BMW Motorcycles

Alan Dowds has been writing about motorcycles since 1994, when he launched his own Scottish bike magazine in Glasgow, Scotland. Next stop was Motorcycle News, where he spent two years in the newsprint mines before slacking off to an easy life on monthly magazines: first RiDE as road test editor, then SuperBike as deputy editor. After a decade at the latter, Alan went freelance in 2011, writing for a wide range of top UK motorcycle magazines, including Fast Bikes, Classic Motorcycle Mechanics and Motorcycle Sport and Leisure, as well as major websites like Visordown, DriveTribe and FastBikesMag.com.Alan has also written several books on motorcycles, including Superbikes: Street Racers Design and Technology, Superbikes: the World’s Greatest Bikes, Classic Superbikes and Cool Wheels – Superbikes.He’s tested virtually every BMW motorcycle built over the past three decades, and is more Scottish than anyone you know. Despite that, he lives openly in London with his wife, kids, and cats – and he still loves writing about motorcycles.

"...an elegant, comprehensive and celebratory book."

• Introduction1 Origins2 Roaring Thirties3 WWII: Armageddon4 Postwar and the 1950s5 1960s and 1970s: Winning the Peace, Matching the Brits6 Trying to Keep Up with Japan7 1990s—Defining Performance8 Twenty-First Century: Back in the Fast Lane9 Racing 17510 2010s: Globalizing Performance11 Do Androids Dream of Electric Bikes?IndexAcknowledgments