No comments about Honda Xl/Xr/Tlr 125-200, 1979-2003.

No comments about Motocross America.

2 comments about Norton.

1. I enjoyed the book. However, I did find that the impressive coverage of Norton's illustrious racing history came at the expense of the technical and corporate history. Some may not find this a fault, but I was looking for more information on production models. And there simply wasn't enough mention of the twins with which us Yanks are most familiar (I can't afford a Manx but a Commando is a possibility...) If you are a fan of the singles that made Norton a great name in motorsports, you will like this book. It is well written and informative.



2. This provides a good history of Norton motorcycles and their racing history with a fantastic collection of photographs.

3 comments about Honda Motorcycles.

1. Well written, great photography, well researched sidebars on significant, influential models, more than I expected for the price. Very well done.



2. This is what a good, accurate, detailed motorcycle book is supposed to be. You get great information and fantastic pictures of original, historically important motorcycles, their riders and the facts that go with them. There is so much speculation these days by people who think they remember what happened, or what a bike was supposed to look like, or when a particular feature was added or changed in a particular model line. This book sets a lot of that straight. It seems the author knows and has spoken personally to the factory racers, mechanics, engineers and competitors to get the information. I got the impression that the author and the historic people themselves were good friends! I got a kick out of the Soichiro Honda quote the first time he rode the great CB 750 in 1969. It really brings characters to life.

   Jeff Hackett is frequently used as a resource, as he is one of the top authorities on photographing and restoring old Hondas among other motorcycles. Many of the top authorities, authors and restorers have been accessed to create this book. To top it off I get great, color, engine-out photos of the famous RC-166 and RC-160 motors that so much legend has been made of.

   This all in consideration, the book is not the absolute last word on Honda motorcycles, as many models, specifically US models and some others have been omitted or intentionally left-out. Thankfully, there are other top notch books like that written by Bill Silver that pick up any slack that was omitted herein, but this is the best effort so far at being far better than any "coffee table book" and definitely a must for the restorer or researcher. This is not a re-hashed and fluffed-up "coffee table book", as it is really an up-to-date, detailed history with a bit of myth and legend mixed it for good balance and flow. You should read it end to end; but, you can just as easily flip through it now and then for a "fix" as well. Either way, this is one book you should have in your collection.

   For the record, I have personally started restoring old Hondas and this book no doubt will pay for itself repeatedly over the years as I take on new projects!




3. Very nice reference book. Glad to have it as an addition to my collection..

3 comments about Suzuki Gs850-1100 Shaft Drive 1979-1984: Service, Repair and Maintenance.

1. it is very indepth as far as explaining what to do.however more detailed pictures would have been a definite plus, I found it hard at times assertaining exactly where certain parts of the motorcycle were located.For a more advanced mechanic I'm sure that this wouldn't be a problem. But for the hobbiest, I hope in the next publication they would toss in an overall diagram explaining part location.



2. it is very indepth as far as explaining what to do.however more detailed pictures would have been a definite plus, I found it hard at times assertaining exactly where certain parts of the motorcycle were located.For a more advanced mechanic I'm sure that this wouldn't be a problem. But for the hobbiest, I hope in the next publication they would toss in an overall diagram explaining part location.



3. The manual says, "This manual has been specifically written and formatted for the amateur home mechanic." This description is correct. The motorcycles covered in this manual are at least 21 years old. Some parts are not available for these models. Owner's manuals are usually lost. Part of the attraction of older bikes is the lower cost, but hiring out maintenance can get expensive quickly. People who buy bikes this old should be prepared to do most repairs themselves.
   This manual combines the essential information from both the owner's manual and a factory service manual, and does so at a fair price. People who are mechanically inclined will find the descriptions of the tasks to be quite direct. People who haven't worked on machinery before are likely to get themselves in trouble.
   Comparing the Clymer manual with my official Suzuki manual for the GS650G is revealing. The Suzuki manual uses very clear line drawings. Clymer uses black & white photos, which were reproduced with a coarse screen and lack legibility too often. Suzuki explains, for example, how the carburetors work before describing maintenance procedures. Clymer goes directly to disassembly, and in less detail than Suzuki. To be fair, the Clymer manual has some details lacking in the Suzuki manual. Clymer also covers several models, and does so over a time span in which significant changes were made to the bikes . And the Suzuki manual, if it is still available, costs $62.
   Anyone working on these motorcycles should become familiar with the GS Resources web site, at http://www.thegsresources.com/
   Specific suggestions there go into greater detail than either manual in diagnosing and repairing problems that arise with these older, but still fine machines. The forums also give advice on finding replacements for parts that are no longer available from Suzuki, and on replacement parts that are sometimes better than OEM parts.

4 comments about Outlaw Choppers (Enthusiast Color).

