Motorcycle
In a world full of books about motorcycle factories,
designers, racers, events etc, it is interesting to come across a book that
draws everything together and gets you thinking about the motorcycle as the
perfect vehicle.
As the co-authors Steven E. Alford and Suzanne Ferriss
(Professors who both teach at the
The book charts the evolution of the motorcycle and the
resulting effect on society right up to the current perceived modernist object
that is ‘designed to unify the rider and machine in perfect balance.’
It is a comprehensive look at history, technology, literature,
film and fashion, along with aesthetic design, resulting in a thought-provoking
inquiry into our fascination with motorcycles.
The excellent References and Bibliography at the rear make
this a brilliant and useful academic work, but don’t let that put you off, from
buying a copy, because it is written in a very readable style that is far from
heavy, or in any way boring.
Broadly split into four chapters of Design, Identity, Images
and Aesthetics with a Conclusion at the end, it certainly makes you think abut
motorcycling on a global scale and makes you look beneath the glossy paint and
plastic of a modern, or for that matter classic, motorcycle.
As one reviewer has already succinctly put it, ‘This book is
like a good motorcycle ride in that it leads you into new territory and gives
you a fresh sense of familiar terrain’. I can’t think of a better way of putting
it, other than to say ‘open your mind in the same way you would open the
throttle and enjoy the read/ride!’.
Review by Ian Kerr