The book ‘Taking it to the Limit: 20 Years Of Making Motorcycle Movies’ explores the untold stories from 40 films about motorcycle racing, including the award-winning Take It To The Limit.
The author and filmmaker Peter Starr (above) reveals otherwise unpublished stories about some of the world’s greatest motorcycle stars, including Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene – and the story of Mike Hailwood’s return to the Isle of Man in 1977. Yes, that’s correct: 1977, not 1978.
Hailwood was ostensibly shooting some on-board footage for Starr’s documentary, as he tackled the Mountain Course for the first time in ten years aboard a Yamaha TZ750. Starr saw this as a dry run for Hailwood’s return to top-flight racing: ‘He wanted to see if he still had it. He was toying with making a comeback the following year, but he didn’t want to commit until he knew for sure that he’d be competitive.’
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Apparently, it was obvious within two laps that Hailwood was more than ready to race at the Island again…
Starr later gathered together a remarkable collection of stories about the golden era of transatlantic motorcycle racing, compiled into this volume. It comes with a companion DVD that contains clips from many of Starr’s most popular films.
‘Taking It To The Limit’ by Peter Starr costs £45 from mortonsbooks.co.uk
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