Short Back & Sides

In the satirical movie Shampoo Warren Beatty plays a womanizing hairdresser haring around Beverly Hills on his Triumph Tiger; his Mason Pearson hairbrush sticking out of his back pocket. Julie Christie & Goldie Hawn play the love, or more accurately sex, interest. Nevertheless he looks cool on the 500.

n.b. this was a pre-Princess Leia debut role for Carrie Fisher with a very Lolita-esque character.

Red and Silver

Shiny, shiny cafe'd oil-in-frame Bonnie. Red framed and chrome tanked as well as a comfy Corbin seat. Nicely detailed and crafted to be a real head turner!

Motorcyclist: Cafe Racer Cover

Back in '73, a Triumph becomes the basis for a seventies period cafe racer: blue and yellow, chesterfiled plush saddle, big disc brakes with alloy rims abd the typical clip-ons and rear sets. The onlookers have an obvious interest in it at least!

In the Round

A couple of really sharp race roundel signs. One displaying unstoppable #9 Gary Nixon 'flying' on a dirt oval steed; the other is Eddie Mulder #12 (The Squirrel).

Heeeey!

A well known bike to millions of American TV viewers of the 70's is comng up for sale. The 'cool' Triumph we see The Fonz riding on during the opening credits of Happy Days. It's a 50's 500cc TR5 Trophy with rigid frame. A moto used by the desert racers in SoCal at the time; this one beginning in the hands of Bud Ekins. When Happy Days was in it's conceptual infancy Hollywood called their biker pal Ekins to supply a chopper for a new cool character to ride on; he put high bars on, stripped the front fender and sprayed the tank silver...  an icon was born!

Roll-on 3 decades and Ekins was clearing out his not inconsiderable collection passing a warehouse of bikes, parts and memerobilia to another Triumph dealer 'Mean Marshall' Ehlers. This old Trumpet was sitting forlornly amongst it all. Now Mr Ehlers needs to sell it so this bike is up for grabs to the highest bidder through Bonhams.

Full Story: www.cycleworld.com/fonzies-triumph

That 70's Show

There was a time when some riders got bored with the staid styling of the Triumph machines. They responded with a few choice add-ons to achieve a hot-rod, chopper, dude look. Some weren't so successful as these two images show...

First off: a pipe bending excercise that even Uri Geller would be astounded by. I believe you can fire spears out of them. But windows will be broken nonetheless!

Hi-Back? Ape Bars? Captain Britain? At least getting this lost soul back to stock would be a fairly straight forward proposition. I believe my Bonnie met this fate sometime in its shady past before I rescued it.

The Cold Crisp Taste of Coke...

After the refreshing ride on Saturday morning I stopped in at Bobs Deli, a local 7-11 in Highland Park. What was needed was a good cold, classic bottle of "ice cold". The moto cools in the background, I cool in the shadows.

"I'd like to buy the world a Coke"

Coke slogan 1971

Speedway Fairground Ride

Growing up in North Northumberland one of the highlights of late summer was the annual arrival for two weeks of the 'shows'. A small travelling fairground called Slaters. Among the shuggy boats, 'big' wheel, and octopus rides as well as the gaping mouth clowns and pingpong goldfish bowl arcade was the "Speedway" ride. a rolling carousel of bikes and chairs. It was, for a 7 year old, the first effects of speed and centrigugal forces sitting atop a 'motorbike' although it was fixed!

Ahh, the heady smell of candy-floss, diesel and trampled summer-dry grass; backed by flashing lights, 70's disco music and whirring machinery. 

Commanding Commando!

My sister, Ruth, found this ultra clean example of a Norton Commando 750. Super sharp details and nice polished finish. The top box reflects a user who rides for a purpose, though obviously only on good days!

Rods vs Mockers Part Four

Here are the older Meriden Triumphs at the street show, each with their owners mark on them, each with mileage and aged patina giving an certain 'life' to them.

Plum late 60's Bonnie: Simply Gorgeous.

Mid 70's oil in frame left shift 750 Bonnie. Carefully prepared and maintained.

A bobbed 650, pinstriped thruugh like Blackpool Rock!

My Bonnies dark brother, A clean 71/72 OIF Bonnie.

Mid 60's Unit lump; A fine engine.

