Basket case

Spotted on a rare Gilera 300 twin (basically a doubled up 150 Tourismo) - a wicker top box. Apparently this was a genuine option back when the bike was new.


Nearly all bikes had a top box fitted at some point back in the seventies - I guess when your bike was your only form of transport, you had to be able to put the shopping somewhere. If memory serves, they really took off when helmets became compulsory, and leaving your helmet locked to the bike wasn't an option - you'd return to find some wag had stuffed the remains of his fish supper into it.

Then the street racer thing took off, and the top boxes disappeared. But a rucksack's a pain, and as autumn appears I realise I use the car not because I mind getting wet, but because I worry about cameras, paperwork and such getting wet. So maybe a wicker basket is the way forward...