No comments about Mann of His Time.

1 comments about Motocourse 2002-2003 The World's Leading Grand Prix and Superbike Annual.

1. Without a doubt its the BEST yearly Motorcycle Grand Prix, Superbike and Isle of Man review. There is nothing else that even comes vaguely close.

1 comments about Superbikes: Street Racers: Design and Technology.

1. In terms of Motorcycles there's not much choise when it comes to recent models. But this book as some of the most recente models with nice pics and a very decent description of the most importante specs in each one. A must have if you like bikes.

3 comments about Mario Andretti: A Driving Passion.

1. Mario Andretti was the best race car driver of 20th century - bar none! Gordon Kirby is one of the best auto racing authors. When you get Gordon Kirby writing about Mario Andretti, you get an excellent book. The photographs in this book are "awesome!!!". Your money will not be wasted when you buy this book.



2. A totally comprehensive account of Mario Andretti's racing career and the machinery that took him to the top of world-wide motorsport. Completely unvarnished and truthful about the ups and downs of a racing driver's life, this is a must-have book for the boomer-generation racing fan.



3. This book is awesome in every way. The text is entertaining and informative. The photos are first rate, as well as abundant. This is my favorite book! Mario Andretti is the man, and this book gives a clear and very close-up look at his life and career.

2 comments about BMW Racing Motorcycles: The Mastery of Speed.

1. No manufacturer has a longer racing record than BMW, with factory involvement not just in motorcycles of many sizes and classes but also in the arcane (some say the most exciting) sidecar race category. BMW started winning German national championships in 1924 and took the sidecar world championship for 20 consecutive years--1954-1974. Their bikes also did brilliantly in the Isle of Man in the hands of greats such as Walter Zeller, Georg Meier and the Helmut Dahne, holder of the Nurburging motorcycle lap record (7'49.71")on an RC-30. BMW is still racing, in 2008.
   
   This excellent book starts with the company crashing to earth in 1919 after WWI, forbidden to continue making aero engines and denied its technological roots by the Treaty of Versailles. It proceeds through Europe's great road and off-road races to the era of the `kompressor' (supercharger), to the Munich factory's devastation by Allied bombing in WWII, shown in photos.
   
   Allen and Gardiner have created what is probably the most complete, definitive collection of data and photographs of BMW's racing endeavors, and done it with style and wit. Beautifully produced, in `horizontal' format, the book includes many great historical photos of the men and machines that have made the marque among the most respected in all of motorcycle racing. There is, however, only one diagram--a frontal drawing of the original R.32, BMW's epochal boxer twin of 1923--where the technically inclined reader thirsts for more.
   
   The Butler & Smith era in the U.S. is described in detail, including Udo Gietl's frame achievements that delivered Superbike success, extends to the off-road (e.g. Paris-Dakar) wins, even '07 Pike's Peak, with Gary Trachey on a `Megamoto,' and to the emerging era of the current HP2. Noted (without photo) is the 1997-1999 achievement of Dave Morris, three-time Singles winner in the Isle of Man on BMWs. No mention--a pity!--is made nor photo shown of BMW's rumored MotoGP bikes, seen in magazines in 2006 with Luca Cadalora in the saddle, nor of the evolutionary camshaft and valve work on the four-valve boxer oilhead engine (like its predecessors, notoriously wide and restrictive of lean angle, irrelevant in their brilliantly successful racing sidecars).
   
   This book arrives at a time when BMW is finally, after too long a hiatus, returning to serious national racing in the U.S. with its new HP2, already racing in MotoST and world endurance events in the hands of Brian Parriott and Nate Kern. Soon we will see its even newer World Superbike sibling, the transverse-four S 1000RR, reportedly due in the SBK series in 2009.
   
   For about 25 years, since Reg Pridmore won the U.S. Superbike Championship in 1976, BMW produced a series of increasingly detuned and boring `air-head' bikes that disappointed hard-core race and sport-bike enthusiasts. The shaft-drive K bikes were little better, despite half-hearted attempts via the bloated K-1 and too-late/too-heavy current K offerings. The book, dealing only with racing, tactfully avoids mentioning these machines. Only with the oil-head R1100S in 2000, a machine that evolved into the HP2, did BMW inch back slowly to its racing roots. Can they keep up the commitment, financially, technically, and by attracting great riders? Time will tell.



