Wet Saturday so I'm workin'. Reminded me of a bit from my Thruxton article in the next Kiwi Rider.
There is a fair bit m0re about the bike on either side of this:
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It was having the best time, punting it around the Auckland Bays on a blue Saturday morning, glorying in all this Café racer imagery and costume, dining out on the associated nostalgia, that it struck me that I needed to find out more about the era and the machine this bike tips its lid to.
First I consulted Ian Chadwick’s Triumph Time line online (Google it):
‘1964 saw the first Thruxtons produced. ‘This year only eight Triumph Thruxton machines are made, basically standard production Bonnevilles pulled from the line and sent to the special projects department for upgrading. They produced 54bhp and many of their modifications become standard on later production bikes.’
‘1965.
This year, 52 Thruxton Bonnies are made in May, the most ever produced. Triumph is making 600-800 bikes a week, 80 per cent of them bound for the USA.’
’65 was also the year Hugh Anderson won the 125cc World Championship on a Suzuki, the final season of Hailwood’s four in a row and the year before Agostini won seven of the ‘500cc big dances’ in succession. (Seven!)
Cool, the Thruxton name has an impressive pedigree.
Endurance racing was also popular at the time and a Thruxton notched wins at Brands Hatch in 1966 and won the IOM TT in 1967.
By the time I got back on board I was ready for ‘Mike the Bike’ and ‘Ago’ - anytime baby!
As the flag dropped on the Ellerslie on-ramp grand prix it was on - all the way to Mission Bay. But was that the spirit?
I had the bike, the gear and the vibe…but an Al fresco Latte overlooking a sapphire blue harbour and volcanic ramparts next to a drop dead gorgeous bike was about as tough as it sounds, but it wasn’t exactly the Ace Café. Was it?
You can’t study the history of motorcycling without seeing some reference to the ‘golden age’, the Ace Café, aces of clubs graphics and imagery. Iconic.
Peter Jenks runs ‘Jenks Bolts’, a Specialist Bonneville parts and accessories business, in Salisbury. He now rides a new Thruxton.
I asked him about the Ace Café ‘Now and then’, and for his recollections of the ‘Halcyon days.’
‘Back then it was one of tens of thousands of transport Cafes where truck drivers stopped to eat. In those days bikers and the ‘young’ weren't welcome in pubs, or anywhere.
They found a welcome in the transport cafes. Although there was no drink, just cigarettes, very bad coffee made from ‘Camp Brand Coffee Extract’ and strong tea.’ He reported.
All of a sudden I had a handle on the ‘Café’ in ‘Café racer’. Rather obvious, David.
‘The Ace happened to be on a road that allowed some interesting road racing. In the NW London outskirts it was easily accessible by bus to many, many young kids who aspired to a bike, but couldn't ever get one.
All Transport Café’s had juke boxes so music was a key part of the atmosphere: food, tea, music, bikes, noise – it was a place to be.’ Continued his insights.
Meantime, I’m getting misty eyed and ‘yeah baby’ all at once.
I imagined tearing around on machines that performed quite similarly to the 2007 Thruxton.
Just that the new one is not hampered by Lucas electrical and copious oil leaks. Nonetheless, I could see the Bedford vans and Tobacco cards and Joananna Lumley pinups in my minds eye.
We don’t need no steenkin’ muscle cars.
But then he concluded: ‘Now: It’s a pastiche of a lot of memory cues and other than being in the building it started out in, not much is like it was.’
‘Not so the bike.’ I thought. Give me nowadays and the reliability of the new one.
Derek Peters, a career ‘Bobby’ doing his National Service during the first Thruxton era used to call in to the Ace.
His recollections began: ‘There, strategically situated, sat the Ace Café. A rather dowdy trucker’s cafe that stayed open 24 hours a day.
The cafe was a natural meeting spot for motorcyclists to slowly drink their beverage or soft drink and meet up with their female company.
The blare of the Juke Box, knocking out the music of the day, added to the atmosphere.
It was not a particularly attractive place and could never be described as comfortable, but the tea and hot food was consumed in the main by truckers and was therefore wholesome, to say the least.’ Was the picture Derek painted.
Now I was right in touch with the joint.
He continued: ‘I witnessed motorcyclist travelling at ‘highish’ speeds around the North Circular in an irresponsible manner, just like the modern sports bike riders.
I saw bikes leave the Ace Cafe driven by obvious idiots, but I can't honestly say that I ever saw riders trying to cover a given distance before a record ended. I think this is very much a myth thought up at a later date.’
Of course we weren’t racing Officer!
‘The Cafe was a useful acquisition in its day and certainly provided a meeting place for motorcyclists, but a lot of the glamour has been added since by people looking through those rose tinted spectacles.’
At this point an unmaned source online chimed in with a positive ’07 perspective: ‘Two redeeming features of the Ace: The Slovakian or possibly Polish bird behind the counter and the cheese omelettes.’
Contemplating this, the fern leaf pattern in the froth of my soymilk latte - served in the shadow of Rangitoto - and a shimmering blue south pacific brought me back to reality with a thud.
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The 1965 one is my favourite -- is it based on the T120? Nicest tank at any rate.
Originally Posted by BigG
Jaguar have been doing it for years. On the whole though, gorgeous.
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