The Scooter Book [Paperback]

Bob Woods (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2004

Taking advantage of a hot new trend in cities big and small, this book includes information on scooter history, culture, and celebrities...plus "how to buy" tips and info.

The Scooter Book is a wonderfully fun, retro-hip book that aims to take advantage of a hot new trend in cities big and small; this book includes information on scooter history, culture, and celebrities, plus "how to buy" tips and info. It includes more than 150 colorful photos of scooters, including all the top-selling models, plus period-evocative historical memorabilia from the 1950s and 1960s. The Scooter Book connects the hipster nostalgia of the scooter to today's modern life. Lifelong rider and writer, the author, Bob Woods, takes readers on a zippy ride through scooter history, stopping off to see how World War II, Audrey Hepburn, and the Who have all played a part in this reoccurring transportation trend. He also tells how to maintain, repair, and care for a scooter and scooter-related gear.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bob Woods is a writer living in Madison, Connecticut. Bob was the editor of the Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Magazine and has written hundreds of articles for major magazines (including Sports Illustrated and Money Magazine) on sports, business, and culture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Hylas Publishing; illustrated edition edition (May 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592580769
• ISBN-13: 978-1592580767
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,303,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More like 2.5 start- good effort but many errors, June 25, 2004

By 

A. Whitney (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Scooter Book (Paperback)

While this book makes an earnest attempt to cover the ever-expanding world of motorscooters, it is marred by errors that make it seem rushed and not researched enough.

Mr. Woods should be congratulated for creating a book that gives a good scope and overview of the machines and culture of scootering. His inclusion of magazines like Scoot! Quarterly and a list of scooter clubs will make many new scooterists feel more at ease about joining the scootering scene. The book also contains lots of interesting photos.
Yet, there are many errors. For example, there are quite a few simple errors such as references to incorrect page numbers. One caption lists an illustration as being from the 50's when it was actually created by a current, practicing artist. In his history of Vespa, the author confuses the founder of Piaggio with his son. I list these as examples of how the book escaped some critical editing and thorough fact checking.

If you are a scootering enthusiast, you may find this book lacking. If you are interested in getting into scootering and don't know much about it, you may find this book to be inspiring and welcoming. Amazon has it at a good price, so its worth adding to your collection.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not worth much -- except for the photos, July 20, 2005

By 

E. Hoffmann - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Scooter Book (Paperback)

This book consists of a very superficial history of the scooter and its current comeback. Its selling point would seem to be the numerous photos, which dwarf the text. If you typed "scooter club" or "scooter shop" or "scooters" into Google, you would locate most of the useful information. The care and maintenance section is about two pages in length and includes tips such as: "change your oil after 3,000 miles." There are no "how-to" sections, this book will not help you repair your scooter and doesn't offer much in the way of buying strategies, where you might find used scooters, etc. Buy it used if you must read it.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed..., June 16, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Scooter Book (Paperback)

Any book on scooters is a good book. However, comparable to other scooter books I own, this one is superficial and not very informative.