1 comments about Choppers Field Guide: Custom Bikes 1950s-Present.

1. This is primarily a picture booklet on "old school" style choppers. I use the term booklet, because it is a very small book, smaller than a cd, 5 1/4" wide, by 4 1/4" high with over 400 pages. I didn't check the size of the book, so I was surprised when I received it.
   
   There are a few pictures on each bike and they well done, but it's a little short on detailed information. If you are looking for info on parts and manufacturers of the parts, then I would look elsewhere.

No comments about Hot Rod Surf 100% Genuine.

1 comments about Custom Chopper Cookbook for All Big Twins, 1936 and Up Covers Evolution Thru 1988.

1. This is a great old book with tips and tricks that are still valuable today. Everything from extending a HD swingarm frame to extending original FL style springers. For the guy just starting a chop that gets into a little more than he bargained for, this book is perfect. Shows the amatuer how to rake and extend frames using oridinary items such as come-alongs. Also a great book for the experienced builder. This is one of my favorite garage books. I got some great ideas from the cookbook which inspired my last project (which was given a 6 page feature in a magazine last month)

1 comments about The Classic Harley.

1. 144 pages of pleasing and interesting pictures of bikes and people. Pictures include custom painted bikes, pictures of the backs of people showing their messages of allegiances. Bikes loaded for trips including scenes from Daytona and Sturgis. Includes pictures of pristine shiny bikes and bikes that are serving their owners through time (Rat bikes). There is also a section of tatoos. Finally, Harley racing. Most women are on the back of bikes, but there are about 4 pictures of women holding the throttle. My favorite pictures include two men enjoying a heart-throb road in the mountains, bikes hung from a tree, a group riding past Mount Rushmore and a couple Rat bikes with interesting "decorations."

No comments about Choppers and Custom Motorcycles.

2 comments about American Chopper/Orange County Choppers: The Fine Art of the Custom Motorcycle.

1. This is a must-buy for all OCC fans and for bikers alike. Wow, I must say this book encompasses what OCC has done and their contribution to the world of custom bikes. Not only that this book have featured their custom bikes and the story behind it, but it also has provided the readers the history of motorcycles, Sturgis, etc. It also has wonderful photos of their bikes like the Liberty Bike, Jet Bike, Caterpillar Bike, etc. Make David Mann prud and buy this book.



2. This book is a must for all the OCC fans out there. I purchased this for my 14 year old nephew, who just loves all things loud, metal,motors and boy stuff !! This book showcases the artwork of the bikes created by the OCC boys, from the ideas to the finished product. As for being a technical book then I would say it will not be sufficent in that area. But to a 14 year old it does a couple of things, firstly it encourages reading and conversation, the pages are well covered with plenty of photos and enough text to be of interest. The cover is very lavish and very appealing to the boys, especially as it has an OCC medallion as the centre piece. This book even caught the attention of my nephews father, which is a good thing, although Dad will have to get his own copy !! So well done to the OCC marketing dept. you have a good product.

No comments about How to Build a Custom Sport Bike.

3 comments about How to: Custom Paint & Graphics - Graphics for Your Car, Motorcycle, Truck, Street Rod.

1. This book had all the information I needed to Custom paint my motorcycle. it covered everything from the tools to the techniques. Very detailed and easy to understand with great photos to illustrate the techniques.This is a must for anyone that wants to learn how to apply a custom paint job to a vehicle.



2. Jon Kosmoski, the pioneer of custom painting for motocycles and autos. His name just says the phrase "House of Kolor."

   This book is well written. The content is well related to custom painting a motorcycle and a truck. You need to be very creative to do this type of custom painting. This book definately helped me do my custom paint job. I would recommend this book to anyone, but then again, like I have said earlier, do not rely only on this one book as your sole source for custom paint jobs.




3. The book was helpful but spent a lot of time on no brainers like staying clean, etc.

   Absent was any decent discussion of HVLP painting let alone technique differences. This is the way starters will paint and more should be devoted to it.

5 comments about Fast Company: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Motorcycles in Italy.

1. Different..... a great read. My daughter lived in Bologna for a few years, and I visited the city which made the book more interesting to me. It really helps to have spent time in the culture on this one. After you get over the funny "attempt" to cover up the Ducati name..very wierd...it's just a wild ride through a culture on many different levels.
   Don't read this book to get page after page of mototcycle details. This is a story about people and culture that produce the bikes from the viewpoint of an outsider..who in the end becomes a part of it all. I enjoyed the writing style and content more because it's a true story.



