How to fix luggage to a custom motorcycle

When designing my custom motorcycle Amelia, I knew two things for sure.

1. I would be touring long distances on this motorcycle.
2. I needed to be able to fix luggage to the bike, but I didn't want an ugly rack to spoil the look of the bike.

Good looks and practicality don't always go well together, so, it became clear that we needed to be quite innovative in devising a solution for fixing luggage to the bike.

This is what we did.... it works a treat....

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Harley-Davidson 1912 Silent Gray Fellow

By the time Harley-Davidson built this X-8 single in 1912, the company was well on the way to establishing itself as a major motorcycle manufacturer, and the motorcycle was a more refined mode of transportation. This bike was a direct development of the original 1903 model and continued in production until 1918. Though it still had belt final-drive, an atmospheric inlet valve, and no gearbox,

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Guide to Planning a Motorcycle Road Trip in the USA

Planning to a motorcycle road trip in the US? Then you might want to read this guide.

As a Englishman who planned and then rode 21,000 miles in America on a road trip, I learnt a lot about what to consider if planning a motorcycle road trip in the US for the first time. Thinking it would be useful to others doing the same thing, I wrote about my views on this. If you are planning to visit the US from a different country and are going to ride a motorcycle while there, you might want to read my free guide giving tips and advice about planning such a trip.

Americans might find it useful as well, or you could let me know if I have missed anything.

The free guide is available here http://bit.ly/RodhRW

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France In America - Free Book!

At the end of my 21,475 mile motorcycle tour of the USA, I made a promise on my blog that I intend to keep. I said anyone that commented on my blog before the last day of the trip, would receive a free copy of my book about the tour.

That promise will be kept.

With a few things still to do, the book will be published early next year. To show my gratitude to those that encouraged me to keep writing on my blog by making comments on it, I would like to send you your free copy.

So, if you commented on my blog before the last day of my tour, sometime between now and 14th January, please let me have a postal address where I can send the book to. All you need to do is to send it to me in an email to the address in the 'Contact / Social' part of the panel on the right.

By the way, Blogger lets me know who commented, so no cheaters please!

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Book Update - France In America

My regular readers already know I went on a pretty long ride on my motorcycle across America. It was 21,475 glorious miles of getting to know the country and its people. The journey was a tremendous experience, as I visited 27 different states and witnessed many of the great places America has to offer.

What started out as a simple blog journal of the ride eventually led to the decision to write a book about the road trip and I am pleased to report that book is almost complete. To give you an update, about a month ago, the writing was finished, the photos to be included were chosen, the maps were all drawn and editing was completed.

I then travelled to Thailand to undertake the next stage in the evolution of the book – to create the layout of the book by deciding exactly what goes on each page. Sizing and locating each of the many hundreds of pictures in the best place within the text isn’t easy, so I needed the help of people with considerable experience in this.

My brother Tim lives in Thailand and it was to him I turned for help. He runs a communications company, Inis Communications, that writes, edits and publishes documents to help global health and development organisations achieve greater impact through high quality publications. Tim had helped me with guidance and advice about writing the book and I now needed his help again. Here are the two of us, working on the book....

Tim and his team made the task of creating the book layout very easy and it was a pleasure to watch experienced people at work. At four hundred pages this is a big book, and they worked their way through it with the ease that only experts can. The main graphic designer, Benya, did a terrific job and produced a layout I am very happy with. This is Benya discussing the cover of the book with me....

Many, many thanks go to Tim and his whole team for turning my words and pictures into a fantastic-looking book. I am thrilled with the end results.

You can find out more about the book here.

More updates will follow. The next stage is another area of complete mystery for me - choosing the right printer. Now, just how do you go about that.....?

Next week, I will tell you about fulfilling a promise I made......

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My New Motorcycling Website!

Today, my new motorcycling website www.garysfrance.com was launched.

Containing information about different aspects of motorcycling, the site has sections about my forthcoming book, touring guides, my videos, a competition (win the latest GoPro camera), a bit about me, reviews of motorcycling books, other people videos I like, plus a whole load more.

I hope you find just a little bit of time to go take a peek.

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Harley Davidson 1905 Model No.1

Only 16 of the 1905 Harley-Davidson models were built. It was not much more to the first Harleys than these two main components, motor and bicycle. Although William Harley Davidson brothers used a bigger engine than most of their current producers, the pedal force is an essential complement to the internal combustion engine on hills meant that the bicycle layout should be maintained.


Harley

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