Assorted book and DVD reviews.
Various reviews of books, DVDs, etc., of general motorcycling interest. Most of these were written by me and first appeared in Thistledown magazine. http://mz-thistledown.com/page9.htm
Note: these reviews are opinions, not facts, are solely the views of the writer and not necessarily the views of the website owner, blah, blah, blah.
If you've got any reviews you'd like to add, send them in via the Contact Form page. http://www.mzskorpion.net/page18.htm
Norman
'Way to go - Two of the World's Great Motorcycle Journeys' by Geoff Hill
What was your first 'proper' motorcycle journey? Mine was back in 1975 when my brother Stuart and I rode from Barrhead to London, me on a Honda CD175 and him on a Yamaha 200. This was only three weeks after I'd started riding. We didn't know anything, wouldn't have known what to do if something had gone wrong, but we survived and enjoyed the trip. Geoff Hill's first journey was slightly longer, and undertaken with even less riding experience.
Geoff is a well-known travel journalist writing mostly for Belfast's News Letter, but also writes for The Independent on Sunday, Daily Telegraph, Irish Times, and is an editor for Fodor's. With this background he decided to take a long motorcycle trip, despite only passing his test three years previously and having a total motorcycling experience of, emm, 30 miles!
What trip did he take? How about Delhi to Belfast on an Enfield!
Luckily, he roped in a motorcycling friend to accompany him, and the book details their exploits on the way. A great read and a good insight into motorcycling from a non-motorcyclists viewpoint.
Buoyed with the success of this trip, Geoff set out on another, this time from Chicago to Los Angeles on a Harley-Davidson Road King, following the route of Route 66 as much as possible. This time he travelled alone, and had to invent an 'imaginary friend' to accompany him. (You'll have to read the book to understand that part).
On the way he passes through lots of interesting places and meets a number of entertaining people. The trip is tinged by some sadness though, as Geoff manages to convey the feeling of loss a lot of people have for the passing of Route 66 (it doesn't actually exist anymore), to such a degree that a lot of places on the way have 'preservation societies' trying to maintain something of what was an iconic and historically important route.
A couple of things I learned from this trip - you can see the pollution over Los Angeles 30 miles away, and that there's actually a town called Tucumcari, in New Mexico. Cinema buffs will know this as the town where the train doesn't stop!
Geoff's got a really funny and engaging writing style, so good in fact that I read this whole book in one marathon session. Well worth reading and an ideal Christmas present.
'Way to Go - Two of the World's Great Motorcycle Journeys' by Geoff Hill, The Black Staff Press, ISBN 0-85640-765-8, £8.99
http://www.blackstaffpress.com/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Go-Worlds-Motorcycle-Journeys/dp/0856407658/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247470418&sr=8-2
'Motorcycle Journeys through the Alps and Corsica' by John Hermann
Now for what is more of a reference book as it details just about every pass (and some 'dead end' roads) in the Alps and Corsica, including the Dolomites which stretch as far as Slovenia.
The book is laid out as 79 trips, varying in length from 60 to 400km, although I think attempting the 400km trip 'I Dare You: 17 Passes in One Day' would be self-defeating as you'd spend all day riding without stopping to look at the scenery, which is I would have thought the purpose of the trip. Splitting it into a couple of days would be a better choice.
Each trip is laid out with distance, terrain, and highlights. Some of the better trips are rated with stars, and the route is detailed in text with towns highlighted and accompanied with a map and a photograph. There are appendices with hotels, a 'pass-bagging' list with passes in order of height, a list of 'special little roads', suggestions of other parts of Europe to tour, lists of tour companies, and a glossary of terms in French, German and Italian.
However, this is a book written by an American aimed at an American readership, so it's got a chapter called 'Good Stuff to Know'. While it's useful to know what money is used in each country, and translations of road signs, we don't really need a chapter telling us that furniture and plumbing may be different to that at home do we? We would just print the sentence: 'Things are different in other countries - don't worry about it', but Americans seem to need to be told trivial and inconsequential things like European hotels don't have wash cloths. Gosh, not having one of these could really ruin your holiday!
Slightly more worrying are a few complete inaccuracies - baths not having shower curtains, double beds being two singles pushed together, the lack of 'self laundries' (launderettes?), and my favourite: 'everywhere in the Alps speak German'. I think the French, Italians, and Slovenes might disagree with that.
These aside, this is a very well researched book and although the writing style is a bit dry, it would very useful when used in conjunction with Alpine Roads website: www.alpineroads.com if you are planning a trip to the Alps.
