Tag: Book

Ultimate Collector Motorcycles Book Review [Riders Library]

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Ultimate Collector Motorcycles two-volume set in slipcase.

Masterpiece. Stunning. Superb. Roll out the superlatives; they all apply to Ultimate Collector Motorcycles by Charlotte & Peter Fiell, as it is the ne plus ultra of classic motorcycle literature.

There is little this magnificent two-volume set does not offer the serious motorcyclist, collector, aficionado, broker, trader, builder, designer, restorer, historian, or expert. Of the dozens of books about motorcycles, including classic, rare, and collectible bikes we have reviewed here at Ultimate Motorcycling, nothing comes close to this.

Volumes I and Ii.

Spanning the history of the sport from 1894 to 2020, Ultimate Collector Motorcycles is printed on 940 lavish, heavy bond, 11-by-14-inch pages. It is packed with 990 exceptionally detailed color images, many of which span two pages, black and white period photographs, illustrations, and advertising art. Each motorcycle profiled is shown and explained with unparalleled clarity.

Even the printed-textile slipcase that the two volumes of the Famous First Edition (there are three editions available) are presented in is a work of art. Its front shows a full-color front-end view of the 1969 Clymer-Münch IV 1200 TT-S Mammoth, and the back displays the 1938 Brough-Superior Golden Dream show bike—the only one ever built.

Authors Charlotte and Peter Fiell explain it this way: “This double-volume work is an unrivaled anthology of collector motorcycles. Spanning the entire history of the motorcycle, it brings together 100 of the most extraordinary, exquisite, rare, and desirable bikes of all time while revealing the enduring pursuit of engineering and design innovation, power, and performance.”

Mike Hailwood Ducati 900.

The 1998 Art of the Motorcycle exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, which featured 114 rare and noteworthy motorcycles on display, “ showed us motorcycles could be treated with respect and dignity; this book tells us how that dignity and respect was earned,” says Jay Leno in his Foreword. If you missed The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition at the Guggenheim, this is better.

Each motorcycle featured is more than just a photo essay; there is a detailed technical and historical narrative, as well. That is no small achievement, as the motorcycles include antiques, prototypes, one-offs, and racing bikes. Many had specifications that were hush-hush to begin with, and enjoyed extremely limited production-run examples. In many cases, it would take painstaking research to develop even basic technical specifications data and production numbers.

Consequently, technical and historical details may be hard to come by. Imagine, for example, tracking down the technical details for the 1894 Hildebrand & Wolfmüller, the one-off 1906 Anzani three-cylinder board track racer (the engine for which was a “W” configuration), or the 1922 Sgonina Special, with its advanced DOHC four-stroke single cylinder engine, another production run of one.

Ultimate Collector Motorcycles Book Review: 1934 Henderson
1934 Henderson JK Streamline Custom.

While rare, antique, and classic motorcycles are a central feature of the books, there is also fascinating coverage of some of the world’s most legendary high-performance, custom, and racing motorcycles and their extraordinary personalities. Examples include:

  • ex-Freddie Dixon 1923 eight-valve Harley-Davidson board track
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Classic Motorcycles Book Review [32 Bikes Road Tested]

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Over the years, author Lester Morris has ridden some of the world’s rarest, most expensive, and highly exotic motorcycles and written comprehensive road tests on them. His latest book, Classic Motorcycles 32 Great Bikes and their Road Test Reports, compiles updated road tests of some of the most interesting bikes.

When I got in touch with Morris about the book and found it included his road test impressions of the 1970 Triumph Bandit prototype, that was it, I wanted to get a copy. Of course, I knew I’d be interested in the other 31 classic reviews, but the saga of the DOHC 350cc twin that was to have been marketed as the Triumph Bandit and BSA Fury is a story I’ve been interested in for some time.

Classic Motorcycle Book Review: Triumph Bandit 350
Morris did a retrospective ride review of the 1970 DOHC 350cc Triumph Bandit in 1984, and that fascinating story is included in his latest book.

Indeed, I wrote about it here six years ago in “The Sad Case of the Triumph Bandit/BSA Fury 350: What Might Have Been.” When I wrote that article, I knew of only two period reviews of the pre-production prototype—one by Bob Braverman in Cycle Guide and the other by Bob Greene in England’s Motorcycle Sport Quarterly. Then, in 2019, a comment from none other than Mr. Morris himself appeared below my article, informing me that he also wrote a retrospective review of a Triumph Bandit 350 that was published in 1984. Here’s what Morris had to say in that comment:

I carried out a carefully detailed road test report on a prototype 350cc DOHC Triumph Bandit for the Australian motorcycle magazine ‘Two Wheels’, the report published in 1984. I found the small machine to a be a mini-rocket ship (for a 350, it must be remembered), with great handling and powerful brakes – yes, including the rear anchor – but also suggested the gear change lever’s travel was far too great, but the riding position was perfect for my diminutive size of just on 1.6M (5′ 3″). The rockerbox covers fouled the top frame rails, and the gearbox filler could not be used unless the carburettors were removed, but both these problems, in particular the ‘long travel’ gear change, were minor quibbles and would assuredly have been attended to before production began. It was a monumental tragedy for Triumph that its senior management were too dumb not to have the little bike’s enormous potential. It would have blown its Japanese competition sideways. How sad it all was, how very sad! 

So, it turns out that Morris—a noted moto-journalist who actually got to ride a Triumph Bandit—came away with the same feeling that I had about the positive impact the bike might have had on the long-term fortunes of the foundering BSA-Triumph company.

In his review of the Bandit, Morris goes into great technical detail on the design and workings of the machine, its performance on the road, and how it did in some play racing against

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