Bob Guntrip discovered that motorcycles could send shivers down his back while he was still in short pants, and has never really recovered. After more than 30 years editing and contributing to sports magazines on three continents, he knows his love for motorcycle racing is total and irreversible. He has on occasion sought cures in science journalism, lesser forms of sport and even interior design; each has lasted no longer than the first bark of an Italian V-twin or howl of a Japanese four to pass his office window. In 2015 Bob tried writing bikes out of his system with his book Racing Line. Slow Burn was the ultimate result.

• As the 1970s dawned, the four-stroke seemed likely to disappear from international open-class racing altogether; but not before a final flourish – in a new class – led by Britain’s last ailing giants.

• Brazen, brash, irritating to the ear and very fast, the first big-bore two-strokes began to appear in 1972 and Paul Smart was right there when it mattered.

• Yamaha’s trim, purposeful motorcycles have formed the backbone of racing for half a century; but there was never a time that emphasized their potential quite like the mid-1970s.

• Finally, F750 had its world championship for 1977 – but it came too late to be much more than a one-make, one-model competition. Little wonder the alternatives were gaining ground.

• Problem: the TT is stripped of its world championship status after 1976. Solution: the TT stages its own world championship, and offers one path to cheaper racing.

• At Ontario in 1973, it was called Superbike Production. Soon it would become AMA Superbike, and routinely offer some of the world's tightest racing – just ask Eddie, Freddie, Mike and Wes.

• "They're hard men here," said Roger Marshall on a visit to Australia for the Swann Series. They were smart too: Superbike racing quickly took root down under.

• By the middle '80s, the brute power of the air-cooled 1000s was a thing of the past. And as 750s grew stronger, the World Superbike Championship assumed shape and substance.