Italian Motorcycles:
Classic Sports Bikes
By Tim Parker
Paperback. 130 pages
$11 .95 plus shippi ng
Motorbooks International
Osceola. WI 54020
It al ia n Motorcycles, subti tled
Cl a ssic Spans Bikes, is a sa lute
i n exc ell en tl y printed co lo r
p hotographs , to th e t w o-
•
wheel ed mach iner y of Italy w hi ch
has - a nd still do es - set many a
heart to ra p idl y bea tin g'. From the
impressive 1977 MV Agusta Mo nza
on the front co ver to th e 1983 Du cati
900S2,.!2esmo on th e back co ver, th e
book is a visual delight.
There are eig h t cha p ters, begi n ning with Ben ell i a nd mo ving o n to
Bim ot a, Cagi va, Ducati, Mot o G uzzi ,
La verda an d Mot o -Mor in i before
ending wit h MV Agusta. Eac h chapter
a ttem pts 10 crea te a selling for th e
rea der an d th e particu la r bra nd. T he
id ea works. Th e a p proach is not
stra ig h tforward, but rather a mon ta ge o f co lo r splashed o n eac h p age
with just eno ugh text 10 give th e
read er th e needed fact s. There is no
attem pt 10 clu tter u p the pages, on ly
10 let th e rea der savor eac h phOIO.
Inter est in gl y, there a re no full-on
racing shots in th is book. Th e author
has selected p hOIOS whi ch show the
machi nery in every day settings no t
only inItaly, bu t a lso in England a nd
th e U n ited Stat es. On e favorite p hOIO
sho ws two Itali an gentl emen in a
a
pl aza in Vicenza lookin g a t " Mo ro
Guzzi Fa lcone o n di spl a y in a bik e
show . Each seem s to be co ntempla ting
thoughts of h is yo ut h .
Even if yo u' ve never o wne d a n
Ita lia n- made street bike, yo u sho u ld
still be abl e to appreciat e th e a u thor's
obvious love a ffa ir with these ma ch ine s. One o n lv ne eds to look a t
p age seven a nd a;" thor Parker 's 1975
Laverda SFC 10 rea lize hi s ded ication
in preservin g th e breed.
