Home Again and a Book Review

Martha and I are home from our 49 day trip, 37 of which were camping days.

We left the Enchanted Trails Campground west of Albuquerque, NM at 6:15 AM and were pulling into our home cul-de-sac at 3:15 PM.  9 hours on the road was a long but incident-free day.

We motored with purpose and didn't stop for pictures, just for gas.

We're back in Colorado till the end of the year I expect.  Not sure when I will go camping next, but most likely not till the new year.

As we drove the last two days, we listened to an audio book titled "A Grateful American" by Gary Sinise of Forrest Gump (he played Lieutenant Dan) and CSI:NY where he played Detective Mac Taylor.

This is an outstanding book about his life leading up to his present mission of service to American servicemen and veterans.  From a wayward youth to his entry and development of an acting career; his work supporting, helping, and ensuring that injured veterans are not forgotten, this book fleshes out and highlights his great life journey.

His role as Lieutenant Dan from the Forrest Gump film, leads to his connection and empathy with veterans ranging from the Vietnam War to the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars on Terror.  

The work he does initially just as morale boosting USO tours, grows and expands to multiple tours with the USO, the creation and performance of his "Lieutenant Dan Band", the Snowball Project that provides the kids of fallen veterans a venue to deal in part with their loss and eventually multiple initiatives and projects.

He supports, participates and donates time and treasure to causes such as homes for severely injured veterans, school supplies for Iraqi Children, family support organizations such as TAPS, and many others eventually lead to a formal organization called the Gary Sinise Foundation.

I urge you to read/listen to this book, Gary Sinise is truly a great man, supporter of Veterans everywhere and a great American.

Book Review: Templar Codes

The book does contain a smidgen of motorcycle content.  It even has a mention of a URAL sidecar rig!

That being said, here's my review of my friend Lee Sweetapple's latest book:

Link to book on Amazon.com

The third book in a series featuring main character Jim Stillwater, action-oriented veteran of the US Intelligence community and his small but tightly knit community of friends who like Jim have been tested and proven in America's less publicized struggles with varied enemies.

As is his writing style, Lee Sweetapple moves the reader along at a fast pace, providing location details and references to keep the reader oriented. The story line took a few unexpected plot twists and turns which kept this reviewer guessing and very engaged. Some books, you can almost guess from the title and previous works how the story will go, this book will not disappoint in that manner!

In this book, long lost records created by the Knights Templar are recovered by Jim and his friends, initiating gun battles and successive attempts by rogue agents to steal said artifacts, artifacts which prove in the end to have impressive historical significance.

The story line takes the reader from the Mediterranean ocean through Europe ending in an explosive finale in Scotland. Folks who've traveled Europe will feel they're back as familiar locations are described and local cuisines consumed by Stillwater's team.

Plenty of action, enemies at every turn, and even a gourmand's appreciation of food to keep things moving along.  It's available in paperback and Kindle version.

Book Review: France in America

Shortly after the start of February 2013, I received a mysterious brown package from an address in Washington state.  I quickly opened it up and it was indeed Gary France's beautifully made book on his travels through our United States on his Harley Davidson motorcycle: The Leading Ladies.

Some of the beautiful artwork on Gary's Harley Davidson Motorcycle

Click the link to see my posting on riding with Gary to the top of Mount Evans: LINK

The books is superbly crafted, replete with great photographs and smooth flowing narrative that takes the reader along for the ride as Gary explores his way across the country.  The format is along the lines of a coffee table book so it would be a great addition to any motorcycle rider's collection, especially riders who actually ride the long miles and have that urge to see what's at the other end of a distant valley or mountain range.

The book is a great source for a British moto-blogger's perspective on the sights and people he saw while traveling through this country of ours.  I found it very interesting to see how Gary saw things through the filters of his upbringing and culture.  It was also very entertaining!

Martha and I were privileged to host Gary for a day or so when he was touring Colorado.  He's a jovial, refined and self-effacing British rider who was living out a lifelong dream, so glad we were a small part of it.

If you love well-written travelogues, this book is for you.  Thanks for the book Gary, I look forward to riding with you once again some day.  Anytime you're in Colorado.....there's a spot for you at our home; and bring Jackie along this time!  :)

Link to where you can buy the book: LINK

Here's a video from Gary.
It's the best way to get a good background on the whys and
wherefores that brought about this book:

Previously: One Year Anniversary Ride with Valencia and Uralisti

Book Review: Key West Revenge

Absolutely no motorcycling content!

Still, a book so enjoyable to me that I read it in one sitting, finishing it late at night on the same day I got it through the mail.

Image Source: Amazon.com

Link to book

Here's my review of it, also posted on amazon.com, where you can buy the book.

Just finished reading this book last night (I couldn't put it down), and like Lee Sweetapple's first book: Vette Head's Not Dead, a thoroughly enjoyable tale with plenty of action, intrigue, and gun play.


The author vividly describes the local South Florida settings the story plays out in, mentioning well known and perhaps less well known locales that one will want to visit in person if a trip to South Florida is in your near future.
There are plot twists and turns within the main story which keep one's attention as the action moves rapidly to a showdown in a remote location in the Everglades. Three letter agencies and their characters, mix with drug lords, local and federal law enforcement corruption, and of course the black ops trained group of friends centered around the book's main character, Jim Stillwater.

The book evoked memories of my own life in South Florida, and gave me a new perspective on some of the locales I'd experienced first hand, along with providing back stories to enrich the old memories.

Now, to make it perfect, the book would have involved sidecar motorcycles in some way, but it's still quite the enjoyable tale.  Read it if your plans include Key West, or if you grew up in the area or just want some hours of fast moving action.

Book Review: Jack Riepe's Conversations with a Motorcycle

Sitting here, having just finished reading a preview digital version of Jack Riepe's second book:  Conversations with a Motorcycle, I am inundated with the vivid mental imagery painted before my eyes by Jack's writing.

Click here to order yours today!

This book, written to describe his ascent and transformation from a self-described douche to fulfilling the very image he'd imagined possible through the acquisition of a motorcycle is a fast-paced and deeply entertaining read.

Quite the evolution I must say, from callow young man fixated on trying to not be the last virgin in New Jersey at 18 years old.  The trials and tribulations of learning to survive riding a known widow maker of a motorcycle; his coarse friends and their environment forging his development are laid out in front of your eyes, as if you'd been fortunate to sit on the bar stool next to Jack.  I swear I smelled stale cigarette smoke as he wrote of the times he spent in the many bars his motorcycle took him to.

