Motorcycle racing books

My books.

Very, very nice topschrott. Who wrote the Daijiro Kato book, and what´s it like?
Mike Scott isn´t everyone´s cup of tea, but I love the way he writes. His Wayne Rainey biography was great IMO.

Very, very nice topschrott. Who wrote the Daijiro Kato book, and what´s it like?
Mike Scott isn´t everyone´s cup of tea, but I love the way he writes. His Wayne Rainey biography was great IMO.

Hi,

262 Page..........

I have the Kato book and would recommend it.

I have the Kato book and would recommend it.

If you want a proper book, get Franco Andreatini's biography of Dorino Serafini. (Italian text only but still worth it for the photos if you cannot read Italian). And Piero Taruffi's autobiography is a cracker - English version available.
For a very recent publication, see "Suzuki at the TT: 1960 to 1967" by Elwyn Roberts

Couldn't agree more.

I am more frequently lurking on TNF but pop over here from time to time, and very good it is too. I have just been reading about the unfortunate Cal Rayborn which brought back sad memories I thought I had forgotten of what I saw that day at Pukekohe . . .

Can anyone point me in the direction of any books that cover pre-war motorcycle racing, perhaps in the way Chris Nixons Racing the Silver Arrows does for cars ?

I am not aware of anything along the lines of Nixon's excellent Silver Arrows book - which is interesting to a motorcycle fan not least because of the cross-over - Varzi, Nuvolari etc. The nearest may be Colombo's Lario TT but I do not think that there is anything in English. Vic Willoughby's "The Racing Motorcycle" has an informative chapter on pre WW2 race bikes.
Failing any recent publications, you may need to delve into the ancient publications, e.g. "Continental Circus" published by the TT Special in 1949, written by Ted Mellors who had by then sadly passed away. It can still be found occasioanlly at shows.

Has anyone here so far seen the new title MotoGP Source Book? I wonder whether it includes results beyond the points finishers...
http://www.amazon.co...duct/1844257231

I am not aware of anything along the lines of Nixon's excellent Silver Arrows book - which is interesting to a motorcycle fan not least because of the cross-over - Varzi, Nuvolari etc. The nearest may be Colombo's Lario TT but I do not think that there is anything in English. Vic Willoughby's "The Racing Motorcycle" has an informative chapter on pre WW2 race bikes.
Failing any recent publications, you may need to delve into the ancient publications, e.g. "Continental Circus" published by the TT Special in 1949, written by Ted Mellors who had by then sadly passed away. It can still be found occasioanlly at shows.

Serafini, thanks for your reponse. I will keep a look out for Continental Circus

Serafini, thanks for your reponse. I will keep a look out for Continental Circus

There is a copy of Continental Circus for sale now on e-bay
Gary

Edited by gmwzorro, 23 November 2009 - 19:49.

I have this 1965 German book called
Sieg und Niederlage by Max Deubel und Emil Horner
with pasted in Photo's with Autographs.
Think it is a real treasure?
Paul

Edited by paulhooft, 31 December 2009 - 20:54.

I really didn't enjoy the Mat Oxley book STEALING SPEED one little bit. His toe curling use of the English language and his phraseology would do a Sun reporter proud. A great story spoilt IMO.

http://forums.cyclew...ad.php?t=249421

see Ray Battersby's reply to my comments on STEALING SPEED, printed below.

*************

Erich Wolf - inventor of the expansion chamber exhaust

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suzukijo has tempted me out of my box by seemingly reading between the lines of the 1961 Degner defection. The essential secrecy of this story - where those involved lived literally in fear of their lives - has provoked a great number of myths and legends. It has cast Ernst Degner as the baddie and Walter Kaaden as its genial and genius goodie.

For many years, I have toyed with the misinformation and rumours that have circulated about Degner and his defection. These myths and legends have not been challenged by the surface-scratching research of Degners many biographers over the last forty eight years. They have been content to regurgitate the errors of other writers to produce a rounded, plausible, interesting story. A professional writer does not have the time to conduct a great deal of original research. It is easier to read what others have written and then to form an opinion.

