Arguably the world's biggest and best collection of motorcycles is at the Barber Museum in Birmingham, Alabama, where more than 700 immaculate bikes of all ages are on display. Honda's Euro launch of the 2012 GL1800 Gold Wing ended at Barber where we had a chance to compare the latest Wing with the GL1000 that began the line in 1975.
Photo © Roland Brown
Roland Brown’s most recent book is the History of the Motorbike, which traces two-wheeled development from the first motorised bicycle to the latest superbikes. The book features several hundred photographs, many of them from this library. In the UK it's published by Marks and Spencer.
ISBN number is 1-84461-104-3
Retro is all the rage in motorcycling right now, as confirmed by the introduction of models such as Ducati’s SportClassic series, Triumph’s Thruxton and Harley-Davidson’s latest Sportsters, styled to resemble machines from the 1970s, when even the fastest bikes had aircooled engines, twin shocks and minimal wind protection.
Roland Brown’s latest book is Superbikes of the Seventies, featuring tests of the finest machines from that decade. The line-up of 34 machines includes Ducati’s 900SS, Honda’s CB750, Moto Guzzi’s Le Mans 850, Triumph’s X-75 Hurricane, and Kawasaki’s Z1.
Riding impressions, technical details and period brochures bring these modern classics to life. And Superbikes of the Seventies contains many memorable photos of the bikes, which are among the most beautiful ever built. (All images are available via this web site.)
The book is published by Bull Publishing of Phoenix, Arizona. ISBN number is 1-893618-17-X. British buyers can find it on www.amazon.co.uk at £19.38 including delivery. It’s also available through book shops or via the publisher's web site at www.bullpublishing.com
The Ultimate History of Fast Bikes is a photo-packed guide to the most rapid bikes ever built, from the FN Four and Scott two-stroke of the early years of the last century, to the modern Suzuki GSX-R1000, Honda Fireblade and Harley V-Rod. ISBN number is 0-75258-507-X.
There’s also a much slimmer book called Dream Machines: Motorbikes, which contains selected highlights from Fast Bikes. Both these books are published by Parragon.