His motorcycle is his companion, it is his worst enemy and best friend in one speeding package.  The motorcycle is his transportation and his destination is the ride.  The women he sought and failed to impress, the ones he won over and then lost, the woman he regained only to lose again are grand reflections of what all males have experienced at one time or another; though for some of us, only in our dreams.

The experience of riding in the elements, at speed, something known only to a motorcycle rider are described in this book and one is reminded of why one rides.  The trials and tribulations of riding are recounted and true riders will chuckle in the shared misery and the shared elation of these experiences.

Remember your "great moments" on your motorcycle?  Perhaps the first close call while riding, or the first night ride in a full moon's light, or maybe finding that special spot where fleetingly, all was right in your world?

Relive those moments as Jack finds them for himself and then refreshes your memory of those moments through his writing.

If you're a regular reader of his moto-blog, Twisted Roads, you'll find echoes of tales told but now with the enriching back story details which make said tales that much more real and engrossing.  Jack also writes the humor column in the monthly publication for BMW Motorcycle Owner's Association where he has a huge following as well.

In sum, the book is Jack and his motorcycle's journey, initially to get laid by trying to assume the rough and dangerous image of a biker, to his eventual piercing of said mythos and the reality behind the illusion. It is, perhaps, a journey all real riders have shared.

If you're a motorcycle rider, aspire to be one, wonder what makes a motorcyclist "tick", or enjoy reading well written motorcycling adventure content....get this book!  It'll be out September 15, 2012 and I can't wait to get my own hard copy of the book!

Book Review: The Complete Guide to Motorcycling Colorado by Steve Farson

The cover of this book reads: "The Definitive Reference for ALL the Best roads, Rides and Trips".  Quite the goal that Steve Farson set for himself in trying to put all the wonderful riding available in Colorado into one book.  I would say though, that Steve is definitely the closest thing to that goal that I've ever read!

From motorbooks.com's website:  This comprehensive new guidebook to Colorado contains colorful in-depth descriptions of 172 different rides that can be combined in a variety of ways to create the best trips for all riding styles and interests. The individual rides have their own more detailed maps, along with route descriptions, photos, local points of interest, and historical information.  In addition, onboard videos of each ride are available at www.rmridervideo.com.  Regional maps show how the rides can be combined to form journeys from half a day to several days in length, on paved roads or into the back country, or both. Color photos for each ride introduce the incredible variety of terrain, and historical photos placed next to present day shots show how much (or how little) has changed in the intervening years.

In his years of riding Colorado and other parts of the country, Steve has pretty much covered every road and byway in Colorado reachable by motorcycle.  A lot of the rides and routes he describes so well in the book I've ridden myself and the detail, history and observations he adds to the actual route description rekindled in me a desire to revisit some of those byways again.

Also close to my own heart, he offers pictures of Colorado locales from "back then" to "now" to show the reader how things have changed or remained the same through the years.  I first saw this style of photographical history in John Fielder's Books, and I've done some postings myself but with motorcycles in the "now" picture.

As with most ride guide books, the rides are broken up into sections of the Great State of Colorado, giving the reader an fast reference to the area to be explored via motorcycle.  Not only are the routes numbered on the map, but Steve Farson has a color code system for ready finding of a specific route, very handy.

This book will become probably the top reference I use to plan daily and longer rides within my adoptive home state.  I strongly recommend this book to other Colorado riders and definitely for anyone planning to ride their motorcycle to this state to see its scenic wonders.

If you'd like to buy this book, and please tell them you read about it here, please follow this link.

Book Review: There & Back Again to See How Far It Is

When I was first emailed by motorbooks.com to see if I wanted to review this book, I thought of Gary France's epic journey through the United States and wanted to compare his travels with this fellow Englishman's writing.

Link to book on motorbooks.com

From Motorbooks:  Vultures wheeled overhead as Tim Watson found himself running out of fuel in the desert. Indeed he had many hair-raising encounters in his 8,000-mile ride across small-town America – severe dust storms, mountain snow, an angry rattlesnake and even angrier racoon, not to mention weird folk, and the novice rider’s struggles with a huge motorcycle. His account, informative and hilarious, is a must for armchair adventurers and anyone who has ever wondered what small-town America is really like.

This is quite an enjoyable and easy to read book.  Tim Watson's misadventures, experiences and growth as a motorcyclist are chronicled in short, often time humourous snippets of travel between small towns in the western third of the United States.

His travels encompass California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and detail his encounters with "interesting" people along the way.  His wife rides along on her own motorcycle, providing not only photographic support but serving as the "voice of reason" and interpreter for the intrepid author as his English accent and dry sense of  humor was apparently a barrier at times to communication with the natives.

A very nice travelogue, he highlighted for me some destinations I'd not heard of and which have now made it into my personal "to do" list of ride destinations.

The author's self-deprecating attitude and descriptive verbiage are a highlight of this book, where he progresses from not really knowing much about riding a motorcycle and fearing instant death from his machine; to a somewhat seasoned rider more comfortable on America's highways and byways.

He does have an initial preoccupation with population and land statistics and figures but this eventually dies off as the book progresses.  Tim Watson brings to the reader little known facts of the destinations he reaches, such as the fact a firing squad used to be an option in Utah for death-penalty convicts!  The book delves into his interest with the varied Native American cultures remaining along the line of his travels.

This book is a good way to see small town Western America through the eyes of a non-native.

This would be a great read for those of you who like travelogues with a sense of humor, who prefer to wander the less-traveled roads and see more unique life experiences.

The book is available from motorbooks.com, please tell them you read about it here if you decide to buy it.

LINK to book

Book Review: Adventure Motorcycling

Ted Simon, world-renowned motorcycle rider provides the foreword to Robert Wicks' extensive illustrated, very detailed but not overlong guide to the intricate world of Adventure Motorcycling and what one should consider and know before undertaking such a journey.

Link to book on motorbooks.com

a division of Quayside Publishing

The reader's appetite is whetted by listing some of the big names of motorcycle adventure riders who've blazed the way for us as they circumnavigated the world.  Names such as Ted Simon, Helge Pedersen, and more recently Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in their "Long Way Round" ride around the world on mighty BMW GS Motorcycles.