Super clean early 70's OIF, nice white 'horns' on the ebony tank.

Pre-Unit hardtail chopper. Funky ape hangers, high, high pipes and batwing pinstriping.

Mirror finish cafe'd Trumpet. Rocker ready!

Is there anybody out there?

Back in the early 70's physicist Carl Sagan helped promote and realisation of adding a message plaque to NASA's Pioneer spacecraft. He devised a graphic representing an understanding of molecular physics as well as our position in space, down to which planet in the Solar System we are on. Also on it are images of a man and woman.

I've added the outline of a Triumph to let the extraterrestrials know that we ride motorcycles too!

Gals take to the streets on choppers and bobbers

Ann Margaret flinging her 'bye, bye, birdy' persona to the desert winds and taking off down the road Captain America style. Point it to the horizon and keep going!

Too Kool 4 Skool, fer shure...

Hardtail triumph with well sprung seat.

Redhead Sara and her ride, low seat and flipped bars; a moto for the road.

Chopper Triumph

The late 60's and early 70's was the time when the chopper culture entered it's golden, glitzy, chrome-laden, and psychadelic colored era. Here'a couple of examples of the style.  Not necessarily raked forks all the time, but a semi-bobbed style. This one has a super open-road portrait stretching into the distance. Insect-like headlights, but a comfortable riding geometry.

U-shaped bucket seat, peanut tank and raked hardtail frmae; that's chopper style. The british twins were used as much as the harley v-twins are seen today in these custom specials.

Crumb-esque drawings add to tne light hearted nature of the lifestyle...

...keep on ridin'!

Mid Seventies Bonneville Cafe

A clean example of a cafe'd Oil-in-Frame Bonnie, Right hand shifting, discs, so must be T140V from 75 or 76. Nice black paint scheme and grey frame. This helped my own rebuild inspiration...

 The racing hump seat , a reupholstered cover available from Vietnam of all places, affords a further speedy line to the desired appearance.

Eliminated front fender gives a bobbed look too. Clip-Ons the correct stance.

Close-up view of frame, timing side of engine and rear sets. The standard 'boxy' side covers actually look right with the grey frame finish and dull engine casings.

Anotehr view of the Norman Hyde rearsets, close in appearance to mine, as well as the gear change lever.

A final rearview shot of the rounded 'rump' and the long pipes; altogether a balanced build with clean lines and serious purpose of speed.

Flat Tracker with futuristic fiberglass bodywork

A racing special raced by Don Castro in '72, then immediately banned due to streamlining rules. A wrapparound tank and seat with 70's pinstriping extraordinaire. Go fast, turn left, repeat. The extended seat is interesting but there's a neat custom in there somewhere...

Gulf color on a Honda 550 cafe "Le Mans Special"

Here's a beautifully detailed cafe racer prepared in glorious blue and orange. Thiunassuming rebuilt 1975 model has been methodically reconstructed with special care to details such as the sumptuous tank, tail section and he controls.

The orange painted frame is a great detail (ooh if I'd only had that thought with mine!)

A super little feller, probably fun to ride too.Build by Chris Trotter from Bozeman, Montana.

An Airfix this is not!

Well, a Revell model kit of a Triumph in chopper fashion; with, it seems options for customization...

Triton

Ed Zender of Morries Place (where my Triumph engine was rebuilt) today advertised a Triton on Craigslist. Motorcycle has a 1975 Triumph 5-speed 750 motor, converted to right hand shift, in a 1960's Norton Slimline Featherbed frame. Ceramic coated pistons, intake ported to 34mm, 510-15 Megacycle cams, Mark II Amal carbs, 7-plate Norvil clutch, Triumph disc forks with billet alloy trees, Grameca calipers.

Orange colour....  a racing style....cor blimey!   ... now if I can just find 8 grand!

Salute

A great image of "Da Man" in Le Mans garb prepared in great artistic fashion by Conrad Leach. Super...

Doctor Who?

Here is a shot of Jon Pertwee, for it is he, aboard what looks like a late 60's Triumph (or BSA). He was the 3rd Doctor after Patrick Troughton and before the legend Tom Baker. He was also seen in straw packed tweeds as Worzel Gummidge as well as the lip smacking professor in Carry on Screaming among other things.