"The Fine Art of the Motorcycle Engine, the Story of the Up-N-Smoke Engine Project" by Daniel Peirce
From Veloce Publishing, UK. US distribution through Motorbooks International.
144 pages, 10"X10" Hardbound, 64 engine pictures. Foreword by Dave Howe. [Download publisher's sample pages]
[Purchase signed copies of the book]
Excerpt from the Introduction:
"As a photographer I always wanted to photograph a series of tasteful female nude figure studies. I wanted to make pictures that would study the shapes and lines of the female form... and the naughty bits. However, being married to a jealous woman for 27 years, I never got around to it. As a photographer and a motorcyclist I discovered that motorcycle engines have their own seductive shapes, lines and naughty bits. So, I began the Up-N-Smoke Engine Project as a creative outlet. It was something to do in my spare time just because I liked motorcycle engines. Same as a writer might write limericks just to amuse himself.
As all too often happens, if I'm interested in something it soon becomes an obsession. Which can be convenient because otherwise I'd be pretty lazy. The Up-N-Smoke Engine Obsession took me on a two-year journey that has culminated in the photography book you hold now. This is first and foremost a photography book studying the light, shadows and graphic nature of motorcycle engines. It is also the story of what I went through to produce this collection of images. Contrary to what many folks might expect, it is not filled with historical information about the engines. There is some information about the engines on these pages - but not a lot. I'm just a photographer and I'll leave the empirical data to the motorcycle historians.
The engines for this book were selected on three criteria. First criterion, the engine's graphic appeal. The engine had to intrigue me in some way by its shape, balance, complexity or simplicity. Secondly, I wanted some of the more historically notable engines in the collection to represent the changing technologies and design trends through time. And the last criterion was if I could actually find these engines to put in front of my camera. It's because of this last criterion that some of your favorite engines and mine are not represented in this collection. You'll also note that very few of these engines are factory correct. As an art project I like the engines to look like they have their own personal history. It makes you wonder what they've been through and provides a reason to look deeper. So, I present to you a visual study of the motorcycle engine - not every motorcycle engine, but quite a few of them. So many engines, so little time.
For good or bad, I’ve written this book in my own voice. It’s written in the same manner as I speak, and Texans are known for only speaking an idiosyncratic form of English. My Microsoft Word grammar check tells me that I’ve likely angered the god of sentence fragments. Pretend we’ve just sat down to enjoy a beer and you made the mistake of asking me to tell you the story of the Up-N-Smoke Engine Project. In fact, reading this book while drinking a beer or two is the proper way to enjoy it."