The Cw Library
THE CW LIBRARY
Lightweight Unsupported Motorcycle Travel for Terminal Cases
This little book opens your mind to the wonder of living life on the back of a motorcycle. Preferably a small motorcycle with minimal luggage, no time schedule and something other than a master plan.
Though uncredited, it is written by Andy Goldfine, the man behind Aerostich, whose life and living is built upon traveling by motorcycle. His vast experience shows through, as language is minimalist, spare and powerful, as it only can be when you clearly know what’s important about a subject. Even the size of the book-small enough to fit in your pocket-shows a clarity of thought and vision.
Although small, Lightweight Touring is an incredibly rich source of practical knowledge. Section titles include “Camping: Authorized and Unauthorized,” and “Time and Distance: Daily Routines,” with appendices on great roads and biker hangouts, as well as websites of interest. Further, what might fall under the heading “Philosophical Advice” is also included in sections called “People:
Need Them,” and “Transformation: Why it Feels Good.”
This book is pure pleasure to read, and one of the most useful motorcycle-related documents in print. Even if you never plan to live life on the road, buy this book, read it, and it will put you there. -Mark Hoyer
Lightweight Unsupported Motorcycle Travel for Terminal Cases: Being a treatise on touring by motorcycle in a practical and efficient manner, 71 pages, $5; Aero Design & Mfg. Co., Inc., 8S. 18th Ave. West, Duluth, MN 55806; 218/722-1927; www.aerostich.com
On the Move: Transportation and the American Story
On exhibit the Move at the is Smithsonian’s the companion National publication Museum to the of “America American on History the Move” in Washington D.C., occupying the fully renovated Transportation Hall.
Its 319 pages have a grand scope, covering the cultural effects of transportation, and all kinds of mechanized modes, from bicycles to aircraft. Motorcycles, however, are given hardly a glance.
Funding for the exhibit came largely from entities involved in four-wheeled transport, including General Motors and the American Automobile Association, so perhaps it shouldn’t be such a surprise that this book’s motorcycle
content amounts to one-that’s cwe-poor-quality studio
photograph of an Indian motorcycle with side-
car and a brief caption. Numerous typos (even one on the dust jacket) only make matters worse.
America has been on the move for more than 100 years, and motorcycles have been an important part from the beginning. They deserve more than footnote status.
-Mark Hoyer
On the Move: Transportation and the American Story, Janet P Davidson and Michael S. Sweeney, 319 pages, $35; National Geographic Books, 114517th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20036;
888/225-5647; www.nationalgeographic.com
ISDT Reunion Ride
As Days a former Enduro International gold medalist, Six I’m always interested in the history of this historic off-road event. I’ve wanted to go Back East for the Leroy Winters Memorial ISDT Reunion ride (“T” stands for trials as it was known back in the day) just to get a glimpse of the riders I’d read about in old magazines. I’d come across quite a few in my racing, but going to the Berkshires 30 years after the 1973 ISDT would have been a topper. Sadly, I didn’t make it.
Along comes Jay Duchin’s DVD. It is a one-man, one-camera documentary of the event that makes you feel as if you were there. Never mind that you’re not cold and wet, you may feel that way as Duchin puts you right there-from the impound area to the woods, at the grass tracks and even in the bar after the event. Witness the self-professed, “50year old guys on 30-year old bikes with 20-year old brains,” riding the minimally suspended machines through the slop. There are even splashes of old clips of the 1973 ISDT thrown in for good measure. The sounds alone of the vintage bikes most riders chose to race make the video worth its asking price. If you’re looking for flashy edits and tight cameramanship, look elsewhere. This documentary gets the job done plain and simple, quite home-style really. If you like old dirtbikes, the ISDT, or wonder why old dirtbikers never grow up, watch this video and your questions may be answered. It could be called, “30 Years and Still Kicking.”
Leroy Winters Memorial ISDT Reunion Ride, 42 minutes, $25;
Duchin Productions, 81 Locksley Rd., Lynnfield, MA 01940; 781/334-5068; www.duchinproductions.com
-Jimmy Lewis
