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The Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Archive Collection
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| List Price: | $60.00 |
| Price: | $37.80 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
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Product Description
Who knew, one hundred years ago, that the freedom-loving, speed-hungry, cutting-edge motorcycle fanatics who founded Harley-Davidson were making history along with bikes? The Harley-Davidson Collection, showcasing a century of bikes that shaped motorcycle history, brings that history to gleaming life in page after page of motorcycles beyond compare. On the eve of the opening of the historic Harley-Davidson Museum, this book gives motorcycle enthusiasts an opportunity to pore over the bikes in the collection, and to linger over every detail that made Harley-Davidson such an icon of American open-road power and performance. With exquisite, detailed photographs and histories of the hundred motorcycles in Harley’s collection, from serial number one built in 1903 to the latest low-slung Softail, high-revving VRSC, and touring models, the book captures the excitement of the best-known motorcycles in the world. All that’s missing is the patented roar, which readers are invited to supply.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #45768 in Books
- Published on: 2008-10-03
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 408 pages
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
An award-winning writer and photographer, Randy Leffingwell photographed many of the motorcycles that appeared in the The Art of the Motorcycle. He is MBI's best-selling author. His previous MBI titles include Harley-Davidson Myth and Mystique and contributions to Harley-Davidson Century. Randy lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Darwin Holmstrom has written or co-written many books on motorcycling, including the best-selling Billy Lane Chop Fiction: It's not a Motorcycle, Baby, It's a Chopper, BMW Motorcycles, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Motorcycles. He contributed essays to The Harley-Davidson Reader and Harley-Davidson Century.
Customer Reviews
A Harley book like no other
I honestly thought I would never buy another Harley-Davidson book. I thought I had seen and read everything there was to see and read about the Motor Co. I was wrong; the amazing collection of motorcycles photographed for this book is the equivalent of finding photographic proof of the Loch Ness monster, Sasquatch, the Yeti, and the little gray space aliens who crashed at Roswell all in one volume. Think about it--this book includes a Nova touring bike. Prior to the opening of its museum, Harley-Davidson would not even admit the Nova existed, much less allow it to be photographed. It has an XA sidecar rig with a driven sidecar wheel. Make that it has the XA sidecar rig with a driven sidecar wheel, since the Motor Co. only built one for evaluation, and this is that one. It has Harley-Davidson serial number one: the very first Harley-Davidson motorcycle ever built. How would a person put a price on a bike like that? It's literally priceless, since the only way to purchase that bike would be to purchase every share of Harley-Davidson stock on the market and buy out the owners. But it's in here, in heart-stoppingly beautiful photogrpahy.
The text is good, too. You'll buy this for the photos, but even though it's brief, the history presented here is filled with new, previously unpublished information.
Now I will not buy another Harley book. There's no need to; this one has everything a Harley fan will ever need.
Wonderful Collection of Photographs
First of all, Amazon's photograph of this item is misleading. The book is 12" wide and 10 1/2" tall. This is important, because the wide format allows the numerous full-page photographs of the motorcycles to be viewed in the proper perspective.
Secondly, the quality of the photographs is spectacular. It's one thing to see a crystal clear studio photo of a brand new bike in a brochure, but to see all of these incredible motorcycles photographed this way is a real treat.
Thirdly, the motorcycles in the collection go well beyond the usual suspects. The early-century singles and twins are there, of course. But there are also several pages devoted to their early bicycles. Military and racing bikes (vintage and modern) are also featured. The biggest surprise (to me) was the nice little selection of 1960's Aermacchi lightweights. Most Harley people choose to ignore these bikes, but they are part of H-D's history, and deserve to be included in their archive and this book. The AMF era is well-represented, including an experimental 1100cc OHC Twin in a triangulated frame that looks more Japanese than Harley-Davidson. There's definitely no shortage of modern-era machines, up to and including the 2008 Buells.
At Amazon's current price of $35, you get about 400 pages of georgeous photographs and concise summaries of H-D's motorcycles through the years. There's much, much more to this book than this little review can cover.
Nearly everything sold in America is produced in China, and that includes this book. Personally, I wouldn't mind paying more money for a book that was printed by men and women in North America. But that's just me.
The Motor Company book actually worth buying
What this book is NOT: It is not just another pretty HD picture book of the type that floods the transportation section of your local bookstore. It is not a customization book, a chopper book, or any of the other familiar genres.
What it IS: This book is a high-quality, comprehensive "catalog" of Harley-Davidson's motorcycle collection, much of which is on display at the new museum. Extensive descriptive notes accompany each entry, and the photos are stunning. Because the collection itself is extensive and this book covers all of it, this single volume covers more HD topics like engines, frames, company history and marketing, etc. than any book out there. While this would make an excellent coffee table book, it is actually much more, and I've spent many hours reading through it.
Between the quality and coverage you can't go wrong. This is the HD history book to buy. Amazon's price is excellent - I doubt you will find better.