A good example of this recycling of errors is contained in the excellent MZ history written by Jan Leek who says that Walter Kaaden designed the 4S 293 missile. Actually what Jan meant to type was the HS 293, a typo not spotted by later authors who have repeated the same error.

Yes, we all love a story of mystery and intrigue so it is all too easy to believe what has been dished up so far. To a world so easily persuaded to part with confidential banking data by simply not applying the litmus test "Does it sound right?", it is small wonder these myths and legends still circulate.

Here is an example of a truth-defying myth. Degner deliberately blew up his MZ 125cc engine in Sweden in 1961 so that he could get on with his defection. RUBBISH. Here is a man who can win his first World Championship in this race and still defect afterwards as planned, not as the runner up but as the World Champion! Think how much more Suzuki would have paid Degner to join them as the reigning 125cc World Champion. In fact his DNF would not have allowed a speedier defection because the Kristianstad paddock was in the centre of the circuit with no bridge or tunnel to the outside world. So after his DNF, Degner had to wait with his car in the paddock until the race was over. And if he had been so keen to defect, why did he not turn left into West Germany instead of driving aboard the ferry to Sweden that weekend?

One of the most hurtful myths to the Degner family is the manner in which Ernst Degner died in 1983. According to web and printed media, he died in no less than five different ways, all incorrect; he died in a car accident, he was shot, he slit his own throat, he died of a drug overdose, he was assassinated by the STASI using a lethal injection. The truth is that he died of a heart attack.

For over thirty years I have studied the story of the Degner defection by meeting with those who were there at the time and have a story to tell. These have included Ernst Degner, Jimmy Matsumiya (his confederate), Messrs Ishikawa, Matsui and Nishi (of Team Suzuki), Frank Perris (rider), Mick Woollett (journalist) and Ralph Newman (Avon tyres) who were all staying in the Kristianstad hotel when Degner fled. I have interviewed Gerda Degner, his widow and their sons Boris and Olaf. I have questioned the widow of the man who smuggled the Degner family across the border in the boot of his car and I have heard the only tape recording of her late husband describing what he did and how he did it during an in-depth - though private - interview.

But the more I research this story, the more myths I come across. And these myths surround Walter Kaaden too. He is cast as being betrayed by his friend Ernst and often given the sobriquet genius or father of the modern two-stroke. And yet if you believe that he invented the expansion chamber, the rotary disc valve or the boost port, you would be wrong. Whilst these were all invented (and sometimes patented) by German engineers, they were all in the public domain before Kaaden used them and in the case of the rotary valve and the boost port, whilst Kaaden was still wearing short trousers.

People who have interviewed Kaaden told me that he was a nice man with an affable, avuncular personality. But he surely was not quite as clever as modern non-technical historians would have us believe.

For example, it is said that Kaaden worked at Peenemunde during World War II designing the V1 (Flying Bomb). I am uncertain that Kaaden ever worked at Peenemunde - though he may have been involved in some way with the HS 293 guided missile. This missile was actually invented by Professor Herbert Wagner at the Henschel aircraft factory at Berlin-Schoenefeld - not Peenemunde. It was in the Wagner team that Kaaden worked during the war. But when it all ended, why was Kaaden not snatched up by Von Braun or Herbert Wagner as they assembled their engineering teams for work in the USA? And after being passed over, what made the engineer Kaaden decide to set up a wood-working shop instead of an engineering workshop? These are the imponderables that will need to be filled with educated guesses.



Suzukijo reproduces an intriguing photo of a row of expansion chambers as fitted to early IFAs (IFA was not renamed MZ until 1956). What does this photo prove? In my view not as much as the above photograph proving that the first racing motorcycle to be equipped with an expansion chamber was actually a 1951 DKW 350-3. This futuristic machine was designed by their chief engineer, Erich Wolf, who also invented its expansion chambers. It revved to over 10,000 and was a potent racer.