There's three sections to the book.  Section 1 takes you through the preparations and logistics you need to consider, do, prepare and plan for before you hit the wide open road.  The six main subsections deal with:

1. Practicalities: Such as whether you'll ride solo or with a group, what routes to take, the budget and research.
2. Choice of Motorcycle:  An extensive list of "suitable" motorcycles is presented to you with their specifications and you gauge the ride based on suggested criteria or Key Factors such as Budget, Range, Load Carrying Ability, Handling and Weight and others.  Being a Beemer guy, I never realized there was such a rich choice of motorcycles to choose from, but the book does show a lot of the BMW models.
3.  Motorcycle Preparation:  What modifications/farkles are you going to add/need for the trip?  Types of tires are discussed, what type of fuel tanks should be considered, hard or soft luggage, and finally the logistics and shipping one's motorcycle when time is limited or there's an ocean between you and your destination.
4. Gear:  Documents/Finances, clothing, spares and tools you might want to carry, how are you going to know your way, supplies, camping and cooking on the road.
5. Riding Techniques: Training you should go through or consider, some details on techniques to try based on different terrains and finally, the pre-trip shakedown to make sure all is ready.
6. Documentation:  Managing the plethora of paperwork required to cross many countries, Visas, Driving Permits, Carnets, Motorcycle Insurance & Green Cards, Personal Medical Insurance and of course, Money.  This section should give you pause and cause you to prior plan as paperwork takes time.  You can't really just show up at a border and ask to be let in, not that simple.

Section 2:  

On the Road

1. Living on the Road: How to stay healthy: Common Ailments, Inoculations.
2. Some safety considerations while on the road: General security, accidents, money, routines.
3. Some things you should know about First Aid: List of things you need to know how to deal with.
4. Knowing what to eat and drink, if its not something you brought along.
5. Places to stay.
6. What to do at border crossings: Tips, information and examples.
7. Adapting to new countries and how they do things.
8. Some notes for female riders:  Personal safety, dress codes, attitude, health issues.
9. Some points on keeping in touch with family and friends while on the road: Communication means.

Navigation

1. Using a compass.  Really, you need to know.  GPS devices will fail.  
2. Maps:  Can't really do a long trip without the proper maps, can you?  How to carry them, use them and read them.
3. GPS: Technological terminlogies related to GPS and tips on how to use them.

Maintenance & Repairs: How to take care of your ride so you can survive the adventure together.

1. Engine and Chassis: Control cables, coolant, mounting hardware, clutch plates....etc
2. Electrical Systems: Terms, troubleshooting and maintenance.
3. Fuel: Filters, the quality of gas you'll find and deal with.
4. Air Filters: your engine needs air, know how to take care of the filter and replace it.
5. Sprockets and Chains: Key maintenance!
6. Suspension and Wheels.  Tire pressure, repairs of tube and tubeless tires.
7. Emergencies: Basic survival information and some Essential Equipment is discussed.

Section 3:

Typical Adventures:

Three "typical" adventures are provided by the author of riders who've actually done the ride described.

The first being a Ride from England to the South of Morocco entailing two weeks in the fringes of the Sahara Desert.

The second adventure is by a group of eleven riders who ride from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa in about 35 days, wherein they cover 7800 miles, deal with multiple issues, repairs, injuries, sickness, even jail and apparently had a marvelous time of it.

The third and last adventure was still ongoing as the book went to publisher.  Two friends left England in March of 2006, riding around the world.  Talks about the two years they prepared for it and the three years + it would eventually take for them to do it

So, plenty of stuff to read but only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the research one must acquire and understand before doing the kind of adventure motorcycling described in this book.  Just the paperwork alone is seemingly daunting but the book guides your initial steps.  I found the book well thought out and it takes you through the different phases of the adventure quite smoothly.

I would regard this book as a good starting point for your research, it gives you pointers as to further places to look and learn while its richly illustrated contents fire up the inner urge in one to explore the world on a motorcycle!

This book is published by Haynes Publishing and is readily available from www.motorbooks.com.  If you end up getting this book, please mention you heard about it here!

Book Review: Throttling the Bard

A fellow Uralista, Jay Barry, had recently asked me to read and review his first book: "Throttling the Bard" and post about it here.  Bottom line up front: I found it to be an enjoyable read about two full time denizens of academia who ride their motorcycles through a series of events leading to unexpected conclusions.

Image source: Vendicarsi's Facebook Page

From the book's back cover:


Within the pristine halls of academia lurks the unsavory financial aid department and an English professor who has bilked that system in order to redistribute its wealth to students of a lower socioeconomic class. 


When the Great Basin Student Loan Corporation discovers Dr. Don Vendicarsi’s illegal means of obtaining student loans, they demand his presence at their Reno office. Fearing that his teaching career will end prematurely, Vendicarsi must ride to Reno to face the inscrutable loan board. 


Graduate student Quentin Mann goes along for the ride, thinking that the trip is the perfect opportunity to force dissertation comments from Dr. Vendicarsi. Together they embark upon a quixotic motorcycle trip across Nevada where they encounter everyday Americana: a book burning cult, drugs, captivating women, and the Burning Man arts festival. 


Harried by the Great Basin and inspired by a demolitions expert at Burning Man, Vendicarsi ponders the ultimate definition of a teacher’s sacrifice by eradicating all records of student loan debt, while Quentin realizes that spending borrowed money on yet another degree is not what he needs to become a recognized author.


I found this book to be an enjoyable read and flowing well.  Be prepared to have your vocabulary expanded as you track Professor Vendicarsi's highly erudite and long winded way of speaking.  The two travel over quite the mixed set of terrain, not just paved highways and I found their description of such riding to be amusing as I've found myself on the same type of terrain once in a while.


Motorcycles, nude people, riding fast, police chases, explosions, book burnings, scamming bikers at a biker bar....there's something in this book for everyone.  Oh, and if you're like me and never been to the "Burning Man" event in the Nevada desert, this book will either convince you to go or stay away.


You can buy a copy at:  LINK

Book Review: The BMW Boxer Twins Bible

Here's another book review for motorbooks.com.

I'd written before about BMW reference books, the coffee table version for the folks who just want to gaze at beautiful pictures and have a little bit of history to read if desired:  The Art of BMW - 85 Years of Motorcycling Excellence.

Following up, I wrote a review about the next level of BMW reference books, more technical details, still lots of great photography but of real life people using these magnificent machines, along with more history and stories:  BMW Boxer Twins.


This book is for the serious BMW aficionado wishing to become a cognoscenti of the Boxer Twins.  I could see this book being carried by judges at some Concours event for BMW Airheads, which is what the Boxer Twins are affectionately known as, to be used as reference for "correctness" for a model year.

An imagined discussion between two judges would go along the lines of:  "Look Hans, for the 1978 /7 model, the carburetors has "L" and "R" cast onto the top of the rocker covers, this one does not! Oh, and look, the piston circlips are not of the Seeger-pattern!  This is obviously not a "correct" 1978 /7!"  

