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Legendary Motorcycles: The Stories and Bikes Made Famous
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Motorcycles are mythic, far more than mere transportation, but some are in a class of their own, truly legendary machines. There are the Triumphs: James Dean’s, Marlon Brando’s in The Wild Ones, the one Steve McQueen took over the fence in The Great Escape. There are Evel Knievel’s and Elvis’s Harleys, the Easy Rider Stars ‘n’ Stripes bike, and T. E. Lawrence’s Brough Superior SS100; Von Dutch’s Condor, Craig Vetter’s Mystery Ship, and Mike Hailwood’s Honda RC162. These are just some of the machines that have made motorcycle history, and that make this book a feast for the eyes and a fact-filled odyssey for the motorcycle aficionado.
Illustrated with commissioned photographs and historical images, the book profiles the bikes--not just the models but the actual motorcycles--that have achieved legendary status in the last century. Their stories, told here in detail for the first time, make up the story of the motorcycle in American culture.
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See Motorbooks author Basem Wasef interviewed by Jay Leno on JayLenosGarage.com: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/jays-book-club-basem-wasef/1168295/
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- Sales Rank: #1441084 in Books
- Published on: 2007-10-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 10.88" h x .75" w x 9.25" l, 2.68 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 176 pages
Review
Detroit Free Press, Dec. 13, 2007
Detroitfreepress.com, Dec. 13, 2007
"Legendary Motorcycles: The Stories and Bikes Made Famous by Elvis, Peter Fonda, Kenny Roberts, and Other Motorcycling Greats, by Basem Wasef. Available in bookstores or through www.motorbooks.com.”
SPEEDtv.com, review by
“Legendary Motorcycles is a winner from Jay Leno’s Foreword to the Timeline. Wasef’s research reveals some interesting tidbits: James Dean stored his motorcycle at the Greenwich Village garage where Steve McQueen worked as a part-time motorcycle mechanic. The two would bond over their love of bikes. Legendary Motorcycles earns four out of five lug nuts. What a ride!”
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RoadRunner Magazine, December 2007
“A good, nostalgic read that belongs in the collection of any enthusiast who knows why motorcycles are so much more than just machines.”
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Gregg Leary, September 2007
The Antique Motorcycle, December 2007
“Legendary Motorcycles is unique among motorcycling literature in its pursuit of the story behind the riders and their machines. The unforgettable stories are sure to please … you won’t be disappointed.”
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Rep-am.com, November 2007
“Legendary Motorcycles … exquisite photography and concise storytelling … offers something entertaining and worthwhile to longtime riders and to newbies.”
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Cmgonline.com, Nov. 21, 2007
“Good book. Buy it in time for Christmas and you’ll have a happy motorcycling friend.”
From the Inside Flap
Like many great concepts, the idea for Legendary Motorcycles developed from one simple question: What are the most historically significant bikes ever, the machines that made the legends? Long lists were compiled and revised, investigative phone calls were placed, and before long the book you hold in your hands began to take shape. Some bikes were easily found and readily available, while others appeared to be lost forever. The beauty of author Basem Wasef’s hunt came not from the information he expected to receive, but from tangential clues and unexpected leads that emerged from the unlikeliest of sources. The end result is a collection of unforgettable stories and sumptuous photographs sure to delight all motorcyclists and enthusiasts.
Witness T. C. Christensen’s Hogslayer dominate the drag strips. Relive Rollie Free’s unconventional land speed record run atop the John Edgar Lightning. Watch Craig Vetter’s Mystery Ship come to life. Behold Colin Edwards’ rise to success aboard his Yamaha TZ250D. Marvel at Evel Knievel’s final stunt jump at the Chicago Amphitheater. Understand the inspiration behind Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Above all, explore and enjoy the pages of this book, and discover what has made these two-wheeled machines truly legendary.
From the Back Cover
It is rare for a motorcycle to transcend its role as mere transportation and become truly legendary: Burt Munro’s record-setting streamlined Indian, James Dean’s first and last bikes, the Easy Rider choppers, and Evel Knievel’s high-flying Harley-Davidsons are a few of this exclusive list.