The following season (1952) Kurt Kampf - IFA's racing manager - copied the Wolf design and fitted an expansion chamber to an IFA racer. Kaaden succeeded Kampf as race manager at IFA the following year (1953) and continued the work of Kampf on expansion chambers. But who mentions the important parts played by Wolf and Kampf in the story of Walter Kaaden?

And here is the reason; we all like to see David slaying Goliath so our natural sympathies lie with poor old Walter Kaaden and his MZs, running on a shoestring budget and giving the mighty Honda the scare of its life.

Here is another truth. The guy who drove the Degner family over the border into West Germany lived in fear of his life. For the rest of his life. His wife told me that he always slept with a loaded pistol under his pillow because of his fear of STASI retribution. No wonder the people involved have kept schtum for so long and allowed the truth to be enveloped in a fog of histrionic rumours. To this day, Mrs Petry is reluctant to discuss the fine details.

The above casts a weak light into the murky depths surrounding the Degner defection. Yet there are other technical and historical truths that need to be told. One day, I hope to set the record straight, once and for all by publishing an account of what I believe to be the truth. Until then, I am resigned to being vexed by the myth-ridden scribblings of others.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
******************

Ray's reply is reprinted above, never in my dreams would i think Ray wuold have replied to my post.
the degner defection story is fascinating, having Ray add his comments to my post, wow.

Stealing Speed, had lots of background information about the time period, and it gives you a feeling for the situation involved.
Rays book "Team Suzuki", has much more detail about the people and actually what happened.

joe

Edited by suzukijo, 22 January 2010 - 17:49.

Obviously Motocourse first of all. -- still looking for affordable copies of 1977-78 and 1978-79....

These 2 can go for anything between less than £100 and well over £200 on fleabay, depending on condition, dustcover etc.
Just keep a saved search on the go for "Motocourse 1977" and "Motocourse 1978" and things will hove into view...!

I do like the way that Motocourse seemed to have an identity of its own in the early years, especially when it sponsored the "Young Rider of the Year " or whatever it was, with BP. "Motocourse thinks that rider x should do another season in the UK before trying his hand in europe" etc etc.

Edited by bobness, 22 January 2010 - 18:08.

Welcome to the forum Suzukijo , fascinating stuff , well done , and thanks for that

Welcome Jo and thanks for these great pics there

http://forums.cyclew...ad.php?t=249281

Welcome Jo and thanks for these great pics there

http://forums.cyclew...ad.php?t=249281

more from Ray, about the degner influence....
***********

Now as to Degner. The truth is that virtually all of the modern two-stroke's performance features - the sort of things that pushed it to an unbeatable performance level in GP racing from 1962 to 2001 - were all inventions of German engineers in the 1920s and 1930s. After the war, the West was simply too proud and arrogant to acknowledge the contribution made by these pioneering engineers and down-played the part they played. "Dammit. Why should we give the vanquished nation any credit. We won the war, Let's plunder their design offices." Which of course, they did with relish and the result was the BSA Bantam, the Saturn rocket and various jet fighter planes.

Degner's defection in 1961 with the MZ's secrets (which Kaaden had - how shall I say this kindly? - 'borrowed' from other manufacturers, most notably DKW and the privately built ZPH racer), placed these concepts in the hands of a company with a massive budget to capitalise on them. This was Industrial Espionage on a large and outrageous scale but few people outside of Suzuki racing fanatics know anything about it.

So Degner revealed to Suzuki all about Mahle's forged alloy pistons, INA's caged needle-roller small-end bearings, the Schneurle (boost) port, the rotary disc valve and the expansion chamber. Once Suzuki knew the basics about these topics they set to work with a zeal. Degner would never have known the formulae for designing an expansion chamber; it was Murai-San who tried various shapes and sizes on the race-shop dyno who worked it all out for himself. So it was Degner who put Suzuki on the right track but it was Suzuki people who worked out the details and continued the quest for more power (and reliability).