Click on the photo above for a link to the book on motorbooks.com

To give you an idea, this book goes through the entire range of air-cooled models from 1970-1995.  The differences between model years, no matter how insignificant, are listed.  You get a thorough understanding of the progression of the airheads over the 25 years involved.

Want to know the frame numbers assigned to each model year and model type, this book is for you.

Ever wonder how many of your type of airhead were made, and when?  This book is for you.

Want to know what were the major differences between the /5, /6 and /7 series of airheads?  Their characteristics and handling?  Why BMW created the succeeding series?  This book is for you.

Want to be able to say you know what models had a type 246 engine vs a type 247 engine and what made them different?  This book is for you.

The level of detail involved per model year is very extensive.  At one point, I was expecting them to tell me the name of the factory worker who assembled a specific motorcycle and what he preferred in terms of beer brands!

For such a thin book, it's packed with technical and historical reference data.  As with the other two books, loads of great photographs of each model year as well.  As a bonus, the last section of the book details the history of the racing versions of the /5, /6 and /7s, which I found interesting in terms of learning how great they did at first until the limits of the technology were reached.

If you end up getting this book, in part due to this review, please tell the good folks at motorbooks.com about this review!  Thanks.

Book Review: Around the World on a Motorcycle

Here's another book review of a book I received from motorbooks.com, a travelogue made by two Hungarian men, during the "epidemic of world travel efforts" in Europe in the late 1920s.  Note, all text in italics are quotes from the book,

Zoltan Sulkowsky and Gyula Bartha are the young men of this story and they're joined in Paris (where they buy the Harley Davidson motorcycle and sidecar that was their steed) by Mimmy, an artist with a similar wanderlust as Zoltan and Gyula.  

Link to book on motorbooks.com

The idea to ride around the world is born on a park bench in Milan after fruitless efforts to find "real work" there.  Influenced by some of the varying clientele in the local Hungarian Club/ Mr Rosenfield's little pub, the germ of the idea came about due to:  The club was also the favorite meeting place of a curious, bohemian caste of young men who took nothing in life seriously, a special breed of globetrotters.  They wandered from country to country, city to city, or simply the streets of Milan and made their money by selling their own photographs and samples of their correspondence.

Their travels start in Paris and make it down to Africa, riding west to east along the top end of that continent and end up in Egypt as a trio.  At this point however, they return to Hungary by way of Turkey due to logistics and travel restrictions and to drop off Mimmy who was ailing from sickness and couldn't continue traveling with them.

scanned photo from the book

The pair of adventurers continue onward, now with a German Sheperd for company through the subcontinent of India, alas their poor dog, Hadji,  does not make it past India and they're forced to continue on without it into the far east.

There are not a lot of pictures illustrating their travels, in fact, it was not till about this point in the book that I realized their sidecar was now mounted "English style" with it running on the tug's left side.  To make up for it though, Zoltan is very descriptive in his written descriptions of their rides through the varying countries, the encounters with people along the way and their observations of life in each country.  I found it quite interesting to compare their impressions of the political/social/cultural life in each country and compare it against what I've learned or know of the same.

Australia is the next stop after the Indian subcontinent and here they spent quite a portion of the book going on about the "sameness" of Australian homes and towns, the sometimes unbearable attitude exhibited by the Aussies that their country was the best, or that their particular city was the greatest.  Oh, and they managed to ride through the continent without once seeing a kangaroo apparently!

 photo scanned from book

Another ongoing theme is there seeking out and getting acquainted with fellow Hungarians as they ride about the world, seemingly never failing to find one or two and sometimes many expatriates.  Along with seeking fellow countrymen, they also kept their eyes open for wild game to hunt!  Their prize animal ended up being a large tiger in Java which they shot at night by aiming at the reflections of its eyes in the light of their motorcycle's headlight.

Their travels through the rest of Asia become vignettes of their glimpses into each culture they ride through.  They survive and encounter with bandits in China, admire Korean cleanliness, visit Siam while it was still named Siam and finally undergo "slight disappointment" in Japan.

 photo scanned from book

photo scanned from book

Japan is their last Asian country, from there it's a long boat ride to the United States which they travel through at the beginning of the Great Depression.  Their views and observations of life during the Depression and during the Prohibition Era were quite enlightening to me as a history major.  Still, they ride through most of the car-navigable portions of the US, seeing the major sights and cities but all in the space of a few pages in the book.

Mexico came and went across a few pages, the notable mentions being terrible roads and learning to survive on tortillas and beans.  The sight of their motorcycle always drew crowds as it was the first one the rural Mexicans had apparently seen.  They later elect to visit Cuba and after overcoming some border control "issues", manage to ride around Cuba during its heydays as a hot tourist destination for Americans and others.

They bypassed the Central American countries by taking a boat from Cuba to Panama.  Just as well I think since this was way before the concept of the Pan-American Highway was even thought of!  It's not exactly great roadways today, it would have been a pure slogging struggle for them during the early 1930s!

Our hardy pair and their dog spent quite a few days touring the Panama Canal and the surrounding areas.  They apparently were not impressed with the deportment of US soldiers and sailors in the local Panamanian towns when off duty.  Zoltan does go into a couple of pages worth of details on how ships are transported through the canal, so if you've ever wondered.....

Ongoing wars during the early thirties between South American countries dictated their entry point into the South American continent, and traveling south without the modern aid of GPS or heck, accurate maps would prove quite the challenge.  There were apparently, no national roadways, no national maps and the local folks did not wander far from their homes. Roads were basically trails to be negotiated via donkey or horse, not cars!

 photo scanned from book

They finish off their ride through six continents, 68 countries and over 170,000 Kilometers in a period of eight years.  Their final days speeding their way homeward to Hungary, racking up the last few European countries along the way.  Theirs was truly an epic journey, done in a long bygone era where the present resources and comforts available to modern world riders did not exist.

 photo scanned from book

A very nice read for Harley Davidson owners to take pride on, for world rider wannabes like me to ponder on, for travelogue fans with a historical bent to learn on, a book just about for anyone with a lust for travel down paths least traveled or on modes unusual.

Note: If you end up getting this book in part due to this review, let the folks at motorbooks.com know will you?

Book Review: BMW Boxer Twins

As a follow-up review to my first book review for motorbooks.com, I give you my impressions on Ian Falloon's book on the legendary Boxer Twins from BMW.

