Patina is a word too often used in the great industry of old things. Old furniture, old buildings, old boats, cars and of course bikes. And many, many other areas too: my farmer neighbour, Bernard, for example, has a vast collection of quite seriously patinated tractors. They’ve been ploughing their fields for decades, so of course they’re patinated. I mean, who would restore a tractor? Such was my thinking before I actually met Bernard, who does of course restore tractors, in company with his engineer son, Chris.
You might remember that I recently acquired an old 650 Triumph, a 1982 Thunderbird with a long history – mainly of neglect and seriously budget-conscious maintenance – if that’s the correct word. The old Thunderbird is of course considerably patinated, plainly it too…