And guess what? Today, these same Japanese engineers who were happy to worship at Degner's knee in 1962 are in denial. There are Japanese forums where they gather to explain that they never needed Degner anyway; they could have done it all without him! Well, all I can say is there are very few engineers honest enough to say that he copied a basic design from a competitor. They want to take the credit for themselves.

So once Suzuki had debriefed Degner over the Winter/Spring of 1961/62, apart from any debt of honour, they didn't really need him any longer. They had the means to do it all for themselves. Here's a modern example. Suzuki's TSCC four valve cylinder head design was invented and patented by the late Vincenzo Piatti, an Italian engine designer and a good friend of mine. His licensing contract with Suzuki included a clause that he was never to claim that he had invented TSCC! I know this to be true because I've read Piatti's contract. In fact, at the press launch, Suzuki paraded one of their own engineers - Shirasagi-San - as its inventor. This illustrates just how proud Suzuki were/are and how far they go to shed the image of simply copying other people's ideas.

Now, your own machinery. There is no doubt their engine features were heavily influenced by Degner but I have never heard of these particular versions of production machines. Suzuki, and most Japanese companies, have operated the 'need to know' system for decades so it's perfectly possible that they would issue a race-shop developed performance kit for say, Thailand, and never mention this kit to any European distributor. That's the way they are. For example, how many people know that Suzuki used to race a single seater racing car - in Japan of course. I do know that the race shop built special machines to suit the needs of local markets such as Indonesia.

***************

sorry if this is in the wrong catagory, motorcycle racing books, I am new to forum, and didnt quite know where to put it.

These 2 can go for anything between less than £100 and well over £200 on fleabay, depending on condition, dustcover etc.
Just keep a saved search on the go for "Motocourse 1977" and "Motocourse 1978" and things will hove into view...!

I do like the way that Motocourse seemed to have an identity of its own in the early years, especially when it sponsored the "Young Rider of the Year " or whatever it was, with BP. "Motocourse thinks that rider x should do another season in the UK before trying his hand in europe" etc etc.

Yes, I have seen these two volumes appear quite a number of times in the last few years, but I don’t think I’ve seen them go for under £100 in a long time. I’ve tried other online sellers too, but £280 (UKBookworld or AbeBooks), or higher elsewhere, seems a bit steep to me. There was the suggestion that Motocourse might digitise past editions but I don’t know what happens to that. I might still be able to read them via inter-library loan.

Edited by subh, 27 January 2010 - 16:39.

No answer on "subh's" post 56 ? (. I am still looking for COMPLETE results 1949-1968 .)

Has anyone here so far seen the new title MotoGP Source Book? I wonder whether it includes results beyond the points finishers...
http://www.amazon.co...duct/1844257231

No results are given beyond the points finishers for 500/MotoGP, but each race is shown separately. For the other classes, only the top 10 finishers in the overall championship are shown.

Jim

Just finished reading both the Colin Seeley books , very good , great pics , but at times , a bit drawn out
Just about to start Reg Everett , From Rocker to Racer , i'll let you know

Have chewed my way through the Bill Lomas autobiography, what a good scout he was ! Could pedal ok but a good thinker as well, a most enjoyable read, and sort of like a drawn out chat with the lad. No doubt a professional proof reader would have culled it, but there's no sense of urgency in reading it, and it's a top effort.
Now beginning the Dick Mann bio by Ed Youngblood....curse you, amazon.com...

No results are given beyond the points finishers for 500/MotoGP, but each race is shown separately. For the other classes, only the top 10 finishers in the overall championship are shown.

Jim

Must admit, I was a tad disappointed with this book.
Not as detailed as I'd hoped it would be, but that may have made it somewhat geeky.
I paid £15.90 fom Amazon, and that was about fair. I'd be miffed if I'd have paid the RRP of £30, though.

Just finished reading Reg Everett's book , From Rocker to Racer , a good read of one of the sixties top riders , who quit far to early , IMHO
With some great pics highly recommended

Bought the book ' Yamaha's Glorious Grand Prix History ' by Roger Gowenlock , a great write up of the factory team , blow by blow , race by race , with some excellent pictures and descriptions of the works bikes . Although I was around at the time it is a fascinating and well researched book and bought back wonderful memories of a great time in racing !!!

