Books

BOOKS

MOTORCYCLE MILESTONES VOL. 1

by Richard Renstrom Classics Unlimited, Inc. 2121 Arlington Rd Caldwell, Idaho 83605 Hardback, $19: Soft, $14 plus $1.00 postage

Reading-type enthusiasts have over the years undoubtedly run across articles or even books by Richard Renstrom, a gent who apparently was collecting and restoring old bikes before such a pursuit came to be big business. What with the appearance of omnibus books in the automotive world, he undoubtedly thought it was time to dig into his voluminous files for a similar series on motorcycles; this Vol. 1 will be followed by three more and perhaps extended if much interest is showed. Preceded by a historical dissertation What Came Before which, by neces-

sity, is somewhat cramped, he offers potted salons on 24 motorbikes (including the Indian Arrow!!) ranging from 1898 through 1975, each story incorporating a spec, page and several photos, not always of the bike under discussion which can be confusing. Some of the salons, such as the Parilia road racer or the Ed Kretz and his Indians may be familiar to CW readers, having appeared here first.

Each segment also features a good sharp full-page colour photo of the model under discussion which would be a lot nicer if he took more care in selecting backgrounds. A school parking lot with mobs of spectators and other bikes milling about sort of lowers the tone a trifle. On the other hand, the shots in which he has taken pains are generally suitable for framing. The story on each motorcycle isn’t overly long as type is happily largish and double spaced (for old folks like me . . . thankyew!) but contains a surprising amount of information, logically developed. Clearly he has done a lot of homework which shows and also clearly writing is hard work for him which also shows. Occasionally a slight clanger is dropped (“Carroll” Speedway, “pure Sang,” Honda “Bentley”) which makes one wonder whether everything is 100 percent kosher . . . everybody makes mistakes which isn’t so serious in a magazine anyway that usually gets pitched out but a book is more permanent.

I am not so sure what segment of the market these books are aimed at as bike folks, if they can read at all, generally go for magazines or one-make offerings. Perhaps it is time for us to become respectable! If so, Mr. Renstrom will help us along as those comprehensively interested in Bikes will not only find out models they never knew existed but have something valuable to pore over on those frosty winter evenings. —Henry N. Manney III