KIWI RIDER 11 2019 VOL2 | Page 80

WORDS: ROGER MORONEY TOM CRUISE PUNTS A TRIUMPH THRUXTON THROUGH LONDON IN THE MOVIE ‘EDGE OF TOMORROW’ CELEBRITIES AND MOTORCYCLES O kay then… A spot of celebrity name dropping. What do David Beckham, Hugh Laurie, Pink, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and Bear Grylls all have in common? Yes, they’ve all been on TV. But wait - as they say - there’s more. They all ride Triumph motorcycles. Yep, even stylish singer and songwriter Pink… and good on her… why not? She boots about on a few bikes, but mostly aboard a Hinckley Triumph T100 Bonneville… so the lass clearly has some class on the two-wheeled front. I guess her love of motorcycling was powered along to a degree by being married to former motocross ace Cary Hart. And yep, the others I mentioned all have Triumphs of some sort. For the world of motorcycling is an enticing one of style, power, adventure and fun. Lots of it if you have the sort of dosh they’ve got to satiate their biking desires. Old Becks? He’s long been a fan of motorcycles and is often spotted aboard one of his chopped Harley-Davidsons or one of his many Triumphs. He even went adventuring through Brazil on 80 KIWI RIDER a modified Triumph T100 five years ago for a documentary rather intriguingly titled ‘Into the Unknown’. Mind you, he would have had a fair old back-up crew with him. And Hugh Laurie… the toff lad from Blackadder and Fry and Laurie… he has long been hooked on bikes. Among his Armada have been power-packers like a Yamaha XJR1300 and a Honda CBR600RR… and a Hinckley Bonneville. George Clooney? Well, being a proud American he’s got some Harley-Davidsons in the garage of course, but he also has a customised Bonneville which has a racing seat hump and cam covers in gleaming… yellow. Nothing like a point of difference. I noted earlier that one of the ingredients in the mix of motorcycling is adventure, so no surprise to discover that television’s high profile adventurer Bear Grylls has long turned a throttle grip. Sounds like he kind of moved up through the capacity riding ranks like most of us (especially those with modest means). For he got about on 125s way back, before surging up to some one-litre jobs and recently a Triumph Tiger. Triumphs certainly appear to have a