For more information on any of these books or to purchase them please contact me by email theroad@mag-uk.org or telephone 020 8556 6495

Lowrider
Purchase details
£5.99 plus £1.00 P&P (UK)
cheques payable to I Mutch PO Box 18519
London E11 4HF

A harrowing tale of stoic endeavour against the elements and a self destructive hard tail 1970s Triumph Bonneville chop on an epic journey across Europe in the autumn of 1980.

Laugh and cry in equal measure.

What others say

Riders Digest

When Dave approached me with the task of reviewing Ian Mutch’s new book ‘Low Rider’ I was a bit apprehensive because I finished school two years ago and don’t think I have sat down and got into a book since then, but it only took the twelve words of the first sentence for me to realise that this was not like the books I had been forced to read in English lessons. In this fascinating tale, Mutch re tells his story of his epic journey from his home all the way to the Dead Sea in Israel on his chopped up, low rider Triumph Bonneville. To say it was not the smoothest of journeys is a massive understatement. Mechanical issues, what seemed like, every ten miles and travelling conditions seemingly worse than what Ray Mears could have prepared him for make this a compelling story of hardship, desperation, and huge achievement in the face of adversity. Along the way through Europe, Mutch picks up some friends, from a racist South African to a new riding companion in the shape of American ‘Jean’. From the moment he sets out on his journey you almost feel as if you are riding pillion with him. From the unbearably freezing cold nights, lost in Yugoslavia, to finally arriving at the Dead Sea and getting drunk every other night along the way.

The book is written in such a way that you can see and feel exactly what is going on and I found myself thinking, “oh just one more chapter and I’ll stop”. I had never come across Ian Mutch’s work before and was very surprised at the quality of writing, that is until I found out that he has written numerous books and been writing for years, so it is hardly surprising that this one does not fall below the standard.
Essentially this is a travel book about a motorcycle journey that, you would think, would initially appeal to those in the bike community, but I reckon that even someone who has never thrown their leg over the saddle of a bike could get into this book and enjoy it, whilst they might not appreciate the frustration of having to do a repair job on the same part of your bike every single morning of the journey or having engine oil splash all over your inside leg, they would find it hard not to be sucked into his over ambitious objective to make it to the lowest point on Earth.

Overall this is a brilliant book that I would recommend to almost anyone, and one of those that you could pick up again in a few years time and read it all over again, and it’s small enough to slip in a jacket pocket to read on your coffee break or when you’re having your bacon sarnie!

Motorcycles Forever
Purchase details
£12.99 plus £2.00 P&P (UK)
cheques payable to I Mutch PO Box 18519
London E11 4HF

At last!

The long-awaited definitive pictorial history of the UK biker subculture as seen through the lens and pen of Ian Mutch over 30 years of cultural evolution. MAG, HOG, rockers, clubs, rebels, righteous bros and evangelicals on wheels. The political battles, the high points and the disasters. The gentrification of motorcycling as illustrated by the Harley-Davidson renaissance.

Plenty to amuse and outrage. A totally unique souvenir of motorcycle culture from a perspective never before attempted.

An A4 softback book 108 pages (37 mono 71 colour)

 

What others say

Reproduced from The Harleyquin

In his second book ‘Motorcycles Forever,’ Ian Mutch has produced something of a historic masterpiece. Many of you will be familiar with Ian’s work from his reports on HOG rallies around Europe which he has photographed for HOGnews since 1995. This is a seminal volume of fascinating pictures with enough words to lend meaning and depth. It’s far more than just a collection of images, it’s an intriguing study of how the motorcycle culture has evolved in this country over the last 30 years. It covers many of the political battles to protect our riding freedoms with humour and poignancy. Ian’s credentials for attempting a book of this significance are probably unrivalled. A biker since 1969, he’s ridden Harley-Davidsons since 1981 and has worked for the Riders right group MAG on a voluntary basis for 32 of
those years, professionally for the last 10.
The Harley-Davidson content is substantial with a major HOG section that takes the book’s content across Europe via some of the major rallies. The endeavour to explain what is so special about Harley-Davidsons is the best I’ve ever read and the pictures drive the message home in a way that provides a living testament to the icon of fun and freedom that is Harley-Davidson.