Author and photographer Basem Wasef traveled extensively, recording the stories of these unforgettable bikes firsthand. Within the pages of Legendary Motorcycles, you will relive the glory days and discover the personalities of the men that made them legends.
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
book
By Arleen K. Olson
This is a great book. Purchased for a gift for a motorcycle lover. Makes a great addition to your library or a great coffee table book!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
What a ride!
By Todd K
Motorcycle history has added to our rich collection of American folklore and the possibilities that can occur when given the promise of freedom that a motorcycle imparts. We have long needed a book that outlines its place in our cultural make-up and I found that Legendary Motorcycles did just this. It is a feast for the eyes and mind in its rich photography and historical ponderings.
Basem Wasef crisscrossed the country, from the Bonneville Salt Flats to the flatlands of Indiana and the hometown of James Dean to bring us this valuable addition to the American motoring landscape. Motorcycles are in a class of their own for legendary stories and imaginings peopled with some real bad-boy heroes: like Fonda and his chopper, Elvis and his 'Glide, and of course, Evel Knievel.
I particularly enjoyed the commissioned photographs and historical images, and the different profiles of the bikes that have achieved legendary status. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance gets honorable mention in Chapter 25, for although its storyline is heavily reliant on the melding of philosophies, in Legendary Motorcycles we see four travel snapshots that put a face to the main characters in Robert Pirsig's book and get a glimpse of the 1964 Honda CB77 Superhawk and the Sutherland's 1968 BMW R60/2.
Readers who are especially hooked on the Harley-Davidson dialogue should check out any of Allan Girdler's books, which have been re-released! My go-tos continue to be Harley Davidson Sportster and Harley-Davidson XR-750.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Legendary Motorcycles: A Vivid History of Men and Their Machines
By Jeffrey Morseburg
Legendary Motorcycles: A Vivid History of Men and Their Machines
Legendary Motorcycles is a book that is aimed at two-wheel enthusiasts, but it will be of interest to anyone who appreciates fine machinery or even recent cultural history. The book consists of a number of short, magazine article size chapters on famous motorcycles or motorcycles that belonged to famous people. Each chapter is beautifully illustrated with images of the motorcycles today and a series of period photos of the motorcycle in action. Legendary Motorcycles is written by Basem Wasef, a Los Angeles motor sports enthusiast. The forward is by Jay Leno, a man who is truly passionate about automobiles, motorcycles, or almost anything mechanical.
In his book, Wasef has covered a wide range of motorcycles, but his subjects are drawn primarily from the last forty years, rather than from the early years of motorcycle history, so if you are interested in early board trackers, pre-war road racers or exotic 1950s Grand Prix bikes, this is not the book's focus. The single early bike and rider is the chapter on T.E. Lawrence and the Brough Superior he loved to ride and that met his death on, the superbike of its day. There are a number of chapters on the motorcycles that are perhaps most identified with a number of famous racers including AMA stars Dick Mann, Mert Lawwill and Cal Rayborn. Then, there are ones on Wayne Rainey's Kawasaki Superbike, Freddy Spencer's World Championship winning Honda and Kenny Robert's infamous TZ750 powered flat-tracker.
There are articles on the eccentric painter and pin striper, Kenneth "Van Dutch" Howard, who in death, has become what he may have wanted to be least - a pop culture figure. In reality, Van Dutch - who was someone some of my mentors grew up with in days of early hot rodding - was an alcoholic, anti-social curmudgeon. He was a brilliant pin-striper but a crusty misanthrope who happier with his motorcycles than with most people. Its important to note here that many early hot rod and sports car enthusiasts were just as passionate about motorcycles, there was always an overlap between the car and bike communities. Evel Knievel is another legendarily difficult man who is featured in the book. He was a great showman and a household name in the same era as Joe Namath and Muhammad Ali. His long jumps and broken bones helped to contribute to the daredevil image motorcyclists enjoyed.
