Keith Campbell, Australia’s First Grand Prix World Champion is a terrifically researched 95,000-word account of Campbell’s remarkable career featuring many previously unpublished photographs.

Campbell secured the 1957 World 350 Championship in his debut season with Moto Guzzi, finishing on the podium at the Isle of Man and taking consecutive victories in The Netherlands, Belgium and Northern Ireland. He was the first Australian to win multiple Grands Prix in a calendar year.

Campbell’s world title was the culmination of an eight-year journey from Melbourne teenager welding vacuum-cleaner bodies to finance his racing and solo trips to the famed Isle of Man that launched his career as a Continental Circus rookie at 22 and then successful private entrant.

A fair-minded man, Campbell stood up for proper payment for private riders at the 1955 Dutch TT. Along with other striking riders, he was suspended from racing for six months. Undeterred, he was back racing and winning in 1956, and then piloted Guzzi 350 singles, 500 singles and the fabulous Guzzi 500 V-eight as a factory rider.

Guzzi’s withdrawal from racing in September 1957 left Campbell without a works ride. He returned to the privateer ranks for 1958 with plans to head home to Melbourne and start a business in 1959. Campbell tragically died in a race accident at Cadours, France, in July 1958.

Former magazine editor Peter Donaldson, and writer and publishing consultant Jamie McIlwraith have read the full text.

Pre order your copy here…

“This is a truly remarkable biography of the racer, businessman and entrepreneur who became Australia’s first motorsport grand prix world champion,” Donaldson said.

“Talent, bravery, speed, smarts and persistence. Australia’s first road-racing World Champion Keith Campbell used all of that to reach the pinnacle of success,” McIlwraith said. “The man behind the legendary Circus Life  history of 1950s’ Aussie international motorcycle racers tells the inspiring yet tragic story of Campbell’s extraordinary career”.

Keith Campbell, Australia’s first Grand Prix World Champion draws on interviews with Keith Campbell’s family, friends, rivals, team mates, helpers and travelling mates, reporters and spectators from the day.

The list of those whom helped contribute to the book includes Jack Ahearn, Keith Bryen, Rod Coleman, Geoff Duke, Keith’s brother George Campbell, key helpers Ron Day and Bob Edmonds, Eric Hinton, Bob Mitchell, Maurie Quincey, John Surtees and Vic Willoughby. Keith Campbell, Australia’s first Grand Prix World Champion is due for release in mid-2025.

Expressions of interest to KRCampbellbook@gmail.com  or KR Campbell Book, PO Box 356 Haberfield NSW 2045

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For 30 years Fabio Taglioni was the Technical Director of Ducati, its Direttore Tecnico, and was responsible for all manner of engine designs ranging from single-cylinder lightweights to a massive V-four and especially the bevel drive 90-degree V-twins…

For the whole of his career, Taglioni held the racetrack to be the finest proving ground available for the development of successive families of Ducati models, as well as the demonstration of their worth. His bevel-drive V-twin models of the 1970s are proof positive of that reasoning. They were the mainstay of the Ducati range for the whole of that decade, and scored many memorable race successes, such as Paul Smart’s and Bruno Spaggiari’s dominant 1-2 victory in the prestigious 1972 Imola 200, and the now legendary Isle of Man TT comeback victory by the late, great Mike Hailwood in 1978. Personal recollections of their Ducati successes by both Hailwood and Smart provide chapters of this wide-ranging book.

Alan Cathcart has been and still is the owner and racer of several of those classic Desmo V-twins. He is also the author of several best-selling books on Ducati motorcycles, including the first-ever history of the marque in the English language, published in 1983. As such he became a personal friend and confidant of Ing. Taglioni over many years, so no-one is better qualified to pen the history of the greatest name in motorcycle design.

Fabio Taglioni – Designer of Ducati Legends is a 232-page book with 200+ photographs, most of which are in full colour. They range from historic factory archive material to modern digital photography commissioned especially for this title.