Agree with all of that, Phil. Very patiently assembled and researched, and he resisted the urge to paint Ivy as the naive victim and Read as the arch-villain which is so often the case, based more often than not on Ivy's subsequent unfortunate demise. And he's not particularly a Read fan, in fact he told me he spent some time interviewing Phil to clear up some relevant matters and found it somewhat trying. So he hasn't let perceptions cloud the narrative either. It'll be seen as a great reference book in the future, I think.

I still cannot understand no book has been made with COMPLETE results on the world championships 50-500/Moto "something"! There must be someone who has these results. I would f.ex. love to know in how many races Bianchi participated and with what drivers ?

Edited by Bjorn Kjer, 28 October 2013 - 06:11.

There is this website:
http://racingmemo.free.fr/

which has been mentioned before, of course...

Paul M

Hallo. Been lurking for awhile so I thought I had better join in.
I was wondering if any of you had come across this excellent pictorial publication by the German publishing house, Text and technik verlag. It´s called, "Days of Glory, the stars of Grand Prix racing", and covers the 50´s, 60´s, 70´s and 80´s.
There are 46 great photo´s of the top men from those times. I´ll reproduce a few from time to time if that is allowed.

Hallo. Been lurking for awhile so I thought I had better join in.
I was wondering if any of you had come across this excellent pictorial publication by the German publishing house, Text and technik verlag. It´s called, "Days of Glory, the stars of Grand Prix racing", and covers the 50´s, 60´s, 70´s and 80´s.
There are 46 great photo´s of the top men from those times. I´ll reproduce a few from time to time if that is allowed.

Welcome to the forum , Terry , hope you will enjoy your experience , and that , I think is a new book to me It will be interesting to see the content

Just received my copy of Mick Walker's " German racing motorcycles", but I'm not overwhelmed by its contents... too many errors and I'm referring only to the obvious ones

Edited by Rennmax, 17 June 2010 - 12:53.

I struggle with some of his stuff. At times they appear to be the result of a rush job, the layouts are kinda dodgy and often the best of the pics are questionably presented. Yes, he's poked out a swag of titles, but sometimes at the expense of the calibre of the output. Hats off though, he's still fairly moderately priced, so must be working to a budget.

I just found a copy of "John Surtees' Motor-cycle Racing Book" from a second hand bookstore here in Helsinki. A surprisingly good book with lots of b/w photos.

Hallo,

I received my copy of the Colin Champman book, written by Karl Ludvigsen, a few weeks ago.
It's a very good read, lots of details, drawings and pictures of his cars.

Just received my copy of the Peter Williams book.
If the text is as good as the pictures and the layout, it will be a very good read.
Haven't read it of corse, but do like the technical drawings of some of the bikes.

Oh and Amazone.co.uk is a cheap place to buy a copy of both.

Groet Remco

I just found a copy of "John Surtees' Motor-cycle Racing Book" from a second hand bookstore here in Helsinki. A surprisingly good book with lots of b/w photos.

Rumour has it that the late Allan Robinson MBE wrote most of it

Just finished reading Ferry Brouwers excellent book ' That Boy ' , covering his life from the beginning to the present , with a terrific insight as mechanic to Phil Read and Jarno Saarinen , amongst others ,marriage , family life , and the setting up of Arai Helmets in Europe , and then the Yamaha Classic Racing Team , book a great read , well written by Natascha Kayser , and available from the YCRT web-site

Just ripping into today's prezzy from the postman, Ken Sprayson : The Frame Man. So far, a ripper, and my lifelong perception of this gent's character is being continually reinforced. Less than ten quid in softback from amazon.com.

