![[*]](http://us.yimg.com/images/rating2.gif){kind=small}
- cross-country ride
linking the people and places that made the Internet happen and will continue to shape its
growth. Motorcycle Book List
This is a non-technical list of books and travelogues recommended by various people. If you have selections not on the list please send us a line and we'll get them on!
"If you're looking to expand your motorcycle library and knowledge....."Ihor Yermolenko
Did you know that at Hamline and University there stood "The Twin City Motordome"?
It opened May 30th 1914 with 18,000 spectators crowding around the 58 degree banked quarter mile pine board track. Even then Minnesota governor Eberhart was there! This track ran "every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday night" with motorcycles turning 90 mph laps.
Or, do you know of the St. Paul built Cyclone manufactured by the Joerns Motor Mfg Comp. which dominated those board tracks?
Those that saw the "Art of the Motorcycle" show in Chicago or the immense coffee-table book of the show will remember this beauty.
Do you know the story of Albert G. Crocker and his brazzen young rider "Rollie" Free and how these two men hated Harley-Davidson?
If you're unfamiliar with Rollie Free you must be reading this by mistake at the hair-dressers.....
You can learn more about Mr. Free in the section of a book about Vincent and other marks called "The Spirit of the Motorcycle" by Micheael Dregni of St. Paul and published by Voyageur Press of Stillwater, Minnesota. It has to be THE book to give yourself or your motorcycle friends for the holidays. It's well written, beautifully photographed and even has motorcycle poetry, such as Arlo Guthrie's "I don't want a pickle, I just want to ride on my motor-sickle or Richard Thompson's ode
Said young James
"In my opinion..." "there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a red-headed girl..."
"Now Nortons and Indians and Greeves won't do..."
"They don't have soul like a Vincent '52...."
and later
"He reached for her hand and gave her the keys...."
He said "I don't have any further use for these.."
"I see Angels on Ariels in leather and chrome, swooping down from heaven to carry me home..."
"He gave her one last kiss and died, and he gave her his Vincent to ride..."
(Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning")
Silicon Alley to Silicon Valley - cross-country ride
linking the people and places that made the Internet happen and will continue to shape its
growth.
10 Years on 2 Wheels - by Helge Pedersen. A photographer's journey around the world on a motorcycle.
751, The - motorcycle trip across North America inspired by $751 found in a puddle.
American Borders - Dispatches from techno-mechanical cyberjournalist Carla King during her 4 month journey around the borders of America on her Russian sidecar motorcycle equipped with PowerBook 520.
Arold's Africa Adventure - stories, pictures, and facts from a trip from the Netherlands to South Africa.
Around the World Following the Sun - Bernarda "Benka" Pulko's trip around the world. In English and Slovene.
Awaken to Africa - solo journey from South to North Africa by Yamaha tt600 motorcycle.
Canning Stock Route Project (CSR on motorbike) - from Perth to Darwin on motorbikes.
Geoff and Chris' Motorcycle Adventure - information on a trip on the Cabot Trail.
Iowa City Area Online Motorcycling Guide - promoting motorcycling/racing info for area motorcyclists. Ride and race schedules, favourite roads, speed traps, clubs and related links.
Karim's Adventure and Motorbiking Disasters - stories and photos of desert biking trips on a Yamaha XT600 Tenere Plus in Africa and from London to Cairo.
La Ruta Maya - information on traveling the Maya Route by motorcycle.
McGonigal's World Tour Page - from an Australian travel author and photographer on a two year motorcycle tour around the world with his scientist wife.
Motorcycle Trip to Nevada and Southern Utah
Motorcycling in California - Lots of information about motorcycling in California, including route information and resources, as well as tons of indexed links to sites all over the world.
On Two Wheels In Spain - take a virtual journey with a couple who spent six months in southern Spain.
Pluto's World Tattoo Tour - Pluto is an Irish-Canadian tattoo artist, and he's traveling the world on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle with sidecar.
Riding to the Moon - details of an intercontinental benefit expedition.
RoadTrip '95 - A 26 day, 8000km motorcycle trip that took these two Canadians, Christian Vandendorpe and Neal Bach, through 5 countries around Europe.
Touring the Americas - pictures and letters from his trip.
True America - twelve-month writing tour of the United States, written, produced and uploaded twice-weekly from the seat of a motorcycle.
Two Down - an educational travelogue of a six month motorcycle adventure in Australia.
Ultimate Journey - young couple spends 15 months with an around the world adventure on motorcycles.
World Tour Pages of Arto Rasimus - details of his trip started in July, 1997.
Kickstart- "Hello Folks,there seem to be you who
don't like books about real life &
motorcycles, what then about books of real fiction, with British-made motos? For instance:
in Douglas Rutherford's 'Kick start' (1973) the central role is given to a Norton Commando
(the author says in the cover that one was loaned him from the factory), which is used in
some hair-rising commuting between the Gatwick airport and London
city, then on rough terrains in Africa. Really well-built, at least the book... though a
bit like James Bond films.
Then, John Irving's 2nd novel, 'Setting free the bears' (1968) a fast going Royal Enfield
Constellation is well described - used, too - also when not to be seen, a drop of oil on
the ground shows where it
had a rest... The start is impressive, when motorcycle goggles show everything more golden
than normally, and the Trip begins with flowers in the hair - to be given soon away...
