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Scraping Pegs: The Truth About Motorcycles
Do the worst rides make the best stories? Do motorcycles travel the road to Joy?
From the deserts of the Middle East to the U.S. and Canada, Michael Stewart has chased the allure of motorcycles for much of his life. Through them came a wealth of experience, and this question: what is the truth about motorcycling? Told with honesty and wit, Scraping Pegs is nonfiction throttled up; an irreverent, satirical look at a lifestyle and popular culture, including “rules” to help you survive the art of riding motorcycles or life (Rule # 1: Everyone Is Trying to Kill You!). It’s a bold narrative exploring two of the fundamental questions of life: why ride and how not to die. If you seek enlightenment, read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Scraping Pegs is truth. Motorcycle truth — it is what it is and it ain't what it ain't.
Press an experienced motorcyclist beyond their glory stories and they’ll tell you about sore asses, speeding tickets, dead batteries, and the drudgery of miles of nothingness. While showing off their road rash, they might spin Scraping Pegs-like tales of Deadeye Dick, that rogue sharpshooter with perfect aim, legless cousin Lenny, or Helmetless Mary McGregor, the still-gorgeous-in-spite-of-being-brain-dead neighbor. They’ll also share moments of absolute clarity and peace found only in the saddle, cruising down the Road to Joy, accelerating out of a corner, riding across desert sand, or up a mountain trail. The shift that happens Before-Motorcycle and On-Motorcycle. The constant swing between nothingness and awareness that can happen when you’re riding. How the drone of the engine and the wind can make your mind think about nothing and then everything. Days and months of life happen in minutes and hours on a motorcycle. Riding is a quest, like life condensed in time. The perfect ride doesn’t last long, life is like that. There are disastrous mechanical failures, weather battles, monotony, soured relationships, bad attitudes, and even death in store for some who seek to tame their wild beasts on iron horses. Scarping Pegs, The Truth About Motorcycles is a love letter to motorcycles, tempered by a suicidal deer on a highway, a determined sniper in the bush and reminders to ride with a Motorcycle State of Mind to improve the odds of staying alive to read More Scraping Pegs.
Kickstands up!
From the deserts of the Middle East to the U.S. and Canada, Michael Stewart has chased the allure of motorcycles for much of his life. Through them came a wealth of experience, and this question: what is the truth about motorcycling? Told with honesty and wit, Scraping Pegs is nonfiction throttled up; an irreverent, satirical look at a lifestyle and popular culture, including “rules” to help you survive the art of riding motorcycles or life (Rule # 1: Everyone Is Trying to Kill You!). It’s a bold narrative exploring two of the fundamental questions of life: why ride and how not to die. If you seek enlightenment, read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Scraping Pegs is truth. Motorcycle truth — it is what it is and it ain't what it ain't.
Press an experienced motorcyclist beyond their glory stories and they’ll tell you about sore asses, speeding tickets, dead batteries, and the drudgery of miles of nothingness. While showing off their road rash, they might spin Scraping Pegs-like tales of Deadeye Dick, that rogue sharpshooter with perfect aim, legless cousin Lenny, or Helmetless Mary McGregor, the still-gorgeous-in-spite-of-being-brain-dead neighbor. They’ll also share moments of absolute clarity and peace found only in the saddle, cruising down the Road to Joy, accelerating out of a corner, riding across desert sand, or up a mountain trail. The shift that happens Before-Motorcycle and On-Motorcycle. The constant swing between nothingness and awareness that can happen when you’re riding. How the drone of the engine and the wind can make your mind think about nothing and then everything. Days and months of life happen in minutes and hours on a motorcycle. Riding is a quest, like life condensed in time. The perfect ride doesn’t last long, life is like that. There are disastrous mechanical failures, weather battles, monotony, soured relationships, bad attitudes, and even death in store for some who seek to tame their wild beasts on iron horses. Scarping Pegs, The Truth About Motorcycles is a love letter to motorcycles, tempered by a suicidal deer on a highway, a determined sniper in the bush and reminders to ride with a Motorcycle State of Mind to improve the odds of staying alive to read More Scraping Pegs.
Kickstands up!
