3 comments about Riding The American Dream: Surviving Road Rash & Living To Tell About It: The Official Story of Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycles.

1. Some of the best books ever, are the ones that friends give me. Of course, it helps to have smart friends! My brother bought an Excelsior-Henderson motorcycle. He loves it. Convincing my other brother to buy all three of us Dan Hanlon's book.

   It is first of all, a great recap of the seven plus years of E-H's struggle from the man at the helm. But is really is a great business "how to" or perhaps "how not to" launch a capital intensive manufacturing business. The tales of fund raising are not for the faint of heart.

   Serious about a startup business? Read this book first. It is so fast paced, that I was able to read the whole 401 pages in just two sessions. Some great photos included, as well as some corporate documents like the list of E-H dealers.

   Even if you are not going for a capital intensive venture, it will still help. The passages on corporate culture were great. And the interaction with Wall Street was fun reading. Oh yea, everyone that knows anything about E-H has second guessed Hanlon. He convinced me that every single criticism was for the most part, untrue. One example is the building. It just "looks" expensive. The true costs were amazingly low.

   If you are serious about business and enjoy motorcycles [riding or watching them ride down the street], this is a must have. One of my top twenty picks.




2. Not sure of the complete story of what happened with EH, I was curious to learn more. The history of the start up venture was interesting as were stories from Sturgis. Even the section of the "gearhead" related topics weren't too hard to follow, as I was afraid I'd be confused. But overall, I don't really understand what happened except that the financing options ran out. But why? That area is foggy and seemed condensed in the later chapters. It makes you wonder what the 2nd side of the story is. I think some professional editing would've helped in the story, as well. The writing was obviously as Dan Hanlon would speak aloud. But that tone gets tiresome and he sometimes gets off on tangets. Perhaps the book wouldn't have been as long either.



3. We read the book as part of a business strategy class in my MBA program.
   The book is very insightful. Besides the fact, that the venture ultimately went belly-up, Hanlon describes his methodology for raising capital. He raised +$90 million over 7 years - a significant achievement, considering that he did not have huge investors right away, but focused on "grass-roots" fund raising.
   I was impressed and took many lessons learned away from his approach.
   He details his milestone fund raising and the principles he founded the company on. The book furthermore is an application guide on how to identify your target customers and on how to market towards them, so that they will not only buy your product, but also help you finance the venture that designs and manufactures the product - quite impressive and an absolutely novel approach.
   Before you pass judgement, based on what you have read in the press, I recommend highly to read Dan Hanlon's account of the dream he lived and embarked on realizing. If you still think Hanlon was full of it, well that is an opinion, too, but at least you have exposed yourself to both sides.

1 comments about Honda Cx & Gl500/650 Twins 1978-1983 Service Repair Maintenance.

1. Por favor si les es posible quisiera contactarme para poder encontrar el manual tecnico de la moto honda cx 500 custom.Desde ya les quedo muy agradecido.Si pudieran mandarme una respuesta a la brevedad a mi email.

No comments about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values.

1 comments about Triumph 650 and 750 2-Valve Twins Owners Workshop Manual, No. 122: '63-'83 (Owners Workshop Manual).

1. I have in the past read and made use of many of the Haynes manuals for a variety of motorcycles, both domestic and foreign, and, without much doubt ,this is one of the best ones. It reaches to over two hundred pages in length and unusualy for them has no serious omisions or errors and manages to cover all aspects of the unit heavyweight Triumph twins practically and comprehensivley for the home maintenance enthusiast. This being one of the manuals which has been regularly updated over the years the coverage of the late Harris models and the advice on parts availability is far more usable than other titles they have put out in the past, it even manages to be a good read if you are less practically interested. Perhaps the standard here is higher because of the competition in the market but it still manages to be a highly reccomended buy - well I bought one so it must be your turn next - what are you waiting for?

No comments about A Guide for Using The Mouse and the Motorcycle in the Classroom.

3 comments about Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album.