2. This definitely belongs in every BMW fan's book collection. Even if you are not a big racing fan you will enjoy the historical facts and the great pictures.

3 comments about Motocross Madness (The Hardy Boys #190).

1. For those of you who may not know, Motocross Madness, #190 in the long running Hardy Boys series, will be the FINAL volume in the series that began in 1927. The characters of Frank and Joe will live on in a new spinoff series, called Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers, to be released in June 2005, but it won't be the same Hardy Boys as you've come to know them. Over the years, there have been other Hardy Boys spinoff series, such as The Hardy Boys Casefiles, Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Supermysteries, etc., but those series were published right alongside the original Hardy Boys Mystery Stories series, which continued to add new volumes. The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories had gone through many changes since 1927, including changes in publishers, going to paperback, having rewrites done, etc., but they still managed to survive through it all, and a collector could count on seeing a new title come along almost as sure as counting on the sun rising each day. Now however, the sun has set, and the last volume has arrived. It's hard to believe that this series has lasted through 16 Presidents, is older than The Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge, became a series only 15 years after New Mexico and Arizona became states, and a mere 24 years after the Wright Brothers invented the airplane, and yet continued clear until the 21st Century. I'm going to miss that thrill of looking forward to the next title in the series....



2. The latest (and, sadly, last) Hardy Boys story finds Frank and Joe at a motorcycle rally held to benefit a disabled young woman.
   Of course, this being a Hardy Boys story, there are plenty of thrills and mystery.
   Someone breaks into the rally sponsor's office, there's a mysterious fire, the Boys' friend has his motorcycle stolen, all in addition to plenty of motocross action!
   Naturally, Frank and Joe are deeply involved in the case and pursue the criminals right up to the exciting conclusion!



3. My son couldn't put this book down. So many boys don't like to read (probably the "cool factor"), but the Hardy Boys books always keep my son reading. He loved this one in particular since he races motocycles. He said it isn't acurate always in the terms used and such, but he really enjoyed it.

No comments about Team Suzuki: A Definitive Analysis of the Factory's Roadracing Motorcycles.

4 comments about Grand National: America's Golden Age of Motorcycle Racing.

1. Scalzo's folksy attempt at writing is sophomoric and juvenile...His constant use of the so called jargon of the time is comedic at best and a disservice to the individuals that actually participated in this era of motorcycle racing history. For example, No one ever referred to Triumphs and BSA's as "Lime Juicers" as Scalzo maintains. He has also peppered the book with photos taken after the true "Grand National" period was over. I suppose using photos from modern day flat tracking was easier for him but I think he should have taken the extra time and effort and come up with photos strictly from the period he was supposedly documenting. Even the cover photo was taken long after the "Grand National" period was over. Take a pass on this book as it is not worth the money.



2. Great photos and info but could have used the Harley-Davidson name for the motorcycle rather than "hogs". It becomes iritating after the 20th time! Also could have used a profesional proof reader.



3. A must have for any fan of flattrack racing. Another example of the excellent writing of Joe Scalzo.



4. I'm afraid I have to agree with Mr. Noble and pvjim- the pictures are pretty cool but the text is not. Neither I nor anyone I know in the sport of motorcycle racing has ever heard the term "lime juicers"- Scalzo must have simply made this up. The story line jumps around and is hard to follow chronologically and the part about the Honda RS750 is simply completely wrong. I'm glad I bought the book for the pictures and because there is so little in print on the subject, but there are so many mistakes in grammar, spelling and historical accurracy that I could not in good conscience use this book as a source for any other article or book. Still, if you are 8 years old, the pictures are cool!

No comments about The Fast Stuff: Twenty years of the top bike racing tales from the world's maddest motorsport.

No comments about World Superbikes: The First 20 Years (World Superbikes).