The Cw Library

THE CW LIBRARY

Norton Commando

No market was more important to British motorcycle manufacturers during their heyday than the United States. Despite this, our little one-time colony is often left out of marque histories published on the other side of the Pond. Such is not the case with Mick Duckworth's excellent book on the Norton Commando.

Part of the Haynes Great Bike Series, this \OV2x-8-inch hardcover tome has the Full American Story-from desert racers, Ron Wood’s dirt-tracker, the land-speed efforts of Denis Manning and even Kenny Dreer’s new Nortons currently being developed in Portland, Oregon.

Rest assured, however, that the full story from Jolly Olde is covered, too. There are mini-interviews with key engineers and designers, lots of racing history from Europe, as well as plenty of information regarding the mechanical evolution of the bike from beginning to end, all in very well-written main copy and interesting sidebars. The layout, too, is clean and the photography is generally excellent.

Overall, Duckworth does a great job telling the story, and aside from Haynes pimping its Commando repair manual in a caption, this is high-quality work from start to finish. -Mark Hover

Norton Commando, Mick Duckworth, 144 pages, $30; MB! Publishing, i Plaza #200, 380 Jackson St., St. Paul, MN 55101; 800/826-6600; www.motorbooks.com

Total Control

L ee Parks has a remarkable gift for self-pro motion. How else can you explain this book of riding techniques penned by an amateur roadracer whose biggest claim to fame is a minorleague national endurance championship? This at a time when bonafide racing champions-turnedriding school instructors such as Reg Pridmore and Nick Ienatsch are publishing similar books.

Then again, how many national endurance championships do you have? Yeah, me neither. Poking fun at Parks is easy, seeing as how he’s something of a peer, a former editor at Motorcycle Consumer News and Motorcyclist. And more so considering that the last time I saw him ride, at a Freddie Spencer High Per formance Riding School, he crashed big, making me wonder if the title of this book shouldn't be Totally Out of control.

That incident bears mentioning because it resulted in the only truly bad advice given in this book. Parks states that while entering the corner in which he crashed, he pushed only on the inside handlebar, which made the bike change direction so quickly that he hit the inside curb. A revelation in countersteering!

Hate to contradict you, Lee, but one of the biggest breakthroughs I ever made in my riding occurred after Dale Quarterley (the last privateer to win an AMA Superbike national) instructed me to do just the opposite-to push and pull with both hands. That way, you can control exactly how far the bike leans over in the corner, and exactly where the front tire goes-as in not off the inside of the racetrack.

I could debate Parks on some other minor points, but the truth is this is an excellent book, as good or better than those by the “name” writers. I wish Fd written it... -Brian Catterson

Total Control, Lee Parks, 160 pages, $25; MB! Publishing, Ga/tier Plaza #200, 380 Jack son St., St. Paul. MN 55101; 800/826-6600; wwwmotorbooks. corn

The Legend of Yoshumura

Who knows, you might get lucky, but you probably have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than of finding this book in the United States. But if you do find it, buy it. Immediately.

Put out by the publishers of Japan’s Road Rider magazine, The Legend of Yoshimura isn’t so much a history book as it is a compilation of the company’s history and achievements. Or at least that’s what it appears to be, as 99.9 percent of it is written in Japanese.

But even though it isn’t published in English and you probably won’t be able to find it, there are three very good reasons why we’re mentioning it here. First, CWs Editor-in-Chief David Edwards took the time to write something about the Yosh GSX-R Superbikes for the book. The words were translated into Japanese so we haven’t the foggiest idea of what he said. We’re sure it’s very nice, though. Second, Road Rider's Tomoya Ishibashi and Ko Kagiya came by our offices to scour the CW archives to find some of the photos that were used. The final-and most important-reason? It provides a rare glimpse into the Yoshimura family.

If those aren’t enough, buy the book because the inside jacket cover features a poster of Wes Cooley on his #34 Yoshimura Suzuki Superbike at Daytona, cranked over with his knee on the deck. And there are more, equally beautiful pictures throughout the book. Lots more. -Calvin Kim

The Legend of Yoshimura, 50th Anniver sary, 193 pages, $18; Rippu Shobu Pub lishing, 5-5-8 Kamimeguro, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo, Japan 153-8572; 011-3-57210921; www.rippu.co.jp