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motorcycle literature — travels (authors A–K)

"Given the topic, just about anyone could have written an interesting book, but Ayres' storytelling skills enable him to weave together a tale so engrossing, many people will read it from cover to cover without putting it down. I did. I even cancelled a 600-mile motorcycle ride to finish it." —Motorcyclist

"It is destined to become one of those 'must read' books on the shelves of Mittys and motorcyclists everywhere." —BMW Owners News

"You don't have to ride a motorcycle to truly appreciate Against the Wind. The book is captivating from cover to cover." —Street Bike

Ten consecutive thousand-mile days on two wheels in a mental race against imponderable odds and a ticking clock — a first rate book.

"... documents Baker's journey across Cuba astride a gaudy BMW motorcycle ... a marvelously eccentric trip" —Publisher's Weekly

An intriguing account of his three-month, 7000-mile romp through Cuba on a fire-engine red motorcycle. Baker leaves no stone unturned as he revisits Ernest Hemingway's haunts in Havana, checks out a secret cave that served as Che Guevara's command post, sips motojos at a thatched-roofed beach bar on Playa Los Pinos, and dallies with beautiful habaneras (Daisy, Sonia, and Juanita, to name a few). He effectively captures the essence of the Cuban people, engaging artists, farmers, fisherman, and prostitutes in lively discussions on everything from politics and sex to cigars and Castro.

Join extraordinary adventurer Dave Barr as he recounts his 1990–94 83,000-mile trip around the world on a 1972 Harley Davidson, despite the loss of both legs in 1981 from an antitank mine explosion in Angola. Dave shares how he became the first person with a major disability to cross the Sahara Desert, circle the continent of Australia, and negotiate the Andes during avalanche season. He traversed six continents, crossed three deserts, and circled the world both north to south and east to west, on about a dollar a day. A courageous, inspiring story. The continuing adventures of evolving-cult-hero Dave Barr, this time about a trip across Siberia ... in winter ... on a Harley ... and yes, still without legs.

This book is currently out of print, and may be difficult/expensive to acquire.

"This is a story of a man seduced by twin passions, travel and scholarship, and it tracks twin adventures, into the literary past and the uncharted present. It's a joyful book, a celebration of intellectual pursuit and carefree exploration. If you can name another book about motorcycling that tells you about the tortured life of Virginia Woolf, or another book about the Bloomsbury Group that describes the rush you get from pulling a slow U-turn on a small-town Main Street in full biker regalia, then you probably don't need this one. For the rest of us, Riding with Rilke is a one-of-a-kind treat." —Booklist

"English professor Bishop trades "tweed for leather" and hurtles away from the University of Alberta (Canada) on his Ducati, which he rides south through the Western U.S. all the way to the University of Texas at Austin ... his pledge along the way was "To seek out the smallest roads possible, to avoid the direct route, to eat in mom-and-pop diners." For Bishop, riding "is an inward experience. Like reading," a parallel that loosely links the elements of this discursive but engaging account — part travelogue, part ode to his bike and part literary criticism ... [an] easygoing, romantic memoir infused with joie de vivre." —Publishers Weekly

This book offers interesting and instructive stories of seven trips to Alaska, two into Mexico, two long tours inside the USA, and one each to Newfoundland and Labrador. The author travelled alone on most trips. If you read the stories in order, you get to ride along as Boonstra learns the art of adventure motorcycling; it may also open your eyes as to the extent of what can actually be accomplished.

Abridged versions of several of these stories appeared in American Motorcyclist magazine.

"The best ride account since Notch Miyake’s Purple Mountains ... Fully recommended with all four cylinders." —Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly

"A must for any 'real human' vaguely interested in motorcycle travel or adventure." —MotorcycleJournal.net

"More fun than I've had sitting down in a long time." —The Star Ledger

What makes a man sell all he owns and ride a motorcycle 22,000 miles from his hometown in upstate New York to the southernmost tip of South America? Answers to that question and more (how to bribe cops and not lose one’s savings, how to cross a border without going crazy, how to handle an accident) can be found here, along with an appendix containing detailed trip lists from all three riders.

