Honestly - what a bunch of well hard, beer-munching men’s men I work with here at DVDnet. A disc on the history of the mighty Harley Davidson motorcycle comes in and they all deftly run away from it with chardonnay in hand, preferring to select all manner of soppy romances and kiddie fodder for review instead. So it looks like it’s up to this solitary oestrogen-fuelled representative of our site to buckle up and get on down with what is apparently the greatest two-wheeled conveyance ever to have graced any strip of black tarry stuff with lines painted down the middle ever. Right, gimme a beer dammit!

For anybody interested in the history of Harley Davidson, from their beginnings in 1901 with what was essentially a bicycle with an engine strapped on, through speed records, two world wars, becoming a worldwide addiction for members of H.O.G. and more right through to the ‘90s, it’s all present and accounted for here. Horns, rigid rears, forks, suspenders – erm, suspension – this has it all in often quite minute detail (considering the programme's sub-one hour length), as individual bikes from throughout the history of the company are examined in often remarkably close-up detail. Yes folks, it looks like we’ve got us some motorcycle porn!

Littered throughout are interviews with many Harley Davidson owners – pleasingly both with dangly bits and without – and as much as this chick sadly recalls the words of her daddy as he plopped her on his knee and declared, “Amy, if you ever get on a motorcycle I’ll disown you�, and who has ever since been a good little girl, it’s intriguing to witness the bond these two-wheeled beasties can inspire in people – and with such a rich heritage it’s completely understandable. After all, any company that gives their produce such names as “Shovelhead�, “Flathead�, “Knucklehead� and “Fat Boy� has got to be alright, right?

This started life as a VHS release years ago, and hasn’t exactly blossomed any since – in fact it looks pretty much like it was just dragged kicking and screaming straight from videotape to DVD. Fuzzies and bleeding are the norm rather than the exception, and with so much chrome hanging around aliasing is never much of a stranger.

The audio comes via a stock standard Dolby Digital stereo mix, offering serviceable sound and nothing more. The sometimes rather cheesy dialogue is always clear, however, as (sadly) are the lame music tracks, ranging from what sounds like a neutered Neutron Dance through to a spirited cover of Wild Thing (in truth a hard song to f*ck up).

There is but one solitary extra, a history of the Harley in text which is quite thorough, as well as being an alarming example of just how illiterate some people can be. Redefining the word tautology, it is also riddled with appalling spelling errors – personal favourites including “especcially�, “thoughest� and “Japanees�. And then there’s the relentless attack of the killer paired-off exclamation marks!!

Disc-wise it’s all decidedly average, however the content should have any Harley Davidson fan drooling. So, until next time, keep the shiny side up - erm, unless you're trying to play the DVD, in which case you may find flipping it over is actually a good thing...