All done. Somewhat surprisingly, Ken's narrative of his interesting and varied career rolls along without many apparent highlights, until we come to a trip behind the Iron Curtain in a Wolseley 6/110 in 1966 with Jeff Smith, to three Motocross GPs. This journey is as though written by another author, such is the detail in place names and obvious enthusiasm for distant travel that pours off the page.
The latter stages of his career are then reeled off in sequence, and as expected is all Reynolds-centred. There were a few surprises (to me, anyway) including a frame Ken knocked up for Peter Williams to house a 500 Weslake twin, and Ken's construction of the chassis for the Thrust 1 and 2 land speed record cars.
In all, an interesting and illuminating reveal of some of the lesser-known achievements of this skilled but humble mainstay of racing in our time, and well worth a read.

..... There were a few surprises (to me, anyway) including a frame Ken knocked up for Peter Williams to house a 500 Weslake twin....

Some info here

http://www.sintich.c...ttrovalvole.htm

That's the one. Good article Renn, cheers.

Received a used copy of Duke's 'in pursuit of perfection' yesterday, which I purchased via Amazon for 2.50 GBP (!) + p/p. Cracking read and pictures, not only the price makes me smile

Edited by Rennmax, 13 June 2012 - 14:09.

I have several duplicate copies of the Motocourse books which would be better on someones shelf who would appreciate them. I have put aside the 78-79 copy for "SUBH" if they would like to contact me first.

Also if Jaybee49 has a preference maybe we could do a "horse-trade" for a copy of the Yamaha Gowenlock book.

Anyone interested ??

I will post a full list in the next few days. Be aware that they are in NZ so there will be postage charges but we don't seem to get ripped off by the NZ Post like you guys in Europe and the UK do.



Added - By "several" I mean 12 or so .

Also what do the forum members think would be a reasonable price ( obviously depending on condition ). I want them to go to people who appreciate them rather than some "speculator" so if you haven't been a forum member please do not apply !!

Edited by twotempi, 15 June 2012 - 22:08.

Just finished reading Reg Everett's book , From Rocker to Racer , a good read of one of the sixties top riders , who quit far too early , IMHO
With some great pics highly recommended

I bought this a few months back and struggled to get it started, but I've just had a few days in hospital, and mowed through it in two bursts one afternoon. I was only a young bloke when Everett was at his best, but always really enjoyed his efforts from afar, so to get an inside peek at the trying world of the privateer in those ultra-competitive days was very illuminating. When Reg was in his ascendancy on the Ted Broad TD-1s, Minter was at his peak on the six-speed Cotton, and it became Reg's obsession to beat Minter fair and square, quite a goal !
I had no idea about his subsequent business successes, so to learn about his latter years was also interesting. A good yarn.
A couple of the pics I remembered from back in the day, notably a great Vic Barnes shot of Everett halfway through a scary highside at Gerards Bend with Peter Inchley and Minter in pursuit, and one of Everett, Inchley and Peter Williams on the Orpin Greeves at Druids. Lots of memories stirred during this inspiring read.

Edited by GD66, 25 January 2013 - 09:27.

I bought this a few months back and struggled to get it started, but I've just had a few days in hospital, and mowed through it in two bursts one afternoon. I was only a young bloke when Everett was at his best, but always really enjoyed his efforts from afar, so to get an inside peek at the trying world of the privateer in those ultra-competitive days was very illuminating. When Reg was in his ascendancy on the Ted Broad TD-1s, Minter was at his peak on the six-speed Cotton, and it became Reg's obsession to beat Minter fair and square, quite a goal !
I had no idea about his subsequent business successes, so to learn about his latter years was also interesting. A good yarn.
A couple of the pics I remembered from back in the day, notably a great Vic Barnes shot of Everett halfway through a scary highside at Gerards Bend with Peter Inchley and Minter in pursuit, and one of Everett, Inchley and Peter Williams on the Orpin Greeves at Druids. Lots of memories stirred during this inspiring read.

I agree first class read, especially for those of us who were about at the time. I started reading it at about 8pm one evening, took it to bed and couldn't stop reading it. Eventually finished it at 3.30am and got some sleep.
I have since spoken to Reg, something I never did when we were both racing, and what a first class gent he is.