Wild and wonderful reporting of a 7772-mile, 146-day solo motorcycle ride from California to the Panama Canal, on a BSA B33 500cc single. More than 175 wonderful pictures, maps, and motorcycle drawings illustrate this adventure, which took place in 1950 (following the collapse of the author's professional and personal life, when most of his business and personal assets were liquidated to satisfy creditors) but was not described and published until 1995. "five stars" —Motorcycle Consumer News

The chronicle of Culberson's dual fascinations: the Pan American Highway System, which runs the length of North and South America, and motorcycling (a passion acquired in his forties). Culberson (then a retired U.S. Army officer) wanted to ride the Pan American Highway's entire route between Alaska and Argentina. In eastern Panama and western Colombia's Darien region, though, the road is broken by an 80-mile gap filled with jungles, rain forests, rivers, and swamps, forcing travellers to detour around it by boat or plane; the area is so inhospitable and unexplored that a myth about its impenetrability has evolved over the centuries.

But on Amigo, his BMW R80 G/S, Culberson conquered killer bees, arrest by a corrupt law officer, riding injuries, and back-breaking labor to get himself and his motorcycle through the torturous jungles and swamps — including the Darien Gap, a feat never before accomplished by a motorcyclist.

A highly praised collection of Peter Eagan's best Cycle World feature articles (21) and columns (27) from 1977–2000. His motorcycle riding reports range from runs along the Mississippi River to New Orleans for a tin of chicory coffee, through flying to Japan to test-ride new Yamahas, to his cross-country trip on a British twin with his wife and a journey on the abandoned Route 66. The best stories from one of of motorcycling's best journalists. More stories from this talented journalist. This volume is more a collection of his columns than feature pieces, but still a wonderful read. The subtitle does not exaggerate the stature of the always illuminating Mr. Eagan: if there's anyone who can remind you of what motorcycling is all about, it is he.

Fans who can't get enough might wish to know that he also writes a column for Road & Track; a collection of his best automotive thoughts can be found in Side Glances. "The stories are mostly humorous, typically down and dirty, and the commentary can get pretty wicked at times ... But somehow he never comes across to me as mean-spirited, and I thought his stories were insightful and compassionate." —Montgomery Advertiser

Take a BMW motorcycle, over a million miles, and Mark Edmonds. Distill for thirty-five years. Result? An insightful, compassionate (and passionate) view of America and what it means to all of us who are just "passin' through". From a slum in Detroit to a backwoods church in Alabama, you'll breathe the air of what it means to be an American — the lovely and not so lovely. Edmonds' assessment of himself as he rides his own pilgrimage, just passing through. And he doesn't let his doctorate in English get in the way of great storytelling.

Continuing where he left off in Longrider, Tiger Edmonds again mixes philosophy, travel, psychology, and politically incorrect wit (wisdom? rants?) into a humorous and hearty hunter’s stew. And in this recounting, Tiger introduces his grandfather — "the marriage counselor", "the metaphysician", "the jockey", "the alchemist", "the teamster" ("it’s an ill wind that blows your ass off the road") — as a counterpoint to Tiger’s own observations. The grandfather? Who can’t help loving a man who from his deathbed tells his grandson, "Hell, boy, I’m just dyin’. I ain’t goin’ to quit lovin’ you." The writer? Who can’t help loving a writer who, despite curmudgeonly looks and attitude, gives this advice to young riders: "Don’t never cross the border holding. Neither one. Either direction. Clean your mirrors often. Don’t go where you ain’t been invited. Change your socks often. Carry extra light bulbs. Blow your nose often. Don’t climb on anything you can’t ride." A four-and-a-half-year (1.5 years longer than planned), 90,000-mile trip through 60 countries, on one 620cc Triumph Thunderbird, equipped with a special lightweight fibreglass sidecar.

This book is currently out of print, and may be difficult/expensive to acquire.

"My own favorite kind of read is a good story about someone taking a bike somewhere where the road is difficult, and the country strange. A granddaddy of this genre is One Man Caravan ... the superbly told tale of a young Connecticut Yankee circling the globe on a Douglas flat twin back in the early 1930s. That's when having an adventure was having an adventure, and there was no phone system to allow you to contact the nearest U.S. Consulate, let alone call home ..." —Rider Magazine

"Filled with many photos, maps, and charts, One Man Caravan is written in an uncomplicated style by a man who describes motorcycling as the closest thing to being a cowboy in this mechanized age. It is a classic, and still entertaining more than sixty years later." —Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly

"This is a story without compare ..." —RPM Magazine

An affecting recounting of an average motorcyclist's dream of participating in the world's greatest motorcycle race (not to mention the world's most dangerous organized sporting event): the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. After watching such a race, the Canadian author of this book went home, quit his job, sold everything he owned, said goodbye to family & friends, and moved to the island, determined to race in the 2002 TT himself. Portions of this book first appeared in Motorcyclist Magazine, setting the magazine's all-time record for reader response. You'll laugh; you'll cry ... truly a modern classic.