'Motorcycle Journeys through the Alps and Corsica' by John Hermann, Whitehorse Press, ISBN 1-884313-32-9, £16.99
(This review refers to the 3rd Edition of the book. The 4th has since been published. ISBN 978-1884313707)
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 72)
The Road to Gobblers Knob, by Geoff Hill
Following on from the success of Geoff's other book The Way to Go (reviewed in Thistledown #72), he's done another major bike ride and written a book about it. This time he's ridden the Pan American Highway from Chile to Alaska on a Triumph Tiger.
Originally planning on going alone he was contacted by former TT winner, Clifford Paterson, who offered to accompany him. They met, got on well, so Geoff had a travelling companion, now all he needed was a bike. Using all his journalistic skills of blagging things he'd approached all the major bike companies about borrowing a bike. Triumph was the only company interested, so it was a Tiger he went on. After a brief mechanical training session, they were on their way, Geoff on a Tiger and Clifford on an Aprilia Pegaso. When they started out from Chile, the nearest Triumph dealer was in San Diego, 8,000 miles up the road; but the nearest Aprilia dealer was probably in Europe!
Undaunted they set off and the journey went very well without major mishap, only one big fall off and a few 'difficult' border crossings. Eventually they got to Alaska where Clifford headed for Anchorage and the trip home, while Geoff travelled on to his ultimate destination, Gobblers Knob. He had found it on the map and as it was just inside the Arctic Circle and has a funny name, he had decided that's where his trip would end. He could have finished the journey at either of the 'official' ends of the Highway, Delta Junction, or Fairbanks (there's some debate over which is the 'true' end), but neither would have provided him with a suitable name for his book.
The book is one of those genuinely good reads that you're always wanting to read a bit more of, and Geoff's easy going, and often very funny, writing style makes it great fun to read. One of the best quotes from the book was a conversation he had in a café in Alaska:
Man: 'Say, you on that motorcycle out there, son?'
Geoff: 'Aye, that's me.'
Man: Where'd you come from on that?'
Geoff: 'Chile.'
The man looked him.
Man: 'Where's that at?'
Geoff: 'Oh, its way south of here.'
The man paused.
Man: 'South of Vancouver?'
Geoff: 'Yeah, its south of Vancouver all right.'
Man: 'Hell, you've had quite a journey, son.'
The Road to Gobblers Knob - From Chile to Alaska on a Motorbike by Geoff Hill, published by Blackstaff Press, Belfast. http://www.blackstaffpress.com/ ISBN 978-0-85640-804-5 £9.99 I got mine from Amazon, but you could try your local bookshop
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 82)
Mondo Enduro ed. By Austin Vince
This book charts what was the ultimate long distance motorcycle adventure ever undertaken. Seven riders set out from London on Suzuki DR 350s and rode round the world 'the long way' - Britain through Turkey, the 'stans, and Russia to Magadan, then a flight to Alaska from which they rode to Argentina. A trip to South Africa, then up through Africa, the Middle East and them home. 44,000 miles in 400 days, all laid out in a day by day riding log form.
If this wasn't hard enough, they did the trip in 1995, when some of the former Soviet republics hadn't yet got their border crossing formalities sorted out yet, South Africa was still under the apartheid regime, and the riders set out with a casual lack of any real preparation, firm plans, or mechanical expertise (none had even fixed a puncture before they went!). Added to this, they were using their own money, had no back up, or really had a 'Plan B' if anything went wrong.
Of the original seven who set out, three completed the tour, four dropped out due to constraints on time and money, and they picked up another rider in South Africa, who came back to Britain with them.
As a book I didn't find it a brilliant read, especially as I had just finished The Road to Gobblers Knob just before starting it. None of the riders was a writer, so the style is a bit stilted and you don't really learn a lot about the personalities of the riders. This isn't helped by their use of strange slang terms and 'in jokes' that are totally inaccessible to the reader, in particular their use of the verb 'to blend' to describe about half a dozen different acts and their referring to people as 'Jacksons', without any explanation. This aside, its well worth reading if you're interested in 'hard core' motorcycle touring, and although the trip was only 12 years ago, how much the world has changed. For example, taking into account the current situation it's amusing to read of their relief at leaving repressive South Africa for the peace of Zimbabwe; and how easy it was to enter the US, and how expensive it was to enter Bulgaria.
