Thumper Club Forum
Club House => Chatter => Topic started by: guest7 on June 03, 2009, 07:34:38 PM
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In my teens I was horribly vain and clothes-obsessed. On times I wouldn't leave my bedsit because I felt that I didn't have any decent clobber. What's worse is I'm not talking about Italian suits and silk shirts, oh no, I'm talking about nasty early 80s indie kit.
One of the delights of middle age is the way that you can turn your back on all that nonsense and just wear what pleases you.
However, last weekend I went off on a solo motorcycle to a summer rally, which I haven't done for a while now. In fact I haven't really done much 'social' motorcycling at all for a couple of years. I wore black leather bike jeans tucked into black jackboots with white seasocks rolled over the top. Over a checked shirt I wore my eye-wateringly expensive replica Irving flying jacket. On the way back from the rally I realised, as a car passenger watched me wide-eyed, that I haven't really changed that much, I'm still a bit too conscious of what I wear (on a bike at least) and I'm still a bit of a show-off. I'm not sure how I feel about this.
What makes it worse is that when I got home I later decided to go for a short bimble. I actually took a minute or two to decide what to wear (dark blue jeans with turn-ups, brown lace-up boots, vintage Levis denim jacket under an off-white windcheater, white scarf knotted at my neck). If I'd been in proper trousers in the first place then I probably would have just thrown a jacket on and gone, but because I had to change (I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt) I took the time to wear what I thought looked good.
I know the stock biker's reply to all this would be a bluff "I just wears what I wants to", but come on, I can't be the only one who sometimes thinks about what they are going to wear on the bike, am I?
RobG, for one, has a penchant for welders boots with seasocks over the top and I have to admit he often looks very stylish on his bike. I have wondered if he has a mirror on his garage wall where he practices this ;)
Cheers
GC
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You've seen my latest jacket? Think that answers your question ;D Too be honest, my main thinking when it comes to most things including gear is and always has been 'simplicity'. The jacket, doesn't have armour, or 40 pockets with velcro everywhere. My boots are ex army, helmet, open faced and gloves unlined (at least the summer ones are).
Don't know if it looks good, but it feels right. Mind you, when I left work the other day, someone called me a 60's throwback :-\
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Fashion comes and goes, but style is always stylish... erm... someone once told me :-[
Yeah I look at my reflection in shop windows sometimes.... if no bikers did that we'd all ride 70's style MZ TS250's ;) :P
As to jackets, I love my Barbour international, but my day to day jacket does have armour and I think it's (armour) one of the best developments in biking kit over the last 20 years! Like many of us (old gits) when I started you could have leathers that would protect in a slide (but get wet) or waxed cotton that would keep the weather out but not slide as well, but *hit* anything in either and your pretty much fubar. Some couriers I worked with wore motocross armour under their leathers and I was actively looking for some sort of kneeguards, I tried BMX and skateboard pads with limited success...
I honestly think that if I had had access to modern knee armour when I was despatching in my early 20's my knees wouldn't be in the rag order they are now :-\
But it has to look good too.... allegedly ;) ;D
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You are absolutely right GC....I'm most comfortable (literally and style wise) in my old sidi leather jacket and leather jeans.... a wonderful patina of age and use....mis-matched zips, all of which have been replaced at least once..... white scarf with a bit sticking out the back to flap in the wind,....leather cowhide 'ranchers' gloves....fits well with my cafe racer style srx....catch myself glancing at my reflection in shop windows as i bimble through town, just like i did 40 years ago and more......there's a bit of the posure in all of us :) , and don't i just look down on those guys on their plastic missiles in their 'just out of the shop' unmarked matching leathers......
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Oi, Smudge, stop knocking MZs. I reckon I looked pretty damn good on an MZ with a pair of the finest green wellies and a nylon jacket.
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Too true chaps .
GC is quite right , my foundry boots have done stirling service over just shy of twenty years and proudly wear the scars ,including the dents on the heels from the nuts on the footrests of the GT750 I despatched on .
My Furygan is 19years old and yes Steve the patina is there all right .Unfortunately my leather jeans are only about 6years old ,due to the shrinkage of my last pair.Leather contracts over the years,you see.Open face ,goggles,white scarf and seaboot socks complete the picture with grade one army gloves ,probably the best gloves I 've ever owned for the bike and bout £14:00 a pair ,grade one .
