Books by Mark H. Bayer Ed.D.

My interest in motorcycles began in the 1960s and serious study began sometime in the 1980s.  I began collecting books and magazines as far back as the 1970s and sometime around 2000 I began building a serious library.  I just love to read and study every aspect of the sport.  During the mid 2000s I taught a Motorcycle History course at the University of Missouri in Kansas City for around six years.

The book below covers a general overview of motorcycle history from sometime from the mid 1800s to today.  I have an 18 page section which covers the Japanese motorcycle from 1900 to 1939, most of this is hard to find information.

The book pictured above covers motorcycles from the earliest years which had a definate impact on motorcycle history.  A great example is the Triumph Bonneville.  It had a significant presence when it was offered as a model (after they took off the big fenders and headlight necalle) and that popularity continued until the 1970s.  When the model returned to the US in 2000, it quickly gained in popularity which has continued even today.

The Japanese motorcycle transfpormed motorcycling in America.  Here is the big question, how could Japanese motorcycles which were generally disdained by the motorcycle community in the early 1960s, become the dominant brands in terms odf sales by the early 1970s?  The Japanese brands still own the world market and dominate in technology and in racing.  This book covers why.