ScooterBJ's List Of Armchair Riding Adventure For Winter Reading

I See by My Outfit: Cross-Country by Scooter, an Adventure
Peter S Beagle - Paperback
A cross-country USA scooter trip in 1963 by the future fantasy author Peter Beagle and his best friend Phil. For these two twenty-something beatniks from the Bronx, change was something you chased after on the seat of a motor scooter. ScooterBJ sez: Well written, funny and enjoyable.

Vroom With A View
Peter Moore - Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
In the summer he turned forty Peter bought an old Vespa on eBay and rode it from Milan to Rome (also wrote Vroom By The Sea). ScooterBJ sez: Well written, funny and enjoyable.

Poet on a Scooter
Harry Roskolenko - Hardcover (out of print)
An account of the author's around-the-world travels and adventures on a Vespa motor scooter. ScooterBJ sez: Roskolenko is arguably the first to ride a scooter around the world. It is very well written and a must read if you can find it. Long out of print I ordered my worn copy from a small bookseller in Hobart, Tasmania.

Two-up: By Scooter To Australia
Michael Marriott - Hardcover  (out of print)
This scooter journey took the Marriotts through Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Ceylon where they travelled by steamer to Adelaide before riding round the Eastern half of Australia and across to Melville Island. ScooterBJ sez: An enjoyable account of living life fully on minimal resources.

Moving To Majorca
Robert F Burgess - Paperback
Moving to Majorca is the true, humorous story of an American couple who motor scooter 700 miles across Europe one winter in search of the sun. Fighting roller coaster roads, high winds and higher mountains, their quest takes them halfway to Africa to the island of Majorca. ScooterBJ sez: An enjoyable romp across Europe on a sorely overloaded scooter.

Scooting Through
Ruth Bayne - Hardcover (out of print)
The adventures of two ignorant innocents, both old enough to know better, traveling from London to Calcutta by Lambretta scooter in 1959. ScooterBJ sez: Not yet read.

The Long Ride Home (USA release of The Postman: Sydney Australia to London England on a moped)
Nathan Millward - Kindle
The story of a 35,000 kilometer ride from Sydney to London on a 105cc Honda called Dorothy. It was journey of nine months, through eighteen countries, with barely any planning, just hoping to make it to the other side of the world. ScooterBJ sez: Not yet read.

the best of SCOTER TOURING articles from scooter rider magazine
BJ Strass - Kindle
Many may not consider a scooter as acceptable for serious touring and travel, but BJ is here to prove otherwise. This is a collection of expanded articles/reports of scooter tours from the 2003-2006 issues of Scooter Rider Magazine. ScooterBJ sez: Yeah, I wrote it.


Jupiter's Travels: Four Years Around the World on a Triumph
Ted Simon - Hardcover, Paperback
Ted Simon's astonishing four year motorbike journey around the world on a Triumph in the 1970's (also wrote Dreaming Of Jupiter and Riding High). ScooterBJ Sez: An excellent account of an unlikely adventurer on one of the last Meridan Triumphs.

One Man Caravan
Robert Edison Fulton Jr - Paperback
A superbly told tale of an 18-month adventure on a customized Douglas motorcycle. This young Connecticut Yankee circled the globe in the early 1930s. ScooterBJ Sez: This is my favorite travel book of all time. Fulton does an exceptional job of detailing the ride, bike, geography, politics, cultures and much more. If you only read one, make it this one.

Lois on the Loose
Lois Pryce - Kindle, Paperback
Lois was working at the BBC in London, but unbeknownst to her coworkers, led a parallel life as a biker with an overwhelming wanderlust. Her days in a cubicle were numbered and armed only with the Spanish words for caution and cheese, set off to conquer both Americas (also wrote Red Tape And White Knuckles). ScooterBJ Sez: Not yet read.

Anyone have any more recommendations to add? Winter is long here in Colorado!

BJ,

Thanks for the info. And for those that don't know BJ used to publish the best scooter magazine there was. I still have all of the issues and read them still. So if it is possible to backorder them you should think about it. His magazine is his avatar. Highly recommended.

