It's All Good
 

By Andrew Daddo 2006
In 1991 Andrew and his new found mate Ray rode from New York to LA. This book chronicles the journey in memory of Ray who later died in a workplace accident.
Makes a good read about the adventure and experiences along the way.
http://www.hachette.com.au/books/0733620760.html

Glen

The Truth about Motorcycle Travel!
 

Hi, I'm the writer of most of the above book. It was actually about travelling in Europe (written by Peter Rae) and a trip by my friend Charlie and myself from Australia to the Guinness brewery in Dublin. I then did a bit of other travelling with my wife-to-be and finished the trip by myself, crossing America and returning to Oz.
I will be republishing my section of the book some time in 2007. It will be called 'The King of Every Kingdom'.
Meanwhile, I edit Australian Road Rider magazine and sell my other books: 'Motorcycling in Australia' and 'On the Road Again'. Feel free to get in touch at the.bear@optusnet.com.au .

not about bikes and can't remember who it is by but 'The bone man of Benares' had a bigger impact on me than any other travel book I have read. funny but also tragic, it goes deep into the psychology of travel. if it doesn't bring a tear to your eye you really are a heartless bxxxxxx!!

also the perfect vehicle by melissa holbrook peterson. about her love of motorcycling, guzzies in particular and the occassional man! a companion story for women, an eye opener for men.

then of course there is 'me, dad and the Plymouth to Dakar' my own book about me not quite killing my dad on the pdc!! it's available through my ebay shop at
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Captain-Mog...3aFQ3aSTQQtZkm

I agree with your assessment of Jupiters Travels and think it is on a higher level, so to say, than a book like Odyssey to Ushuaia.
BUT... I really enjoyed Odyssey to Ushuaia. Maybe it helps that I am a 23yo male and can relate to his current (at the time he traveled) position in life, but it was an easy read that was entertaining and displayed a lot of the day to day stuff that goes on as well as a little bit of culture and some technical traveling topics such as border crossings. I love the deepness of Ted Simon, but also appreciate the more light hearted style of Odyssey.
Long Way Round annoyed me at points because of the seemingly constant whining, but I never really got that feeling from Odyssey.

I liked the Motorcycle Diaries OK, but I actually think I prefer the movie. The book did become boring to me at several points.

I've also read " Mi Moto Fidel". I think the person who recommended it to me hyped it up too much. It was good and entertaining, but didn't stand above anything else that I have read. It did give me a lot of interesting information about Cuba, though, and is probably what made me go out and by The Motorcycle Diaries.

I'll just throw it out there that, while not a book, Erin and Chris Ratay's travelogue ( www.ultimatejourney.com ) is what I stumbled upon that originally gave me the moto travel bug 3-4 years ago.

Burt Munro
 

"One Good Run, The Legend Of Burt Munro" by Tim Hanna
A good read about the dogged determination of stubborn Bert to make his old 1920 Indian Scout "Munro Special" the fastest in the world. This New Zealander had many crashes, engine rebuilds, and trips to the salt at Bonneville USA always trying for that one good run. Burt Munro's life inspired the hit movie "The Worlds Fastest Indian" starring Anthony Hopkins.

Published by Penguin Books www.penguin.co.nz cost was $29.99 AUD

Go get a copy

Enjoy the read
Glen

Ian Mutch - Lowrider
 

A 3000 mile solo trip across Europe to reach Israel on a poorly customized and badly maintained hard tail Triumph chop. He also wrote Looking for America, a ride across the states on a Harley.

AMH Short stories.
 

I really enjoyed reading the Adventure Motorcyling handbook. Not just for the techical info but I really enjoyed the short storys of other peoples adventures at the back. I even bought both editions for the new stories.

Would be great if someone would publish a book full of short travelogues like in the back of the AMH.

Hello,

I'm suprised not to have seen the Mondo Enduro book/diaries mentioned here (or have I missed it?). I finished the book a few weeks ago and for me it was probably the best book I have ever read, not just the best bike/travelling book. It is the group diaries from on the road and I felt like I was on the journey with them...normal people on normal budgets.

I started to re-read Long Way Round after but I have given up. Although I have defended it in posts before, it just seemed like there was nothing but bickering between the team (of about 10!) and also as if someone had just typed up the script from their tv series rather than Ewan and Charlie bothering to write it themselves.

I have just ordered 'Running with the Moon: A Boy's Own Adventure - Riding a Motorbike Through Africa' by Jonny Bealby from Amazon so will see how I get on with that...


