a thousand words
STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK
LOVE ON WHEELS MY FIRST VEHICLE WAS a Triumph motorcycle. It was kept just inside the garage door behind my mother’s Valiant. I would come out in the morning, swing my leg over the seat and rock it upright, engage the choke and fuel valve under the tank, and turn on the ignition. Most often, the engine would start on the second kick. I was sixteen. Just. To this day, when I see someone use an electric starter, I chuckle to myself and stand a little straighter. The exhaust cadence of an English twin, with its cylinder arrangement different from the Harley, will still turn my head. I don’t have a lot of bike moments on my highlight reel, but I do remember taking Cheryl Baker for a short ride after school one day. It was an out-of-body experience for me. Cheryl was as hot as they come. Way too much woman for me. Think Farrah. Not just that, but she drove a razor-clean 327 El Camino to school. There were only two motorcycles at Central Bucks High, so in retrospect I must have had some cred, but I was a dweeb and a loner. All the cool kids parked behind the grandstand, and I put my bike outside the gym.
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ICON | JANUARY 2022 | ICONDV.COM
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