Officially licensed and published in the 60th anniversary year of World Championship motorcycle racing, this book presents a fact-packed and statistics-laden year-by-year history, concentrating on the premier class (500cc, then MotoGP) but not forgetting the other categories along the way. Beautifully illustrated and designed, written by acknowledged experts and featuring extensive data compiled by MotoGP’s official statistician – all these elements combine to create a history book with a difference.
This illustrated history jam packed with more than 150 stunning photographs celebrates high performance motorbike racing since the start of the world championship in 1949.The daring exploits of motorcycle race legends Valentino Rossi, Barry Sheene, Casey Stoner and John Surtees are all gloriously celebrated in Moto GP: The Illustrated History. Each racing decade is dissected and discussed, as are the big incidents, top personalities and technological innovations. To complete the book, motorcycle racing's greatest names – including John Surtees, Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner and young phenom Marc Marquez – provide exclusive personal insights and accounts of what it is like to race at speeds of 180mph. Moto GP: The Illustrated History is a unique book which brilliantly conveys the exhilarating spirit of this popular sport.
Moto GP has never been seen like this before This stunningly unique visual study of the world's leading motorcycle championship features vintage photographs alongside related images from the modern era. Offering a fresh perspective, it covers the legendary champions, famous tracks, great races, and life away from the track. Written by leading Moto GP journalist Michael Scott, Moto GP Yesterday & Today reveals how the details of the sport have changed over the years, but also how many fundamentals have remained unaltered.
This is an authoritative illustrated history of MotoGP and the World Motorcycle Championship featuring exclusive contributions from the legends of the sport.
'Moto GP is about the individual’s story, the battles between the individuals, the different personalities, the different men that are striving for one goal, to win the world championship'. Freddie Spencer, three-time world champion Since its earliest beginnings on public road courses to today’s purpose-built championship courses, Moto GP has always been about one thing: pushing man and machine to new heights of performance. Telling the story of how leading manufacturers such as Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki, have strived to build the perfect machine, and detailing the incredible rivalries of such sporting legends as Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene, Freddie Spencer and Eddie Lawson, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo – to name just a few – Phil Wain uncovers the stories behind historic races, the innovations that made the best bikes on the grid and describes the infamous moments in which riders were made champions. Moto GP is a photographic celebration of the heroes, bikes and circuits that have defined the adrenaline-soaked world of motorbike racing.
The Complete Book of Moto Guzzi: 100th Anniversary Edition, Every Model Since 1921, written by respected motorcycle expert Ian Falloon, offers enthusiasts a thorough review of Guzzi’s storied 100-year history via all of its production models. The oldest European motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production, Italy's Moto Guzzi has built some of the most iconic motorcycles ever produced. Established in 1921, the company is one of the most traditional motorcycle makers and also one of the most innovative. Carlo Guzzi's first engine design, a horizontal single, defined Moto Guzzi's road-going motorcycles for the company's first 45 years. In the 1950s, Moto Guzzi experienced tremendous success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Today, Moto Guzzi has a higher profile than ever, thanks to its popularity among enthusiast celebrities like Ewan McGregor. This new edition of The Complete Book of Moto Guzzi includes a 100th anniversary introduction, new photography, and additional pages to cover the newest models from 2018 to 2020. All of Moto Guzzi’s production models are covered in detail, including the groundbreaking Falcone, the V-8 Grand Prix racers, the V7 Sport, the Ambassador, the Eldorado, the Le Mans, the Daytona, right up to today’s the complete range of modern bikes including the V7, Griso, Stelvio, and V9. Celebrate a century of iconic Moto Guzzi machines, model by stunning model.
Aimed at the enthusiast who would like to gain a greater understanding of technical and design issues facing MotoGP constructors, this fascinating book provides detailed analysis of the cutting-edge technology used in the sport’s premier class today. Each area of a racing motorcycle’s design is explained and separate chapters for each manufacturer trace the development of each machine over the years through to the detailed specification of the current version.
