Joey Evans has always loved bikes, from his first second-hand Raleigh Strika at the age of six to the powerful off-road machines that became his passion later on in his life. His dream was one day to ride the most gruelling off-road race in the world, the 9000km Dakar Rally. In 2007 his dream was shattered when he broke his back in a racing accident. His spinal cord was crushed, leaving him paralysed from just below his chest. Doctors gave him a 10 per cent chance of ever walking again. Many would have given up and become resigned to life in a wheelchair, but not Joey Evans.

Not only would he get back on his feet and walk, but he would also keep his Dakar dream alive. It was a long and painful road to recovery, involving years of intensive rehabilitation and training, but he had the love and support of both family and friends and an incredible amount of determination. Joey shares the many challenges he and his family faced, relating the setbacks, as well as successes, along the way to the Dakar start line. But the start line was only the first goal – his sights were set on reaching the finish line, which he did in 2017 – the only South African to do so.

From Para To Dakar is so much more than the story of one man reaching the Dakar finish line. It is a story of friendship and respect, compassion and kindness. It is about defying the odds to reach a dream, it is about grit, endurance and raw courage, and it is inspiring in its true heroism.

This book, The Seanachie of Motorcycling, is a collection of tales from a master story teller, Harry Lindsay of Dublin. Described in his youth by his headmaster as the boy with oil in his veins", Harry grew up with motorcycles, becoming a trials and road racer, a grass track champion, holder of the Irish land speed record, racing team leader, an importer and retailer of motorcycles, a restorer of antique bikes and an historian along the way. Many of his stories bring to life the characters and heroes that were the racing world from the thirties through the turn of the last century. They offer a rare glimpse of life behind the scenes and more than one tale is told with a twinkle in his eye. This, then, is an Irishman's view of the world as it was. Pour a pint of Guinness, put your feet up and be prepared to enjoy the Seanachie's tales and learn and laugh with him. Seanachie (pronounced sha-nah-key): Irish for master story teller in the great tradition of orally passing folklore and history on down through the generations.

This book, The Seanachie of Motorcycling, is a collection of tales from a master story teller, Harry Lindsay of Dublin. Described in his youth by his headmaster as the boy with oil in his veins", Harry grew up with motorcycles, becoming a trials and road racer, a grass track champion, holder of the Irish land speed record, racing team leader, an importer and retailer of motorcycles, a restorer of antique bikes and an historian along the way. Many of his stories bring to life the characters and heroes that were the racing world from the thirties through the turn of the last century. They offer a rare glimpse of life behind the scenes and more than one tale is told with a twinkle in his eye. This, then, is an Irishman's view of the world as it was. Pour a pint of Guinness, put your feet up and be prepared to enjoy the Seanachie's tales and learn and laugh with him. Seanachie pronounced sha-nah-key: Irish for master story teller in the great tradition of orally passing folklore and history on down through the generations.

This book, The Seanachie of Motorcycling, is a collection of tales from a master story teller, Harry Lindsay of Dublin. Described in his youth by his headmaster as the boy with oil in his veins", Harry grew up with motorcycles, becoming a trials and road racer, a grass track champion, holder of the Irish land speed record, racing team leader, an importer and retailer of motorcycles, a restorer of antique bikes and an historian along the way. Many of his stories bring to life the characters and heroes that were the racing world from the thirties through the turn of the last century. They offer a rare glimpse of life behind the scenes and more than one tale is told with a twinkle in his eye. This, then, is an Irishman's view of the world as it was. Pour a pint of Guinness, put your feet up and be prepared to enjoy the Seanachie's tales and learn and laugh with him. Seanachie (pronounced sha-nah-key): Irish for master story teller in the great tradition of orally passing folklore and history on down through the generations.