This is the kind of book you can go back to again and again and thumb through, picking up a bit more history or humour each time you look at it.

 

Looking For America.
Purchase details
£6.99 plus £1.50 P&P (UK)
cheques payable to I Mutch PO Box 18519
London E11 4HF

Sleeve notes

This is not a book about motorcycles. It’s a book about Americans, and about life – BUT – If you can watch a
Harley-Davidson loaded up with a bedroll and saddlebags, rumbling toward the horizon like thunder on vacation – and feel nothing – this book is not for you.
If I have to explain to you why I ride a motorcycle
and you still don’t understand,
then I must be inarticulate
Ian Mutch was born in London in 1952, and bought his first motorcycle
(a 500cc BSA sidecar outfit), in 1969. After leaving school in 1970 he took a number of jobs before joining the merchant navy in 1971 in the employ of the British India Steam Navigation Company, as a navigation officer cadet, graduating eventually to Second Officer. Leaving the sea in 1983 he pursued a career in journalism which alternated with work as a motorcycle courier working in London until 1991 when, following a motorcycle trip to Israel, he gained full time employment working on the motorcycle lifestyle titles Heavy Duty and Back Street Heroes. The summer of 1995 was spent photographing Harley Owners Group rallies around Europe before taking up a retainer to produce a newspaper for The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) of which he is a founder member. The trip about which this book is written, represents the fulfilment of a 20 year dream to ride a Harley-Davidson from coast to coast across the USA.
A firm believer in God, he has no idea if the creator rides a
motorcycle or not but if he does, then it sure as hell has to be a Harley.
Looking For America
lan Mutch

What others say

Harley-Davidson Riders Club of Great Britain
The Harleyquin -
This book has all the outward appearance of just another travelogue, written as it is by one of our Club members and one could be forgiven for thinking that it represents a day-to-day histoire of his journey from New York to the west coast. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Although the book contains many wryly described examples of travel and itinerary details made by the author it is far more than the sum of these. It is a journey through the soul of the writer and his vision of and reflections on the soul of America as viewed from the relative comfort of the touring seat of his recently purchased FXR. (Although perhaps the chapter on Death Valley belies this - with the heat being described in graphic detail right down to the uncomfortable nether regions of the writer!)
This is a book which will make you think. Not just about what is written but about that which the author leaves untold about both himself and the land in which he finds himself. The opening chapters leave the reader in no doubt as to the writer's nervous anticipation of the journey ahead; which is both twee and very human. Which one of us hasn't felt these feelings of nervous fear and anticipation when journeying abroad to unknown territory? Ian encapsulates this fear and distills it to a very basic level, both believable and understandable.
Throughout the book he exercises particularly acute descriptive detail of those characters he meets along the way and makes no bones about his distaste of some people he encounters. There is a beautifully descriptive narrative early in the book when he relates his journey from the airport to Port Authority, New York, to pick up a Greyhound bus and his consequent embarrassment at offering an offensively incorrect tip to his "guide". You could smell the embarrassment of both parties lifting from the page!
One thing which becomes apparent throughout the book is the constraint of time. Many authors of travelogues seem to have endless time to expend on their endeavours. In this author's case this is not so and you can feel his frustration at the places he feels he should visit, but cannot due to the constraints of time and funds. This makes the book much more believable and realistic to the vast majority of his readers, who inevitably suffer the same constraints on their own holiday journeys. If you, like myself, have ever wondered what it would be like to take this momentous solo journey across America from coast to coast, experiencing the diverse cultures, climates and attitudes along the way, then I strongly recommend you buy and read this book. It won't give you a fixed itinerary or loads of useful facts and figures (these can be found in more mundane offerings); but it will give you an insight into the lonely and sometimes introspective viewpoint of a Harley rider who sets off to find both himself and America.