As for the mirror , scandalous rumour that is .I've not got room for one with the collection* displayed so well ;)
Rob
* note from moderator - RobG is referring to his enormous collection of (empty) beer bottles that line his garage walls. I feel a photo is required ;)
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Oi, Smudge, stop knocking MZs. I reckon I looked pretty damn good on an MZ with a pair of the finest green wellies and a nylon jacket.
God rides a Harley , compo's got an MZ ;)
Rob .
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B*****ks. God would ride an MZ if she wanted to get somewhere.
Shouldn't we pass this one over the Steffan ?
Richard
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He or She actually rides a Triumph, cannot remember the actual text but it is something about sitting back and listening to the roar of his Triumph - or was that Moses. You are right, this is one for Steffan
R
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OK - ancient fly spattered Frank Thomas textile jacket (with thermal liner when it's a bit parky), Draggin Jeans if it's warm & dry, Aldi's overtrousers when it's not, Altberg Hoggs on the feet.
As for MZ250's - don't diss the Zschopau massif, I'd have another like a shot (if there was room in the shed and my wallet):
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f159/KirriePete/MeandMZ.jpg)
Oh lord - I had hair and a waistline then!
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I was parked in a lay-by at the weekend when a bloke on a Guzzi Griso went past.Jeans,leather jacket,open face lid,shades.He looked and sounded extremely cool.
Me,I am just a mixture of mainly secong hand ebay bike kit bought as and when,0/10 for style.
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(GRINS) Knew I'd start a few people off with that statement :D :D :D
Now I really rate many of the MZ's and MuZ's, heck I run one as daily transport, but you have to admit they've built some SPECTACULARLY ugly bikes in their time ;)
Oh and you may well be right Rog, Steffans probably our expert on that particular publication but I distinctly remember something about Moses coming down from the mountain to deliver the ten commandments "on his Triumph", I guess he must've been a courier too..... (wonder if it counted as a multidrop as there were ten of them ???)
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...but you have to admit they've built some SPECTACULARLY ugly bikes in their time ;)
I know what you're saying, but even their ugliness looks cute with time:
(http://motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/classic_bikes/mz_es_250.jpg)
I'm beginning to hanker after an ES250 ::)
GC
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Oh lord - I had hair and a waistline then!
Didn't we all ,old boy . Recently moved on my last pair of 30 waist leather jeans . Those were the days ;D
Kit wise , my early influences were Classic Bike /Motorcycle/Ogri , hence my kit of choice today .Even Jethro turned up the other day on his Triumph, sporting open face with Mk 4 goggles attached .I don't own a current full face .
Sorry but you can keep your Power Rangers leathers .
Rob
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Hmmmm, hopeless fashion victim I know but I still sometimes have to supress the urge to go out and buy a jet helmet and a set of "pilot" goggles :-[ :-\
Oh and I'll confess... when I had my first bike (a Z200!) I got mum to knit me a "submarine" sweater and I got white sea boot socks to go with my ashmans boots... and a white silk scarf! Bloody impractical mind you, it was manky in no time ::)
(Whispers; "still looked good though....")
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B*****ks. God would ride an MZ if she wanted to get somewhere.
Shouldn't we pass this one over the Steffan ?
Richard
Actually this sort of comment is based on a misconception of God - this sort of thing invariably goes back to descartes and dun Scotus - God is an object type of thinking. The sort of heresy which used to get bandied about Oxford at one time.
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Blimey ! If we all turned up as the above , we'd look like a bunch of aging Rockers .
Rob . {Off to find my Brylcream , before it's too late }
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B*****ks. God would ride an MZ if she wanted to get somewhere.
Shouldn't we pass this one over the Steffan ?
Richard
Actually this sort of comment is based on a misconception of God - this sort of thing invariably goes back to descartes and dun Scotus - God is an object type of thinking. The sort of heresy which used to get bandied about Oxford at one time.
Excellent ;D , from fashion to descartes and heresy, via Eastern European strokers, in what fourteen posts!
Sometimes reading this forum is like the interesting random dialogue on QI... and I mean that in the best possible way. 8)
Erm Rob... you mean we don't? ??? Besides some of us are exempt brylcreem on the same grounds that Douglas Bader was exampt toenail clipping... :-[
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Yeah I look at my reflection in shop windows sometimes.... if no bikers did that we'd all ride 70's style MZ TS250's ;) :P
I'll have you know after owning at least eight TS's,3 ETZ and several Jawa/CZ of varing capacities I think they are Farking Great !