Ducati’s history and Taglioni’s personal story are covered in-depth along with detailed information on his most famous machines. The story starts in immediate post-WW2 Italy, and the company’s entry into the motorcycle market with an engine designed to clip on to a bicycle, and provide transportation for the public in a country with an economy struggling to recover from its wartime devastation.

From there it moved into proper motorcycles and by the mid-1950s was just one of many manufacturers of lightweight machines. Then along came Fabio Taglioni. In May 1954, he joined the company and within a year transformed its fortunes with his ground-breaking ‘Marianna’ Gran Sport 100 design. Its little 98cc single-cylinder engine was technically far ahead of its rivals, featuring overhead-camshaft valve operation driven from the crankshaft by a shaft and bevel gears. This was a configuration seen mainly on 350cc and 500cc racing machines of that era, and was previously unheard of in such a small engine as the Gran Sport 100. It immediately struck a chord with the racing-mad Italian public and, when it and its Gran Sport 125 bigger brother began winning long distance road races, and even excelled in Grand Prix competition via desmo derivatives, sales success soon followed.

Taglioni’s genius had set Ducati on the path to the pre-eminence that Ducati enjoys in the world of Italian motorcycle production today, for these little GS ultra-lightweights were only the first steps on the journey. Their basic design parameters went on to be used in future successful single-cylinder motorcycles ranging from 250 to 450cc and even in the famous V-twins of the 1970s.

In the early 1980s, some 25 years after his first single-cylinder machines and a full decade after the initial appearance of his 90-degree V-twins, Taglioni updated and future-proofed the V-twins by changing the overhead-camshaft valve operation to a belt-driven system. First seen on the Pantah models, this took Ducati into the 21st century, and that basic architecture is still used on today’s twins.

All of Taglioni’s seminal designs are featured in-depth in this book: single-cylinder, parallel twins, V-twins and even a pair of experimental four-cylinder prototypes – the giant Apollo V-four of 1964, and the Bi-Pantah, his final such design which never made it into production.

Alan Cathcart was fortunate to enjoy unparalleled access to the Ducati factory, and to Ing. Fabio Taglioni on a personal basis, during the last decade of his tenure as Ducati Meccanica’s Direttore Tecnico. That is what makes this book so special.

Fabio Taglioni – Designer of Ducati Legends is available worldwide exclusively from Amazon priced at $54.40 AUD including delivery. An e-book version is also available costing £8.95 in the UK, and the appropriate local currency equivalent elsewhere.

Click here to order your copy from amazon.com.au

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Read the Introduction to the book and sample chapters here…

Many of the great characters profiled in the book have left us, leaving their amazing stories of life and times on the famed Continental Circus. Tales of derring-do and occasional bastardry by dodgy promoters. Venues as diverse as the Isle of Man and long public-road circuits behind the Iron Curtain. For more info or to order, visit circuslifebook.com

What They Said About Circus Life:

“I congratulate you on a monumental work, truly superb, so detailed…I was particularly impressed by the chapter on the money side of things…the amount of money paid by Moto Guzzi to Ken Kavanagh was a real eye opener.” – the late Mick Woollett, 1950s GP sidecar passenger, GP photo-journalist, motorcycle newspaper editor and book author, Hemel Hempstead, England

“What you have achieved with this book is quite incredible – stories of lives and racing that would have been lost if you had not had the determination to set it down on paper.” – Dr Martin Raines, MotoGP statistician.

“This is without doubt the best motorcycle book ever, and I have a lot of them.” – Kel Carruthers, Australia’s 1969 world champion.

“A very beautiful thing. It’s a proper work of diligent research; less common in bikes than in cars.” – Mat Oxley, motorcycle journalist and author, London.

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When I was made aware of Complete Rider, I was genuinely excited. Not only because it’s written by an Aussie plus printed and designed here, but also that it’s new, modern and not just another updated book from back when bikes had drum brakes, carburettors and 100hp was out of this world!

