Legendary Bikes

After we published our story on “Lawrence of Arabia and the Motorcycle Helmet”, a reader sent us the link to a chapter out of Lawrence’s book, “The Mint”, recounting his years of service as an enlisted cadet and airman in the RAF following the First World War. Lawrence entered service under the alias T.E. Ross, due to his world fame, and went to work in the daily grind of the military in post-war England. Yet he developed a love for all things fast and dangerous- namely, airplanes and motorcycles. He became a skilled mechanical engineer, but continued writing, keeping memoirs of his time in the service in his tome entitled “The Mint.” While most of this work is dry journaling, the chapter called “The Road” is stunning, a vivid account of a motorcycle ride at dusk that is both exhilarating and harrowing. It’s one of the most incredible descriptions of the feeling of riding a motorcycle, and the raw sensation of open air speed, that I’ve ever read. The descending dark, the rough roads, the throbbing beast beneath him, no helmet, no eye protection, no armored riding gear, poor suspension, lousy brakes, a side-mounted hand shifter, a near tank-slapper at speed, and an RAF Bristol fighter overhead- see if you don’t visualize and feel the ride yourself as you read Lawrence’s account.