Legendary
Motorcycles: The Stories and Bikes Made Famous by Elvis, Peter
Fonda, Kenny Roberts, and Other Motorcycling Greats ,
by Basem Wasef
This is a book I really wanted to love. Stunning
photographs of famous motorcycles and interesting stories
about their owners and a shared appreciation for the love
of speed -- what could be better? The author even took a road
trip in a vintage 1983 Porsche 911 SC while during research
for this brand new book, and there is even an odd sort of
symmetry in the finished work. The book opens with a discussion
of James Dean's early love affair with speed in general, and
his 1947 CZ 125-cc motorcycle and finishes with Steve McQueen's
1947 Indian Chief Chopper that he nicknamed "The Blob."
Author Basem Wasef's goal was to find and describe "…the
most historically significant motorcycles," and he was
successful in profiling an appealingly eclectic lineup of
such machines.
Legendary Motorcycles is a fine book for
"random paging," and as a coffee table book, I think
it performs admirably. But the road trip books that earn my
personal recommendations always go beyond the superficial.
Even though this book has some moments of brilliance, I reached
the end of the book with a sense of frustration about how
the narrative unfolded. How much better this book could have
been had the author chosen to weave the individual collection
of stories into a single whole -- but perhaps that wasn't
the point.
On the other hand, the photographs are nothing
short of fantastic, and I gained new perspectives on some
of the individuals described in the narrative. The author
included some very memorable stories in this book. Three of
my favorites are Freddie Spencer's successful campaign to
become a double champion in the 1985 GP racing series, the
back story behind the legend of Lawrence of Arabia, and the
incomparable story of Burt Munro's efforts to join the 200-miles-per-hour
club at Bonneville Salt Flats on his Munro Special.
The outstanding photographs of these famous motorcycles
do a wonderful job of transporting the reader to different
places and times. In fact, the author made a point of photographing
some of the historic bikes in locales that were reminiscent
of the racing tracks and garages where they gained their fame.
One fascinating feature of the book is the sleuthing that
the author did to locate and track down the sometimes mysterious
ownership lineage of the bikes. The "John Edgar Lightning,"
also known as "Rollie Free's Bathing Suit Bike"
and "Captain America," the Harley Davidson v-twin
Panhead made famous by Peter Fonda in the film "Easy
Rider" are two contenders for the most convoluted ownership
histories.
Legendary Motorcycles shares a glimpse
of life in the fast lane from Burt Munro's purchase of an
Indian Scout in 1920 to the announcement in spring of 2004
that basketball star Michael Jordon was entering the world
of professional racing by sponsoring an AMA Superstock and
Supersport motorcycle team. Even if you find the prose a little
disconcerting in spots, the images of the bikes and the stories
of the people who made them famous make this book a must-have
for motorcycle aficionados.
Mark
Sedenquist
11/2/07
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