Kindle Edition
Published February 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 20, 2021
Excellent treatise on How you Can Die and Why we Ride Anyway!
I'm a 50 year old mom, former ER-Trauma nurse and brand new Bike owner. When my adult kids, fellow nurses and countless other friends and family met my, "I'm getting a motorcycle" statement with varying degrees of horror, head shaking, wailing and gnashing of teeth (not to mention suggestions of getting my head checked out by a shrink) I reassured them with, "yes, I know I can die", "yes I'll be careful" and "no-I'm not having a midlife crisis." But it was harder to define for them exactly WHY I wanted to ride. Scraping Pegs helped me define that answer. I've always been a gal who goes against the grain, doesn't really understand the words, "no you shouldn't do that" or societal limitations on what "good girls" do or do not do. I've always soaked life in and enjoyed the small moments as much as the pivotal ones. JOY was my mantra, though undefined. Scraping Pegs condensed my understanding of just why I love to ride. And why, as soon as all my kids were grown and self-sufficient I decided it was my turn to live a little more on the edge. Obviously I'll be as responsible as possible. But as an ER nurse you know that death is the great equalizer. You go out for a quick run to the grocery store in your minivan, a truck crosses into your lane and now I'm handing your family information on how to call the medical examiner's office on Monday to get your body to the right funeral home. Death happens to us all. But not all of us truly live. JOY is the answer to why we ride. And the best lesson I learned in Scraping Pegs.
Stewart is delightfully curmudgeonly and honest. His place is steady yet knows when to slow down to savor a nice curve and speed up through the straightaways. They say people who cuss are more honest. Stewart is a prime example!
Great read. Great lessons. Use your noggin!
I'm a 50 year old mom, former ER-Trauma nurse and brand new Bike owner. When my adult kids, fellow nurses and countless other friends and family met my, "I'm getting a motorcycle" statement with varying degrees of horror, head shaking, wailing and gnashing of teeth (not to mention suggestions of getting my head checked out by a shrink) I reassured them with, "yes, I know I can die", "yes I'll be careful" and "no-I'm not having a midlife crisis." But it was harder to define for them exactly WHY I wanted to ride. Scraping Pegs helped me define that answer. I've always been a gal who goes against the grain, doesn't really understand the words, "no you shouldn't do that" or societal limitations on what "good girls" do or do not do. I've always soaked life in and enjoyed the small moments as much as the pivotal ones. JOY was my mantra, though undefined. Scraping Pegs condensed my understanding of just why I love to ride. And why, as soon as all my kids were grown and self-sufficient I decided it was my turn to live a little more on the edge. Obviously I'll be as responsible as possible. But as an ER nurse you know that death is the great equalizer. You go out for a quick run to the grocery store in your minivan, a truck crosses into your lane and now I'm handing your family information on how to call the medical examiner's office on Monday to get your body to the right funeral home. Death happens to us all. But not all of us truly live. JOY is the answer to why we ride. And the best lesson I learned in Scraping Pegs.
Stewart is delightfully curmudgeonly and honest. His place is steady yet knows when to slow down to savor a nice curve and speed up through the straightaways. They say people who cuss are more honest. Stewart is a prime example!
Great read. Great lessons. Use your noggin!
April 22, 2021
I loved this book, which teaches (or reminds) you of the ten Motorcycle Riding Rules. No, these are not the same rules you’ll find in the Motorcycle Manual you downloaded in order to pass the test and get your riding license. These are the unspoken rules that riders never talk about, because they don’t have to. It’s communicated among us telepathically.
Yes, I’m a rider (dirt bike). I’ve got a brother who owns a Harley and two long-gone (not dead) boyfriends who perched me on the rider’s seat behind them. This author makes me think of my bike-riding men. In true down-to-earth, no-holds barred, pull-no-punches, road-brother fashion, author Michael Stewart tells us: “The reality is that crappy weather, careless drivers, sore asses, flat tires, death, and other aggravations creep into both life and riding.”
The author isn’t just talking about motorcycles. The rambling logic in this book, he insists, can be applied “to trout fishing or any undertaking.” I soon began to realize that this book should be read in short chunks, rather like an Eckhart Tolle book, because it was taking my mind some contemplation time to fully understand and appreciate what I was reading. The language is fresh, phenomenal, engaging. I recommend this book to all riders—and their families! I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation from the author.
