Heavy Duty – July-August 2019

NEVER SAY NEVER

BOOK

As I began to write this review, MotoGP riders were

gathering on the main straight at Catalunya to mark the

70th anniversary of the first motorcycle grand prix race, on

June 13th, 1949. So it was fitting that I had in my hands

a copy of Nick Harris book, Never Say Never, the inside

story of the motorcycle world championships by MotoGP’s

legendary pit-lane correspondent, Nick Harris. Published

May this year, the book is hot off the press.

As ‘The Voice’ of motorcycle racing for 40 years,

commentator Nick Harris recounts the mostly eyewitness,

white-knuckle account of MotoGP’s scorching 70-year

history.

The tale begins on the Isle of Man in 1949, when Geoff

Duke, with his slicked-back hair and one-piece black leathers,

became the nation’s hero, defying the odds and winning the

most dangerous race in the world on a British-built Norton.

They’re all there, from Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts

to Valentino Rossi, and we meet the mechanics behind

them, the manufacturers who poured millions into the

teams, and the organisers who, in the early days – according

to Harris – ruthlessly compromised rider safety for profits.

The question is asked, “Why would a reasonably sane man in his ’70s
ride the length of Latin America on a small motorcycle – a man who
is overweight, suffered two minor heart attacks and has a bad back?”
Well, whatever the reasons, and he outlines them in the book
very entertainingly, Simon Gandolfi did it, and his story is worth a
read. I’m a strong believer in the dictum that: “You don’t stop riding
because you get old, but that you get old when you stop riding” – and
so should you be.
Now all too often books are written by a motorcycle rider who
does something big, and then writes about it. And all too often they
write badly. Not this old man. You see he’s made a living as a fiction
writer and tells his story with humour and a self-deprecating style.
It’s available on Kindle and well worth a read, especially if you are
closer to 60 than 40. Hopefully it will get you off your bum and back
out riding!

OLD MAN ON A BIKE
BOOK