The nights are drawing in, both my combos have lost their front sidecar lights at the same time, strange but true, and instead of sorting them I’m keeping busy on the photo front. Dated pics are being moved from les melanges to their respective years in the main timeline. An obvious move, in hindsight. At the same time dated pics from the huge backlog (merci, Francois, mon ami) are being uploaded, sometimes entailing some caption research. The earliest additions can be found in the 1890s; as I write this I’m taking a break from 1926. On which subject, I was adding a couple of snaps from the 1926 Paris-Nice rally when I noticed that an existing caption pointed readers at the extensive Paris-Nice report in Images of Yesteryear (part 5), authored by my oh-so-valued collaborator Francois and published by kind permission of him and the Leicester Phoenix MCC (wotcha Ben). Readers are recommended to check out the club’s excellent rally/touring site lpmcc.net without delay. The point being (yes, there is one) that I’d forgotten how bloody good Images of Yesteryear is. If you haven’t visited it (via the main menu) you’re in for a treat. The themed essays and photo galleries are les bolleaux de chien. I just had to pull myself away—this is also a problem with Murray’s electronic Tragatsch (https://ozebook.com/), the Grace’s Guide to industrial history (https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/) and Sheldon’s Emu (https://cybermotorcycle.com/) which is packed with marque histories, specialised articles and so much more. Be warned—all three sites are addictive. Murray, whose work rate puts me to shame, has even compiled a PDF version of the main body of this timeline laid out as an electronic book which is a bloody delight. Nuff said, back to 1926.
Motorcycle Timeline 