Customer Reviews

Top Dead Center: The Best of Kevin Cameron from Cycle World Magazine

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like Peter Egan's Leanings series of books (and Side Glances collections), TDC is a compilation of Kevin Cameron's Cycle World columns of the same name. For those unfamiliar, Cameron is a literal engineering genius and it shows month after month in his works (or page after page here, as the case may be). At times though, his writing style can become a bit overwhelming even for an adept mechanic to ingest. He is hardly to blame though as he prides himself on tackling subjects that are simply mind boggling. Readers should expect an information overload as nearly each and every page of this book digs into the most intricate mechanical processes and somehow manages to make sense of them.

Cameron has a knack for exploring technologies not only current, but also in their inception and race applications. It isn't uncommon for him to take a look at a mechanism that comes as standard equipment on today's bikes then to jump back to the earliest records of its inception (be it military or civilian), discuss the concept's trial and error evolution, get into how it affected race-bikes in the early 1980's, then relate it back to today's stock iteration. And all of this is a single paragraph of one article.

It is clear his thirst for knowledge is rivaled only by his desire to educate others in what he's uncovered. But realize that unlike Egan's works, this can hardly be considered light reading. Cameron rarely spends time penning fluff or downplaying advanced concepts so that younger readers/ beginners can follow along. His columns dive right into the technicalities and continue to pull the reader along whether they're ready or not. I often find myself reading a paragraph over and over in attempt to separate the flood of interesting facts presented into smaller bits. Having KC's works chronologically organized into a single volume turns a solid monthly editorial into a piece of reference literature worthy of any coffee table; Whether it belongs to a meachanic, rider, or otherwise.

I was really hoping that this would cover his technical and engineering realted articles that he does so well and gives the reader so much insight into the technology of motorcycling. This book is mostly concerned with people and personalities such as riders and mechanics and even manufactuers such as Mr. Honda. All well writen and very informative. But as I said there are not really any of the technical articles here.

Kevin's knowledge, insights and memories make for a great read and you will learn something about great bikes and the men that rode and made them. I learned more about my heroes and racers that have become great friends to me. I guess all I could ask for is TDC- 2, the sequel.

Racers who want to climb the sport's greasy pole need the basics: skill, will, energy, luck, focus, money and opportunity. Comparable skills are vital in every phase of racing --machine choice, tuning, tire selection, maintenance, logistics, acquiring sponsorship, managing stress. Another helpful ingredient rises above almost all others: a mentor, sitting patiently alongside, to make sure that we understand what is going on and what to do about it most effectively.
Enter Kevin Cameron with TDC, tracing his racing experience over a 35-year career as perhaps the most knowledgeable and capable man in the field, certainly among its finest writers. Individuals may exceed his skills in narrow areas but no one has assembled the 'package' Cameron brings to the task. The book is a four-part selection of 51 of his writings in CYCLE WORLD from 1973-2005, with current, brief introductions, and helps us understand why he is essential reading for serious enthusiasts.
In his first section, THE RACING LIFE, Cameron analyzes where most racers are coming from: privateers with limited means, the moments and signposts that created today's scene (e.g. 1974, year of the 'slick'), the art of crashing, the two-stroke/four-stroke conundrum, frames, suspensions, disk brakes (remember drums?), pioneering riders, some of the appalling incidents that doomed many racing efforts. Ever slept in a van, worked 36 hours straight fueled by coffee and junk food? He has. You can, um, smell it on the page.
With his second grouping, RACERS, he appraises the great riders--attitudes, character, what enabled them to win: Mick, Wayne, Eddie, Freddie, KR, Kevin. Even if you don't know racing's past greats, their strengths and weaknesses, rendered insightfully by Cameron, resonate today throughout the sport--Colin and Casey, Nicky and Vale. New names and faces, sure, but similar human nature propelling the agony and ecstasy, the triumphs and disasters.
MOGULS, MAVENS AND MECHANICS examines some great characters such as Soichiro Honda, John Britten, Jeremy Burgess, Robin Tuluie, Robert Muzzy, Eraldo Ferraci. These are not sketches but insights into the characters, behaviors, skills and motivations that drove these men. He understands not just their external, public personas, but their minds and hearts.
In INNER WORKINGS, the last selection, Cameron returns to his roots: what the machine is doing, how to understand it. He has the uncanny ability to reach down to molecular levels to explain what is happening inside machinery and convey it with dazzling simplicity. Anyone can write turgid, complex descriptions of complicated physical processes, and many do. Few can render esoterica in simple, elegant terms comprehensible to average minds. No wonder the NEW YORK TIMES turns to Cameron, often. We're still not plumbing his depths: he's expert in many areas, including aviation and the amazing radials of WWII.
Anyone who has ever raced, who is racing or who intends to race, in any serious area of motorsports at any level, or just go to the races, or merely watch them on TV, must absorb TDC. You'll learn more in this one book than in decades at the track, at $26.95 (retail) the least expensive learning and life wisdom you'll ever find. It is The Word. Cameron is motorsports' national treasure and our essential mentor.

