Motorcycle fuel tanks are such works of art.

They might be sky blue, or British racing green.
Or they could be white, purple, orange, red, silver or gold.

And the sizes and shapes of motorcycle gas tanks are so creative, too.
Some are big and rounded; some boxy and tiny.

Then there are the tank decals and badges.
They can look like pieces of glittering silver jewellery.

It’s not often I get to see hundreds of Triumph motorcycle gas tanks all in one place…

But this year, our annual Triumph rally was an international event.
Riders came from all over the world, united by their love of Triumph motorcycles.

So when I wasn’t busy catching up with friends I haven’t seen since the last rally, I prowled the camping ground checking out all the bikes, and snapping off photo after photo.

Now normally, I’m very organised about getting all the details of the motorcycles I photograph. I like to know which is which, and what’s what.

But not this time.

There was NO CHANCE of keeping careful notes at this rally.

I was too distracted by dozens of chatty bikers.
And I was still reeling from our adventure in actually getting to the rally…

The Back Story in a Nutshell

Before we hit the road, Pat and I were working long hours to get everything done.
By the time we left, we were tired, and we were cranky.
We were in serious need of some open road motorcycle therapy.

Luckily, we were about to get some.

On our first day in the saddle, we rode one of the most boring roads in New Zealand; hours of straight stretches, crowded with angry traffic.

The boredom was suddenly broken by the panic of riding through clouds of thick smoke from a farmer’s burning field.
Visibility dropped to zero as we chugged through a throat-choking brown fog, hoping and praying that we were not about to crash.

The air cleared, and eventually we arrived in Christchurch, over-heated and stressed.
But we found a very cool motorcycle store to stop in.
Armed with iced coffee and cold water, we visited with some new Royal Enfields and fell in love with this delicious red Norton…

Taking a deep breath, we plunged back into the crazy post-earthquake traffic of Christchurch (the roads are still chaos).
We were nearly at the end of the day’s ride, and our destination was the harbour.
Our friend Neil had invited us to stay on his yacht – what a treat!

After a warm night looking up at the stars through the open hatch, we woke to a peaceful vista of boats swaying gently in the water.

Neil cooked us a beautiful breakfast in his little galley kitchen (home made hash browns, are you kidding me?).
And we were off again riding through the sunshine.

Just over 100 km up the road, we found the rally site down a long winding road.
It was packed with Triumph motorcycles and their smiling owners.

I looked around at all those bikes, and my mouth started to water.
Clearly, there were photos to be taken here.

But with a constant stream of friendly bikers with a thousand stories to tell, there was just no chance of taking an orderly approach to the process.

Who cares?
I wanted to share these photos with you anyway.

Here’s a round-up of the varied and beautiful Triumph motorcycle gas tanks I managed to snap in between all the chatting and hugging!

Triumph Motorcycle Gas Tanks: 27 Highlights

These Motorcycle Gas Tanks Were Like an Art Exhibition!

Wandering among all these incredible Triumph bikes was honestly like being in a mind-blowing art gallery.
Except no-one was sipping white wine, or wearing $2,000 designer shoes.

And you know what else was so cool about all these motorcycle fuel tanks?

Not only were they varied and individually beautiful.
They were also covered in road dirt.

These motorcycle gas tanks are hard-working, practical pieces of art!

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Motorcycle Tanks: My Secret Obsession