What is most impressive about the book are the bikes. Despite a near total lack of maintenance and all sorts of horrendous abuse, the little Suzukis kept going with a remarkable lack of mechanical problems. After reading the book I seriously thought about buying one!
Mondo Enduro - The Ultimate Adventure on Two Wheels, 44,000 miles in 400 days, edited by Austin Vince, published by Ripping Yarns, http://www.rippingyarns.com/products/Mondo_Enduro.htm
ISBN 1-904466-28-1 £14.95 Available from Ripping Yarns, Amazon, and numerous other places.
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 82)
Mondo Enduro
Regular reader will remember my revue of the book Mondo Enduro by Austin Vince (and other) detailing a journey around the world (the long way!) by a group of guys in the early 90s. They travelled 40,000 miles in 400 days on Suzuki DR350s, entirely self financed and without any backup. Whilst on the trip, they filmed their exploits with a (then new technology) Hi 8 video camera and a Super 8 ciné camera. This footage has been edited together and is available on an extremely enjoyable DVD.
The DVD starts out with the group of riders getting together, planning their routes and preparing their (second hand) bikes. They then set off, and the DVD follows their subsequent adventures. Obviously, cutting a 400 day trip down to an 145 minute film requires severe pruning, so there's little on Europe, the USA and Canada (who wants to see people riding on tarmac roads), and a lot about them riding on mud tracks in Russia. The film has a wonderful 'amateur' look to it (none of the group had any experience of filmmaking), and the jumps between reasonable quality video and rather poor quality cine film only ads to the charm. There are also a number of amusing bits where the trip members speak directly to the camera holding a large microphone (rather like a somewhat stilted Alan Wicker, for those of you old enough to remember him!)
All in all, a brilliant film and it really brings home the hardship these guys endured during the trip. When you see them getting skinhead haircuts to avoid lice, sleeping huddled up under ponchos stretched between bikes, and eating what seems like nothing other that noodles cooked over a petrol stove; it really draw a contrast to similar (but much shorter) round the world trip by millionaire movie stars with huge backup teams, proper film crews, loads of money, etc. etc.
Well worth buying. Available from Amazon or from their website http://www.mondoenduro.com/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mondo-Enduro-DVD-Austin-Vince/dp/B000KNC0ZU/ref=pd_sim_b_3
(Originally published in Thistledown no 100)
Book Revue
'The Last Hurrah - From Beijing to Arnhem 2005'
by Des Molloy
As the title suggests, this is about a 20,000 km trip from Beijing in China to Arnhem in the Netherlands.
Des's original plan was just to ride from China to Pakistan on the Karakoram Highway, claimed to be the highest public road in the world. The highway, completed in 1981, had taken 10 years to build, claimed 400 lives, and reaches an altitude of 4,730 metres (16,200 ft). Also, Des had always wanted to visit Mongolia, so a plan was starting to form. He discussed the plan with a number of friends, and soon they were planning routes from their homes in New Zealand, through China, Mongolia and Pakistan. They heard about a group on New Zealanders riding the 'Silk Road' from Germany to China on BMWs, so a meeting with them was also on the cards. Then they were invited to a birthday party in the Netherlands, and as it was only another 9,000 km, they decided to add that to their route as well.
So the plan was set; they wanted to navigate to a 'degree confluence point' (49N:90E) in Mongolia and built an 'ovoo', a small cairn with a time capsule; a surprise meeting with the Silkriders in Tashkent; visit Bukhara, Samarkand and Kiva (on the 'Silk Road'), travel the Karakoram Highway, try to find a Norton Des sold in Iran in 1974, then ride to the birthday party in Arnhem.
Now for the slightly more difficult bits. Although Des doesn't mention how old he is, he must be at least 60. His two travelling companions were Dick, a septuagenarian with a serious health record (a severe diabetic who's suffered a couple of strokes), but he was a successful bike racer and constructor; and Des's son, Steve, as general helper/photographer. Originally they had planned on flying to China and buying bikes there, but finally decided to take their own bikes. Now, for a trip like that most of us would have taken big Japanese or BMW trail bikes, but not these guys. Des took his 1965 Panther 650 and Dick his 1954 Norton 600. Steve didn't have a bike, the idea being that he would ride pillion or in an accompanying car
The trio set out to China, and after having to pass the Chinese driving test and have their bikes registered there, started out on their adventure. In both China and Mongolia they were accompanied by 'guides' in cars as part of their visa conditions. These guides were officially to show them the route, but more likely were to stop them seeing anything, or talking to anyone, that the governments didn't want them to.