Also an OHC NSU has a
significant role in the book. You can guess my bikes are ready, and the snow keeps
falling here...
keijo"
"Buddy Holly is Alive and
Well on Ganymede," by Bradley Denton "In my youth I read a science
fiction yarn called "Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede," by Bradley
Denton, I believe. The protagonist of the story spends a lot of time riding around on an
Ariel Cyclone similar to the one that Holly rode. Gaveme a hankerin' for a Cyclone which
has never been satisifed, matter of fact. "
Roger Los
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance Robert Pirsig
(Living in Minnesota near Lake and Hennipen then) Happy to admit I found
this book to be extraordinarily helpful. Not to be confused with easy to
read. Learning to live with both what Pirsig terms classical thinking and romantic
thinking is a
dilemma faced by many, not the least motorcyclists. See the classical as say, an anal
retentive BMW style mentality which would be uncomfortable to live in, but which results
in great engineering quality. I've seen bikes
built by these guys, the engineering's stunning but the whole lacks something important.
See the romantic as that sort of thinking which inspires the most impossibly impractical
but stylish chopper, an equally uncomfortable mentality long term. Look at that thing,
extraordinary, but it must handle and perform so poorly. Now imagine the blend of both
which might turn out the most practical as well as stylish Triton, great engineering and
style melded together. Look at the Britten for a modern example. The great
motorcycle builders have always spanned this divide. Vincent for example. The reason
Pirsig chose motorcycling as his analogy was because it is a good one. I know this.
Pirsig, as I understand it, was having trouble rationalising life caught between these
extremes and this was one of the themes of the book. Personally I have had this dilemma
all my life also but luckily not to the degree suffered by Pirsig. The one word which
comes to mind when I think of the guy is brave. And as far as accessibility goes, no it is
not very accessible. But see it as akin to trying to rebuild a T160 basket as your first
ever experience of motorcycles or engineering. Difficult, but not impossible, and more
rewarding for making the effort. One thing I have noticed is people will talk to other
people in order to understand an engineering concept but will
not turn around and admit they do not understand a written concept on a page.
regards
Graeme Glover
"The Motorcycle Diaries" by Ernesto 'Che' Gueverra
(Probably not spelled correctly). A very entertaining, and sometimes
hilarious book about a trip by a couple of young students that starts out
on an old Norton. They get into some scrapes that would make any would-be
hooligan proud.
I liked it.
Ralph
Book Reviews -
BOOK REVIEWS 1998 "Jupiter's Travels" - reviewed by Dmiller Dave a.k.a. Dmiller,
has provided his views and his recommendation on a book written by Ted Simon who lived and
wrote the book "Jupiter's Travels". It's about his fifty thousand mile..
--http://araneum.mudservices.com/chatter/reviews/jan98.html
Motorcycle Humor
- Motorcycle Humor Moron's Guide to Buying A Motorbike Book Information Author: Elmer Machowiny Length: 100 pages Publication Date: Jan 1999 ISBN: Synopsis: Buzz, a middle-aged man in mid-life crisis, decides he wants to buy a motorcycle. Wishing...Bullet Press - motorcycle adventure storie
--http://www.bulletpress.com/
THE COMPLETE MOTORCYCLE BOOK
-- Book Contents - 2nd ED. IN HARDCOVER 2nd ED. IN SOFTCOVER BARNES & NOBLE
REVIEWS 2nd ED. IN HARDCOVER AMAZON.COM BOOK READER REVIEWS Click here for a 1999
CyberCycle Magazine Review (MARCH 1996 ISSUE) We ought to be suspicious of any book hyped
as an "exhaustive..
--http://www.dogwork.com/motorcyclebook/reviews/
Motorcycle Books, Videos, CD's - MCMA
Shopping in association with Amazon.co
--http://www.xmax.com/mcma/mag.html
Sessions of York; The Racing
Motorcycle - from Broadland Leisure Publications The Racing Motorcycle A technical
guide for constructors Volume 1 by John Bradley Designing, building or modifying
motorcycles for racing is a very time consuming and expensive process. Success depends
on..
--http://www.pastforward.co.uk/sessions/trm.html
Wolf Hill Elementary School -
Our Book Reviews Ralph and the Motorcycle Reviewed by Brian I rated this book 4 stars! **
The book that I read was about a boy that is from Ohio and is on vacation in a hotel. The
boy's name is Keith. In the hotel he finds a mouse and his name is..
--http://www.monmouth.com/~kwarwick/ralph.htm
Infoseek list of books http://infoseek.go.com/Topic/Good_Life/Hobbies_and_interests/Motorcycles/Motorcycle_publications
Amazon Books on Motorcycles http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-6081508-0250844
Norton reading list:
Under construction……General Technical reading list:
Under construction……Magazines
Here are some locations and addresses you can contact to order British Bike Magazines:
Motorsport
550 Honey Locust Rd
Jonesburg MO 63351
314-488-3113
Classic Bike - try http://www.motorcycleworld.co.uk/
Classic Bike Guide
ClassBikes@AOL.comThe Classic Motorcycle- now owned by the Old Bike Mart people at
http://www.oldbikemart.co.uk/Classic Auto Restorer
This magazine has no adds. Though it is not about motorcycles, it is about how to restore vehicles, and is invaluable.
I'll add the address in a few days.
A book source
http://www.motorcyclebooks.com/