Customer Reviews

Legendary Motorcycles: The Stories and Bikes Made Famous by Elvis, Peter Fonda, Kenny Roberts, and Other Motorcycling Greats

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not a motorcycle expert, but this book has interesting stories and includes rare photos of important motocycles and their owners. A great gift idea; highly recommended!

I am always a little sceptical everytime a new historical motorcycle book comes out. But "Legendary Motorcycles" really manage to capture my interest, as being well written and well balanced between technical details and interesting histories about the famous people who rode them.
Highly recommendable!

I've never held a special interest in motorcycles, other than acknowledging that they are one of the coolest objects in existence. I bought Legendary Motorcycles because I figured it would serve as a nice conversation piece on my coffee table. I was right - it has been picked up and perused far more often than any other book within reach. The striking cover artwork continues inside, with photos that compel one to flip through the pages. I found myself (and my house guests) wrapped up in many of the stories which accompany the pictures. I expected the writing to be long-winded, boring, and too arcane for anyone other than the 'in' crowd. However, while this book is a must have for motorcycle aficionados, the author also caters to those of us with little or no knowledge of the history and significance of these classic bikes. Very well done, and highly recommended!

Legendary Motorcycles: A Vivid History of Men and Their Machines


Legendary Motorcycles is a book that is aimed at two-wheel enthusiasts, but it will be of interest to anyone who appreciates fine machinery or even recent cultural history. The book consists of a number of short, magazine article size chapters on famous motorcycles or motorcycles that belonged to famous people. Each chapter is beautifully illustrated with images of the motorcycles today and a series of period photos of the motorcycle in action. Legendary Motorcycles is written by Basem Wasef, a Los Angeles motor sports enthusiast. The forward is by Jay Leno, a man who is truly passionate about automobiles, motorcycles, or almost anything mechanical.

In his book, Wasef has covered a wide range of motorcycles, but his subjects are drawn primarily from the last forty years, rather than from the early years of motorcycle history, so if you are interested in early board trackers, pre-war road racers or exotic 1950s Grand Prix bikes, this is not the book's focus. The single early bike and rider is the chapter on T.E. Lawrence and the Brough Superior he loved to ride and that met his death on, the superbike of its day. There are a number of chapters on the motorcycles that are perhaps most identified with a number of famous racers including AMA stars Dick Mann, Mert Lawwill and Cal Rayborn. Then, there are ones on Wayne Rainey's Kawasaki Superbike, Freddy Spencer's World Championship winning Honda and Kenny Robert's infamous TZ750 powered flat-tracker.

There are articles on the eccentric painter and pin striper, Kenneth "Van Dutch" Howard, who in death, has become what he may have wanted to be least - a pop culture figure. In reality, Van Dutch - who was someone some of my mentors grew up with in days of early hot rodding - was an alcoholic, anti-social curmudgeon. He was a brilliant pin-striper but a crusty misanthrope who happier with his motorcycles than with most people. Its important to note here that many early hot rod and sports car enthusiasts were just as passionate about motorcycles, there was always an overlap between the car and bike communities. Evel Knievel is another legendarily difficult man who is featured in the book. He was a great showman and a household name in the same era as Joe Namath and Muhammad Ali. His long jumps and broken bones helped to contribute to the daredevil image motorcyclists enjoyed.

The addiction to "salt fever" is well covered in the book with no less than four men who were obsessed with record setting on the Bonneville Salt Flat covered including Rollie Free, Marty Dickerson, Leo Payne and Burt Munro. Two of these men raced big Vincents across the "big white dyno" in Utah, one rode a Harley Davidson and the last an Indian. For a book with twenty-six profiles, this may be enough salt content to raise some reader's blood pressure.

There is a nice chapter on the late John Britten, who was without a doubt the most original thinker in motorcycle racing in the past half-century. This New Zealander deserves to have a film made about him as his countryman Burt Munro did with World's Fastest Indian. What an eccentric, free-thinking and innovative man who died far too young. There is a welcome chapter on the great Motorcycle Top Fuel Champion Terry Christenson who those of us who attended drag races in the 1970s remember for his record runs on his Nortons. Mike "The Bike" Hailwood is also here, but not curiously for his great MV Augusta or Honda Grand Prix bikes of the 1960s, but for the Ducatis he made his brief Isle of Man comeback on at the age of thirty-eight.

