Description
By: Steve Wilson .
There are plenty of bike books, a few of them about travelling by motorcycle, but Down The Road is the first to take a lighthearted yet truthful look at almost every aspect of the classic bike phenomenon. Steve Wilson's credentials are impeccable — his long-running 'Down The Road Apiece' column in Classic Bike Guide is hugely popular — and in this compilation he and artist Nick Ward open their riding jackets to reveal the true roots of their obsession with 'real' motorcycles, and the journeys they can take you on. A collection of Steve's very best articles are presented here, welded together with brand-new text, and illustrated with Nick's exquisitely detailed humorous drawings.
Steve ponders the past — Conan Doyle, Lawrence of Arabia, Hugh Leach, Marlon Brando, the indomitable Ace Café. He considers a wide range of British bikes at work, from the trusty AA patrol to the evil, rocket-firing BSA twin in Thunderball, and interviews men whose working lives were part of the post-war rise and fall of the once-mighty British motorcycle industry. There are also accounts of Steve's own bike journeys through Europe, and a ramble round Nick, his work, and his favoured transport — the current star is a 1950 rigid Norton Big Four. This all adds up to an inspired blend of social history and Bohemian two- wheeled rhapsody, and is a must-have purchase for every classic bike enthusiast.
Steve Wilson, a regular contributor to a number of motorcycle publications, is the author of the classic six-volume series British Motor Cycles since 1950. Nick Ward, who trained at St Martins and the Royal Academy Schools, exhibits at premier galleries, and has worked to commission for major companies.
