Recommended read

I read (as always) with great interest and enjoyment Roy Poynting’s column in the March 2021 issue. In this, he laments that many period motorcycling travel writers concentrated more on the places and people rather than detail of the bikes themselves. May I recommend to Mr Poynting and to any of your readers who might be interested ‘Across America on a Motorcycle’ by Captain C K Shepherd.

It’s the simple tale of a

First World War pilot who, finding peacetime lacked the excitement of his earlier employment, sailed to New York, bought a Henderson four and rode it to LA in a time pretty much before roads had been properly invented Stateside.

It’s full of the sort of references Mr Poynting was disappointed to see left out of the other books he has read: Dropping the sump after breakfast to tighten the big ends, using a whittled stick in order to prevent the conrod contacting the bore after removing a damaged piston and carrying on with three cylinders and reflecting that in 4000 miles he’d spent more on parts and repairs than he’d spent on the bike in the first place.

It’s an eye-opening read for anybody who is interested in motorcycles, travel, history or all three. Peter Cain, via email.