Below is the introduction from page 1 of the book by the author,
Mr Paul Barden
Chasing Down A Legend was never meant to be a book. It came about because of my friendship with Paul Taylor and Brook Henry, which itself was a result of our mutual interest in riding, racing and in my case sometimes just gawping at, beautiful Italian motorcycles.
Paul and Brook have long been at the sharp end of innovation when it comes to altering and improving bikes. So when there were mutterings about recreating one of the most celebrated racebikes of all time, I was intrigued. When I heard the story of how this holy grail had been made possible, I was captivated.
I suggested that the story of their latest creation is such an extraordinary tale that it deserved to be written down and transformed into a sort of extended handbook for the 12 fortunate owners.
That was the plan, but the owners' manual grew into a book and so did interest in the book itself, which is why the Souvenir Edition has now been published, with only a few detail changes from the original Owners' Edition .
I was delighted to put the handbook together because I believe wholly in the quality, the art, of what my friends have created - charismatic, hand-made copies of Hailwood's 1978 NCR Ducati, the most faithful replicas of this unique machine that anyone has ever made.
So here is the Souvenir Edition. I hope you enjoy it.
Paul Barden