Blitz Motorcycles


Book Description

A vision of custom motorcycles




Fixing Motorcycles in Post-Repair Societies


Book Description

Most social science studies on automobility have focused on the production, usage, identity construction and aesthetic improvements of personal means of transportation. What happens if we shift the focus to the labour, knowledge and social relations that go into the unavoidable moments of maintenance and repair? Taking motorcycling in Romania as an ethnographic entry point, this book documents how bikers handle the inevitable moment of malfunction and breakdown. Using both mobile and sedentary research methods, the book describes the joys and troubles experienced by amateur mechanics, professional mechanics and untechnical male and females when fixing bikes.




Ton Up!


Book Description

Ton Up! A Century of Café Racer Speed and Style focuses on the story of the ton-up boys and their café racers. But it's much more than just that. Illustrated with historic and modern photos and featuring a text by one of the world’s motorcycle historians, it's really the story of motorcycle speed and style evolved from the early 1900s right through today. Cafe racers are most associated with the young, rebellious rock-and-rollers of 1960s Britain. These riders created the quintessential café racers—fast motorcycles customized to resemble the racing bikes of the period. They were called “café racers” because their riders raced on public roads, from one café to the next. The goal was to do “the ton” (exceed 100 miles per hour) on these runs, which led to their designation as “ton-up boys.” Today, ton-up culture is more popular than ever and recognized worldwide with a following of young and long-time riders alike.With Ton Up!, enjoy a scenic ride through the history of this vibrant scene.




The Scent of Burnt Flowers


Book Description

Fleeing persecution in 1960s America, a Black couple seeks asylum in Ghana, but fresh dangers and old secrets threaten their newfound freedom in this hypnotic debut novel. “I am truly blown away by this novel.”—Jacqueline Woodson, New York Times bestselling author of Red at the Bone ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: CrimeReads When the windshield of his Chevy Impala shatters in a dark diner parking lot in Alabama, Melvin moves without thinking. A split-second reaction marrows in his bones from the days of war, but this time it is the safety of his fiancé, Bernadette, at stake. Impulse keeps them alive, and yet they flee with blood on their hands. What is life like now that they are fugitives? Pack passports. Empty bank accounts. Set their old life on fire. The couple disguise themselves as a pastor and a reluctant pastor’s wife who’s hiding a secret from her fiancé. With a persistent FBI agent on their trail, they travel to Ghana to seek the help of Melvin’s old college friend who happens to be the country’s embattled president, Kwame Nkrumah. The couple’s chance encounter with Ghana’s most beloved highlife musician, Kwesi Kwayson, who’s on his way to perform for the president, sparks a journey full of suspense, lust, magic, and danger as Nkrumah’s regime crumbles around them. What was meant to be a fresh start quickly spirals into chaos, threatening both their relationship and their lives. Kwesi and Bernadette’s undeniable attraction and otherworldly bond cascades during their three-day trek, and so does Melvin’s intense jealousy. All three must confront one another and their secrets, setting off a series of cataclysmic events. Steeped in the history and mythology of postcolonial West Africa at the intersection of the civil rights movement in America, this gripping and ambitious debut merges political intrigue, magical encounters, and forbidden romance in an epic collision of morality and power.




McClure's Magazine


Book Description




My Papi Has a Motorcycle


Book Description

A celebration of the love between a father and daughter, and of a vibrant immigrant neighborhood, by an award-winning author and illustrator duo. When Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi on his motorcycle, she sees the people and places she's always known. She also sees a community that is rapidly changing around her. But as the sun sets purple-blue-gold behind Daisy Ramona and her papi, she knows that the love she feels will always be there. With vivid illustrations and text bursting with heart, My Papi Has a Motorcycle is a young girl's love letter to her hardworking dad and to memories of home that we hold close in the midst of change.




25 Years of Buell


Book Description

This book was produced to commemorate Buell Motor Company's 25th anniversary. Illustrated by hundreds of photographs from private collections and corporate archives, it covers Buell's history from inception to present.