On 19 May 1928, just three months after the sport had been launched in this country at the pioneering High Beech meeting, Fred Mockford and Cecil Smith introduced speedway racing to Crystal Palace with the first international match between England and Australia, the forerunner of the Test matches. It was an immediate success with the public who flocked in their tens of thousands to witness these latter day black-clad gladiators hurtling their way round the track on bikes with no brakes at breakneck speed and flinging their bikes into a slide at the corners at impossible angles. This book looks at how speedway came to open at Crystal Palace and follows its history through the next six years as a league team operating in the world's first speedway league until its closure in 1933 and its brief revival in the late 1930s. Although one of the pioneering tracks little was known about its history until now as Norman Jacobs provides a comprehensive history covering the major events at the track, facts and figures, behind the scenes anecdotes and its larger than life characters including Johnnie Hoskins, Ron Johnson and Tom Farndon, who became the Star Riders' champion in 1933.

In this follow-up to his autobiography, Michael Rutter changes his focus and now reflects on his father's life - the victories, defeats, scrapes with the law and practical jokes. He also looks at his father's close brushes with death, including the horrific career-ending crash of 1985, and its aftermath. The Life of a Racer, Volume 2: Flesh & Blood is a reflective and sentimental journey during which Michael tries to learn about his father's life and career in motorcycle racing, while at the same time asking himself if his own destiny was always to race too because of his DNA. Tony Rutter (1942-2020) is best known for his four world TT-F2 championship wins, eight Isle of Man TT wins, nine North West 200 wins, five Ulster Grand Prix wins and two British Championship titles during his twenty-two-year career - but the man himself has remained something of an enigma to everyone including his own son, who himself went on to have a hugely successful career and has kept the Rutter name alive in the world of motorcycle racing to the present day. Through his own memories, as well as those of longstanding teammates and friends, Michael pieces together his father's values, what mattered to him the most, and his odd - sometimes maddening - traits. What unfolds is a profile of the man behind the incredible talent and singular focus of an elite racer. With a foreword by Carl Fogarty, this is the first-ever book about one of the finest racers in a great generation of racers, by those who knew him best and loved him most.

If you can recall the golden era of motorcycle sport then this is undoubtedly the book for you. Featuring sixteen scramblers and one and six days trials stars, this is a must read for all who lined the circuits on muddy Sundays and were glued to their TV sets on Winter afternoons. Author Andy Westlake is regarded as one of the UK's leading classic motorcycle journalists and this book is the perfect follow-up to his two previous books "Off Road Giants" volumes one and two. In this third volume Andy has once again managed to track down and interview some of the stars of this golden era in off road sport, including the former works Greeves rider and 250cc European champion Dave Bickers, ex works BSA star John Banks, and has even journeyed to Spain to interview Les Archer, the man who lifted the European 500cc crown on his works Norton in the mid 'fifties. A superbly written book brought alive by many excellent period photographs.

The decade between 2004 and 2014 was one of the most dramatic eras in the century-old history of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, which began with the races in decline, and many observers fearing that they would soon be killed off by a combination of rising costs, political correctness and logistical practicalities. But, just a few years later, the triumphant 2007 celebration of the races' centenary launched the TT into a whole new era of public and commercial success.

With growing public interest and awareness, road racing became established as a specialist sport in its own right. Media interest soared; a feature length documentary took cinemas by storm worldwide, and a new generation of technocrats hastened to the island to develop zero emissions motorbike racing.

All of these events unfolded under the gaze of Charlie Lambert, appointed TT Anchor Commentator by Manx Radio in 2004. In TT Talking, Charlie tells the story of the TT's sensational turn of fortune, whilst simultaneously lifting the lid on his role behind the microphone in this story. Revealing the pressures, the controversies, the laughs and the sadness that go with being at the heart of the world's most famous a and controversial a road races."

