The Fine Art of the Motorcycle Engine
Added on Monday, April 6th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
The Fine Art of the Motorcycle Engine
Book review; The Fine Art of the Motorcycle, by Dan Peirce.
words by Alastair Walker.
Daniel Peirce spent years taking photographs of motorcycle engines for this new book, published by Veloce Books UK and it features some stunning images of the most iconic motors in the two-wheeled world.
The Harley-Davidson Evo series V-Twin, Honda’s CBX six cylinder monster from the 70s and jewel-like 400/4, the original sand cast CB750, plus rare stuff like the Indian four ( developed from the Henderson back in the 20s ), plus the Ariel Square Four – arguably one of the most advanced British designs of the 30s.
Reading the text isn’t as good as looking at the photos however, as the book is too light on technical development and there is no historical context at all. Some of these engines changed motorcycling, but Peirce never gets to grips with why, or how, instead choosing to ramble on at length about his favourite BBQ restaurant and how many photo prints of old engines he was selling at the time.
Come on man! The 750SS Ducati needs explanation, a quote from Paul Smart maybe, some background detail on Taglioni and the Ducati factory’s struggle to escape from MV Agusta’s shadow. I have never heard of a Yale V-Twin for example, but I am none the wiser about its heritage after the brief paragraph Peirce attaches to the image. Great photo of the Yale Model 25 motor with its oddly-set spark plugs and wonderfully sculpted exhaust however.
A good idea hasn’t been executed very well here. In fact some of the images are dull, poorly lit and the Honda CBX has matt black exhausts on it – a crime in my book, when the stock chrome pipework was so utterly beautiful.
I really wanted to like this book, but in the end, the lack of information on the subject left me feeling totally disappointed.
More at; www.veloce.co.uk
