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Is that Bike Diesel, Mate?: One Man, One Bike, and the First Lap Around Australia on Used Cooking Oil
by
The next eagerly awaited, high octane, seat-of-your-pants adventure from the author of the bestselling Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs (she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse) sees (the surely a bit bonkers) Paul Carter circumnavigating Australia on a bio-diesel motorcycle.
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Paperback, 288 pages
Published
November 1st 2010
by Nicholas Brealey Publishing
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of Is that Bike Diesel, Mate?: One Man, One Bike, and the First Lap Around Australia on Used Cooking Oil
Jul 24, 2015
MaryG2E
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
z2015-alphabetical
The formative idea of this book is that 40-something Paul Carter, having recently attained the status of fatherhood, is not ready to settle down into suburban life in Perth just yet. After spending an interesting two decades flitting around the world working on various oil rigs, he wants one last big adventure before he succumbs to domesticity. Being passionate about motorcycles, he wants to go on a Really Big Ride. Only problem is that he lacks the necessary cash to indulge his fantasy, so has
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Not as good as it could have been. Yes, the author has my sense of humour which made a great connection in the early stages. The whole premise of the book makes for a great story. Riding a crazily underpowered bike running on used chip oil around Australia is a great idea. The author is the type of person to turn the idea into reality.
The humour keeps the book fresh for the first half, but sadly it runs out of steam. The second half gets very repetitive and lacks detail and humour. I am sure th ...more
The humour keeps the book fresh for the first half, but sadly it runs out of steam. The second half gets very repetitive and lacks detail and humour. I am sure th ...more
Best Book yet! This is the 3rd book of Paul Carters I have read and by fair the best. I was in fits of laugher.
May have to see if i can find the film to watch now after reading this.
Hoping to find another read of what happens when he hits the salt of the next bio fuel bike.
May have to see if i can find the film to watch now after reading this.
Hoping to find another read of what happens when he hits the salt of the next bio fuel bike.
Full of colourful language, Paul Carter writes a rollicking yarn that was a very easy and humorous read. I read this in two days and. enjoyed it very much.
Not as good as his previous two books.
Still written well, good for a few laughs and informative along the way.
Still written well, good for a few laughs and informative along the way.
I didnt really enjoy this much. Felt like he was trying just a bit too hard to be blokey and prove he wasnt an old fart. Came across a bit creepy now and then!
Fantastic read. One of those books that makes you laugh out loud in public...
3.5 stars
I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. It was ok, but hitting the difficult third book. After the often hilarious Don't Tell Mum, the "these are the bits I didn't put in the first book, but they're still funny" This is not a drill, what does he write about now?
And I think he wasn't sure himself - having taken a desk job, and with a new family, he decides to lap Australia on a bike created to run on bio fuel. And...well, that's really it. Again it's nearly half way through before he sets off, an ...more
And I think he wasn't sure himself - having taken a desk job, and with a new family, he decides to lap Australia on a bike created to run on bio fuel. And...well, that's really it. Again it's nearly half way through before he sets off, an ...more
I fear you have to be an Australian bloke to understand the twisted, ocker sense of humour that Paul Carter brings to the table. He is brash, brutally honest and down-to-earth. His stories are retold with the sure-footed comfort of a master story teller, any bloke that enjoys a beer and regaling his mates with stories of his adventures will be able to relate. In my mind we all know one Paul Carter, the bloke that tells his stories over and over again but somehow they are always fresh and enterta
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I picked this book up after reading Paul Carter's two previous books on his time working on oil rigs around the world. In this book Paul is retired from the oil rigs and is working a desk job with a new family. What happens next is summed up perfectly in the title. He does what it says on the cover.
This is a nice funny tale of a man and a bike. It is a nice easy read, perfectly enjoyable whether you are into motor bikes or not. If I am going to be super critical, then the final section of the jo ...more
This is a nice funny tale of a man and a bike. It is a nice easy read, perfectly enjoyable whether you are into motor bikes or not. If I am going to be super critical, then the final section of the jo ...more
Right, first an admission. My wife and I went on a 1100 km drive in our fuel guzzling 4WD. On the way, I bought this talking book and whacked the CD into the driver. Paul Carter, the author, read his story of travelling around Australia on a bike driven by used Vegetable Oil!
