The Ride of My Life

Frank began riding motorcycles when he was ten years old, and has been in love with bikes ever since. He has decided that it is now too late to grow up and be sensible. For the same reasons, he has been writing about motorcycles professionally for over 47 years and can't give up this addiction either! He has, to date, written 17 other books, mostly about motorcycles, motocross and trail bike racing, as well as many feature length articles, fiction short stories, film scripts and advertising material.Today Frank remains what he was, and always will be, an ordinary person with an extraordinary ability to see the world in a quite remarkable way. He has worked with some of the greatest World Champions, and has ridden their bikes, yet remains completely unaffected by his worldwide, VIP status.In "The Ride of My Life - Frank Melling on Motorcycles & Motorcycling" Frank takes you on a unique tour of his very own version of the motorcycling multiverse, which is highly informed, provocative and insightful, but with a hilarious honesty and sense of fun.The word unique is much overused, but Melling truly is a unique talent in motoring journalism.

Introduction & ThanksChapter One - BSA Rocket 3 - A Triple TragedyChapter Two BMW R90S - The Country EaterChapter Three - BSA D14 Bantam Sports - A Happy Little Soul - But Too Little and Too LateChapter Four - The BSA Speedway Bike - A Hush, Hush (Puppy) ProjectChapter Five - Motorcycling Life - The Day BSA DiedChapter Six - Ducati Sport Classic GT 1000 - Right Bike, Right Place, Wrong Time, Right Time, Wrong Time, Right Time Etc. Etc.Chapter Seven- Riding the 1907 TT Winning Norton - A Privilege Beyond WordsChapter Eight- Ecurie Sportive Manx Norton - The Bike Mike Hailwood's Dad Would Have Bought Him TodayChapter Nine - Motorcycling Life - Le Touquet Beach Race - Or - Ou est le premier virage S'il vous plaitChapter Ten - Honda CB400F1 - One of Honda's Greatest MotorcyclesChapter Eleven - Honda DN-01 - The Do Not Own 1 HondaChapter Twelve - Kawasaki Z1 - The Muscle BikeChapter Thirteen - Motorcycling Life - The Moto Guzzi Museum at Mandello del LarioChapter Fourteen - Moto Guzzi V8 - Once in Every Lifetime, Comes a Chance Like This ...(With apologies to Cliff Richard) Chapter Fifteen - Suzuki RE-5 - When Engineers Start Believing Their Own Press ReleasesChapter Sixteen - Triumph Bonneville Thruxton R - A True Modern Classic