I subscribe to Cycle World solely to read Kevin Cameron's TDC column, so when I saw that he written a book with the same title, I rushed out and bought two copies, one for myself, and one to give as a gift for my motorcycle club's holiday party. I started reading as soon as the book arrived. I was a little disappointed, because the articles in the book are different from Kevin's Cycle World articles of the last few years. The articles in the book are focused on motorcycle racing, where his recent articles have focused on technology. When an issue of Cycle World arrives, I turn straight to Kevin's column, and I am never disappointed. The guy is the best technical writer I have ever encountered. This is what I was expecting, but instead I got a collection of articles about racing. The writing in the racing articles is of course up to Kevin's usual very high standard. I have been a luke warm fan of racing, and now after reading Kevin's book, my interest is much greater.
But, please, I want a collection of Kevin's articles on technology. There are a lot of writers who cover racing well. There is no one else who covers technology the way Kevin Cameron does.

Bruce O'Reilly
Vice President
BMW Club of Southern California

Many readers of Cycle World Magazine may already be familiar with the monthly columns of Kevin Cameron. This book is a wonderful compilation of the best of Camerons work which centers largely around motorcycle racing - the bikes, the events and the men. The writing is deep, insightful and presents a rich account of motorcycle racing from the early Seventies until now.

The contents of the book is broken down in chapters - "The Racing Life", "Racers", "Moguls, Mavens and Mechanics" and "Inner Workings". This provides the latitude for the reader to skip around the book delve into the wonderful tapestry of motorcycle racing. Nixon, Baldwin, Roberts, Lawson and Schwantz; they're all here. Excellent book and a worthy 5 stars.

I found TDC to be very interesting. I enjoyed reading it. The subject being racing and development of motorcycles I found advice and lessons applicable to everyday life and business.

Good on so many levels. Writing, tech, philosophy, history and more. I sell or toss most of the books I read. This one is a keeper. I hope my son will read it someday.

I purchased this as a gift for my brother, a huge motorcycle fan and he absolutely loved it.

Most people mistakenly think that to make a motorcycle fast they only need to install a hot cam and slip on a noisy exhaust. Kevin knows better because he has explored all the slippery details on race tracks around the world. A larger carburetor will slow down the velocity of the air/fuel mixture and disrupt the proper mixing causing less, not more, power. It's Bernoulli's principle and Kevin doesn't just know it, he understands it.
What's great about this book is that he explains this sort of thing as if he were having a conversation with you. He tells you about these things in the context of the people and machines he worked and raced with. And at the end of each story you understand it to.
Kevin's Handbook of Sportbike Performance is much more technical and makes an excellent companion book. Handbook tells you what to do and which bolt to turn. TDC tells you why you want to do it and gets you excited about doing it. Every rider who is interested in performance; the people, the machines, and the techniques, should own this book!