The story has some mildly interesting anecdotes of getting the trip up and running followed by the trials and tribulations of actually getting the bike around the country. Look, I didn't really like Carter's style of storyt ...more
The story has some mildly interesting anecdotes of getting the trip up and running followed by the trials and tribulations of actually getting the bike around the country. Look, I didn't really like Carter's style of storyt ...more
I can see how this book might work for some folks, and it certainly had potential, it really didn't for me. I picked this one up in the Heathrow airport when Dianne and the girls and I were coming back from our trip to Europe last August. Mr. Carter's irreverant personality and writing style at first seemed quite clever but the charm seemed to wear off rather quickly. In the end, the story telling was too simple and I couldn't really figure out what the author was all about other than really lov
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If you are expecting an Australian version of Long Way Round then it won't quite meet it.
Paul Carter is an ex oil rig worker who after his partner becomes pregnant decides to settle down. After a few months shuffling paperwork wants to ride around Australia on motorbike, his wife suggests rinding something unusual. he manages to find and borrow a oil powered bike from Adelaide Uni and so begins the journey. He completes 14,500km, and thankful escapes serious injury after falling off at one point ...more
Paul Carter is an ex oil rig worker who after his partner becomes pregnant decides to settle down. After a few months shuffling paperwork wants to ride around Australia on motorbike, his wife suggests rinding something unusual. he manages to find and borrow a oil powered bike from Adelaide Uni and so begins the journey. He completes 14,500km, and thankful escapes serious injury after falling off at one point ...more
Mar 25, 2012
Kirsty (alkalinekiwi)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2012,
travel
Decided to read something funny while resting up in bed today trying to get over a cold.
I haven't read any of Paul Carter's other books though I think I will look out for them and I did see a volume combining all of his books but if they are as funny as this one I look forward to it.
This was a fairly quick read which had me in fits of laughter, Paul Carter reminds me of some of my hardcase male relatives. ...more
I haven't read any of Paul Carter's other books though I think I will look out for them and I did see a volume combining all of his books but if they are as funny as this one I look forward to it.
This was a fairly quick read which had me in fits of laughter, Paul Carter reminds me of some of my hardcase male relatives. ...more
Really good book about a mans struggles to tame the caged adventure within. Like all good men Paul also has an understanding wife as he set out to ride round Australia. unfortunately the end goes faster than his diesel bike! It looks like he used too many pages and was told you can only have 266 in this book. So he sped off on the last leg of the trip with practically no depth. Still enjoyed the book with good laughs along the way.
Apr 01, 2013
Elisabeth Sowerbutts
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
travel-memoir
I wanted to like this book. I've driven around Australia (not on a bike!), and I've worked in the mining industry so I could relate to the writer's tone and language. Unfortunately his un-examined sexism sounded all TOO true to me, and we didn't even get onto the trip until well over 1/2 way thru the book.
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enjoyed it more than i thought i would, mostly i find this sort of thing pretty self indulgent, but paul is a self-aware man-child (if there can be such a thing)... and the book isn't really about the lap around australia, but more about him realising that now he has a wife and child, his life has changed... and he loves it.
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Great read. Plenty of laugh out loud moments but perhaps not as many as his first book, Dont tell my mum I work on the rigs, she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse. There isnt much to this one, its a quick read but well worth it all the same.
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Not as good as his first two books but still very entertaining. The scenes including the cockroach and the Longreach hospital had me laughing out loud on the train. I certainly hope that there are more books to come from Paul Carter.
Paul Carter's first two books are excellent and I've recommended them to everyone when conversation has hit upon favourite books. I don't think this book is up there with these two but it kept me entertained on a flight. If you've not read any od PC's books, start with "Don't Tell Mum".
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A nice and quick read about the first trip around Australia in a bio-diesel moto. This guy has a great sense of humor. Good read, especially will be liked by moto riders and dudes.
Not as good a read as Paul Carter's first two books. Still entertaining.
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I found this an interesting read, although I was lost in places, its a very 'manly' book in my opinion. I didn't enjoy it as much as his previous books
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Love it.... Read it twice...
Just as entertaining as his other books!
Good easy read, with some laugh out loud moments. Would have been higher rated, but his constant 'blokey' references were too frequent for me. I guess he's catering to his general audience.
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Great story, well told.
5 stars for this book, found it hard to put down. l enjoyed the story, the drama, the emotions. Makes me want to go and ride a diesel bike around Australia.
5 stars for this book, found it hard to put down. l enjoyed the story, the drama, the emotions. Makes me want to go and ride a diesel bike around Australia.
Paul is a loveable larrikin who tells a great story.
Listened on audio with my husband on a long road trip and we both enjoyed the humour.
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Readers also enjoyed
Paul Carter was born in England in 1969. His father's military career had the family moving all over the world, re-locating every few years. Paul has lived, worked, gotten into trouble and been given a serious talking to in England, Scotland, Germany, France, Holland, Norway, Portugal, Tunisia, Australia, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo, Columbia, Vietnam, Thailand, Papua New Guinea,
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