Since its first release in 2008, the official book of the Superbike World Championship has been an indispensible resource for all fans of the championship reserved for production derived bikes, the championship for bikes you can buy from your local dealer. Like every year, this book opens with a chapter devoted to the winner of the World Championship title. Plenty of space has been devoted to reports on the 12 scheduled races of the 2016 season, and to the bikes and riders that constitute the fundamental pieces in the complex SBK jigsaw. The "strong suit" of the official book, one of the parts that will delight fans of the series, is without doubt the one dealing with the engineering of these authentic jewels, described in the most minute detail - thanks to the contributions of specialists working for the various teams - and illustrated with numerous photos revealing all the secrets of the championship's leading players. The chapters on the "other world championships," Supersport and Superstock 1000 and 600 complete a book that should be on the shelves of every true fan.

Already the winner in 2010, Max Biaggi confirmed he was still at the top of the Superbike World Championship by winning the 2012 title in the saddle of an Aprilia. But after taking his second world title, he announced his retirement from competition. So the 2013 Superbike World Championship opens without a reigning champion, but it is still packed with excitement. The Superbike World Championship story is once again told in the official annual, a reference book published by Giorgio Nada Editore on the world of bikes "derived from normal production," the machines that for many years have been the heart and soul of sports motorcycling, uniting competition with a high technological content. To illustrate the book there are the inevitable, spectacular pictures by Fabrizio Porrozzi, with the precise, accurate text by his brother Claudio.

Since its first release in 2008, the official book of the Superbike World Championship has been an indispensible resource for all fans of the championship reserved for production derived bikes, the championship for bikes you can buy from your local dealer. Like every year, this book opens with a chapter devoted to the winner of the World Championship title. Plenty of space has been devoted to reports on the 12 scheduled races of the 2015 season, and to the bikes and riders that constitute the fundamental pieces in the complex SBK jigsaw. The "strong suit" of the official book, one of the parts that will delight fans of the series, is without doubt the one dealing with the engineering of these authentic jewels, described in the most minute detail - thanks to the contributions of specialists working for the various teams - and illustrated with numerous photos revealing all the secrets of the championship's leading players. The chapters on the "other world championships," Supersport and Superstock 1000 and 600 complete a book that should be on the shelves of every true fan.

In 1992, when Michael Rutter was just 20 years old, he followed in his dad's footsteps and began a career as a professional motorcycle racer. He has been racing ever since. This is his story of highs and lows, survival, luck and persistence, set against the raw, infectious atmosphere of the racing paddock. It is also a story of growing up with a global superstar for a Father; Tony Rutter. Read Michael's account of spending his childhood watching his dad's career - from fighting for world championships to fighting for his life after a devastating crash in 1985. Undeterred, Michael would go on to build his own career and forge his own unique path. This is the remarkable tale of how Michael has stayed competitive for 30 years, and stepped out of his 4-time world champion dads shadow to add his own name to the list of all time greats of the sport. Michael has started 431 British Superbike races, 20 World Superbike races, and 16 MotoGP races while also competing in road racing, where he has started 90 Isle of Man TT, 83 Northwest 200 and 24 Macau Grand Prix races. The Life of a Racer is a gripping journey into the mind and life of someone who was born in to the race paddock and who has been there ever since.

The 2010 World Superbike Championship ended in victory for Italian rider Max Biaggi aboard and Italian motorcycle, the Aprilia. Now the 2011 championship is well under way with Carlos Checa and Ducati as the leaders and up to now unchallenged. Among the new aspects of this season there is the debut of another Italian rider, Marco Melandri on a Yamaha. The Superbike World Championship Official Book is now in its fourth year and, as always, aims to be the reference book of mass production-derived bikes. It is these machines that have, for many years, constituted the soul of motorcycle racing, uniting competition with a high technological content without ever overlooking their closeness to the normal road bikes. This is another book in the series that recounts the new world championship race-by-race, in particular through the spectacular pictures taken by Fabrizio Porrozzi, with precise text by his brother Claudio. As well as news of the maximum championship, the book also includes chapters on the other categories in the series, Supersport, Superstock 1000 and Superstock 600, which complete the packed program of the SBK World Championship.