As for style well open face lid,MK 8 goggles(still own),fringed leather jacket riding around on a Blue and Yellow hand painted Vespa V50 Scooter.
Used to pop up to Machen of a Friday and Saturday nights to drink at The Forge and Hammer,and of course The Hornblower.....I had loads of style....still do !
Jethro ;D
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[/quote]
.....I had loads of style....still do !
Jethro ;D
[/quote]
Ermm.....has anyone noticed this style he's referring to?? :)
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Given my usual riding gear consists of a day-glo Gericke textile jacket with either black textile trousers or, if it's dry, black leather bike trousers then I'm never likely of being accused of being a dandy!
I do own leathers though (bought for doing trackdays) but they're pretty basic and just black with a bit of grey. The only bit of bike kit I own that could be accused of being slightly flash is that I do have a FM Magic Roundabout "Time for Bed" helmet, although I don't wear it often.
Being a fat bastard makes it difficult to look good, so I've never seen much point in trying...
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.....I had loads of style....still do !
Jethro ;D
WHAT :o
Have I missed something ???
Smudge , no longer have need for Brylcream . Went to see Pancho ,my stylist ,and after much debate ,decided on a No 1 . Now then , where's my Elvis wig ?
Rob .
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Smudge , no longer have need for Brylcream . Went to see Pancho ,my stylist ,and after much debate ,decided on a No 1 . Now then , where's my Elvis wig ?
Rob .
Pancho the Barber !!!
Cardiff equiverlant to Mr Magoo ! Did he do it all by touch.?.....and read your bumps at the same time ?
Jethro
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I think some of us are mixing image and style. or are the two interchangeble in much the same way as needs and wants are used.
discuss in 3000 words as the say at college.
Personally I think I have style but my teenagers would happily deny I had any at all.
Short fat and hairy is in my opinion a style which should be at the for front of motorcycle fashion.
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Pancho the Barber !!!
Cardiff equiverlant to Mr Magoo ! Did he do it all by touch.?.....and read your bumps at the same time ?
Jethro
OI ! that's my stylist we're on about here ! Pancho is not a mere barber ,He is an artiste ,........... albeit with thick glasses.
BM , short fat and hairy could be a pigeon hole in which a few of us fit..with a bit of persuasion ,ask Jethro ;D
Rob .
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Dont you ever, dont you ever
Stop being dandy, showing me youre handsome
Dont you ever, dont you ever
Stop being dandy, showing me youre handsome
Graham Carrick
Graham Carrick
Ridicule is nothing to be scared of
Dont you ever, dont you ever
Stop being dandy, showing me youre handsome
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/2855618950_9c28d51ee0.jpg?v=0)
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LOL, saw the Ants live at the Cardiff Top Rank, just before he became a popstar. I remember an auditorium full of punks all saying "eh? what's all this red indian stuff about?"
GC
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BM , short fat and hairy could be a pigeon hole in which a few of us fit..with a bit of persuasion ,ask Jethro ;D
Rob .
Not too sure which Pidgeons Hole you happen to be talking about Rob ?
I gave a full explanation to the Police at the time and was not charged !!!!!
Percy Thrower.
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They suspected fowl play ,no doubt ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Rob .
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And it takes a lot to ruffle a policman's feathers...
Jethro should get out more, he's been cooped up too long.
GC
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BM , short fat and hairy could be a pigeon hole in which a few of us fit..with a bit of persuasion ,ask Jethro ;D
Rob .
Shoorly shome mishtake a Pigeon would be short fat and feathery? Maybe it was a rabbit or a guinie pig?
We should know
R
Not too sure which Pidgeons Hole you happen to be talking about Rob ?
I gave a full explanation to the Police at the time and was not charged !!!!!
Percy Thrower.
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I'm beginning to suspect you lot are avian a laff. 'swan pun after another, ducking the main issue, making yourself a bunch of tits, sucking in the gull-ible, deliberately heron things wrong - I'm telling you it'll all come home to roost!
Hat, coat, exit .............
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Falcon hell did you have to start that we will all be raven on again. Swallow you pride chough up to your bustard error and we wont owl in annoance.
May thrush be a visitor.
R
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AAAAARGH!
(http://thebsreport.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/terrified1.jpg?w=145&h=120)
STOP IT!
GC
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CUCKOO!!!! ;D
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I'm feeling sick as a parrot :'(
All in a flap .
Rob