1. This is a wonderful scrapbook of the history of the Harley
   Davidson Company on its 100th birthday. It is written by the
   grand daughter of Walter Davidson.There are a series of action
   pictures depicting the family in the early 1900s including
   a 1918 outing. The book explains the dynamics of testing
   each motorcycle directly from the assembly line. This rendition
   would make a perfect gift for a motorcycle enthusiast.



2. Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album is a great gift for anyone who wants to know more about Harley-Davidsons. While most books about these wonderful motorcycles focus on the bikes and their impact on the culture, the Family Album describes the effect of the motorcycle on the founders and their families . . . and vice versa. It's a dimension of Harley-Davidson that I knew nothing about . . . and found to be fascinating.

   Jean Davidson is the granddaughter of Walter Davidson, the first president of the company, and her father was Gordon Davidson, a company vice president. She is a former dealer. She teams up with Sara Ann Harley-O'Hearn to add comments about both families. About half of the photographs were new to me, and the captions were priceless.

   The book opens with family trees of Davidsons and Harleys who are in the book so you can keep track of who's who.

   Then the book turns to how the families emigrated from Europe to Wisconsin in the late 1800s. Within five pages of photographs, you begin to see motorcycle images. The first classic is of Arthur Davidson with a friend holding up the fish they caught while sitting on a motorcycle and in a sidecar. The original idea behind the motorcycle was to help make it easier to go fishing. Go figure!

   The text is also interesting . . . including an explanation of why the company is called Harley-Davidson rather than Davidson-Harley.

   The family connections are interesting. The model called "Silent Grey Fellow" in 1914 employed the nickname for William Sylvester Harley. There's also a nice page on the first motorcycle and what happened to it through 1912.

   It wasn't all easy. In 1904 a household maid raided the company's cash jar, and left the company broke. The Davidson brothers' uncle, James McLay, came to the rescue. His photograph is included.

   Interspaced with the family materials are examples of motorcycles, advertisements and motion picture stills featuring motorcycles.

   One of my favorite family photographs shows the chauffeur who was used to drive the founder's wives around in a sidecar. Even though the family was prospering, they preferred their bikes!

   There are also photographs of the male founders working on bikes and even testing them.

   The book also describes the company's attitude toward having women work at the company (single women only in the early days).

   Just after I finished this book, I happened to see an advertisement for S.C. Johnson where the fourth generation and fifth generation members talked about how the company is the family and vice versa. I couldn't help but think that this observation is equally true of Harley-Davidson after enjoying this fine album.

   Photography fans should be warned, however, that like most family albums, these images are often not professional grade. They are often just like the snaps that your grandparents and parents took when they were young. To me, that aspect just added to the charm of the book.

   I was encouraged to take out our family album after looking at this one. I hope you will do the same.




3. But mine was very connected to motorcycles. I want to thank the authors of this book for having shared their very personal family information and pictures. This book and especially these families have had a profound effect on our ever shrinking planet and it's peoples. If you read for fun you will find great pleasure in this book and "THE SECOND COMING OF AGE" by: Vedrine; a must for every Harley Davidson enthusiast.

No comments about The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles: The complete guide to motorbikes and biking, with an A-Z of marques and over 600 stunning color photographs.

2 comments about Haynes Honda Shadow VT1100 Owners Workshop Manual: 1985 Thru 1998 (Owners Workshop Manual).

1. This is one the more comprehensive/technical books that I've read. Very useful if you intend to bring down the whole bike or just for the daily dose of maintenance needed to keep your bike in prime condition. Suitable for both beginners and experts. Even have parts codes so that you'll never get the wrong parts. It even has pictures and illustrations so that you'll not get lost. I think this book got more information than I need to handle my bike. It covers all VT1100s.



2. Don't make the same mistake I did! This book covers "1985 thru 1998" models only. This restriction is not clearly listed in any of the descriptions. Those of us with newer bikes will need to wait for an update.

No comments about Suzuki VS700-800 Intruder/Boulevard S50, 1985-2007 (Clymer Motorcycle Repair).

No comments about Triumph 350 and 500 Unit Twins Owners Workshop Manual, No. 137: '58-'73 (Owners Workshop Manual).