Bottom line: This book has more technical specifications per model year of the Boxer engined motorcycles made by BMW than you can shake a stick at!  Along with great photography of BMW racing models and productions models, it's a great guide to the many models and designs stemming from the R32 all the way to the R1100s motorcycles.

Link to book on motorbooks.com

The book is laid out by year, introducing each model that was produced for that year.  Technical specifications and differences between succeeding and preceding model years are listed in comparison charts.  Highlighting of significant changes or improvements are detailed including why they came about.

For the technically minded wrencher comparing BMW motorcycle models, or even the basic wrencher as yours truly, this book is a great guide to finding out the differences between model years.  Having this book can give one a fair start at becoming one of the Beemer Cognoscenti!

This book also caters to the motorcycle racing enthusiast who is biased towards the BMW Marque, giving great technical details and photography of the racing heydays of BMW in the late 20s and 30s.  

Some of the things I learned that stuck out in my reading as I cruised through the years BMW made motorcycles, wading sometimes through the strong technical content and plethora of specifications:

The very popular and successful /5 models, whose frames were apparently very flexible due to their design, had a nickname of "Gummi Kas" or Rubber Cow. What a great nickname!  Similar to what the Big 1150 GS motorcycles "enjoy" in terms of a nickname, though I've heard them referred to just as "big cows" due to their bulk and weight.  All in affectionate terms, of course. (Well, mostly)

 The R75 /5

picture source: BMW Motorrad

The RS model designation was an attempt to tie in the model to the Rennsport racing reputation.  The bleeding edge technology it introduced in its "wind tunnel designed" fairing marked the true beginning of today's continental-distance crushing sport-touring motorcycles.

R100RS

picture source: BMW Motorrad

The advent of the GS Dualsport, from it's beginning as the now regarded as classic R80 G/S to the large displacement (and weight) 1200 GS are carefully detailed and illustrated, each variation carefully shown to the casual reader.  I can see one of these beauties in my garage, someday:

The R80 G/S  "Gelande / Strasse"

picture source:  BMW Motorrad

The book covers the models and changes made up till 2004 when the  book was published.  It's not an exhaustive compilation of all the extensive motorcycling knowledge embodied by the BMW Marque but it's pretty close to what most Beemer riders/aficionados/cognoscenti will want in terms of a ready reference to the different models made by BMW Motorrad.

The many great photographs of BMW's racing greats, the racers and the production motorcycles will draw the casual reader's eyes and the technical wealth of information should satisfy the average seeker of such knowledge.

Highly recommend this book as your "field guide" to the made models of BMW motorcycle, specially if you're thinking of acquiring one as it'll tell you the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between each type and model year.

If you end up acquiring this book, in part because of this review, please let motorbooks.com know you read about it here!

Book Review: The Longest Ride

This is another review of a book provided to me by motorbooks.com.  I had selected it since the title and description on the motorbooks site was intriguing:

 Link to book on motorbooks.com

For his eighth birthday, Emilio Scotto received a World Atlas. Promptly he announced his plan to make a route that would pass through all the countries of the world, a route he named BLUE ROAD ONE. When, some years later, he found himself astride a black 1100 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle, Blue Road One beckoned, and Scotto set off on a journey that would last more than a decade, take him virtually everywhere in the world, and land him in the Guinness Book of World Records. This is his story, a thrill ride that begins in his native Argentina, crosses Panama in the tumultuous time of Noriega, Mexico in the midst of an earthquake, and finds him broke in L.A. where, in a chance meeting, Muhammad Ali gives him fifty dollars and a signed book. Breaching the Iron Curtain, crossing the Berlin Wall at Checkpoint Charlie, being blessed by the Pope, set upon by cannibals in Sierra Leone, fleeing Somalia on a freighter, Scotto's adventures would be unbelievable if they weren't true. His tale of touring the world from Tunisia to Turkey, Petra to Afghanistan, Yugoslavia to Singapore, traveling miles enough to take him to the moon and back, is unlike any ever told. Come along, for the ride of a lifetime

 At the Pyramids of Egypt

source: emilioscotto.com

I write this review with mixed feelings about the book and its contents.  On the one hand, it's truly an epic journey which Emilio Scotto made on his Honda Goldwing motorcycle, circling the world twice and passing through damn near every country in the world!

On the other hand, the way he did it, with a motorcycle that was truly unsuitable for some of the terrain he rode it on;  sketchy finances at best, mooching his way through the globe and counting on the generosity of strangers is not quite the way I'd see myself doing the same thing.  His perseverance and seemingly indomitable will to continue the mission are quite admirable however.  I would surely have turned back at several points in his journey.

He's probably thinking, where the heck am I?

source: emilioscotto.com

There are large gaps in his account and periods of travel where no pictures are evident, just some brief verbiage accounting for large distances or several countries traveled.  I mean, I could see why no pics from his start, he was robbed the third night out!  Still, the gaps and short tales that he used to describe parts of his vast travels were annoying at times.  Then again, the book is only 222 pages long, with more written stuff at the beginning and basically just pictures with short descriptions towards the end during his second riding around the world. 

The book also is quite the tribute to Honda Motorcycles design, workmanship and quality that they built into the Goldwing Motorcycle Scotto rode.  He sure didn't give me the impression he did much to take care of servicing her properly, rode her in really bad terrain, dropped her countless times, several crashes, lots of parts replaced and I think the engine was replaced at least once.  Through all this, she kept on going where other motorcycles would have given up the ghost!

Think of this book as a series of brief vignettes, sometimes with a picture or two to go with the respective vignette, that describe some of the major events he chose to account for the reader.

He confirmed for me that Africa is a continent I'll never ride in, his experiences there were pretty much negative in terms of border crossings, war, violence, and crappy roads.

I wonder, what his wife (whom he knew before the trip, and then asks to join him during the journey) thought about all the romantic trysts he very briefly alludes to at the beginning of his journey northwards from Argentina towards the USA and thence to Europe.  He gives the impression of being quite the ladies man, which apparently came in handy in order to get aid, lodging and such when riding damn near broke across the world.

Still, after all the above, he did ride about 460,000 miles in the space of a bit over ten years!  He's quite entitled to write the book any way he wants!  His journey started January 14, 1985 and ended on April 2, 1995, a decade on wheels exploring the world.  He did this in the days before the widespread use of the Internet where one can seek aid and gather information easily for one's journey.