1. Yet another coffee table picture book on the current styling trends of Choppers. Mr. Seate's excellent previous book, 'Choppers' touched on the origin of these great machines and then went on to showcase the current trends. Instead of this new book delving deeper into actual hand built outlaw machines from the glory days of the late 60's and 70's and the home built bikes of today, it also focuses on modern, big dollar builders. Some of the bikes featured such as the BMC bikes may be nice machines but they are production bikes and shouldn't be included here. The Bobber section does have some nice rides and Chica's stuff is pretty cool but you can find bikes like these in any current Harley biased custom magazine. The title suggests that you're going to see real outlaw choppers but this is just another attempt at cashing in on the current TV driven fad. Real chopper fans may be dissapointed.



2. Great pictures but some of the technical info is not accurate (Example is saying a 250 is made by Metzler when everyone knows Avon makes the 250 and Metzler makes the 240). It is an interesting read-NOT ground breaking but worth it.



3. This book tells the story of a lot of up and coming chopper builders, with lots of cool chopper photos. It is very well written and enjoyable. It was a light read, but well worth the low price.



4. BUT, there's always that isn't it. A pretty good book all in all. Well worth buying USED. While I'm not a big fan of late model styles, a few interesting ideas on a couple of the scoots. Just two real nice old-style bobbers, a pan and the big flathead on the back cover. Nice color pictures. Kinda interesting reading too, if you're into that sort of thing.

No comments about Mann of His Time.

5 comments about Standard Catalog of American Motorcycles 1898-1981: The Only Book to Fully Chronicle Every Bike Ever Built.

1. I was very disappointed when I got my book and on the cover wasn't the 1937 Harley as it showed when I ordered it, but an Indian. What's with that?



2. The book in general is full of inaccuracies. For example, the section on the Rokon Trail-breaker is mostly fiction. The author attributes the creation of the Trail-breaker to J.B. Nethercutt and his two sons. This is absolutely false. Charles Fehn of Thousand Oaks, California invented it not the Nethercutts. Nethercutt owned the company that was its first mass producer not its inventor.



3. I was excited when I saw this book at my local book store and after flipping throught it made an immediate decision to purchase. I wish now I had looked at it a little longer before buying. There are parts of this book that I just loved and parts that I hated... because they were not there. While I feel that this has the potential to be a wonderful reference overall, I feel short-changed because of the sections missing which dealt with some important bikes. This is in spite of the advertising on the back cover which clearly states that it contains information on every American motorcycle made in the relevent time frame. For example, this book divides the Excelsior chapter into two parts. It covers Excelsior from 1907 to 1924 and states on the bottom of page 105 that "The Super-X is treated as a seperate marque later in the book." Well, it's not there. The 15 page section they did on the big Excelsior is wonderful, but Excelsior's Super-X is nowhere to be found. I felt cheated. If they had done half as good covering the "Super-X" as they had done with the earlier Excelsiors, I would have been very happy. Also missing is the section covering the Yale motorcyle. Page 25 says "Yale data are contained within the Yale section." Well, once again there is no Yale section. Overall, an important work.... fatally flawed by omissions.



4. I just received this book as a Father's Day Gift and I spent a couple of hours going through it. If you are into older American bikes this is a treasure of info that any restoration guy would love. Lots of pictures, ads and old photos, sadly none in color, but that's my only snivel. This should be in every antique bike fans library as a excellant resource if only for the pictures alone.



5. To be brief: This is a wonderful book for those who love the really old and rare motorcycles of the pre-WW2 era. I don't know of anything else in print which even comes close to the scope and depth of this work. So buy a copy!
   
   Unfortunately, the other, more critical reviewers are also correct: there are surprising gaps in this historical review - even where the author obviously intended to provide the missing material - and there are errors of fact. The publisher needs to hire some better editors, and the author really should produce a corrected, more genuinely comprehensive 2nd edition ASAP.
   
   My greatest disappointment with this edition was the book's cheap paperback production: The content, mostly old ads and photos of really rare bikes, fully deserves glossy paper and the highest quality reproductions to preserve this information. I personally would be happy to pay twice as much for such a volume.
   
   But all criticisms aside, what we have here is still invaluable. If you are a fan of old mototcycles, you will want this book - even in such a flawed edition.

1 comments about Harley-Davidson Softail (Motorcycle Color History).

1. If you're into knowing about the Softail and its history, then this is your book.
   Describing the history of the invention of the "softail" by Bill Davis (and how he hardly made any money out of it...)and furthermore the models that Harley built around this principle with nice photos up to 2003.
   Not describing serialnumbers, colours and modelyear-differences, but for general softail-info a very nice book!

1 comments about Suzuki Production Motorcycles 1952-1980.

1. This is a nice book. It's an easy read, with plenty of photos. HOWEVER, in many ways it felt like a rehash of the old Jeff Clews SUZUKI book. I was disappointed at the continued narrow UK view, the lack of real detail on any particular bike apart from the RE5 lemon. If you're after real depth and information this is NOT the book you want. If you want a great coffee-table lightweight to leaf through, and you're totally fixated on the GT750, then this is definately what you've been looking for.