Ultimate Collector Motorcycles Book Review [Riders Library]

May 21, 2023 Yura

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.

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.”

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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“Going the Erroneous Way” Motorcycle Guide Critique [Rider’s Library]

March 21, 2023 Yura

In the 1970s, Northern Ireland’s Belfast was a cauldron of sectarian strife and violence. Disillusioned 21-one particular-yr-aged Chris Donaldson, the eventual creator of “Going the Wrong Way”, made a decision to see if the world—specifically that element of it termed Australia—had anything greater to provide.

His ticket out was a Moto Guzzi Le Mans motorcycle his passport was his Irish grit, sense of humor, and conviction that there had to be a little something better–a position of peace and amazing sights to see.

His plan was to acquire the spherical-about scenic route to the land down beneath. Just how round-about his itinerary would turn out to be was much much more than he could have at any time anticipated, and how picturesque—and eye-opening—would considerably exceed anything at all he could have predicted.

His amazing journey grew to be a lot a lot more than 1 prolonged motorbike trip. It was an odyssey that would take a look at him in ways he could hardly ever have planned for, and would reward him in methods he would only come to fully grasp decades later on.

Without a doubt, Donaldson’s “Going the Erroneous Way” is as considerably a memoir as it is a motorbike touring tale. It is a impressive history of a time now past that simply cannot be recaptured– a time when Donaldson experienced enlightenment about himself and the human situation in considerably-flung parts of the globe.

He professional outstanding, sudden kindness, friendship, and generosity among men and women who basically had nothing to give, as effectively as those who would trigger him harm, take his several belongings, and victimize him. In the course of his journey, he witnessed wrenching poverty, hunger, and the ravages of war, ignorance, and cruelty. He would also forge friendships, see ancient wonders, and stand in awe of normal elegance.

He would experience each individual hazard and privation lifetime on the road can serve up, from bitter cold, snow, rain, mud, sand, extreme heat, really serious illness, thirst, and starvation to dizzying mountain roadways, mechanical failures, and punishing street problems that would pressure him to improvise repairs to his Moto Guzzi Le Mans. For instance, at just one point, he had to lace his front suspension with each other with rope!

Donaldson’s authentic plan named for a journey of about four months and 10,000 miles with Australia as his vacation spot. In “Going the Mistaken Way,” he chronicles an epic spanning 20 months, masking 39,000 miles, and embracing 33 nations, like sailing as an impromptu crewman on a racing yacht—and still under no circumstances reaching Australia! Donaldson appears back on it this way:

My journey was so intensive that, practically every single working day, a thing occurred that I would don’t forget. Some forty many years later on, I can still glance at my maps and try to remember how scorching it was, where I slept. The Iranian Revolution stopped me from using to Australia, but I ought to thank the Ayatollah, as the chaos

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Motorbike Streamliner Ebook Evaluation [Rider’s Library]

January 22, 2023 Yura

If you did not know any other title associated with motorcycle land velocity racing, here’s just one to try to remember: Denis Manning.Manning has intended and designed much more land pace history-environment motorcycles than any individual. The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame member’s land pace racing occupation stretches back 6 decades and includes remaining the designer, builder, and chief of groups that fielded 7 of the swiftest bikes in the environment.

The Bub 7 streamliner and crew on the salt at Bonneville Speedy at the 2009 Cook dinner Invitational. Manning (third from left) noticed his pilot Chris Carr (fourth from remaining) established a new planet motorcycle land velocity document at a two-way normal speed of 367.382 mph. A 12 months later, Rocky Robinson set a new report in the Prime 1 Oil Ack Assault at 376.363 mph.

