Motorcycle Technicalities

Motorcycle Technicalities

CYCLE WORLD BOOK REVIEW

by Phil Irving Turton and Armstrong, publishers Wahroonga, NSW, Australia US. distribution by Motorsports 6115 Gravois St. Louis, Mo. 63116 $14.95 plus $1.00 postage

Technical information about motorcycles doesn’t come better than this. Phil Irving, the man most responsible for the Vincent V-Twin motorcycles, also wrote about motorcycle design. His articles were published in the Thirties and Forties in the English magazine Motor Cycling.

Now 55 of those articles have been reprinted together as Motorcycle Technicalities. During the time Irving wrote these articles, he was as knowledgeable about motorcycle design as any man alive. He also has a great knack for explaining technical matters in a clear and concise language.

You don’t have to be an engineer to understand Irving’s writing. Few numbers are used; the thoughts are conceptual in nature.

The knowledge of 40 or 50 years ago was, in several ways, less developed than current technical knowledge. Suspensions have changed the way we think about many things, and materials have changed just as much. So occasionally you can find some prediction or explanation that has proved Irving didn’t have perfect foresight. More often the reader finds Irving had great vision.

What makes this book so much fun to read is that Irving, like any good writer, has ideas. He offers opinions about maintenance, riding styles and even questions why so many motorcycle riders quit riding after having some injuries, while horseback riders never quit. The thoughts are what make the book great.

Because the motorcycle examples found in the book are the bikes of 50 years ago, we aren’t informed about anti-dive brakes, single shock rear suspensions or engine life above 10,000 rpm. Instead, the articles explain engine balance, metallurgy, valve trains, engine cooling, bearing design and oiling systems. The basics are here, and most of this hasn’t changed.

Motorcycle Technicalities might be a little hard to find, but the search is

worth it.

Steve Kimball