Finally, a new education book with online options, for the new generation and for experienced riders. I’ve been reading it now for a few months on and off and still have plenty to go, probably a third of it, but I can confidently write this review on it… I’ve been picking it up every other day and learning more.

Not just another updated book from back when bikes had drum brakes, carburettors and 100hp was out of this world!

I’ve found rather than read it front to back, I’ve been perusing the brilliant index, finding a subject I’m interested in (even Plexus is there, man, I love that stuff it is the best!), then reading that section or some of it, jumping forwards and backwards through the book. I do the same with workshop manuals… Which I admit to reading in the little spare time I have!

There is humour hidden throughout Complete Rider, which always lightens up the read with anything technical. An example is under T in the index, you can find Tom Cruise listed… Page 105 (drop down visor info) and then further along you will find Wanker… see Tom Cruise… Ha!

That stuff will make you laugh. I also related to it as, like the author, the first time I saw a drop down visor I thought you would have to be a wanker to wear a helmet with one… and now I have about three helmets with them and love them! It’s called getting old, I’m told.

Seriously, though, there is plenty that ANY rider can learn from this book. I always say that as riders we never stop learning. I’ve been an A Grade racer for 26-years this year, competed 413 times, been a full time bike journo since 2001 and have tested over 1000 bikes and I still learn something new ever week at least. I love learning new things to apply to my riding. Some work out, some don’t, but I always try!

I’ve always had a terrible ‘Risk versus Reward’ meter, and have found some great points in Complete Rider to remind me of this and hopefully address it. On the other hand, my ‘Anticipation’ meter has always been my get out of jail free card… But I have still picked up a few things there in the book. It’s easy to pick up bad habits and sometimes it takes a third party to wake us up to them.

For experienced riders, there is plenty in here to help you iron out some old creases and even prompt you about things you may have forgotten. The author is super experienced and understands that us long term riders do not always like to be told better ways to do something we have been doing for years. Fair enough, but he will offer an alternative and back it up with reason and proven testing.

The newbies will get huge gains from Complete Rider. It covers everything and anything and will truly help you on your journey and be a bike bible for you for many years as you continue to develop as not only a rider, but as a motorcycle owner. There is info on riding gear and bike maintenance that will help you no end and drills at the back to help you practice your riding and apply some of the techniques…

Complete Rider is a big book. It is not a quick guide to riding. You need to take your time to read and study it, think about the things you pick up and apply them to your daily or weekend riding, have a think about them then move on to the next section, or choose one that you think you need to read to help address a riding issue you are currently experiencing. As mentioned, it’s a reference for experienced riders and a great learning tool for new riders.

To buy Complete Rider, purchase a course or visit the YouTube channel click here…

It’s a road riding guide – something that is very important as it is not adapted from a racing book or racing skills, which are completely different to the street in so many ways. For me, over the past few decades as a bike journo and a bike racer, I often feel like two completely different people who ride totally differently – one road rider and one track rider.

It’s like I have a mental switch between the two. There are not that many track skills that apply to the road and it goes the other way, so a dedicated road book is important… Another area I found very good was the Human Factors chapter. It’s so easy to forget how one small bad choice can impact our lives until it is too late. My injuries over the past few years are testament to that… I have a bad habit of riding when I have a lot on my mind, which leads to mistakes. Complete Rider helped me address this issue.

Complete Rider is available for Left and Right side of the road countries and written accordingly. It is also available as a digital edition. There is an online course, which involves the author presenting the book and with bonus quizzes and a digital edition. The website (below) has these available.

Complete Rider is split into five sections – The 3 Essential Bike Handling Skills, Interaction (Roadcraft), Human Factors, Our Stuff (Gear and Maintenance) and Drills. There are 11 Chapters, with great illustrations throughout, as well as QR codes that you can scan and ‘find out more’ for example watch the YouTube clip.

Highly recommended for all riders. Visit the Complete Rider website for more info and to order yours!

Check out some of the videos on the YouTube Channel

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