Motorized Bicycles: Author Tom Bartlett, has anyone read this book?

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Tanstaafl

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Tonight I purchased the Kindle digital edition for $3.50 from Amazon. It was downloaded onto my Kindle in just a couple minutes and I skimmed the foreword, appears book is about what the MB people here on Motorbikes.com are into. I will start reading when go to bed and if it pertains to today's MB and find it interesting, will give a report on it.

*My bad and mia culpa, I should have Googled "Tom Bartlett" before posting this thread. He is difinetly well into the MB scene.
 
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Finished the book at one reading. Found MB history very interesting, with lots of detailed information from wooden frame and wheels for walking velocipedes, to the sleek goodies of today.

According to the author, the ubiquitous Chinese two strokers found today, had their ancestry going back to the 1930s-1950s mopeds in Russia and for the most part the Chinese copies of it remain basically unchanged.
 
I read the book just about a week ago, but I ordered the paper copy because I like big pictures! Like you said, Tanstaafl, it's a quick read. There's a thread on the "other" forum written by a Russian guy who still has some of the old motors. According to him, the Russian ones are really much better made, and they do have some subtle, but significant differences.

It was interesting to discover that the first motorcycles were, in fact, motorized bicycles. I like how technology sometimes goes around in a circle—getting back to old ideas and re-doing them. Bartlett's book gave me lots of ideas.
 
I bought, and read, the book in November when I was just getting interested in motorized bicycles. I found the historical information to be very interesting reading, but was hoping the book would be more about motorized bicycles, and how to build them. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed reading it, and would buy it again.

Does anyone have any good recommendations on a good book on bicycle mechanics?

Thanks,
Otto...
 
Otto said:
Does anyone have any good recommendations on a good book on bicycle mechanics?
Click to expand...

From your question, I'm not sure what you're explicit interest is but if you mean a reference on wrenching, fixing and maintaining bicycles, one of if not the best is Sheldon Brown (RIP). Not a book per se, but a well maintained and regularly updated web resource. For myself this is the gold standard.

http://sheldonbrown.com/ar.html
 
I have not read the title and likely will not. I do recall seeing it listed somewhere, probably amazon, a year or two back. Scanning the table of contents it seemed rather generic as I recall.

Seeing it mentioned here though makes me curious if the author discusses George Wyman at all, and in extension of that context, Rif Addams?
 
Richard H. said:
Seeing it mentioned here though makes me curious if the author discusses George Wyman at all, and in extension of that context, Rif Addams?
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No, no mention of either. The book was clearly targeted for those who had zero experience with motored bicycles. It's a thin volume. I would not recommend it to anyone who clearly had a lot of knowledge. Such a one would inevitably be disappointed... Except, the pictures are great!
 
Richard H. said:
From your question, I'm not sure what you're explicit interest is but if you mean a reference on wrenching, fixing and maintaining bicycles, one of if not the best is Sheldon Brown (RIP). Not a book per se, but a well maintained and regularly updated web resource. For myself this is the gold standard.

http://sheldonbrown.com/ar.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link Richard. This looks like it will be a great reference for anything I want to know about working on my bikes.
 
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