Just finishe your touring book. Very enjoyable thank you!

I am so happy to see Peter S Beagle's "I See By My Outfit" on your recommended list. The 'book' fired my imagination back in the 1960's when I first read it as a series in Holiday Magazine as I was wearing a young man's body and trapped in an Air Force uniform.

Though in my ensuing post beatnik VW years I never was able to locate a Heinkle scooter, my original paperback edition of the book holds a treasured spot on my bookshelf --right next to a tattered copy of "Dharma Bums"

Tim

I've read 'Vroom With A View' and thoroughly recommend it; it's well-written easy-reading.

Just looking at some of the books I unpacked and stuck in a bookcase recently and haven't been mentioned.

'Way to Go' by Geoff Hill, Delhi to Belfast on a Royal Enfield, and from Chicago to LA on a Harley-Davidson.

'OZ around Australia on a Triumph' by Geoff Hill & Colin O'Carroll. Basically 15000 miles around Australia on the legendary Highway One.

'The Road to Gobblers Knob' by Geoff Hill, that's 16500 mile from Chile to Alaska on a Triumph Tiger. I'm a fan of Geoff Hill he's a funnier version of Bill Bryson.

'Kiwis might fly' Polly Evans. Weeks after passing her bike test,Lady journo Polly tours New Zealand on a Suzuki Freewind 650 to check out if the last bastion of masculinity, the real Kiwi bloke, was about to breathe his last.

'Adventure Motorcycling Handbook' by Chris Scott, worldwide motorcycling route and planning guide. Invaluable for all budding Ewan and Charley's.

Finally, a book I think that everyone should have a copy of,

'Blood, Sweat & 2nd Gear' More Medicine for Motorcyclists by flash gordon, m.d., and that's not a typo that's how he spells his name.  Americans will more be familiar with his "Medical Motorcycling" column in Motorcycle Consumer News. This collection of his articles has been organised into book form.

So if you want his knowledge on all manner of motorcycle related ailments like pavement dermatitis AKA 'road rash', constipation, monkey butt, farting, numb hands, earplugs, cramps, back pains, and loads of other stuff. This book is invaluable.

I liked 'Uneasy Rider' by Mike Carter, he's newly divorced and in his early forties who has a mid-life crisis and after a drunken night out makes a rash promise to take off on a large motorcycle and go wherever the road takes him.

In the cold light of day, he's never ridden a motorcycle before and gets lost on the London Tube. Anyway he learns to ride, buys a BMW R1200 GS and sets off on a six month trip that takes him 20,000 miles and 27 countries, it's a fun read.

paulc wrote:

Just finishe your touring book. Very enjoyable thank you!

 Thank you and I am happy you enjoyed the book. Scooter touring is such a small, niche market there is very little financial reward, so kudos from readers make it worthwhile.

I am working on another book, more of a how-to for scooter (and small motorcycle) touring. I write in the little spare time I have so it could be a long time before it is finished. Again thanks.

ScooterBJ,
 
I also read your book, since you have joined.  Very enjoyable.  I enjoyed the narrative and style of writing as much as the content.  Kim and I have traded our Silverwings for a bigger bike, but really enjoyed touring on the Silverwings (and Reflexes).  The bikes are more than capable and quite comfortable for long distances.
 
I like the process of preparing for touring and then the decisions about packing for the trip.
 
As a Technical Writer, I'd offer my help in editing and review if you need it..

As for my winter reading, lots of tour guides and maps!

Pleased you enjoyed it as well Dale, and thanks, I'll keep that in mind. i am not the best at proofreading.

Next I am probably going to read 'The Long Ride Home' by Nathan Millward. i have always had an appreciation for the Honda Cub/CT90-110 which in Aus is a 'Postie Bike' as the postal service uses them. For a few year's there has been the Postie Bike Challenge where group ride a bunch of old Posties across some portions of the outback. Check it out at this link.