Book News
BOOK NEWS
Francis Beart—A Single Purpose
Any book by Geoff Clew is likely to come into the category of what the Poms call "a jolly good read" and this one on Francis Beart, the celebrated tuner, is no exception. Of 202 pp and mighty small print (several illies) the book is the kind that one curls up in front of the fire with when wife and kiddies are all off to the flicks.
Old Francis, by all accounts, is a prickly sort of chap and Mr. Clew threads his way carefully through the immediately post WW1 days when Beart became interested in motorcycles, destroying as he goes the “•myth that great tuners spring fully gifted from Athena’s brow! Francis’ first experience with the Mysterious Growing Piston, quick fixes at Brooklands and his early racing career are well documented and provide a lot of laughs for those not only interested in that period but who have actually looked into the inside of a motorcycle. Gradually the truth emerges that Beart was a thinking man, searching for ways to make his motorcycles faster, more reliable and of course lighter (“made a fortune out of “oles”) as he specialized in cammy Norton Singles. As a private entrant in competition with the “works” bikes, Beart could not usually compete with the factory in sheer speed (or in riders) but managed to hold his own just the same even on the Isle of Man.
War years are reviewed with his work in aircraft and after that was over, details of the three successful Daytona visits are spelled out. Showing how times have changed, he demanded and got 20 quid a week plus 35 quid expenses for the first Daytona trip, a fee thought to be outrageous by the factory! Later he got into Formula 3 cars, providing engines for practically all the hot dogs including Stirling Moss, but returned to bikes when the F3 fad faded and with it the money. Generally speaking, this book offers a fascinating look into the w ings of racing that even old race reporters find absorbing, sighing at the same time for bygone days when you could run a Manx Norton with megaphone down the road in the middle of the night and only receive a mild wigging from the local cop! A book to keep locked up or your friends will pinch it.
Haynes Publishing Co.. 861 Lawrence Dr.. Newberry Park. Calif. 91320 and probably available at Autobooks, 2900 Magnolia, Burbank. Calif. 91505 and Motorsport. 6115 Gravois, St Louis, Mo. 63116.
The cost is $12.95,—Henry N. Manney III
A HURRICANE NAMED VETTER
by Joe Parkhurst
Vetter Design Works
San Luis Obispo, Calif $3 76 pp.
When they made the tee-shirt that proclaims “damn. I’m Good,” they used Craig Vetter for the mold.
The redeeming factor is' that Damn, Craig is good. He’s best known now as the man behind all those touring fairings, but his company actually came to be because Craig was a bike nut and a trained designer who could see the need for a top-quality attractive fairing, and had the creative talent to design one, the mechanical ability to build the fairing and the hardware, and the drive and ambition to shoe-string his ideas into w'hat’s now one of the largest and best-known firms in the motorcycle field.
Men like this tend to have egos to match their empires, and Vetter does. Early in his career as a designer, he drew up some ideas for a motorcycle styled in the American way. He took the ideas to the American branch of BSA and they commissioned a complete design, based on the BSA Triple, that make's high-performance model and one that wasn't selling as expected.
This book is a history of that project, along wath some thoughts about BSA, the English, and about motorcycle styling and design. As such, it’s a good close look at the topics mentioned, and for those of us interested in the subjects, it’s as close a look inside such work as we’re likely to get.
It’s also a personal look. The author of record is Joe Parkhurst, well known to readers of this magazine. Joe is also a bike nut, and a designer (he got into publishing as a designer, in fact) and he and this magazine were involved in the Hurricane project. He and Vetter are friends of long standing and like any eye-witness account from witnesses who were part of the action, this book may contain unconscious bias in favor of those who’re telling the tale.
The publication of the book has been backed by Vetter’s company, and no excess money was spent. It’s a slick, soft cover and the economy-grade paper doesn’t do justice to some of the photography and the typeface is, to this reader, difficult to read.
Even with all this, the book is an account of a project that’s become a collector’s item, and an account you won’t get anywhere else. Vetter dealers will have copies on stock, or in the catalog, $3 each.
-Allan Girdler
A BROTHERHOOD OF OUTLAWS
by Robert Lipkin
Just Bitchin' Enterprises
Hermosa Beach, Cal~f $9.95 234 pp.
Literary criticism has hazards and temptations all its own. The author of this book squeezed his way through the office door, sat down in two of the visitor chairs and said he’d brought us a copy of his novel, which he hoped we’d review.
So we will. As the title implies, this is a novel about motorcycle outlaws. As a novel, it’s a paperback, dime-novel, pulp western sort of book. The plot is thin and predictable. All the girls are pretty and all the men are brave and loyal. There’s no guesswork involved, that is, will the antibiker plot be exposed in time? Will the honest newsman be able to broadcast the truth? Will the hero recover from his crash?
Does Kenny Roberts know how to ride a motorcycle?
This is an adventure story. Lipkin has taken a strong and emotional stand and worked his plot around it. Woven into the plot are the sort of adventures most longhaul riders kinda wish they’d have, along with some of the adventures Lipkin has had.
As part of that, every unprintable word in our language is printed here. The sex scenes are as graphic as they are unbelieveable.
What we have here is not a novel. It’s a movie-to-be, the perfect basis for a drivein biker flick; chase scenes, gunfights, fistfights, lovely ladies without much on, heroes and villains you can identify even if you were in the snack bar during the first reel.
Lipkin knows this. He used to work as a stuntman and he knows movie people, who’ve already been sent copies of the book. He expects it will become a “B” (or worse) movie and he’ll make enough money to quit writing trashy books.-
Meanwhile, he was paid for this work in copies. No money changed hands. The printer instead shipped Lipkin a houseful of books, and he’s selling them himself, $9.95 to Just Bitchin’ Enterprises, 350 Hermosa Ave. Ste. 7, Hermosa Beach, Calif. 90254.
A man of faith. And a friend, which is why this review. If we publish an honest review, we offered, can we all have parts in your movie? Ain’t none of us here can’t ride better than Steve what’s-his-name.
Here’s the honest review. Watch for us at a drive-in near you. —Allan Girdler