They travelled through China, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, back into China, then Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and through Europe to the Netherlands. This was a total of around 20,000 km, of which about 15,000 was ridden on the bikes. For time and breakdown reasons they had to transport the bikes by train across parts of Pakistan and Iran, and they took a boat from Greece to Venice.
As you can imagine, the trip wasn't without incident. Both Des and Dick required hospital treatment , Des an operation in his 'nether regions' and Dick took so unwell that he had to fly home from Iran. At times when either couldn't ride, Steve rode their bikes, despite having very little riding experience. Surprisingly, neither bike had any major breakdowns other than the Panther broke a fork leg twice (first repair didn't work) in Pakistan, and towards the end of the trip it was getting a bit 'tired' and hard to start, probably due to a burned out valve. They fell off numerous times, got soaked crossing (and falling into) rivers, but the bikes kept going.
When Des and Steve arrived in the Netherlands, Dick was there as he had recovered and had flown over from New Zealand to meet them. They never did meet the Silkriders, nor find the Norton, but they had a truly amazing journey.
A great tale of adventure, friendship, and an insight into the lives of people in countries that most of us know very little about. A great story and well worth reading.
'The Last Hurrah - From Beijing to Arnhem 2005', by Des Molloy, published by Panther Publishing http://www.panther-publishing.dsl.pipex.com/ ISBN 09547912-5-8 They have a website at: http://www.thelasthurrah.co.nz/ which also gives details of their next trip - a journey across the US retracing the route taken by Robert Pirzig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
As an aside, and linking to a previous topic; the Panther managed the whole trip on one pair of tyres, the Norton had a tyre replaced in Russia, but both bikes needed their chains replaced during the trip. I find this astounding - chains that last less mileage that tyres! I'll accept that the chains had a hard life crossing deserts but not being able to last 15,000km (9,000 miles) is pretty poor. I bet they would have lasted the distance had they had fitted modern 'o'-ring chains and Scottoilers!
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 86)
The Last Hurrah DVD
Review to follow
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Hurrah-DVD-Beijing-Arnhem/dp/0954791266/ref=pd_sim_b_1
Book Revue
'Uneasy Rider - Travels Through a Mid-Life Crisis' by Mike Carter
It all started when Mike Carter, a journalist with the Observer newspaper, suddenly announced to workmates that he was going to spend six months riding a BMW R120GS around Europe. However, he was very drunk, had never seen an R1200GS, and couldn't ride a motorcycle anyway; but the next day it still seemed like a good idea, so off he went.
His journey of 19,950 miles took him through 27 countries from Norway to Turkey; he used 22 ferries, wore out 8 tyres, had only one puncture, and fell off once. The book is really well written, giving you enough of the local 'colour' without going into too much pedantic detail, and providing a couple of 'laughing out loud' moments.
I'm not entirely convinced that everything he writes is completely true (he seems to meet a lot of interesting and invariably English speaking people), and one or two things don't make sense (why would anyone from London go to Wales for his training, the fact that it was organised by BMW might point to a greater involvement by them than just building the bike); but the writer's a journalist so we expect a degree of 'embellishment' to the story. None of this detracts from the quality of the book, and I can recommend it to anyone interested in bike touring or just looking for a good read.
'Uneasy Rider - Travels Through a Mid-Life Crisis' by Mike Carter, published by Edbury Press, part of Random House Group. www.randomhouse.co.uk ISBN 9780091922689 £10.99 Available from Amazon and other booksellers.
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 87)
Riding with Rilke - Reflections on Motorcycles and Books, by Ted Bishop
Ted Bishop is the Professor of English & Film Studies at the University of Alberta in Canada, and when an opportunity arose to carry out some work at The Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas; the leading archive of British modernist writers; he rode there on his Ducati Monster.
On the way he called in at various places of literary interest and reflects of modernist writers. This is where I had difficulty with the book. The parts on writers are so dry and downright dull that it's like reading an academic paper. I ended up skipped the 'literature' bits and only reading the 'motorcycling' bits, but even they were so dull that I gave up less than a third of the way through it. So if anyone manages to finish this book, could you write in and tell us how it ends?