Classic Motorcycles


Book Description

Finally! The world's most incredible motorcycles are given the artful representation they deserve. The motorcycle should have disappeared with the advent of the inexpensive automobile, since Henry Ford's Model T usurped the motorcycle's position as a primary form of utilitarian transportation, but a funny thing happened on the way to extinction - the motorcycle not only survived but thrived. Enough people were enamored of the thrill and beauty of the two-wheeled mechanical beast to ensure it would continue to exist indefinitely. And exist they have! Many of the motorcycles manufactured over the past century truly fit the description of "classic," and many consider these machines works of art. Written by noted motorcycle author Patrick Hahn, Classic Motorcycles presents the history of motorcycling as told through the most significant, iconic, classic motorcycles of all time, with both period photography and modern portrait photography. All the best domestic and international makes are represented here, from BMWs, Indians, and Triumphs to Vincents, Ducatis, and Harley-Davidsons - the most classic models. You'll drool over the 1933 Matchless Silver Hawk. Each motorcycle was shot in a studio setting using photographer Tom Loeser's light-painting technique. Period ads and relevant historic photos and documents are spread throughout the book to supplement the portraits of the bikes, really evoking a sense of time and place. Prepare to be in awe of the undeniably classic motorcycles in this collection. It's the only motorcycle history you'll need.




Blitzed


Book Description

A New York Times bestseller, Norman Ohler's Blitzed is a "fascinating, engrossing, often dark history of drug use in the Third Reich” (Washington Post). The Nazi regime preached an ideology of physical, mental, and moral purity. Yet as Norman Ohler reveals in this gripping history, the Third Reich was saturated with drugs: cocaine, opiates, and, most of all, methamphetamines, which were consumed by everyone from factory workers to housewives to German soldiers. In fact, troops were encouraged, and in some cases ordered, to take rations of a form of crystal meth—the elevated energy and feelings of invincibility associated with the high even help to account for the breakneck invasion that sealed the fall of France in 1940, as well as other German military victories. Hitler himself became increasingly dependent on injections of a cocktail of drugs—ultimately including Eukodal, a cousin of heroin—administered by his personal doctor. Thoroughly researched and rivetingly readable, Blitzed throws light on a history that, until now, has remained in the shadows. “Delightfully nuts.”—The New Yorker




Soul Fuel


Book Description

- This book makes palpable the spirit of bike customizing: Soul Fuel delivers fuel for the souls of fans and connoisseurs and inspires all those interested; it provides a fascinating entry to the subject of motorcycling - Intimate portraits of those who are the 'man' in 'craftsmanship': they do not simply make rebuilds -- they create legends Presenting 17 international customizers and their interpretations of the BMW R nineT, Soul Fuel reveals a new approach to customizing. A custom bike is, above all: unique. The subculture of the custom bike community and its trends are of major importance, not only for the motorcycle's hardware, but also for the software associated with the lifestyle. Customizers deliberately reject a digitized and perfected world with something handmade and raw -- a kick start for the imagination of all free spirits. With the market launch of the BMW R nineT in 2013, the unique Soul Fuel project started in earnest. Over the course of the nascent cooperation, the first selected customizers received an R nineT, which they were able to remodel and modify pursuant to their own vision. To date, 17 customizers have created fascinating customizations of the R nineT through Soul Fuel. Five additional projects are to follow in 2018. Introducing the bikes completed to date, the book Soul Fuel is an homage to the "customizing attitude" towards life. When we take a look into the workshops of the most innovative customizers, we can virtually smell and hear the welding equipment. We experience the creative process that emerges from custom bikes made on the basis of the R nineT, up close and personal -- like when musicians cover their favorite song, and in doing so, place their own distinctive stamp upon it. With full passion and dedication, Blitz Motorcycles, 46 Works, El Solitario, and others create exceptional interpretations of an exceptional machine. As unique and customized as the machines it presents, Soul Fuel boasts incredible graphics, layout, and fascinating portraits of the customizers in one innovative, impressively- designed book. Text in English and German.