I suggest and strongly recommend "Circus Life" by Don Cox, recently published in Australia.

480+ pages on the private owners who came to Europe from Down Under between '49 and '60 - he's spent six years on this task, talked to just about everybody or their descendants, found serious numbers of b/w shots (half of them paddock pics, never before seen) - in short, quite the best racing motorcycle book I've ever read.

What do our Australasian forum members think of it?

Despite the author´s woeful lack of writing skills, I did enjoy Jim´s book, as his tale is quite riveting. What I did find a bit unfortunate however, was his unreserved disclosure of his family affairs, and his very public humiliation of his brother, which left Peter´s reputation in tatters.
I´ve always liked and respected Jim, but that was way below the belt, and totally uncalled for IMO.

I have bloody loads of motorcycling biogs and this one is my favourite, Jim told the honest story warts and all, there's a few instances where he's called himself a few choice names and it leaves the impression that he's told it as it happened which is different from a lot of the other self glorifying stuff you can read, great book, great man.
The Rainey and Marshall books are good as well.

I have bloody loads of motorcycling biogs and this one is my favourite, Jim told the honest story warts and all, there's a few instances where he's called himself a few choice names and it leaves the impression that he's told it as it happened which is different from a lot of the other self glorifying stuff you can read, great book, great man.
The Rainey and Marshall books are good as well.

I read Jim's book about 8 years ago and it was a great read. Very down to earth and an amazing tale of fortitude and determination against all the odds. Greatest respect for the old warrior, but at the same time I hear what roadie racer is saying.
I've never thought it good form to do your family washing in public, and I too was a wee bit disappointed that Jim chose to go into what was a personal dispute between brothers. After all, it's not like his brother ever had the opportunity to tell his side of the story.
Great book though by a truly wonderful rider and person.

Edited by SgtPepperoni, 25 January 2013 - 20:10.

I'm just about to start reading Stanley Woods, The World's First Motorcycle Superstar by David Crawford. First impressions are very good. Lots of text and pictures.

After that I'll get stuck into Steve Webster's autobiography. Picked up a near mint example for £2.50 in a local charity shop.

There's a new Kevin Cameron book out, looks promising and reasonably priced.


Claims to cover eight decades of race engines from the 1930s Guzzi 120deg v-twin through to the latest Yamaha YZR M1.

Also I see Julian Ryder has nabbed a swag of b&w pics of GP racing in the 1950s from our own esteemed Twinny and will be poking a publication out before too long.

Edited by GD66, 11 May 2013 - 09:29.

I have several duplicate copies of the Motocourse books which would be better on someones shelf who would appreciate them. I have put aside the 78-79 copy for "SUBH" if they would like to contact me first.

Also if Jaybee49 has a preference maybe we could do a "horse-trade" for a copy of the Yamaha Gowenlock book.

Anyone interested ??

I will post a full list in the next few days. Be aware that they are in NZ so there will be postage charges but we don't seem to get ripped off by the NZ Post like you guys in Europe and the UK do.



Added - By "several" I mean 12 or so .

Also what do the forum members think would be a reasonable price ( obviously depending on condition ). I want them to go to people who appreciate them rather than some "speculator" so if you haven't been a forum member please do not apply !!

 

twotempi - I haven’t been on this forum much in the last year, so I’ve only just seen your message.  If you still have a spare copy I’m obviously interested, and will contact you by PM.

'No Time to Lose' Bill Ivy, Jon Ekerold and Wayne Rainey are the best I have read.  All superb reads.

I got my example of Don Cox' CIRCUS LIFE.

If you are to "MotoGP" from 1949 to 1960 get it ! Solid bound , glazed paper , nearly 500 pages , over 300 b/w and colour Pictures plus other nice Things including a map of tracks. An enormous tale of the then times. Fantastic book. A must!

16 Motorcycle racing books for sale , including 7 Motocourse.

Write for list : kjerbjoern@hotmail.com

Edited by Bjorn Kjer, 28 October 2013 - 17:37.