Motorcycles are mythic, far more than mere transportation, but some are in a class of their own, truly legendary machines. There are the Triumphs: James Dean’s, Marlon Brando’s in The Wild Ones, the one Steve McQueen took over the fence in The Great Escape. There are Evel Knievel’s and Elvis’s Harleys, the Easy Rider Stars ‘n’ Stripes bike, and T. E. Lawrence’s Brough Superior SS100; Von Dutch’s Condor, Craig Vetter’s Mystery Ship, and Mike Hailwood’s Honda RC162. These are just some of the machines that have made motorcycle history, and that make this book a feast for the eyes and a fact-filled odyssey for the motorcycle aficionado. Illustrated with commissioned photographs and historical images, the book profiles the bikes--not just the models but the actual motorcycles--that have achieved legendary status in the last century. Their stories, told here in detail for the first time, make up the story of the motorcycle in American culture. See Motorbooks author Basem Wasef interviewed by Jay Leno on JayLenosGarage.com: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/jays-book-club-basem-wasef/1168295/
A lavishly illustrated and definitive look at the design evolution of the racing motorcycle. The dynamic between competition and design has always fueled the evolution of racing motorcycles and inspired astonishing feats of design and engineering. This book traces the development of the sport bike, from the earliest French motorcycles to the dominance of British machinery in the 1930s, the exotic Italian motorcycles of the 1950s and 1960s, the influence of American racing in the 1970s and 1980s, and today’s Japanese superbikes. More than fifty classic motorcycles—from Harley-Davidsons to Peugeots, Velocettes, Moto Guzzis, BMWs, Kawasakis, and Ducatis—are presented chronologically illustrated with stunning studio photographs that present the machines as works of art and wonders of design in themselves, accompanied by rare and beautiful archival images that place the subjects in the contexts of classic races, rallies, and motorcycle shows, and accompanied by essays revealing the legends behind the machines. Some of the championship motorcycles featured include the 1902 Manon, the 1922 Harley Davidson 8-valve, the 1935 Terrot 500, the 1948 AJS Porcupine, the 1954 Moto Guzzi V8, the 1965 Honda GP 250, The 1976 Suzuki RK67, the 1986 Cagiva GP, and the 1990 Ducati Supermono.
'AN EXCEPTIONAL READ' - Motor Cycle News 'STUART BARKER IS TO WRITING WHAT VALENTINO ROSSI IS TO RIDING [...] A MUST-READ FOR ALL BIKE NUTS' - DAILY MIRROR 'At high speed everything becomes more difficult and more beautiful. When you're racing at 180mph, the semi-bends become bends, the little holes become big holes, everything becomes extreme and bigger. And then it becomes beautiful.' Valentino Rossi is an icon: the most successful and most loved motorcycle racer of all time, he has transcended MotoGP to become a symbol of courage, risk and daring. To race for twenty-three years at the very highest level of the world's most dangerous sport is unprecedented. But then, there has never been a motorcycle racer like Valentino Rossi. He is a modern-day gladiator, a man who still risks his life every time he throws a leg over a motorcycle. Yet for all his two-wheel talents, it is Rossi's endearing character that has seen him transcend the sport. His popularity is phenomenal. For Rossi, every race is a home race. He turns MotoGP grandstands across the world a sea of yellow - his traditional lucky colour. In more than two decades of Grand Prix racing, Rossi has seen it all. The deaths of rivals and friends, the glory of his unprecedented success, serious injuries, fabulous wealth, the greatest battles ever seen on two wheels, the infamous on and off-track clashes with his fiercest rivals . . . Using exclusive new interviews with those who have been part of Rossi's story from start to finish, critically-acclaimed and bestselling motorsport author Stuart Barker has produced the most in-depth book ever written about the Italian superstar - a tale of speed, love and loss, told in full for the very first time, in all its adrenalin-charged, high-octane glory.