This book, is an analog version (in my mind), of the current ten year voyage being done by a fellow sidecarist: Hubert Kriegel, he's on his sixth year of a ten year trip on sidecars around the world.  Hubert is of course, different from Emilio Scotto is many ways, not the least of which is their selected mode of transport.  I feel more akin to Hubert than to Emilio Scotto and his way of traveling but then again, both are "riding their own ride", and in the end, that's really what counts.  LINK to Hubert's Timeless Ride.

If you end up getting this book in part due to this review, let the folks at motorbooks know will you?

Book Review: The Art of BMW - 85 Years of Motorcycling Excellence

 I recently arranged a deal with motorbooks.com whereby they'd send me books I showed an interest in and they let me review them in my examiner.com byline.

The regular readers of this byline of mine know I favor the BMW Motorcycle Marque almost to a fault so my first book review should come as no surprise to you.

      

  
The book's author is Peter Gantriis and the wonderful photography is by Henry Von Wartenberg.  It is a coffee table type book in that its main attraction are the beautifully photographed motorcycles made by BMW from the first model in 1925, the R32 to the 2007 R1200S motorcycle.  All of them are beautiful machines in their own right.

Now, while the photographs are great, the author's writings on the history of BMW and the particular tidbits of information on specific models is what makes the book a must-have book for any BMW Motorcycle enthusiast!

Some snippets from the book's information that I found personally interesting:

Origins:  The first motorcycles made with the BMW M2B15 which was the first version of the famed Boxer engine were the Flink and the Helios, both of which never caught on due to weak frames.  The engine was loved but the frames were lacking.  Max Fritz was given the job of designing a proper motorcycle frame by BMW and the result was the R32, it was the start of a legendary marque.

The R32 was the first motorcycle to have the M2B33 (a descendant of the M2B15) side-valve boxer twin that produced a modest 8.5 horsepower.  It was mounted transversely across the chassis, virtually the same layout used in every BMW Boxer since.

 picture source: Wikipedia History of BMW Motorcycles

1941:  The R71:   Regular readers of mine also know I ride a Ural Sidecar Rig, the first versions of which were a direct copy of the BMW R71 made for the German Army before World War II.  Here's some tidbits I found interesting:

Designed primarily as a sidecar motorcycle, the R71 was designated to replace the aging R12.  Its power came from the familar side-valve 746cc engine fed by twin Graetzin carburetors.

The final run of R71s was made in the spring of 1941, the exigencies of the war forced this line of motorcycles to end and the military version, the R75, came out at the same time that spring.

                                                        picture source: bmw-motorrad.com

The r90S, BMW's high-performance flagship, appeared in 1974, and it caught the entire motorcycling community by surprise.

 R90S from Bob's Old Bike Ride #7

With its remarkable new fairing and beautiful paint finish, the R90S set new styling standards-not just for BMW, but for the entire motorcycling industry.

It is the R90S's style and flair that I sought to emulate by attaching an "S" fairing onto Brigitta, my 1987 R80 Beemer.

 

 Brigitta, my R80 BMW wit the S Fairing of the Iconic R90S BMW

In sum, this book is the perfect coffee table type book for the motorcycling enthusiast who wishes to illustrate to non-cognoscenti the beauty he or she sees in the BMW Motorcycle Marque.  Though some technical details are inherently unavoidable as you are reading about riding machines, the photographs take center stage for the reader.

I will be reviewing other books about the BMW Boxer twin motorcycles, each book increasing the level of technical detail and complexity it relates to the reader.  I see this book as the "gateway" book into the world of BMW motorcycles, it is "eye candy" for the motorcycling enthusiast in your life.

 This book is distributed by motorbooks.com, if you end up buying the book due in part to this review, please let them know.

Book Review: The Old Man and the Harley

I recently finished reading this book and I found it to be a pretty good retelling of the author's father's journey from the Worlds Fair in New York to the Worlds Fair in San Francisco in 1939; riding a 1930 Harley Davidson!


The tales of three Newkirks and their father are told concurrently as their respective lives touched the others. While the story is about Jack Newkirk, the author's father and his adventures while doing his epic ride on a 1930 vintage Harley Davidson VL Big Twin, you also learn about Scarsdale Jack Newkirk who is his cousin and a naval aviator who would gain fame as a squadron leader for the famed Flying Tigers under Claire Chennault in China.

You see, the author is named after Scarsdale Jack, and it is with this connection and his relationship with his aging father that he makes the same trip that his father made, except in reverse. The author retraces the route, starting from San Francisco's Treasure Island, with a short stint to take his aging dad to Sturgis to fulfill a promise his dad had made during his 1939 ride. Along the way the author feels the company of the ghosts of his family's past, their memories helping him to relate to events in his own life.

I found the accounts of Scarsdale Jack and his heroics as a Flying Tiger Squadron Leader, his training as a pilot and later naval aviator and his tragic death on a combat mission to be fascinating and well told. It kind of reminded me of the writings of W.E.B Griffin and his USMC series of WWII.

Concurrently, the author vividly takes us along for his father's ride in 1939 America, just barely getting out of the grips of the big depression. His description of the mechanical problems the old Harley gave his father, and how his father overcame these problems was in turn amusing, uplifting and inspiring.

The "Old Man", Jack Newkirk (yeah, same name as the cousin who was the aviator), proved his mettle riding the northern half of the US, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Jack's brother Horace is mentioned in passing mostly, though a large part of the family, his roles are minor it seemed. The main one being his rescuing of the Harley from a deadbeat who had bought it from Jack after Jack had made it all the way to the west coast and needed money to get back home with his brother via car.

The war changes everyone lives, Scarsdale Jack leaves active service with the US Navy and joins the Flying Tigers, leaving behind a young wife back in the states; and gathers much public acclaim before he's shot down in combat.

Young Jack, back from his ride and overcome by grief from the death of his cousin at the hands of the Japanese joins up in spite of his father's efforts to get him to try a non-combat service job. Jack ends up in the South Pacific and undergoes his own combat trials and horrors which end up being revealed near the end of the book.

The last fourth of the book is devoted to the author's own journey retracing his father's route through the country. His interactions, past and present, with his father are detailed and dissected by the author as he rides cross-country to confront his own demons in the form of regrets, fears and hatreds that are in the end confronted.

In sum, a book worth reading. You'll be amused at the mechanical "issues" young Jack learned to deal with his old Harley. His depiction of life in America during the depression and in the latter part of the 1930s is very well done. I just wish the author's dad had taken more pictures of his trip but then again finances were tight for him. Can you imagine this, trying to ride across the country with a budget of less than $120?

Following in a Master's footsteps

Those of you who regularly read my meanderings have noted, hopefully, my interest in posing my motorcycles in spots where I've found scenery/structures still existing that were photographed in decades past.

