Blow your Trumpet

A foursome of Triumph motos seen on Sunday. Trident, TR6, late model T100 Bonneville’s and a hamper laden Scrambler. All perfect rides for the event.

Portrait

Great photo of yours truly and the Bonnie by photographer Andy Dussard during yesterdays ride.

Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride

A well planned event took place in cities around the world. To raise money and awareness for prostate cancer. Those taking part were obliged to turn up in dapper outfits befitting a gentleman’s club or Royal Ascot outing. I chose a bright flowery tie with my waistcoat.

About 200 motorcycles and scooters turned up for the Chicago event and after meeting up at 9am headed off in a x2 caravan through the City. Outrider blockers halted cross traffic so that momentum of the ride was maintained.

Triumph made up a good proportion of the bikes , both old and new. My Bonneville fought valiantly along the slowish riding, a hot clutch with feathered throttle slipped a few times. However the last stop. I turned my lights on rather than off so the bike was dead as a dodo and wouldn’t start for the short ride home… Deans Ford Ranger came to the rescue to haul my sorry moto back to Evanston.

That late model Thruxton looks better all the time!

Spaghetti Junction

The bowels of the Bonnie: several hours of close inspection and reconnecting the synaptic parts of the central nervous system, or loom, looking for escaping electrons. A few joints looked suspect so were replaced.

Wiring reminds me of a plate of pasta; you need to follow it strand by strand. Add sauce and then things get interesting. Of course there is that intersection on the M6 near Birmingham. The traffic equivalent of my motos wiring. Take a wrong slip road and you’ll end up in Edgbaston rather than Wolv’rampton…

Gravelly Hill Interchange.

Hello Dolly

A 17″ tall sewn biker from the deft hands of Joyce Patterson. A commissioned piece for a Californian rider sits astride a 1:6 scale miniature Triumph. The tires could have been crochet, the tank embroidered,seat buttoned velvet. However the sized leathers are a perfect addition.

Team of Eleven

A wagon full of motorcycles! Coventry in the sixties and some bystanders look on as Richardson’s delivery for the newest Triumphs from Meriden arrive. The lorry is a Leyland Albion Dodge (LAD) cab design.

Lucky Black Cat

I went to feed a friends cats this evening. One the way there a pair of feline eyes gleamed out of the dark. Close up the muscular outlines of a Triumph Sprint peered back at me. Nice form. Even black colored. In the dark.

The witches familiar.

Cornered

Keeping on this Gremlin theme here’s another informational graphic. It taken a mere hairline crack in a ships hull to let in water allowing it to rust out and leak or fracture. “Keep the Navy Afloat”.

Same with motorcycle frames- all joints need to be solid and secure. Don’t let those little bugger’s in!

Be a 100% Production Soldier

During world war 2 war machine production was ramped up to such a huge degree even today I can’t believe how they did it. To keep the home front workers productive a series of posters was prepared to hang in the factories promoting good work practices. Our little friend the gremlin was used to good effect ensuring safe practices on the factory floor.

High protection is essential when working with the heavy machinery producing guns, aircraft & ships.

Clean work environment is essential too. Classic British motorcycle owners should know this.

Watch your back mate don’t get laid up idle.

Limping ‘ome…

Fall temperatures are here, and with them a bit of color to add to the backdrop to a ride-out. Color was my language too with six breakdowns on the ride home. Engine cutting out. After fettling a couple of loose connections under the seat, twiddling air screws on the Amals and pulling the plugs to view their condition. It’s all pointing to an electrical issue somewhere… A gremlin has taken up residence in the workings and I need to flush ‘im out….

Jigsaw

A current offering on the online bidding site EBay is a ’65 Triumph Cub. The main photo shows a complete bike looking quite sharp. Big letters state the bike ‘needs some work’ and ‘ran when last in one piece’ also ‘mostly there…’ Well, for $1,750 starting price I would at least want a box of spanners and a workshop manual thrown in! It’s not as adventurous as my project with parts being scoured from all corners of The globe. Here’s another… $699.. More reasonable…

Scots Gap

Today the count came in from Scotland for their vote yesterday to see if the population would like to pursue independence from Great Britain. Well the Saltire will remain as the backdrop to the Union Flag,for the time being anyways, with  55 to 45 vote to remain in the UK.

Watch oot fer yer kilt laddie! It’ll blaw ower yer heid if ye dinnae gan canny!

Quad Bike

A kind of Throwback Thursday #TBT. Here a ’58, ’68, ’78, & 2008 make up the fore and aft, upper and lower quadrants of a Bonneville through the ages. The sum of the parts? Not here; each is strong enough on its own.

Tanks a Lot!

As well as tweaking the rear axle alignment and brake arm swing I dropped the tank on to give an even more complete appearance. Lookin’ Good!

Back Wheel

There are several variations for setting up a trials rear wheel. It includes the axle adjustment, brake arm pivot, brake rod or cable, chain tensioning, wheel alignment, chain guarding. Snail cams seem like the way to go for easy adjustability, a thin aluminum guard plate to keep the oily chain off the soft wide knobbly tire, and an underside roller/block pushing up with spring action to eliminate slack.