Shooting Star The Rise & Fall of the British Motorcycle Industry

by Aamidor, Abe

• ISBN13: 9781550229004
• ISBN10: 1550229001
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-09-01
• Publisher: Ecw Press

Summary

The British motorcycle industry once was as vital to the identity of that country as wine is to France, or horse breeding is to Kentucky. In the 1930s and '40s, the British motorcycle industry was the largest in the world for full-size bikes, yet by 1975 it was nearly dead. Given that vintage and classic British bikes continue to be the most collectible overall-whether Vincent Black Lightning or BSA Gold Stars or Velocettle Thruxtons-one has to ask what went wrong.

Author Biography

Abe Aamidor is a university lecturer, a life-long motorcycle enthusiast, and an award-winning journalist. He has been a reporter for the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and has taught journalism at Indiana University, Georgia Southern University, and Southern Illinois University. He is the author of Chuck Taylor, All Star. He lives in Carmel, Indiana.

Table of Contents

acknowledgments	p. vii
introduction	p. ix
Patriarchs	p. 1
Racer's Edge	p. 21
The Continental Circus	p. 43
Modes and Rockers	p. 57
The Last World Champion	p. 79
Industrial Action	p. 103
Epilogue	p. 135
Notes	p. 139
Index	p. 147
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