The Summer Road

Black ‘n’ White – clouds in greys, blue skies in black and a road of dappled texture. A couple of hours spin cleared the cobwebs and recharged a summer heat-worn psyche. 

Manx Kat

Norton – fine illustration by Jamie Hewlett, he of Tank Girl and Gorillaz, of a surly lass on a heavy duty Donny Park beast. Lithe lass with beefy tank and beefier wheels.

Don’t mess with this one!

Beaming Beemer

This week at the National Democratic Conference many notable people gave a voice to their thoughts in support of Hillary Clinton. One of those voices was the halting words of Gabby Giffords. One time Senator of Arizona who survived an assassination attempt. She recently brought home her restored BMW /5 750. Beautiful bike, strong woman.

Alfred E. Neuman

Mad? You must be to work here. The cartoonist, illustrator and fine charicaturist Jack Davis passed away yesterday. He was one of the founders of Mad Magazine and helped create the zany look of the film and TV show spoofs. Easy Rider didn’t escape…

What, me Worry?

Put that in yer pipe and smoke it!

High Pipes – I dig the routing of the exhaust on the sublime Triumph Trophy.  

Bellerophons Steed

Pegasus – the flying horse. A beautifully embroidered denim jacket by a fine handed needlesmith Lillian Davis. Apparently she had this painted on her Triumpg petrol tank too. 

Not your regular float

Milk Crate – what a splendid little BSA 441 Victor trials bike. Carefully selected components to enjoy the rugged way of rock and stream. I need to find a sturdier crate like this one, mine is sagging a bit…

Hidden

Cover up! This would be a neat tarp for the Bonnie. A red bike cover with the marque logo emblazened across it.

Midday Sun

Mad Dogs- the weather is hot and humid, far too muggy for my constitution. A northern bloke needs overcast 50’s. Pity it wasn’t dry heat like the SoCal desert. Steve knows how to enjoy the heat: ride a Triumph desert sled!

Every gun makes its own tune

Clint Eastwood: The Man with No Name. I’m watching one of my favorite spaghetti westerns: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Only horses and gunfights in that, so here is Blondie on another ride. This is a 750 Norton Commando. 

Ralph Mouse

The Mouse that Roared! Kids love a good story of adventure and action whereby the underdog makes good. This classic tale of a rodent on his red ride is much loved by the bairns.

Children’s drawings, cartoon sketches and a movie. 

I particularly love this book cover with a delicate illustration of mouse and moto! The motorcycle looks like a Triumph Thunderbird.

“Come on! I ain’t got all day!”

Action Figure – on Monday past we saw the real Daryl Dixon stoking his Triumph chopper in search of the undead. Today is the ultra detailed ‘collector’ toy in poseable form with well defined bike components and machinery.

Red Special

The Fireplace – Brian May’s guitar, was made by him and his father Harold back in the sixties. It has created, with the magical touches of a musical maestro, some of the greatest sounds of the late Twentieth Century.

The Old Lady – her secrets were revealed during a full nut & bolt restoration. The tremolo arm is sprung by a pair of motorcycle valve springs from a 1928 Panther. 

Happy Birthday Brian! 69 today!

The Riding Live

Daryl Dixon – anti hero, expert tracker and Walker killer on the legend AMC show The Walking Dead. Played by Norman Reedus his transport in a post apocalyptic world is a Triumph chopper; probably what mine would have ended up looking like if it wasn’t liberated from the biker gang in West Chicago.

Moto du Table

Put finishing touches to my bike work ramp. Made from mostly found scraps it lets me raise the Moto a couple of feet to carry out maintenance without crawling around on my knees. Starting to line up the off-season list of work: replace slipping clutch plates, replace oil lines, oil cooler… But, hey, it’s still only July! Plenty of riding to do yet!