Being a history major, I figured that's what came as part of my makeup.

Turns out though, that another guy had similar thoughts and goals! A Mr John Fielder who has followed in the photographical footsteps of William Henry Jackon. Mr Jackson shot many famous shots which made it into the archives of the Denver Public Library; it is mainly this archive that I've drawn from for my "then" shots that I've published so far in this blog.

Mr Fielder published his photos replicating shots made by Mr Jackson back in the late 1800s in a book called: "Colorado 1870-2000". This work was published by Westcliffepublishers.com in partnership with The Colorado Historical Society back in 1999.

John Fielder was commissioned to photograph, in the space of one year, 300 locations replicating selected photographs produced by William H. Jackson between 1870 and 1908.

I discovered all the above when my loving wife, after having seen the "then and now" postings, found the books "Colorado: 1870-2000 II", a sequel to the first book and "Colorado: 1870-2000 Revisited" where the author documents how he got the photos he did!

What a wealth of information these two books are, I must also find the first book of course! Reading these books have given me many leads to more locations all over Colorado for future blog postings. I doubt I'll be able to do as thorough a job as John Fielder since some of the photo-taking locations involved hiking up terrain inaccessible to my motorcycles; still I will come as close as I can to the "then" shots. The "revisited" version will become my bible as it encompasses small pictures of all the photos in the first two books along with information on how he got to the spots!

On the one hand, it was kind of a letdown to see someone else had already blazed this particular trail; but his work will make my explorations that much easier so for that I am grateful.

Here's a link to John Fielder's website: LINK

From the second book's intro: John Fielder is a national renowned nature photographer, publisher, teacher and preservationist. He is the photographer of 36 books, most about Colorado. Fielder has worked tirelessly to promot the protection of Colorado's open space and wildlands. His photography has influenced people and legislation, earning him awards from my conservation groups, including the Sierra Club's Ansel Adams Award.

Book Reviews: Geoff Hill's "Way to Go" and The Road to Gobblers Knob

I have stumbled upon the motorcycling adventure books I've read usually when they're referred to in motorcycling catalogs such as Aerostich's motorcycling catalog, or they're mentioned in a blog or website.

Such was the case with the works of Geoff Hill, an Irish travel writer for a couple of newspapers in Belfast, Ireland; he apparently has quite the following in the paper's clientele and is winner of several writing awards in Europe.

He's written two books, the first being "Way to Go" about two rides he did after hitting on the brilliant idea of writing his column while on the road, getting paid to do it and see the world. Now why didn't I think of that first? Yeah, I know, who'd want to read about me designing/supporting networks while riding a motorcycle?

The book is split into two journeys, the first is where he and his friend Patrick Minne (Isle of Man Racer) fly to New Delhi, India and pick up a couple of Royal Enfield 500 Bullet motorcycles. You might know these were a famed British marque which went out of business in Britain but their manufacturing facilities and licensing were bought at their factory in Madras, India and they continued to be produced in India.

Courtesy: Amazon.com

Their motorcycles and ride are sponsored by the tea company called Nambarrie and the premise is they are flown to India to pick up the first tea leaves of the season and ride them back to Nambarrie in Great Britain via their "British" motorcycles.

Their adventures along the way, the mishaps, the countries and cultures they encounter and the manner in which the author vividly describes it all makes for a good reading. His descriptions of their Enfield motorcycle, made me glad I've chosen Beemers as my motorcycle of choice for touring. Although I am sure the author exaggerated a bit, the mechanical "issues" an Enfield owner must endure were quite amusing, especially when one is to imagine the riding they did on the motorcycles they used!

Note, the author admits knowing next to nothing about the mechanical workings of motorcycles and machinery in general, lucky for him Patrick Minne was a mechanic. As luck turns out though, Geoff Hill's Enfield makes it through relatively unscathed, while Patrick's Enfield would have a tougher ordeal; to include hitting a sheep!

The second portion of Hill's first book is of his riding the length and breadth of Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles while being sponsored by Miller Beer. I tell you, this guy was born under a lucky star to score these writing gigs that he did. I am certain of course that having the talent for describing a journey, and the ability to put a personal and acute spin on the things he saw and the people he met, helped him to be chosen for these riding adventures.

Geoff Hill's writing style strikes me a bit similar to Dave Barry's style of writing. Numbers and descriptions are wildly exaggerated, his humorous depictions of characters and locations are easy to follow; and there are plenty of funny nuggets interspersed in the travelogue. It's like you're there with him and he's telling you the story from across the table while you're both drinking a lot of beer.

Conversely, he has a knack for describing the scenery he sees in such a colorful manner that at times I could picture what he was describing. Some of his descriptions of the vast land expanses along Route 66 reminded me of the scenery I've encountered in my longer rides. His descriptions brought back some good memories for me.

He quotes or rather paraphrases artfully from the many guidebooks he schleps with him, giving you a bit of history and color about the places he rides to and spends some time exploring. It is this, I believe, what makes him a popular travelogue writer, for he makes even the most boring historical note interesting, if only fleetingly.

Throw in amongst all this his imaginary rabbit traveling companion, the search for the best pie and custard and riding through the whole of Route 66 on that most American of icons, a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

His second book, which I read first since the library had it available first, is called "The Road to Gobbler's Knob" where he rides a motorcycle from the tip of South America, on the Pan-American Highway, all the way to where it ends in Alaska.

Courtesy: Amazon.com

The adventures he has, along with a Scottish friend of his, Clifford; are entertaining and move along nicely. Clifford is quite the character in his own right, chatting up the women they meet along the ride and snapping their photo for his "upcoming" book on beauties of the Pan-American Highway. The red tape of border crossings, the crash Geoff Hill is unfortunate to have in Columbia and his "carrying on" in spite of it; the people and places they see; all make for a pretty good read.

There is a great review of "The Road to Gobbler's Knob" at amazon.com: LINK

The only turn-off I had with the second book was his propensity for political commentary, some of which I took offense at. This offense, once taken, kind of ruined the rest of the book for me. I wish he'd just kept to writing about his travels and not used the book as a way to tell me his political views. It's a good reminder to me, to keep politics out of my riding blog.

Still, the book is worth picking up, I recommend via your local library, to have a short read over a couple of evenings. Neither of his books is very long, and you will most likely get a chuckle or two in each chapter at least.

Book Review: Obsessions Die Hard

I just finished reading Ed Culberson's short but well written book on his obsession to motorcycle his way across the Darien's Gap. An 80 mile stretch of jungle terrain between Panama and Columbia.