The addiction to "salt fever" is well covered in the book with no less than four men who were obsessed with record setting on the Bonneville Salt Flat covered including Rollie Free, Marty Dickerson, Leo Payne and Burt Munro. Two of these men raced big Vincents across the "big white dyno" in Utah, one rode a Harley Davidson and the last an Indian. For a book with twenty-six profiles, this may be enough salt content to raise some reader's blood pressure.
There is a nice chapter on the late John Britten, who was without a doubt the most original thinker in motorcycle racing in the past half-century. This New Zealander deserves to have a film made about him as his countryman Burt Munro did with World's Fastest Indian. What an eccentric, free-thinking and innovative man who died far too young. There is a welcome chapter on the great Motorcycle Top Fuel Champion Terry Christenson who those of us who attended drag races in the 1970s remember for his record runs on his Nortons. Mike "The Bike" Hailwood is also here, but not curiously for his great MV Augusta or Honda Grand Prix bikes of the 1960s, but for the Ducatis he made his brief Isle of Man comeback on at the age of thirty-eight.
For chopper fans, there is an article on the motorcycles from the film Easy Rider. Though I can appreciate some of the workmanship on these extreme motorcycles, I am not generally a chopper fan. There isn't much any of them seem to do well and most of them are viewed rather than actually ridden. And, for many of us who grew up in the 1960s, outlaw bikers gave motorcyclists a poor image that it took decades to undo. However, the bikes in Easy Rider did become cultural icons, especially the chopper with the "Captian America"paint job. For film fans, James Dean's two motorcycles are covered, but his inclusion in a book about famous motorcycles seems to be a bit of a stretch. However, it's a nice thing knowing that the same people who lovingly restored the house he grew up in also have his Triumph twin.
Steve McQueen may have not been known as a famous motorcyclist if it wasn't for On Any Sunday, the classic motorcycle documentary. Bruce Brown's classic film did for motorcycles what his Endless Summer did for surfing, it showed people who were suspicious about motorcyclists that riders were normal people and that what motivated most of us was the freedom and pure joy of riding on two wheels. For better or worse, On Any Sunday helped mainstream motorcycling and those scenes of McQueen and his buddies riding on the sand left an indelible impression on thousands of young viewers. I know that the Husky from that scene has been restored in recent months by the retired motocrosser Marty Tripes. Steve McQueen had the legendary racer and stunt man Bud Ekins as a mentor and so like Ekins, McQueen developed a deep appreciation for the sport. They were true motorcyclists as they appreciated not only the modern bikes they rode and raced, but the early motorcycles they came to collect.
The inclusion of Elvis is also a questionable one. He was probably such a captive of his fame that I can't see that he would have had a lot of time or the freedom to really ride. Basketball great Michael Jordon's racing team is also an inclusion that isn't warranted. While Jordon is certainly famous, the bikes he has sponsored are not. The late Renzo Pasolini who was killed racing back in 1973, is a bit of a quizzical entry as he is probably not familiar to most of the American and British readers who will buy this book. Also, there is hardly a real identification of him with the Harley XR750 that is featured, other than the fact that he raced it and it survives in the same condition as it was raced in, a rarity for a racer.
There are not enough continental or British riders included in the book. I would have enjoyed a chapter on the legendary Giacomo Agostini and any one of his MV-Augustas. Motocross competition is also largely ignored. I would have liked to see a chapter on Bob Hannah and his Yamahas, Roger De Coster and his Suzukis or any one of the many Swedish, Finnish, British or Belgian motocross heroes. What about Bruce Penhall and his World Champion speedway bike? A chapter on the Rickman brothers of England, who not only won many races, but won on the Rickman-Metisse kit bikes they built and designed themselves would have been a natural. Curiously, there isn't a mention of McQueen's Triumph-Metisse in the chapter on the star, especially as his appreciation for the innovative British bikes was so well known. Perhaps a Part Deux is being worked on and will broaden the coverage in this volume.
Overall, the well-written and beautifully produced Legendary Motorcycles is an excellent addition to the bookshelf or coffee table of anyone who loves motorcycles or simply appreciates the history and development of the eternal combustion engine. It would be an excellent holiday gift for the motorcyclist in
your life.
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