Riding with Rilke - Reflections on Motorcycles and Books, by Ted Bishop, Published by W.W.Norton, www.wwnorton.com ISBN 978-0-393-33074-8 pbk
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 93)
Book Revue
'Running with the Moon' by Jonny Bealby
In the early 90s, two guys on Yamaha XT600s set off to ride the length of Africa. What could go wrong? Well, within the first chapter you're thinking 'oh, oh, these guys aren't going to make it'. Their first night in Tunisia consists of them sheltering from the rain in a ramshackle beach hut as they've no accommodation planned and they don't have any waterproofs. 200 miles later, and not yet out of Tunisia, one of them falls off and breaks his leg, leaving the author to carry on to through West Africa to Cape Town by himself.
But carry on he does and the book is about one man's journey, not only through jungles and warzones, but also through the process of grieving for his fiancée, who had died suddenly. Once he gets to South Africa, what does he do? Rides back north, going via East Africa.
A really good read, and rather than just being an account of his journey, he also gives a large amount of his 'back story' - his relationship with his fiancée, his career as singer in a band that nearly made it, and a chance meeting in Algeria that inspired him to carry on.
Running with the Moon. A Boy's Own Adventure: Riding a Motorbike through Africa by Jonny Bealby, published by Arrow Books www.randomhouse.co.uk ISBN 0 09 943665
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 95)
Book Revue
Kiwis Might Fly by Polly Evans
Another month, another travel book! This time about a young woman travelling from Britain to New Zealand, hiring a bike (a Suzuki Freewind 650), and travelling about NZ trying to find whether the 'New Zealand 'bloke'' still exists. By 'bloke' she meant the rugged, outdoor, 'I can fix anything with a bit of wire', frontiersman that some New Zealanders (apparently) claim to be. Polly doesn't make it easy for herself by booking her flights, arranging the hire bike, etc., without actually being able to ride a bike! However, she just managed to pass her test the week before she goes, and set off on her adventure.
In a very readable, and at many points very funny book, Polly recounts her many meetings with varied and interesting people, describes NZ's very varied landscape and towns, gives a background history of New Zealand, and does she find any New Zealand 'blokes'? You'll have read the book to find out!
Kiwis Might Fly: Around New Zealand on Two Big Wheels by Polly Evans. Published by Bantam Books
www.booksattransworld.co.uk ISBN 0-553-81557-1 Polly's website: www.pollyevans.com
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 96)
Book Revues
'Red Tape and White Knuckles' by Lois Pryce
The follow up to Lois on the Loose, Red Tape and White Knuckles details Lois's trip from London to Cape Town on a Yamaha TTR 250. As she had never been to Africa before, she took a 'recce' trip to Morocco with her husband (Austin Vince of Mondo Enduro fame), and quickly found that she couldn't deal with the Saharan heat. Undeterred, she headed off anyway and the book starts with her arriving in Tunisia for her epic journey.
After crossing the Sahara with a group of other travellers (it would be foolhardy to travel alone, and the Algerian authorities insist you hire a guide), she was on her own, and the book details her trip through the many varied countries and landscape of Western Africa.
With the exception of being forced by Police in Congo to travel by train (for safety reasons), Lois and her bike made it all the way to South Africa, meeting lots of interesting (and frequently very helpful) people, and without suffering serious mishap.
A very enjoyable book, Lois has grown as a writer since Lois on the Loose, and well worth reading.
Red Tape and White Knuckles - One Woman's Motorcycle Adventure through Africa, by Lois Pryce. Published by Century www.randomhouse.co.uk ISBN 9781846052439
Lois's website: http://loisontheloose.com/index.html
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 99)
'Pilgrimage on a Steel Ride' by Gary Paulsen
Guy in late fifties suffering from heart disease decides to go on long bike ride while he still can and reminisces about his life. There, I've just saved you time by summing up this book in one sentence. I wish Gary had done similar, as this book is a chore to read.
The trip in question is from Alamagordo, New Mexico to Fairbanks, Alaska, going via Wisconsin and returning more directly, ( a very long way), and Gary and his friend ride Harleys.
Not only is this book a bit dull, but Gary's attitude started to really irritate me. He believes that all motorcyclists hanker after owning a Harley, and once you own one you've reached some sort of pinnacle of motorcycle ownership. Also, he's a typical chauvinistic American, illustrated by one incident where his carb goes out of adjustment in Canada and he's reluctant to go to a bike shop as he feels Canadians would be unable to fix such a high quality machine.
He also mentions that he'd been to Alaska before when he raced dog sleds, interesting enough, but he feels the need to remind you of the fact on about every page! Can't say I can recommend this one.
Pilgrimage on a Steel Ride - A Memoir about Men and Machines, by Gary Paulsen. Published by Indigo ISBN 0 575 40188 5
(Originally published in Thistledown no: 99)