Expert

A fabulous long ride around the south part of Lake Michigan through the Indiana State Dunes Park to New Buffalo Michigan. Cool bright morning turning into a warm day suitable to be called May 31st. We stopped in at Bob Goodpastors ‘shop in Hobart.

Benches lined with engines: race and road both. The floor with half built chassis such as featherbed, and Goldstar. Shelves packed to the gunwales with boxes of parts, cylinder heads, gearboxes, hubs. A veritable Aladdin’s Cave!

Wheels overhead hang with miles recorded in the tension of their singing spokes. Tools bedeck the wall ready for plenty of action the old machines require. A back shed if filled further with plentiful supplies of cycle components awaiting projects needing donor parts.

And of course in the center of it all is the friendly and gracious Bob, more than willing to show us the nooks and crannies if his world. Pup was super friendly too!

Pen & Ink

Exquisite technical illustration from the masters hand. This is Lawrie Watts at his finest: taking a complex machine, engine or entire vehicle and in perfectly weighted line work achieves both x-ray vision and form of assemblage.

It reminds me of the old hand drawn plans and details I had to prepare before computers were in the office. Ink, mylar and stinking dyline machines…

Alley Cat

My Bonneville sitting idly on its sidestand along a northside alley. Leaning lazily waiting for a sturdy hoof to the kicker, her orange tank glows warmly in the late spring evening light.

Let’s ride!

Rockin’!

Before wheels there’s the ubiquitous playroom rocking horse. Here’s one given a sweet ‘update’ only needing the bucking shenanigans of some mini leather jacketed kid with a grin as wide as the curved rails. 🙂

Nose Art Tank

Another example of the aggressive shark tooth’d grimace seen on the warbirds of WW2. This would look smart on the Tiger Cub tank. Not too much more room for the bomb ridin’ gal though. Olive Drab and red backed pointy teeth gives a nasty bite! Gnash!

Three Pee’s please

Blue sky graphic with streaming air speeding past this ink print of the suitably dressed period biker and his Triumph. Classic comic penwork with speed lines imply the moving moto.

Memorial Weekend Jaunt

Fill ‘er up and let’s hit the road! Weather a crystal clear day with glowing blue skies, a hint of a cooling lake breeze and minimal holiday weekend early Sunday morning traffic.

We would through leafy roads north and ended up in Volo. The car museum was open and also had a classic car show to boot. Opening with this fire-engine red Duisenberg. Coachwork on the boat shaped body was sublime.

Carroll Shelby knew how to pump some adrenaline into these 60’s Ponies: the gold striped black example looked the part. Your for fifty grand.

M

Ford Econoline open van: functional, turquoise, spare…

Loved this greyhound good ornament adorning the windward end of a fine 39’s Ford. Geordie at speed…

Stopped at a diner in Rockland Road Rote 176 for pancakes and syrup. Good weather and a cracking ride!

Modern Classics

A pair of dudes were supping coffee at a Starbucks at Plaza Del Lago: these were their rides. Shiny new Guzzi and Triumph. Do you speak Italian or English? That’s the question.

Friday evening

An open house at the Triumph dealer Motoworks was attended last evening. The ride down too an hour and a half; covering the fifteen mikes from Evanston in slow/stop holiday weekend commuter traffic along Western Avenue. The Bonnie didn’t like the slow progress with her engine warming up a little too much when crawling along.

Nevertheless we got there to see the Triumph flat track racers showing off their tools: and what machines they are! Go fast, turn, repeat.

Sunset photoshoot for staff and racers both. To be competitively fast you need to have a jockey-like stature… My cooling moto looks on sweating oil weeps…

A nifty mobile workshop is an absolute necessity when hauling between oval mike venues. Nicely equipped facility here!

Gearing sir? We have you covered!
We rode back up Lake Shore Drive at dusk. A cool but invigorating haul back north. The city’s skyscrapers reflected a golden sun, beyond the deepening night swallowed the lake beyond.

TBT

Throwback Thursday: back in ’97 hitting the road for my return journey from Northumberland to London. My nifty Kawasaki GPZ500R. Loved that bike! Ideal for City zipping as well as weekend spins further afield.

A fine combination

Baron con Snoopy and his chirruping sidekick Woodstock take to the open road in a ‘snappy’ model sidecar…

Here’s the item in real-life.
It seems having this pair as driver and chair occupant is quite popular…

…it was nineteen fifty eight…

Across America The long highways between growing cities, sprawling suburbs and the breadbasket countryside riders were taking to Triumph motorcycles to haul them across the big miles. Experiencing their land. The swift lines of the Speed Twin, Tiger, Thunderbird…  The same year NASA was formed and the space race was well and truly underway.
Meanwhile the ‘other’ Triumph – Germans TWN ‘Boss’ two-stroke 200cc was shown hauling a combination through the Casbah of Marrakech.

…elsewhere Fidel tours Havana Cuba…

” …quality of life lies in knowledge, in culture. Values are what constitute true quality of life, the supreme quality of life, even above food, shelter and clothing.”

What a year ’58 must have been.

…it was nineteen fifty eight…

Across America The long highways between growing cities, sprawling suburbs and the breadbasket countryside riders were taking to Triumph motorcycles to haul them across the big miles. Experiencing their land. The swift lines of the Speed Twin, Tiger, Thunderbird…  The same year NASA was formed and the space race was well and truly underway.
Meanwhile the ‘other’ Triumph – Germans TWN ‘Boss’ two-stroke 200cc was shown hauling a combination through the Casbah of Marrakech.

…elsewhere Fidel tours Havana Cuba…

” …quality of life lies in knowledge, in culture. Values are what constitute true quality of life, the supreme quality of life, even above food, shelter and clothing.”

What a year ’58 must have been.

Baby Cub

A hint of what we can expect soon… A sneak peek at the future new Triumph Cub.  We’ll explore this further…

It’s the real thing!

Yup: nice wee scoot out ‘n’ aboot th’day. A few dozen mikes under the rubber and great spring bloom abounds on the roads.