Honda Valkyrie

Honda’s six-cylinder ‘power cruiser’ certainly turned heads when it arrived two decades ago. It turned out to be an inspired innovation, removing all the touring equipment from the gargantuan Gold Wing to create a mighty musclebike, and the Valkyrie (or Flat 6 Custom) has built itself a solid following. The first book to be published on the subject gets a…

Vincent Black Shadow

When the Vincent Black Shadow was announced in 1948 it wowed the world with a top speed of 125mph. Since then it’s become accepted as an icon of the old British bike industry. A new book explains how the Black Shadow was originally conceived, developed and produced – with in-depth chapters looking in detail at its specification and later modifications.…

Torrens: the classic motorcyclist

Back in the days of black and white, when the Green ’Un and Blue ’Un ruled the motorcycling roost, journalist, editor and publisher Torrens was one of the world’s foremost riding writers. We review his memoir, Behind The Scenes In The Vintage Years… Torrens himself, taking part in a Land’s End to John O’Groats trial The pen-name of Arthur Bourne,…

Ride Of My Life

In Ride of My Life, racer and writer Frank Melling tells of a few of the bikes and experiences, bad and good, that he has encountered during a lifetime of motorcycling. Frank always tells it as he sees it in his own honest, fascinating and often humorous manner, and in a way that every motorcyclist can relate to. The subjects…

Lone Rider

35 years ago, Elspeth Beard became the first British woman to ride solo around the world, and she accomplished this feat aboard an aging BMW Boxer. The book Lone Rider tells her tale, and RC regular Ian Woolley has read it… I first met Elspeth Beard when I was on a tour of Europe organised by Nick Sanders. She was…

A Racing Read

For British motorcycle road racing fans of the mid-1960s to mid-1970s there was no better racer than Peter Williams. Usually riding underpowered bikes, Peter embodied the spirit of the British underdog at a time when most fans were still intensely patriotic and yearned for British success. This book, ‘Designed To Race’, charts Peter’s early life, moves on to cover his…