Yes, I’m a rider (dirt bike). I’ve got a brother who owns a Harley and two long-gone (not dead) boyfriends who perched me on the rider’s seat behind them. This author makes me think of my bike-riding men. In true down-to-earth, no-holds barred, pull-no-punches, road-brother fashion, author Michael Stewart tells us: “The reality is that crappy weather, careless drivers, sore asses, flat tires, death, and other aggravations creep into both life and riding.”
The author isn’t just talking about motorcycles. The rambling logic in this book, he insists, can be applied “to trout fishing or any undertaking.” I soon began to realize that this book should be read in short chunks, rather like an Eckhart Tolle book, because it was taking my mind some contemplation time to fully understand and appreciate what I was reading. The language is fresh, phenomenal, engaging. I recommend this book to all riders—and their families! I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation from the author.
November 24, 2025
I joined Good Reads to rate this "book" and write a review. This collection of pages is in serious need of an editor. The author rambles and pursues pointless tangents, sometimes for pages before getting back to what was ostensibly the point of the chapter. He repeats himself often - especially his jokes, and is obviously entertaining himself as he writes. Good for him; creative writing is a wonderful outlet. However, one shouldn't be allowed to inflict amateur prose for money upon the reading public. For that, they had blogs in the early millennium. Additionally, the author seems to find stories about people dying or being maimed in motorcycle accidents to be an endless source of comedy; a tone deaf misstep in a book which claims to offer the ten Motorcycle Riding Rules.
The nadir of self publishing. I don't begrudge Mr. Stewart the opportunity to sell his terrible, unedited writing to a buying public. There's a sucker born every minute. I just won't be one of them in the future for his 4 other "books", and counting.
The nadir of self publishing. I don't begrudge Mr. Stewart the opportunity to sell his terrible, unedited writing to a buying public. There's a sucker born every minute. I just won't be one of them in the future for his 4 other "books", and counting.
February 1, 2021
Whether You Ride Or Not, It's A Good Read!
Great read. Glad I didn't know all the rules before i rode on the back of a motorcycle in my younger days! I liked how the author weaved in the characters who shared his love of riding, and how he questioned the untimely death by riding of a good friend. I found the descriptions of JOY in riding compelling, and look forward to next installment in the series.
Great read. Glad I didn't know all the rules before i rode on the back of a motorcycle in my younger days! I liked how the author weaved in the characters who shared his love of riding, and how he questioned the untimely death by riding of a good friend. I found the descriptions of JOY in riding compelling, and look forward to next installment in the series.
October 20, 2021
Didn't finish this book. Too many lame repetitive jokes. Writer seems like the guy who tells the same 10 jokes at every rest stop on a long ride. After the third day you are ready to leave him.
The tips are not bad. If you have been riding any length of time you will already know these. But honestly this feels more like blog post material than a book. The writing style would probably work better as a series of blog entries to be honest.
The tips are not bad. If you have been riding any length of time you will already know these. But honestly this feels more like blog post material than a book. The writing style would probably work better as a series of blog entries to be honest.
April 9, 2023
Read this book especially if you find yourself riding a one litre bike and have a small penis.
This could be one of my top ten books; it's masculine (in a non sexist way), practical and amusing in a Type 2 Fun way.
This could be one of my top ten books; it's masculine (in a non sexist way), practical and amusing in a Type 2 Fun way.
August 28, 2025
I found this book boring. I ride motorcycles for more that 40 years and what I think this book was about, is the frustration of a biker who had too many accidents.
September 4, 2023
Not bad - some good insights on motorcycling and life in general. In particular, Stewart has some insightful advice on avoiding motorbike crashes that I wish I had read years ago. Two crashes too late, but maybe just in time to save me from a third! Not sure that I agree with all of his observations, but I enjoyed his irreverent approach to virtually everything.
February 8, 2024
great read
I found this book very insightful. Hope never to have my number come up but keep riding none the less.
I found this book very insightful. Hope never to have my number come up but keep riding none the less.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews