An Honorable Mention

A great piece of artwork by the illustrator Louise Limb of Honor Blackman; she of The Avengers and James Bond.

The Best

These kids are dressed up as if they’re going for a jaunt along the balmy Riviera and not so much a ride across the South Downs with a brisk damp northerly breeze. I’d take a blighty spin any day but a sun-kissed tour along the Mediterranean aboard a sky blue Thunderbird, khakis, fisherman’s sweater and sandals garb completing the picture, wouldn’t go amiss either!  

 

The Winter Solstice ~ Meán Geimhridh

Here we are on the shortest darkest day of the year… it’ll only brighten up from here. However we still have the chill of winter to plough through! My project to tame the “Lord of Darkness” namely the Lucas electrics of the Triumph will get underway in January; in the meanwhile I’ll keep rolling along with this blog to maintain my two-wheeled needs.

A Pukka Ride indeed!

Hugh Laurie, aka Gregory House MD, aka, Prince George The Prince Regent, aka Lt. The Hon. George Colthurst St Barleigh, aka Bertie Wooster, and a former Cambridge Footlighter and other half of a bit of Fry & Laurie. As has been noted before he is an ardent motorcyclist and the Triumph being his fave. Here a nice olive green Scrambler a la McQueen.

…the road to Gretna Green…

A young chisel jawed ‘greasy’ biker elopes with his gal at the consternation of her father. It’s obvious she wants the life of the open road, freedom of the skies and the scent of gasoline on her shoes. Ah! Young Love!  Even better, it’s in full color glory by the DC comic book creators of the likes of Batman and Superman; they keep good company. Go on! “Have a Fling!”

Pretty in P!nk

 

The singer Pink loves her Triumph Bonneville; seen frequently haring around the LA boulevards duckin & diving from paparazzi. Alecia Beth Moore, as she is also known as, takes the biker look somewhat seriously; engineer boots, open-face with nannini goggles; though a nice leather jacket and at least a pair of gloves is recommended!

 

Streamlining

 

Rollie Free stripped down to his bathing trunks to reach 150 mph at The Salt on The Vincent; creating one of the most iconic motorcycle images. Is this a way to achieve speed on a Bonnie 750? This slim gal is assuming so.

…heres the Vincent photo…

 

 

TT Racing

Isle of Man Tourist Trophy - At Speed!

The were chips, chips as big as battleships

…in the quartermaster store (behind the door). Yet ANOTHER “It’s Easy on a Triumph” poster. How many are there? This time some oblivious tar (and his parrot if you look closely!) is heading home on shore leave and tangles in the mooring line thus affecting the berth of his ship.

 

Visions of Johanna

Blonde on Blonde: slap on a vinyl LP of one of Dylans masterpiece poem/songs and lay back and soak in the words, rasping voice and the images evoked in what some regard as his masterpiece.

“…and these visions of Johanna are now all that remain.”

 

The Bowl of Gold

On 8th August 1970 this factory special Triumph Trident 750cc machine was entered in the 24 hour Bol d’Or endurance race, the last to be held on the historic Montlhéry circuit. The riders were Paul Smart and Tom Dickie who won at an average over 70.50mph, a race distance of 1838 miles, 469 laps, beating their nearest rivals by 9 laps. The riders averaged 20mpg, went through 4 rear chains and broke 1 throttle cable.

I think the headlights of the modern Triumph Triple may hark back to this look. Which gave rise to the streetfighters of the 80’s and early 90’s built from the Suzuki GSXR’s.

Walkin’ on the Beaches lookin’ at the Peaches…

 

Bassist and lead vocalist from the punk group The Stranglers JJ Burnel is a long time motorcyclist; in particular Triumph. Mobbed by fans what better moto to be seen on than a Bonneville! 

 

 

 

Birth of a Bonnie

 

Here’s an evocative shot taken of the assembly line in the Meriden workshop. The pieces come together to create a machine where the sum greater than the parts. A Golden Age of the British motorcycle industry soon to wane only to re-emerge like a phoenix from the ashes to where it stands as a proud builder of Brit-Motos!

The Trinity…

 

When negotiating the Matrix, Neo’s comrade in arms and love interest  Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss), took every opportunity to hare around the virtual world improbably on two wheels. The later movies had her on a Ducati superbike but an earlier scene in the original had her astride a Speed Triple when chasing after Keanu Reeve’s ‘chosen one’ character.

Like Steve McQueen…

Sheryl Crow knows how to write a good song or two. Here’s a still from her video for the title track from her C’mon, C’mon album.

“Like Steve McQueen
All we need’s a fast machine”