Your Chance To Own Literary History...

Thirty-five years of intense research... Six passionate affairs...  Five bike wrecks... Four motorcycles... Three crash and burn Life-Long Romances... And two literary careers have all led to one unique motorcycle book.

Conversations With A Motorcycle, by Jack Riepe, will be released on August 19, 2012.

Conversations With A Motorcycle begins where it began for Riepe, being seduced by the wind in a on-going two-wheeled escape that leads to adventure, euphoria, and romance, with intervals of introspective road rash. An unlikely biker in the mid-1970’s, his compulsion to ride is fueled by a drive to mate, two activities the author has forever linked. At nineteen, he has luck with both, but seldom at the same time.  This book recreates the volatile atmosphere of the moto-world in the mid-1970’s, when advancing technology clashed with traditional design and appeal.... And when the nicest people on a Honda met the leather and chrome crowd.  But Conversations With A Motorcycle is far more more than one man’s perspective of a misspent youth... It’s a philosophy of expectation for anyone thinking about become a rider; as well as a footnote of affirmation for the thousands of riders who learned about life and the road the same way — through the seat of their pants on a rock-hard saddle.

Regarding the misspent youth angle, Riepe said, “Youth is misspent if you have absolutely nothing to show for the investment. I had one hell of a good time. The details of those times are going to make a lot of readers smile and laugh. That’s more than Wall Street is going to do on a $20 investment. If I had to die tomorrow, I hope it’s in a tight curve on a screaming 1975 Kawasaki H2, with my first former mother-in-law on the pillion behind me.”

Conversations With A Motorcycle is dramatically different from Riepe’s usual style.

The lament of Riepe readers accustomed to his point-blank humor and abrupt style has been his penchant for the short story. Whether their preference is his monthly column in the nation’s largest BMW motorcycle club publication, or his libertine moto-blog Twisted Roads, the most commonly heard statement is, “I waited so long for this, and it was over so quickly.” (This comment was printed on tee shirts and sold by one of Riepe’s disillusioned lovers. One former Love-Of-His-Life, a sizzling blond, refers to the author as “The Disillusionist.”)
 



The short story yields to dependent chapters in Conversations With A Motorcycle. Each one sets the scene for the next in a two-year chronicle, incorporating a new literary device for Riepe — honesty — which brings a more humanistic dimension to his humor. While the settings and characters of the book will be familiar to anyone who reads Riepe’s blog, Conversations With A Motorcycle provides the hidden details and circumstances that constitute the torn fabric of his moto-history. For example, the chapter on his arrest for “Grand Theft, Auto” and “Assault With A Deadly Weapon,” (which led to his being detained in the “mental unit” of the local lock-up), is as compelling as his description of riding in the fog. Both are also true.

The result is nothing less than the seduction of the reader. Yet it is the anticipation of this seduction that attracts readers to Riepe’s work in the first place.

Each chapter details a turning point in the author’s cursed life.  While the view from the author’s pillion occasionally leaves the reader breathless, not every chapter ends happily. Riepe does not always lean far enough into the curve... He does not always get the girl... Nor does he always make the cop laugh... Predictability was never his strong suit.

The first 1,000 copies of Conversations With A Motorcycle is being offered as a limited hand-numbered, autographed, and inscribed edition — by advance subscription only. Priced at $20 (USD) each, with $5 (S&H), a hand-numbered numbered edition — especially with a low number — makes a great Christmas present, or a gift for any occasion.

To reserve your copy, email your name, address, and phone number to jack.riepe@gmail.com, Mark the subject line: “Signed Moto Book Offer.” You’ll receive an invoice in the mail. Your book(s) will be shipped shortly after August 19, 2012. At present, book orders are limited to 10, which the author will gladly inscribe as individual gifts, as per your instructions.

Nothing matches the uniqueness of a book personally inscribed by the author as a Christmas gift, birthday gift, or anniversary gift.

The first 100 advance book sales of Conversations With A Motorcycle sold out in less than an hour. Only prepaid books are part of the hand-numbered set.  Bike and riding clubs looking for unbroken numbered sequences (with the club name mentioned in the inscription) can still be accommodated at this time. One club representative should send an inquiry to jack.riepe@gmail,com, with “Riding Club Book Inquiry” in the subject line.