Now, Manning has composed a book that tells the amazing story of his job in a very clear, conversational style. Looking at it is like being with him in his shop, taking part in the most effective bench racing session in record. Bike Streamliner—My Lifetime in the Quickest Lane tells Manning’s story in higher detail and with much more personalized perception than any other account, and does it with humor, complex detail, and poignancy.Alongside the way, Manning tells about the quite a few greats in land velocity racing—riders, tuners, builders, workforce members, celebration personnel, supporters, and additional. Some you could have heard of, other people it’s possible not. The guide incorporates insights about Chris Carr, Bob Leppan, Jim Bruflodt, Boris Murray, Leo Payne, Monthly bill Johnson, George Smith, Sr., Cal Rayborn, Warner Riley, Dick O’Brien, Alex Tremulis, Earl Flanders, Valerie Thompson, Jack Wilson, Dan Kinsey, Rocky Robinson, Don Vesco, and many additional.Manning has built or competed with devices powered by Suzuki, Harley-Davidson, Triumph, and Norton engines. He even made a bespoke powerplant for his “7” streamliner.To any who may possibly be influenced by Manning’s achievement to make a streamliner of their very own and head out to Bonneville Speedway to set some world information, Manning has this warning: “The to start with matter I acquired was that the streamliner handbook experienced very little but blank web pages. There is no sure-fireplace way to establish a file-environment streamliner on the first test.”

UM Affiliate Editor Gary Ilminen (appropriate) with Denis Manning. “Meeting Denis Manning (L) on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2012 at the Bub Bike Speed Trials was an incredible understanding experience for me,” Ilminen relates. “Over lunch, Manning spelled out why he established that occasion completely for bikes. In the book’s Chapter 8, he addresses the amazingly difficult story in depth.”

Over and above that, Manning presents further more warning about any significantly-fetched strategies about setting up a streamliner on the inexpensive: “Building a motorcycle streamliner goes significantly further than purchasing the suitable areas. Making a record-setting motorbike streamliner includes ‘starting one’s gray matter,’ extra than answering the command of ‘Gentlemen, get started your checkbooks.’ Likely just after the file is

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EV riders: bike suppliers building the leap to electrical | Automotive market

October 15, 2022 Yura

The bike market has complications: its petrolhead riders are ageing, customer quantities are shrinking and bans on fossil-fuel energy are looming.

Startup bicycle-maker Maeving thinks batteries are the solution to all a few. Its RM1 motorbike swaps a noisy petrol motor for a close to-silent electric powered motor and thoroughly clean retro styling. Throughout a take a look at experience at the company’s factory in close proximity to Coventry – by the Observer’s photographer – the knowledge is sleek, agile and gearless.

“Eco-mindful millennials” are a important market for the organization. “Motorcycling has a large trouble with bringing in new riders,” claims Will Stirrup, just one of Maeving’s co-founders. “The holy grail for motorcycle suppliers is bringing in young buyers.”

The motor vehicle marketplace is currently achieving a tipping place in the shift to batteries, but for motorbikes the challenge is trickier: it is far more hard to cram more than enough electrical energy into their modest frames.

Having said that, a rising number of companies are seeking their luck. Harley-Davidson, the biggest US motorbike producer, is offering the £29,000 LiveWire, with a 146-mile city using vary, and California-based Zero’s SR/S design begins at £20,100 for a 161-mile city selection. At the other end of the scale is a host of Chinese makers these as Tremendous Soco, whose TSX begins at £2,900 for a 40-mile selection. An additional British startup, Arc, will produce the 1st of its £90,000 Vector sports activities bikes in November.

Historic British marques are also striving to catch up: Norton claimed in June it was creating an electric device Triumph is at the prototype phase and BSA, purchased by Indian billionaire Anand Mahindra, programs to provide a person out soon.

But there is a burgeoning – probably bewildering – array of smaller possibilities. Electrically assisted bicycles are presently vying with electrical force scooters (which are gradually on their way to legalisation in the Uk) and electric powered mopeds.

Stirrup and co-founder Seb Inglis-Jones, 29 and 31 respectively, remaining occupations in finance and advertising and marketing to identified Maeving. They persuaded Graeme Gilbert, formerly head of solution at Triumph, to direct on the style and design of the bicycle with the hope of finding forward of founded makes.

“The sluggishness of the major gamers did give us the possibility,” says Stirrup, standing in the tiny manufacturing facility in which bikes are currently being assembled by hand. The team of 25 has shipped 100 equipment so significantly, and they are hoping to deliver 2,500 bikes a 12 months – if they can get the funding.

The RM1’s removable batteries: swappable electrical power cells could current a remedy to the time spent waiting around for electric powered motorbikes to demand. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian

Two 40-mile-array batteries, made by Samsung, can be charged at house and then slotted into compartments in the RM1 (which commences at £4,495 for a one-battery version). These electric power an in-wheel motor produced by German automotive elements huge Bosch. The bicycle is restricted

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