The Devil Can Ride: The World's Best Motorcycle Writing

Authors such as Hunter Thompson, Robert Pirsig, and Mark Singer have written about the motorcycle, that icon for outlaws, rebels, thieves, and beat poets. This collection of motorcycle tales features the best of the vast collection of motorcycle writing created since old Gottlieb Daimler first bolted a crude internal-combustion engine to his wooden two-wheeled Einspur in 1876. In addition to essays from Thompson and Pirsig, The Devil Can Ride features works by Peter Egan, T.E. Lawrence, James Stevenson, Jamie Elvidge, John Hall, and Kevin Cameron.

Edited by magazine journalist and author Lee Klancher.  Klancher’s work has appeared in Motorcyclist, Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser, ATV Rider, and Motorcycle Escape magazines. Motorbooks published his most recent work, Motorcycle Dream Garages in 2009. Klancher has been riding, racing, and crashing motorcycles since he was 11 years old, and reading since he was three. He lives in Austin, TX.         

A prolific author and photographer, Lee has contributed words and images to more than 30 books as well as dozens of national magazines including Men’s Journal, Draft, and Motorcyclist. His favorite assignments typically involve some kind of motor vehicle, and they have put him in the seat of a T-6 WWII military trainer, a 12-horsepower Farmall tractor, and a 500-horsepower open-wheel racer. Motorcycle adventure travel is a passion, and he has covered stories on five continents including a 500-mile ride through the Bolivian Amazon and a 2,000-mile blast through Alaska that included taking the dubious advice of the former truck drivers who frequent Hope, Alaska’s dive bars. An unrepentant Packer fan and a shameless book junkie, Lee plans to continue pursue his quest for the perfect mini corn dog in the dive bars of the world. He resides in Austin, Texas.

Visit the author’s Web site at leeklancher.com

Visit Lee’s blog at lightboxgarage.blogspot.com

Follow Lee at: twitter.com/leeklancher

Kevin Cameron is one of the premier motorcycle writers. His feature stories and monthly column have been appearing in the industry's largest-circulation magazine, Cycle World, for more than 20 years. Kevin lives in Gill, Massachusetts. cycleworld.com