Rider’s Library | Classic Superbikes from Around the World by McDiarmid

Rider's Library | Classic Superbikes from Around the World by McDiarmid

Rider's Library | Classic Superbikes from Around the World by McDiarmid

Motorcycle Library Retro Review

The cool thing about Mac McDiarmid’s book Classic Superbikes from Around the World? The book not only gives us a look at some rare specimens most will never see, it also includes some classic superbikes that we have probably seen here or there or may even have in the garage.

For example, McDiarmid included the still-popular Yamaha RD350, Suzuki GT750, Bridgestone 350 GTR, Kawasaki Z1, Kawasaki 750 H2, Yamaha XS-1, Harley-Davidson Duo-Glide and Honda CB750 and Honda CB450 “Black Bomber.”

Less common classics such as the Indian Chief, Velocette Venom Thruxton, Norton 650 SS, BSA 650 Spitfire, Munch Mammoth, Douglas Dragonfly, Sunbeam S7/S8, Ducati 750 SS, Ariel Square Four, and Royal Enfield Constellation are featured, too.

Finally, McDiarmid takes the reader inside some really rare machines such as the six-cylinder Benelli 750 Sei, Gilera 500 four cylinder racers, MZ’s remarkable two-stroke road racers, Suzuki’s RS67 V-4 125 cc GP racer, and the exotic Kawasaki KR750 road racer.

In all, McDiarmid chronicles 44 motorcycles from 29 manufacturers across nearly three decades. Illustrated with color photographs by eight world-class photographers and McDiarmid himself, each bike is treated in some detail with two pages of narrative, photo captions and a brief specification sheet.

Whether you’re into classic road and touring bikes or historic achievements in racing bike design, McDiarmid provides some great information on the models and insights into their history and how they achieved their place in motorcycle history.

Book Data:

  • Title: Classic Superbikes from Around the World
  • Author: Mac McDiarmid
  • Published: 2003
  • Publisher: Parragon Publishing, Queen Street House, 4 Queen Street, Bath BA1 1HE, UK.
  • ISBN: 0-75259-637-3

Note to readers: many of the books that we’ll feature here may be out of print and some may be difficult to find.  That could be half the fun.  The Internet should make the search relatively easy but ironically, none of the books currently scheduled for eventual retro-review for the Rider’s Library section were found with the help of the Internet.  They all were found at book stores, used book stores, antique shops, motorcycle shops, yard sales and so on.

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