Invercargill, at the far southern end of New Zealand. It's the late 1960s and two blokes sit in a modest shed drinking tea. The old bloke is telling stories about his life; the young bloke, a junior reporter, is typing earnestly on his Olympia portable typewriter. Dramatic tales abound - of youthful scrapes, motorcycle races and ingenious repairs, of international travel and friendships and road trips, of high speeds and accidents and meetings with dutiful policemen. Burt Munro became known around the world through the 2005 movie The World's Fastest Indian, but had long been known to motorcycle fans as a colourful character and speed record-holder. Our young journalist, Neill Birss, moved away from Invercargill and the interviews he had typed out were never published. In fact, they were lost during the move and only resurfaced under strange circumstances many decades later. Here they are in this book - the lost interviews with Burt Munro, legendary Kiwi motorcycle rider - his voice as fresh and his stories as vivid as the day he told them to the young reporter. Also available as an eBook.

Jeff Scott serves up yet another portion of methanol inspired lunacy to satisfy your speedway craving appetite with his latest book CONCRETE FOR BREAKFAST. Although some view speedway as little more than a fairground sideshow attraction, Scott continues to validate the sport's authenticity as he celebrates the romance of its racing, the bravery of its competitors, and the idiosyncrasies of its partisans on and off the track. An equal opportunity offender, motorcycle speedway thumbs its nose at the nanny-state bureaucrats of Health and Safety as well as the ubiquitous corporate media that enlists the drama and daring of the sport to validate its mission of spin, profit, and mediocrity. But, of course, any sport composed of individuals who willingly embrace the physical and mental challenges of speedway must by definition be considered daring, maverick and subversive. Consider the physical challenges of speedway: riding a high powered motorcycle without brakes or gears, steering only by balance, gravity, and gyroscopic luck four times round a shale covered track at speeds exceeding 60 miles per hour. The bike itself, a huge single piston 500cc machine, without suspension, powered by methanol, roars its sweet hymn to oblivion to those who ride and to those who watch. The mandated helmets and kevlars are the merest genuflection in the direction of self-preservation. In short, the entire enterprise constitutes a complete commitment to barking madness. Let Jeff Scott introduce you to this most anachronistic of sports in 21st Century Britain. If you do you will eventually succumb to the spectacle, the people, and the journey across its peculiar landscape and geographies. You will learn the rhythms of the unvarying repetitiousness of the team meeting format as well as the uniqueness of each individual race. With his gift for location, dialogue, and the human comedy, Jeff will escort you into his world of speedway. There you will accompany him as he watches every speedway team in Britain compete. He lends you his nose as he savors the aroma of methanol, burgers, chips, stressed toilets, and excitement. From his favorite vantage point in the lee of the stadium grandstand or lost in thought on the road to (or from) yet another event behind the wheel and the wipers of his much abused car, Jeff will help you begin your own pilgrimage to speedway. And even though there may well be CONCRETE FOR BREAKFAST for some unlucky riders whose quest for glory ends in a bruised heap of broken bones and bike, Jeff will cleave the chaos for you in a such a way that the event will be invariably portrayed with the charm, irreverence, humanity and compassion that informs the style of this most unique of sports' most unique diarist. This volume is the fifth book in a planned trilogy gone terribly, terribly wrong. It's a "must have" companion to Jeff's masterpiece Showered in Shale as well as his others: Shifting Shale, When Eagles Dared, or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

‘You don’t get to be six-time British Superbike Champion without having talent and desire’ – Wayne Rainey, three-time 500cc World Champion

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne knows what it is like to live on the edge. The most successful rider in British Superbike history, he is the only person to have won the championship six times. Shakey is a living motorbike legend, with legions of fans across the country.

For the first time Shakey tells his life story, from being abandoned as a newborn baby in a London hospital, to multiple brushes with the law and working night shifts on the London Underground to fund his early racing career. Whether it was on his BMX or joyriding through Kent, the only thing Shakey ever wanted to do was race motorbikes.