Source: Google

He followed the projected path of the Pan American Highway, a system of roads that stretches from Alaska to the Southern Tip of Argentina. The Darien Gap is where finances, loss of political interest and will, and tree huggers contributed to the road building effort to stop.

The book details the many reasons involved with the gap's existence and the lack of roads through it and how it became the author's obsession to be the first person to traverse it on a motorcycle. In his case, he did it with a 1981 BMW R80 G/S! This book resonated with me as Culberson's motorcycle was basically the same motorcycle in terms of engine/frame specifications as my own 1987 R80, Brigitta.

The G/S however had better suspension and offroad wheels of course and still it was an epic struggle on the part of Culberson and the indian guides he hired to help him along the way. He had to deal with crooked cops, scam artists, accidents and near-death experiences along the way and his writing style keeps you turning the pages to see how he gets out of the situations he finds himself in.

Just picture yourself doing this: Using hand winches/pulleys to lift a 500 lb motorcycle up hills and down ravines in the middle of thick jungle terrain. Employing the local natives to hack a path for your motorcycle along barely discernible remants of trails and past failed expeditions by other types of vehicles!

This book should be available to you from your local library system as it was for me. I may actually have to buy my own copy as reference and inspiration as Culberson did stuff in his mid-50s that I would never even dream of now. Unfortunately for me, I'll never get a chance to meet Ed Culberson as Lou Gehrig's disease took him in 1995, truly a legend in BMW and motorcycling circles.

ISBN: 1-884313-06. Get it, read it, then try and keep it in mind when encountering some tough stretch of road.

Me? I know I'll wimp out and bypass the gap if I ever get the urge/time/wherewithal to ride the length of the Pan American Highway.

Book Review: Leanings and Leanings 2 by Peter Egan

I just finished reading both books, back to back. Thoroughly enjoyable reading of a long time motorcycling enthusiast and outstanding CycleWorld motorcycle magazine writer/editor Peter Egan. The man can write and is a skilled and diverse rider!



He's got a great sense of humor and the rare ability to inject just the right phrase/comment into a well told story to get one laughing or at least snickering. The man's dabbled in all kinds and makes of motorcycles: Ducatis, Vincents, Beemers, Hondas, Nortons, Triumphs and Harley-Davidsons amongst others that slip my mind as I type. He's got a weakness/bias for British Iron and Italian Reds but is not adverse to throwing his leg over other marques as well.

His long motorcycling careers encompasses many motorcycles/racing cars and through it all he can recount to you specific events in his life that evoke similar thoughts in one's own experiences. His road trip tales are very detailed and amusing, his dirt rides through Baja even made me, briefly, want to get a dirt motorcycle and follow the trails he rode.

I really liked his trademark "Should you buy a X motorcycle" tests where X is replaced by the word British or Italian or German, you get the idea. The tongue-in-cheek questions always, at least to me, had obvious answers and amuse the test taker at the same time.

His short stories of fixing/wrenching on his many motorcycles stirred an affinity with him what with my recent mechanical work on Brigitta. He's of course way more knowledgeable and experienced than I'll ever be, but its good to see he also can sometimes not "bend" a motorcycle to his will in terms of mechanical issues.

Well worth the read, and you can do several of his articles in a short sitting, leaving you inspired to get some riding in; or perhaps "rescue" an old motorcycle from storage and restore it to health, something he did quite often. He must have a very understanding wife, as I do, though I am sure mine would draw the line way before FIVE motorcycles were parked in my garage. Five being the perfect number of motorcycles according to Pete Egan! You'll have to read the books to find out why.

Book Review: One Man Caravan

Sunday, 20JUL08. A short little ride today left me most of the remaining day to relax at home hiding from the heat of the day, reading another travelogue.

This one was by Robert Edison Fulton Jr, he traveled around the world right after architecture college, on a six horsepower motorcycle made by the Douglas Motor Works. It was a two cylinder horizontally-opposed engine, with same tires as cars of the time, weighing in at 750 pounds! He'd had an extra 4 gallon tank mounted in the rear to supplement the stock 3 gallon tank in the usual spot. Mind you, he undertook this journey in the mid 1930s!

You can buy the book here

He equips the motorcycle to his specifications, adding to the items one expects something quite unexpected....the creation of a secret compartment for his .32 caliber pistol that he felt he wanted along! This along with thousands of feet of film for his camera and he was off.

He starts off his journey from London with some quaint ideas involving parties at embassies along the way, which of course required him packing white tie dinner attire! These illusions fade as he crosses Europe and the items are summarily discarded for the more practical.

His adventures include some lengthy wanderings in what was then British-controlled middle east lands such as Syria and Iraq. I found his description of British army life in the middle east and India, the ride through the Khyber Pass, and all the people he met along the way very interesting in light of today's modern view of the Middle East and its inhabitants. Thing sure have changed in that part of the world now that the Pax Britannica is no more. Border crossings apparently were challenging back then as they are today to modern world riders. His challengers however were somewhat more unique.

I believe a majority of the book is comprised of the rides in this part of the world; managing entrance into forbidden Afghanistan through the failing linguistic memory of the Afghani ambassador in Turkey. He rides into and out of what we'd call war zones today with a goodly amount of luck and fortune, for the middle east has always been a troubled area apparently.

His travels then take him through the Indian sub-continent, Malaysia, Indochina which is now present day Vietnam and onto China's major cities. The book is like a whirlwind tour at this portion of the world but still full of colorful details of the peoples he encounters and the cultures he's exposed to as a motorcycle rider.

He uses water and rail transport when needed and does not feel bad about it, his intent not being to lay claim solely to having ridden a motorcycle all the way. Heck, he even resorts to riding his motorcycle in between railroad tracks when they're the only clear way to his next destination!

His last foreign land is Japan and from there a steamship across the Pacific ocean and the USA which he crosses in a couple of pages on the book. The major event being his motorcycle being stolen in Texas but thankfully soon recovered afterwards so he could ride it home to New York in time for Christmas with his family after three years away.

He covered 40,000 miles on this severely underpowered scooter by today's standards, quite the adventure and accomplishment in my opinion. In today's age of accurate maps, GPS, satellite phones and Internet Cafes he would probably look curiously at today's world travelers and their gadgets and just ride on past with a cheery wave; well perhaps he'd like the maps for he sure wandered a lot due to the maps and roads of the day.

This book is one motorcyclist's view of the world prior to the second world war, quite fascinating to me as a history major in the picture he paints of how the world was before that war.