15/02/2007...unfortunately I have nearly finished Jonny Bealby's book now - an excellent read.

Two for the Road - Shirley Hardy Pix and Brian PIX
 

Two for the Road - Shirley Hardy Rix and Brian RiX
is the book that I am reading now, It follows a Melbourne couple's jorney ona BMW GS from UK to Melbourne on the typical overland route
Europe> east Eurpe> Turkey > Iran > PAK > Ind > SE Asia > Singapore> Australia.

So far the book has been an interesting read, I was up till 2:00 am last night reading the same , very interesting but its more or less a simple travelogue describing places and people and the tourist spots they visited. I mean thats what I should ideally expect from a trip log / book like this but then I would think this is on the same level as other trip logs.

after reading these posts , I am now Looking forward to get my hands on the > Jupiter's travels, ordered it 3 weeks ago from a Melbourne Book shop , still waiting fo rdelivery and the guys said it might take another 3 - 4 weeks. pathetic :-(

Off the Rails- Across Siberia by Bicycle (Moscow to Bejing)
 

This was a book that I read before the current one and I loved it ,
simply superb. 2 Aussie blokes Cycling their way across the length of Russia and China. Their long and difficult journey that too on 2 simple bicycles.

The book is very well written , atleast reading it you can feel the pain and the difficulty of such a long journey. The pleasure of interactions with helpful and kind strangers . I think the judge of wether a book is good is to see wether it rouses your emotions , do you feel a part of whatever you are reading.

And in that sense the Off the Rails is really good, though it has a fair bit of bitching and fighting between the two, but on such a long journey this is bound to happen. The book overall is very very readable.
They also have a TV documentary Off the Rails> http://www.abc.net.au/documentaries/...fftherails.htm
http://timcopejourneys.com/index.pl?page=4

Ridin with Rilke
 

Just a shout out for a 'newer' MC book written by Ted Bishop who reports on his BMW trip (and subsequent accident) connecting with libraries, rare boks, and even the occasional rare person - it's a great read focussing on his miles in Western Canada and US.

more books
 

Special mention of Anne-France DAutheville

"une demoiselle sur un moto" She set off in 1973 from Paris to Afganistan on a moto Guzzi.
Also in 1982 she went solo 6 months around south America on a 250cc Honda. Book called "La piste de l´or"
Unfortunately only in French! Very well written and a very interesting Lady. Shame it was never translated in english, she certainly would be much more known in the moto travellers world! She deverse it!

I'm just reading "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance", and I'm loving it. I've been getting bags under my eyes for the past few days because I've started reading it once I finish everything else (about midnight), and i read for about an hour or so, until I *really* have to leave it aside, and catch some sleep! It's on my desk in front of me right now.. roll on 5:30pm, because I'll be reading it on the tube home! :)

Books
 

Got in my hands a copy of Geoff Hills "Way to go" and I have to admit that Jupiters Travels was put aside for a while. Could not stop reading about Geoffs journeys.
Dave Barrs both books are great too!:thumbup1:

For Love and a Beetle - A tale of two journeys.
 

For Love and a Beetle - A tale of two journeys.
by Hodge, Ivan and McGovern, Petronella


Hundreds of people have done the overland journey from UK to India via the Europe> east Europe> Turkey > Iran > PAK > Ind > SE Asia > Singapore> Australia.

So what makes this journey special? Well many things,

1) Firstly this is the second time for the couple they did the same journey in the same Beetle in 1961, when it was newly bought in the UK and sold to his mother in Newzeland,
and again in 1996 when they shipped their old Beetle back to UK and repeated the journey from UK to India Overland.
2) They are both in their Sixties and so to speak on their Second Honeymoon.
3) They are doing a journey which is perhaps a legendary distance for a vehicle 35 years old.

The book is interspersed alternatingly with their recordings of the 1961 trip and with their current travel experience. We get to see the how the same places have changed in the past 35 years , they have attempted to travel along the exact route that they traveled on 35 years ago.

My Favourite in this book is a page with 2 Photos which shows Ivan Hodge in Turkey with a watch tower and his beetle in the back ground one taken in 1961 and the other in 1996.
The caption below the first photo reads:

The Beetle, My sweater , and a camel tower, Iran 1961
The second photo reads
Same Beetle, Same sweater , and a the same camel tower, Iran 1996.

The only difference in the photos is that Ivan and the tower show some effects of Old age , the tower being a bit weathered and Ivan with his old age paunch.

If nothing else this book should surely be read to see the spirit of adventure in a 60 year old couple having the guts to travel around the world.