Steve's monthly 'Down the Road Apiece' feature, first in Silver Machine, and then for over a decade in Classic Bike Guide, has set a real benchmark for classic journalism, and developed a following to match.

The key was that Steve is more than just a hack journo - he's written thrillers, and one of them, 'The Lost Traveller', sold a quarter of a million copies. More recently he's written a delightful children's book for his daughter, 'When Rosie Met Anneka' - featuring his favorite BSA twin.

Like all good writers he's done a colourful bunch of other stuff too - worked on horseback as a gaucho in Argentina, washed dishes in San Francisco, taught a millionaire to spell, and briefly served as a bodyguard. And he's written the definitive six volume reference work on home-grown bikes, 'British Motorcycles Since 1950' (Haynes), as well as books for them on Triumph Bonnevilles and Harleys. But did we mention that in addition to being deeply knowledgeable, he's also very funny? To get the flavour of the man, check out his book 'Down The Road', also published by Haynes.

Steve is a passionate old bike rider with three BSAs, and for longer hauls, a 1600cc flat-six Honda Valkyrie (although we don't mention that in polite company)...