The book was preceded by One Man's Island, a 100-minute documentary directed by Peter Riddihough, and available on DVD.

"It was the middle of the 1990s, and at the author's New York law firm, the work was long and hard, leaving no time for a personal life. Gross was good at his job, but it wasn't what he wanted to be doing. Then a friend offered him a new and very different job. Suddenly he found himself living in Italy, spearheading the rebirth of a world-famous motorcycle company. Talk about culture shock: Gross had no idea, when he signed on with Ducati Motor Holding in Bologna, that he would have to learn a whole new set of social rules and a whole new way of living. Except for the fact that its author was an adult when he made the transition from one life to another, the book reads like a traditional coming-of-age story: over the course of the book, Gross discovers what kind of person he is, what kind of dreams he has for himself. The book is also something of a comedy of manners, as Gross, the typical American, fumbles his way through the considerably more laid-back Italian society. Lots of fun." —Booklist

Ducati is neither pictured on the cover nor identified per se in the book, but is definitely the company involved.

"Full of high drama and comedy, The Motorcycle Diaries is the story of a remarkable road journey in the words of a 23-year-old medical student known as "Che". There are fights, parties, and serious drinking. There are also moving examples of Guevara's idealism and solidarity with the oppressed, in this vivid record of what for others would have been the adventure of a lifetime." —Midwest Book Review

"A Latin American James Dean or Jack Kerouac." —Washington Post

"Das Kapital meets Easy Rider." —Times

This South American adventure is only casually about motorcycles, but its title links it forever to the biking community, which is the better because of it.

"Haffar's yearlong excursion by air, motorcycle, camel, and elephant bears little resemblance to the usual package deal offered to tourists with money to burn. Dusty cafés often substitute for four-star restaurants, and back-alley lodgings are as commonplace to this traveler as Hilton Hotels ... From the crowded streets of Florence to the Batu Caves of Kuala Lumpur, Haffar explores not only the well-known landmarks of each city but also the less obvious but often more pleasing haunts of the local gentry ... entertaining while informing." —Library Journal

"An especially recommended travelogue and rewarding reading for the armchair traveler, as well as anyone ... leaving ... for an around-the-world adventure!" —Midwest Book Review

Traveling mainly by motorcycle, the author traverses 45 countries on six continents in this memoir, experiencing both fascinating and harrowing travails during a one-year journey around the world.

"His terrifying account ... sends chills down my spine ... The story of his kidnapping justifies buying this book." —Ted Simon ("Jupiter's Travels")

"Straight to the point with moods and emotions that come right off the page..." —Cycle World

A round-trip to South America's southern tip, made more amazing by its interruption by terrorists. Heggstad was ripped from his motorcycle, robbed of everything, and forced to march through strange jungles with assault rifles in his back. Fed only small amounts of rice and water and forced to carry heavy equipment, heavy packs, and heavy doubts about his future, it was his shrewd thinking, precise planning, and a "do-or-die" last act of desperation that eventually secured his freedom.

"Carla manages to instruct the reader on how to look after a motorcycle, vividly portrays the characters and communities she finds herself passing through, and conveys the passion for travel that underpins every traveler's need to follow the road. She takes every breakdown, every weird encounter in her stride with a sense of humor, an eye for the ridiculous, and incredible stoicism. All this, and sex and relationships, too. A great read!" —Lonely Planet

"A great motorcycle journey with a great writer observing, capturing the feel, taste, and sense of the country." —American Motorcyclist Association

From the Canadian Rockies to the Panamanian Jungle, this book documents the comic adventures of two men, fleeing failed relationships, as they test the limits of their motorcycles and their friendship. Join the horn-honking, signal-flashing, wheelie-popping pair as they endure painful bee stings, painful snakebites, and (when they talk to girls) painful humiliation.