For chopper fans, there is an article on the motorcycles from the film Easy Rider. Though I can appreciate some of the workmanship on these extreme motorcycles, I am not generally a chopper fan. There isn't much any of them seem to do well and most of them are viewed rather than actually ridden. And, for many of us who grew up in the 1960s, outlaw bikers gave motorcyclists a poor image that it took decades to undo. However, the bikes in Easy Rider did become cultural icons, especially the chopper with the "Captian America"paint job. For film fans, James Dean's two motorcycles are covered, but his inclusion in a book about famous motorcycles seems to be a bit of a stretch. However, it's a nice thing knowing that the same people who lovingly restored the house he grew up in also have his Triumph twin.

Steve McQueen may have not been known as a famous motorcyclist if it wasn't for On Any Sunday, the classic motorcycle documentary. Bruce Brown's classic film did for motorcycles what his Endless Summer did for surfing, it showed people who were suspicious about motorcyclists that riders were normal people and that what motivated most of us was the freedom and pure joy of riding on two wheels. For better or worse, On Any Sunday helped mainstream motorcycling and those scenes of McQueen and his buddies riding on the sand left an indelible impression on thousands of young viewers. I know that the Husky from that scene has been restored in recent months by the retired motocrosser Marty Tripes. Steve McQueen had the legendary racer and stunt man Bud Ekins as a mentor and so like Ekins, McQueen developed a deep appreciation for the sport. They were true motorcyclists as they appreciated not only the modern bikes they rode and raced, but the early motorcycles they came to collect.

The inclusion of Elvis is also a questionable one. He was probably such a captive of his fame that I can't see that he would have had a lot of time or the freedom to really ride. Basketball great Michael Jordon's racing team is also an inclusion that isn't warranted. While Jordon is certainly famous, the bikes he has sponsored are not. The late Renzo Pasolini who was killed racing back in 1973, is a bit of a quizzical entry as he is probably not familiar to most of the American and British readers who will buy this book. Also, there is hardly a real identification of him with the Harley XR750 that is featured, other than the fact that he raced it and it survives in the same condition as it was raced in, a rarity for a racer.

There are not enough continental or British riders included in the book. I would have enjoyed a chapter on the legendary Giacomo Agostini and any one of his MV-Augustas. Motocross competition is also largely ignored. I would have liked to see a chapter on Bob Hannah and his Yamahas, Roger De Coster and his Suzukis or any one of the many Swedish, Finnish, British or Belgian motocross heroes. What about Bruce Penhall and his World Champion speedway bike? A chapter on the Rickman brothers of England, who not only won many races, but won on the Rickman-Metisse kit bikes they built and designed themselves would have been a natural. Curiously, there isn't a mention of McQueen's Triumph-Metisse in the chapter on the star, especially as his appreciation for the innovative British bikes was so well known. Perhaps a Part Deux is being worked on and will broaden the coverage in this volume.

Overall, the well-written and beautifully produced Legendary Motorcycles is an excellent addition to the bookshelf or coffee table of anyone who loves motorcycles or simply appreciates the history and development of the eternal combustion engine. It would be an excellent holiday gift for the motorcyclist in
your life.

It was given as a gift to a motorcyle collector. He loved it. Several days later, he commented how "really nice" the book was since he had a chance to look at it. Great coffee table book!

I'm a Norton guy, I mostly got it for the Hogslayer article. It's a pretty good coffee table book, for less than the price of a issue of Classic Bike Magazine.

-Eric

This is an excellent book highlighting some very interesting motorcycles. Personally I found the chapter on the (Craig) Vetter Mystery Ship very illuminating both about the motorcycle and more about the man behind it.

Another noteworty chapter was on Burt Monroe's World's Fastest Indian. After watching the 2005 movie of the same title recently, I was able to pour over the pictures of the restored 1920 Indian Scout in the book with my wife giving us a multimedia motorcycle experience in the comfort of our family room.

I have recently read it from cover to cover and it is now in our "coffee table book" rack in the living room for future explorations and sharing with others.

David Thom

This is a great book. Purchased for a gift for a motorcycle lover. Makes a great addition to your library or a great coffee table book!

If you are into motorcycles, I think you will really enjoy this one. The author also writes for many motor related publications including, Robb Report, www.About.com and www.UltimateMotorCycling.com . So you can check out his quality work online before you buy.

Maybe a great gift idea!

First off, this is just a beautiful book. By mixing surprising archival photography with his own solid portraiture, Basem Wasef takes you on a trip in a time machine, from the Bonneville Salt Flats to the flatlands of Indiana and the hometown of James Dean. They are all here and the rides that are forever etched in the American motoring consciousness: Elvis and his 'Glide, Fonda and his chopper and, of course, Evel. But this is no lightweight populist read. Nor is it a look back done from a desk. Wasef literally crisscrossed the country and reported on each and every one of these machines in person. This is a deep dive onto rare bikes that will glue the most avid motorsickle rider to every rich page.