoated mudguards and primary cover.
Even the tank badge with stylish knee grip pads, spear motif and a hint of art deco receive the designers attention. Suitably smashing!
May 13, 2012
Hourglass
A particular view of the Beeza seen at the bike show yesterday exposes its classics feminine shape. A narrow waist accentuates a rounded derrière, complete with ace of spades embossed ‘tramp stamp’ and the busty tank.
36-24-36 to some…
May 12, 2012
Trifecta
Tribsaton: the wholly trinity of Brit Iron. Here’s a nice line-up seen earlier today at Ace Motorcycle & Scooter’s Rocker Reunion. A well ridden BSA A65, a 90’s Triumph Sport, and a truly scrumptious Norton Slimline ES2.
May 11, 2012
T(riumph)-Mobile
4G or nor for gee: the latest advertising ploy of T-Mobile (my phone carrier) is the leather-clad Ducati ridin’ lass speeding at a blistering pace past a blue trimmed Triumph Bonneville. A slow-mo replay shows her winking and peace-signing the ‘lowly’ Trumpet rider before speeding off. Yup, I’d take the Duc, though not pink, but like the look of the 4 decade old moto. You gotta remember that bike came from an age of rotary ‘phones, telegrams and letterwriting. Slower yes, but not necessarily worse times.
May 10, 2012
The Switcheroo
Electricity. Hellectricity! In researching the further renovation of the wiring on the Bonnie. The current Lucas switchgear, of original provenance, may be the source of power loss. Old connections as well as uninsured switches. The later models actually used a single switch for indicators, dip and horn. Here it is and is available as a new item. Slowly but surely we’ll get there…
May 9, 2012
A Dead ‘ard Rocker
Looking’ forward to the Saturday event and peering over a number of classic bikes and chatting to their owners. Music and food on offer too.
May 8, 2012
Cafe Events
This summer sees several events for the Chicago Cafe, Mods and Rocker scene. Based through Ace Motorcycle & Scooter down in the City, there are gatherings, evening meets at some pubs and general moto-antics. This coming weekend sees a biker reunion and bike show at Ace; however I don’t think the old Bonnie will be ready for a trip.
May 7, 2012
A Cafe Adventure
Today on Craigslist is this sublime late nineties Triumph Adventurer tweaked with Sport model upgrades to create a superb cafe creation. Those double single-side mufflers would shout the triples rumble with baritone noise. $4200 obo and she’s yours!
May 6, 2012
Edison endeavours
Come back NikolaTesla all is forgiven! More electron flowing misadventures on the bike… After picking it up from its temporary stash location in Glencoe (again many thanks to Dean Rennie and his Ford Ranger) and bringing it back to Chicago for vitals diagnosis; Well after three hours of twiddling with connectors and wiring still no even power. I had the indicators and headlight flashing as if trying to land a Wellington bomber! The battery is being sucked to 3 volts by some bottomless short-circuit where the electron flow is spitballing to a whirlpool of blackness ( ha Lucas the Lord of Darkness strikes!)
May 5, 2012
Cinco de Mayo
Salinas CA: a festival of racing excitement for all at the inaugural TT Pro motorcycle races at the short track oval set up in the Salinas Rodeo, Monterrey Co. From the flyer a car and bike show will be there, centered around plenty of sideways action from guys who know what to do on two wheels. The annual Latino Festival will have music dancing and partying. Wish I was there!
Classic 3 colour screen print poster promotes the event.
May 4, 2012
Triumph Transforms
Young whippersnapper actor Shia Labeouf adds excitement to his movie star life with a 900cc Thruxton.
On screen he has been seen taking the great Indiana Jones as pillion passenger in the last Harrison Ford epic. I think that bike was a dolled-up latter-day HD; well he’s trying to look tha part in a Marlon Brando ‘Wild One’ manner… shoulda been a Triumph though!
May 3, 2012
BBC NEWS May 3rd 2012
The owner has been found of a Harley-Davidson that drifted to Canada after being swept out to sea in the 2011 Japanese tsunami. Details from the motorcycle’s licence plate helped to locate Ikuo Yokoyama.
According to CBC News, Mr Yokoyama lost his home and three family members in the tsunami. The shop that sold the motorcycle to Mr Yokoyama is now hoping to ship the Harley-Davidson back to Japan and restore it.
The Harley-Davidson motorcycle was discovered by Peter Mark on 18 April on the coast of an island in British Columbia. Mr Mark said it was caked with “a lot of corrosion, a lot of rust”, but that he could see the manufacturer’s distinctive logo.
Ikuo Yokoyama told Japanese TV he had bought the bike five years ago
The Canadian realised that the bike could be part of the tsunami debris after he noticed that licence plate was from Miyagi prefecture, the area hardest hit by the March 2011 disaster.
Mr Yokoyama’s bike was inside a large white container he was using as a storage shed, which eventually washed away, leaving the bike partially buried in sand.
“This is unmistakably mine,” Mr Yokoyama told Nippon TV when shown photos of the motorcycle. “It’s miraculous.”
He told the Japanese TV station NHK that he wished to thank the man who found it personally.
In February, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials said currents would carry much of the debris 4,000 miles (6,400km) to the coasts of Alaska, Canada, Washington and Oregon between March 2013 and 2014.
Lighter items, such as buoys and bottles, have been among the first to wash ashore on the continent. Last month a football found in Alaska was returned to its owner and a derelict fishing boat was sunk by USCG due to its endangering shipping lanes off Alaska.
May 2, 2012
Ruth Smith and her Triumph C1947
Bobber Gal: early days for a biker lass’ freedom. Headscarf keeps the hair in check when scooting along, leather jacket, denim. This 40’s Speed Twin with gently swept back ape bars a suitable steed for the day.
May 1, 2012
A Stray Cat
Rockabilly Rider: The Homewreckers front man Danny Dean takes his early rock music seriously, especially when sporting a greased pompadour to his rocker bike like this Triumph. You could take this puppy down for a rumble along Beale Street to Sun Studios for a session with your Gretsch, Double Base and Drum backed band of anti-establishment misfits.
geordiebiker.com 