Once he had got his break, Shakey quickly developed a reputation as one of the most exciting riders of his generation, and the thrill of every victory, every chicane and every overtake, as well as the hospital visits and painstaking recovery, is relived in heart-pumping detail.

Unshakeable is an incredible story of winning and risk-taking, of horrendous crashes in which he nearly lost his life, of Ducatis and monster motorhomes, and of hard-fought glory in one of the most exciting and dangerous sports on the planet. Told with breathless exhilaration, Shakey’s story is one of inspiration, break-neck speed and a life lived truly on, and over, the limit.

On May 30, 1958, thousands of racing fans poured into the infield at dawn to claim the best seats of the Indianapolis 500, unaware that they were going to witness one of the most notorious wrecks in racing history. Seconds after the green flag, a game of chicken spiraled out of control into a fiery 16-car pile-up that claimed the life of 29-year-old Indiana native and rising star Pat O'Connor. The other drivers escaped death, but the tragic 1958 Indy 500 seemed to leave its mark on them: the surviving drivers were hounded by accidents and terrible crashes, and most would die at tracks around the country. But the tragedy also prompted new regulations and safety precautions like roll bars that would ultimately save hundreds of lives. In The Curse of Indy 500: 1958's Tragic Legacy, veteran sportswriter Stan Sutton profiles the ill-fated race and the careers of the drivers involved, highlighting their lives in the dangerous world of auto racing.

The Story of Harley-Davidson is a compact and dynamic exploration of the legendary motorcycle manufacturer.

There are few silhouettes on the world's roads as instantly recognizable as that of the Harley-Davidson. The iconic motorcycle brand is synonymous with myth, adventure and excitement, and its story is no different. From a small Milwaukee machine shop at the start of the 20th century to global renown, The Story of Harley-Davidson charts the turbulent history of the most famous and infamous of the motorbike-making heavyweights.

From the Touring to the Softail, the Chopper to their first electric motorbike the LiveWire, Harley-Davidson's relentless innovation and creativity has ensured its place at the pinnacle of the motorcycle industry for more than a century. Though its ascent has never been plain-sailing, Harley has balanced mechanical reliability and power, with delicate developments and restructurings, protecting the idiosyncrasies that have made the brand as popular worldwide as it is today.

Combining stunning imagery and astute commentary, The Story of Harley-Davidson follows the illustrious brand through its peaks and troughs, across more than 100 years of revving and stylish cruising.

The official Superbike World Championship book has always tried to transmit this important fact through its pictures. From the 2010 edition, that message is further developed and goes even deeper into the technical aspects of the sport, so extremely interesting to the most competent fans. But as well as the bikes, the men of the category are able to maintain close contact with their public. That is why champions and their colleagues recount their human side as well as their sports career, aspects to which ample space has been given in the Superbike annual. There is no lack of chapters devoted to other categories (Supersport, Superstock 1000, Superstock 600), which complete the world championship programme. All highlighted by the most spectacular pictures of the season.

Run over the every-day roads of the Isle of Man for over 100 years, the world-famous Tourist Trophy races have gripped the imaginations of successive generations of motorcyclists. From the earliest days of single-speed, belt-driven machines delivering 5 bhp, to the highly developed projectiles of today offering a fearsome 200 bhp, race fans have thronged the roadside banks and watched in awe as the best racing motorcyclists in the world rode the fastest machines of their day around the twists, turns and climbs of the 374 mile Mountain Course, all in pursuit of a coveted Tourist Trophy. This new updated edition covering the 2007 - 2012 races, reveals the event's colourful history through the high-speed activities of great riders such as the Collier brothers, Geoff Duke, Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, Steve Hislop, Joey Dunlop, John McGuinness and many others. It also looks at the machines and mechanical developments and race organisation, plus the financial rewards and commercial interests; setting them all in the context of the triumphs and tragedies of a great sporting event that has seen average lap speeds rise from 40 mph to over 130 mph.