2. Within captivating literary style, Gross's portrayals illuminate an Italian world as it is now, and this is clearly not the world of "Room with a view". Surely the Italian journals and "Corriere della Sera" are well versed with the struggles of Italian boutique businesses trying to meet the challenge of growth to an international level, but to follow the chain of events of Ducati from within and during a major transitional effort is a special gift. To become acquainted with personal and detailed snapshots of corporate design processes and the trials of prima donna designers is equally rewarding, and sheds a fair light on recent Ducati products. From the beach exploits and dreams of characters depicted, one senses the struggles of modern young Italians. Add to this the author's struggle to rationalize infatuation with a young and arrogant love, and one finds another level or dimension of the Italy of today. This love may have equally been heterosexual, it's characteristics in modern day Italy would have been the same. The vignette descriptions ranging from learning to ride a motorcycle, different bikes, and tours reach out to the motorcyclist in all of us, as these motivate us to reach beyond ourselves whether or not a leg is thrown over a bike. This is a book for everyone where one truly gains a view into the beauty, challenge, and flavor of Italy today. On other levels, having been an Italian ex-pat for three years, ridden motorcycles for 30 years, and a Ducatista for 15 years, this book has touched on many levels and reminds of the need to return.



3. The book was a good read on several levels. As a motorcycle
   enthusiast and as a designer.. the stories from Ducati.. the inner
   workings.. design process.. people were fascinating. Having worked
   with all sorts of clients and designers I related easily to the events.
   Bologna was presented in vivid descriptions, with its culture,
   people, society coming to life. I kept having flashbacks to my 2
   years in Milano as well as subsequent visits. I toured most of Italy
   but sadly I only stopped at the train station in Bologna. Hopefully
   on a future trip I can go to Bologna and visit Ducati.
   I thought the sections at the seaside were hilarious.... the descriptions
   were like Fellini on Jolt cola I was more exhausted with those stories than
   the moto giro ones.
   The sections on the MotoGiro were also very compelling for one that rides a
   motorcycle....the good, the bad, the ugly, the danger, the exhilaration were all there.
   Personal life was interesting, full of irony, but in the end none of my business.
   Throughout the book I especially enjoyed kind of a deadpan
   description of the theater of the absurd that is Italy..left me with
   lot's to think about.



4. It is almost as much fun to wonder how David Gross, in a "inside Italian motorcycles" book learns so much, so fast. But he is smart, and he falls in love with Italy in more ways than one. Arriving in Bologna, Italy as "creative director" of the newly financially juggled - hell, can I say that it was "Ducati" now? - motorcycle company, the author adjusts quickly, first seizing upon advertising strategies that center on visualizing Italian grit, and helping to inject a world personality into what the cognoscenti know is the world's most sexy motorcycle.
   We're reminded of the woman - a non-motorcyclist - who once gazed on a 1973 Ducati "Super Sport" 750 cc. twin (upon which the modern dukes evolved), and exclaimed, "This is the most beautiful motorcycle I've ever seen!"
   And so it is. The imagistic makeover is spliced by Gross'es personal introduction to what we had always heard - that Italy is wild, vain - and unlike the United States - more than mildly corrupt.
   `Fast Company' gives hilarious portraits of "crazy genius" motorcycle designers, their temper tantrums, roaming union gangs, and hair-raising motorcycle rides on the cobblestones.
   This is a fast-paced, well-written book, tracking the birth of the single-cylindered dukes (great vintage road racers today!). It deftly changes names and dances away from potential lawsuits in a chase for grace and meaning.
   In the end, you'll not quite understand the Italian mystery, but for sure, you'll get stylish prose from David Gross, say, the antithesis of a Harley book, which will never get beyond its own narcissism. "Fast Company" is for fans of the finest - a literary rocket for the mountain road.



5. "Fast Company," the first book by David M. Gross, is an amazingly rich and detailed account of an American businessman's life in Bologna Italy. Unlike many recent accounts of Italy dripping with overtly idealized romanticism, David instead takes on a much more challenging task. Without the crutches of good vs. evil dichotomies, moralizing, descriptions of fantastical feats or extremes in characterization; David has composed an insightful book that allows his readers to truly observe Italy and its people from a beautifully lyrical yet thoroughly grounded perspective. This feat is only possible due to the author's own depth of experience as both a business man, lover, and passionate motorcyclist.
   
   This account skillfully manages to mix the seemingly disparate worlds of love, business, sport, and culture into an account that as often frustrates as it gives cause for laughter or deep reflection. We learn the difference between language and communication with David as he recalls his often times hilarious encounters with the many eclectic employees of a faltering yet proud motorcycle company. He describes in invigorating detail his love for a young Italian that, like exotic motorbikes, is equally beautiful and dangerous. In sometimes overwhelming detail, he succeeds in describing what becoming and being a motorcyclist means, whether taking a leisurely ride or primally pushing the limits.
   
   The only short coming of this great book is that David's own character often seems to be overshadowed by the many other characters that surround him. He is not overt in giving his opinion, and is quite obviously non-confrontational in demeanor. David is often times a listener, and observer; these very aspects of his character are the keys to what make him his friend's and coworker's confidant and allow the insight so inherent in his writing. His own character may not be overtly painted, but if a reader is observant (a lesson that David artfully teaches) one does become familiar with the author through his experiences.
   
   My recommendation is that you read David's story; yes, you will become intimately acquainted with "life, love, and motorcycles in Italy" but even more so, you will come just a little closer to knowing how you might respond if asked the question, "are you ready to fly without a parachute?"

No comments about Advanced Custom Motorcycle Painting (Paint Expert).