The Little Black Book of Motorcycle Wisdom

By Niels Aaboe

There’s no getting around the allure of motorcycles. Since 1885, when Gottlieb Daimler mounted a gas-powered engine on a wooden bicycle, riders of all ages have been drawn to the exhilaration and terror of motoring in the open air on two wheels. Motorcycles have become ingrained in our culture. To some, they represent the ultimate expression of freedom. To others, motorcycles symbolize lawlessness and disrespect for authority.
The Little Red Book of Motorcycle Wisdom is packed full of wise, witty, and edgy quotes on motorcycles and the people who ride them. Celebrities, literary giants, and athletes offer pithy and memorable comments on what they ride, where they ride, with whom they ride, how fast they ride—and, most importantly, why they ride. Read musings on bikes from such noteworthy folks as:

• Hunter S. Thompson
• Marlon Brando
• Robert Pirsig
• Evel Knievel
• Sonny Barger
• Ewan McGregor
• Steve McQueen
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Paul Newman
• Bob Dylan
• Hugh Laurie
• Angelina Jolie
• T. E. Lawrence
• And dozens of others!

There’s a reason why people the world over are passionate about a machine that has been dubbed “the perfect vehicle.” This book tells you why.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Release date: Nov 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781628735031

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

In June 1998, New York City’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum mounted an exhibit that quickly became a sensation. But people weren’t lining up to see abstract paintings or modernist prints. They wanted to see motorcycles. The Art of the Motorcycle drew record crowds over its three-month run. At the time, it was the most highly attended exhibition in the Guggenheim’s sixty-one-year history.

Sharing the line to get in were pony-tailed, tattooed bikers— some of whom had never set foot in an art gallery—and lifelong art lovers and museum patrons. Defying expectations, the two factions found a way to peacefully co-exist. Contemporary news accounts contain no reports of chain-whippings; and no one, apparently, had to endure an endless sidewalk lecture on the aesthetic virtues of art.

But as often happens when subcultures collide, a small number of people on both sides took exception. A New York art dealer, for instance, said that motorcycles belong in . . . a museum for automobiles, but not at the Guggenheim. He added that the museum might bring in more people if they offered rides from Coney Island.

On the other side of the divide, veteran bikers had gripes of their own. Chief among their complaints was this: the popular Guggenheim exhibition led to a dramatic increase in the number of RUBs—rich urban bikers—who tend to start riding relatively late in life. The old-school riders maintained that RUBs didn’t really understand true biker culture, and that they showed off in ways that gave all motorcycle riders a bad name. Like the art dealer, the bikers expressed disdain for the newbies who’d ventured into territory where they didn’t belong.

Those hard-core riders wouldn’t have had much use for me. I started riding as a direct consequence of the Guggenheim exhibit, though I never attended the show. A friend of mine did, and he promptly went out and bought a bike he’d fallen in love with: a BMW 1200cc Cruiser. Soon after, he mounted a direct-mail campaign to get me riding. It didn’t take much prompting, since I’d loved riding mini-bikes and small dirt bikes when I was a kid. Six months after my friend had told me about his bike, I had a BMW of my own—an 1100cc Roadster.

I suppose I was an UB, since I lacked the means for full RUB membership. Also, I liked to go on long rides, which took me out of the RUBs’ usual urban, bar-hopping orbit. One of my first trips was a round-trip ride from south central Pennsylvania to Niagara Falls. My friend and I did it in a day, and it was a truly unforgettable trip. Once you witness the incredible power of the water flowing over Niagara, the image stays with you. Equally memorable were the torrents of water we rode through on the way home.

Bad weather aside, the ancillary benefits of motorcycle riding soon became apparent. A few years after that first soggy ride, I invited a smart, beautiful woman I’d recently met to ride with me on the back of my motorcycle. To my surprise, she accepted, and we set off on rides that took us up New York’s West Side Highway on bright, clear afternoons and over the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset. After our first ride together, Susan pulled off her helmet and, grinning, told me that she "loved how the bike leans waaay over in the curves." We were married a year later.

I discovered a trove of great writing about motorcycles, as well. Quotes from those books, magazines, newspapers, and other sources appear in this collection. These brief passages express, much better than I can, the tremendous appeal of motorcycle riding. The quotes tell the reader why no one is blasé about these machines.

And so it has been since 1885, when Gottlieb Daimler mounted a gas-powered engine on a bicycle. For more than 125 years, riders of all ages have been drawn to the exhilaration of motoring in the open air on two wheels. The Little Black Book of Motorcycle Wisdom is

Reviews for The Little Black Book of Motorcycle Wisdom

[Srinivasa HK · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A collection of quotes on the joys of motorcycling. Doesn't make sense to all other categories of people.