Leanings: Best of Peter Egan from Cycle World

'Down the Road Again' One of several chapters that for many of us, captures a moment in time. Unlike Mr. Egan, I was lucky to have owned a brand new Triumph Bonneville during the Summer of Love (1967), and ride it to Monterey Ca. in June of that same year to attend the first International Pop Festival, taking in all the greats. I have read Peter Egan's 'Leanings' many times over, and have given his works to all my friends and family. It is difficult to put my feelings down in words about such great writings. The emotional spirituality that defines this book, especially for ALL of us old British Biker people, is eternal ~ Aloniw

Like many, I stumbled across Peter Egan through his columns in Cycle World Magazine. Egan's columns are extremely addictive, one read and you'll want more. Unlike most books about biking however, Leanings is a story reflecting the relationship between man, machine and Nature.. with of course, a dash of adventure and a large dosage of determination told from experience. I'm sure many riders, be it casual or extreme, will relate to Egan's foolhardiness (during his younger years) and even smile at the memories which Egan brings back through a breezy but detailed storyline. After flipping past the last chapter of Leanings, I have only but one regret - that I did not purchased Leanings that was personally autographed by Egan himself.

I own a lot of books about motorcycles, from Hell's Angels to Proficient Motorcycling. But more often than not, I pull Egan's Leanings off the shelf when I'm in the mood for a quick fix. Egan writes well and with insight, but without the pseudo-philosophical B.S. of Persig et al. This is a collection of aricles with the earliest dating back to the 70s, so some observations are a mite dated, but Egan captures the experience of riding (and buying, and fixing, and being stranded) so wonderfully, that I enjoy reading every word in this book. Egan has a good sense of humor that runs as an undercurrent through most of his writing. Leanings is like having a tray of your favorite appetizers at hand any time you fancy a snack. When I set this book down after reading for a spell, I don't feel as if I just finished Atlas Shrugged, but it always puts me in a better mood and makes me want to pick out a bike and go for a ride. Plus I give any writer that knows how to properly kick-start a large displacement single a bonus star, and I bet Ayn Rand couldn't do that. Without this book, I also never would have bought V Four Victory on DVD, so I owe Peter Egan for that as well.

Peter Egan's book is a compendium of his Cycle World features going back over twenty years. His personal history chronicles the actual or imagined lives of most of us who have lived with motorcycles during the sixties through the present. When reading Egan's adventures with his various bikes and his pink tent, I feel like I'm on the road with him - moving Barbara off the pillion while circumnavigating the Isle of Man, or Ireland, or Route 66, or New Zealand, or wherever. This book has become my constant bedside companion, carrying me back to my cycling youth, or time in Vietnam or helping me envision my "in process" restoration projects on a winding country road on a perfect spring day. Thanks, Peter.

After reading this book I wanted to quit my job and become a motorcycle journalist, and I don't even own a motorcycle yet. Touching, funny and informative Leanings is a collection of the columns and features that Egan has written over the years, including travel pieces on motorcycle trips to the Isle of Man, Mexico and New Zealand that will make you want to pack up and go and informative and humorous articles that answer questions such as "How many motorcycles do you need" and "should you buy a British motorcycle". Now more than ever I want to buy a motorcycle.