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Adventure Motorcycling Handbook - wBW Book Review
by Chris Scott
wBW Motorcycle Book Reviews Index "The first thing we did was buy the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook" - Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, Long Way 'Round. This is one of those books that is "worth its weight in gold", as they say. Not that I've ever taken a 'round the world journey on an R80GS or anything, but it doesn't take a genius to realize that this book has, pound for pound, more hard facts and information about international motorcycle touring than anything else around This is the 5th version of the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, so you know this book must be very popular, because no publisher is going to get to release 5 without a huge demand. Published by Trailblazer Guides in the UK, Adventure Motorcycling Handbook is jam-packed with information, maps, charts, photos and more and is considered to be the "Bible" of motorcycle adventure touring. Trailblazer is an incredibly specialized boutique publisher, and one that - thank goodness - has remained alive in this age of relentless press consolidation. They specialize in "hard core" information for travelers to obscure and remote regions of the world. Take a gander at their website for books on places you probably never heard of. They have trekking guides to places like Ladakh, Annapurna, Everest, Langtang, Pyrenees, Dolomites, Morocco; rail guides for the Trans-Siberian, Silk Route, China, BAM, Trans-Canada, Australia; budget route guides for Asia Overland, Istanbul to Cairo Overland, driving guides through the Sahara Overland and even an Indian Ashram Guide. Oh, and by the way - they also have motorcycle adventure guides! Let's face facts: most of us are "armchair" adventure tourers, equipping our KLR650's or BMW GS-series bikes for the someday world tour. We surely don't need a book like this to make a run down to the local motorcycle shop. But hey - you never know when you'll be asked to take that R80 on your next trans-African trek, so you may as well read up and get ready. This book is really fascinating. It includes information on the top ten overland routes on all the major continents: Africa, Asia, Australia and Central, South and North America. It's loaded with information on which gear to pack and why; bike preparation; documentation; shipping and even medical information, navigation, survival and more! And it's all interwoven with first-hand tips by the author and others, gleaned from years of motorcycle adventure touring. There's even a "Women and Adventure Motorcycling" section! The book is also broken up by sections of great color photos from motorcycle treks around the world. The author, Chris Scott, has a long and varied motorcycling career, doing everything from London dispatch (on a Ducati 900SS!) to exploring the Sahara. He wrote Desert Travels and has even made adventure films, such as Call of the Wild, Desert Riders (featured on the National Geographic Channel) and Gorge Riders. He's also written Sahara Overland for Trailblazer and parts of Rough Guide Australia. I'm an armchair adventurer myself, and this book has given me hours of enjoyment and fantasizing. If you're at all interested in what might lie over the horizon, Adventure Motorcycling Handbook is for you.
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