Kevin Ash
{{Short description|British motorcycle journalist and author (1959–2013)}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox writer
| image =
| alt = Kevin Ash is sat cross legged on the ground while drinking a beer. In front of him is a sheet contain motorcycle parts and oil. To the left of the picture is a partially dismantled motorcycle.
| caption = Kevin Ash working on a BMW R100RS motorcycle
| birth_name = Kevin Charles Ash
| birth_date = 10 December 1959
| birth_place = Ilford, United Kingdom
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2013|01|22|1959|12|10}}
| death_place = George, Western Cape, South Africa
{{Infobox person |child=yes | death_cause = Motorcycle accident}}
| occupation = Journalist, writer
| spouse={{marriage|Caroline Quanjer|1990}}
| website = {{URL|ashonbikes.com}}
}}
Kevin Ash (10 December 1959 – 22 January 2013) was a British motorcycle journalist and author, who contributed to The Daily Telegraph and to Motor Cycle News.
Covering technical as well as topical issues, Ash was described as "one of the key figures of the British motorcycle scene",{{citation|journal=Motorrad|author=Mike Schümann|title=Zum Tod von Kevin Ash|trans-title=Death of Kevin Ash|language=de|url=http://www.motorradonline.de/ticker/nachruf-kevin-ash/442963|date=23 January 2013|access-date=24 January 2013|quote=Kevin Ash war nicht nur ein hochgradig erfahrener Tester und Journalist... Er galt als eine der Schlüsselfiguren der britischen Motorradszene.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126155631/http://www.motorradonline.de/ticker/nachruf-kevin-ash/442963|archive-date=26 January 2013|url-status=dead}}
"one of the world's leading motorcycle journalists",{{citation|publisher=Bikeexif
|date=November 2011|title=Interview: Kevin Ash
|url=http://www.bikeexif.com/kevin-ash|access-date=24 January 2013}} and "the doyen of motorcycle correspondents."{{citation|title=Telegraph motorcycling correspondent Kevin Ash dies|author=Paul Hudson|date=23 January 2013|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|quote=Tony Gallagher, editor, The Daily Telegraph, said: "Kevin Ash was the doyen of motorcycle correspondents."}}
Personal life
Ash was born in Ilford, a town in north-east London, part of Greater London administrative area. He attended Ipswich School, then studied engineering at Imperial College. In 1990, he married Caroline Quanjer, of the Netherlands,{{cite news | url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9821403/Kevin-Ash-remembered.html | newspaper= The Daily Telegraph | date= 24 January 2013 | access-date= 25 January 2013 | title= Kevin Ash remembered | first= Andrew | last= English}} with whom he had three daughters: Laurien, Kirsten and Ingrid, who were 20, 18 and 10 at the time of his death.{{cite news | url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/9823912/Kevin-Ash-family-man.html | newspaper= The Daily Telegraph | title= Kevin Ash: family man |date= 24 January 2013 | access-date= 25 January 2013}}
Career
Before becoming a journalist, Ash was a motorcycle courier. He also participated in sidecar racing. In 1991, he was a founding contributor at the magazine Fast Bikes.{{cite news | url= http://www.fastbikesmag.com/2013/01/23/kevin-ash/ | newspaper= Fast Bikes | date= 23 January 2013 | title= Kevin Ash | access-date= 25 January 2013}}
He then joined Motor Cycle News (MCN) as a road tester in 1993,Motor Cycle News 22 December 1993 p.9 Internal Masthead, Road Tester Kevin Ash. and pp.10–13 MCN First Ride: Kawasaki ZX-9R, Road Test by Kevin Ash Accessed and added 8 October 2014 following a road traffic accident involving a car and a BMW K1100RS ridden by (then) MCN road editor Chris Dabbs, who suffered life-changing injuries.[http://www.mylastsong.com/advice/359/114/107/funerals/alternative-funerals/the-bikers-tale The Biker's Tale, by Chris Dabbs] Retrieved 8 October 2014 Ash progressed to assistant editor until leaving in 1997 to become a freelance writer.{{citation|newspaper=Motorcycle News|title=MCN columnist Kevin Ash dies|date=23 January 2013|url=http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/General-news/2013/January/jan2313-kevin-ash-obit/}}
As a freelancer, he contributed to The Daily Telegraph for 15 years as its motorcycling correspondent.{{citation|title=Kevin Ash obituary|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=23 January 2013|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9822198/Kevin-Ash.html}}
Ash authored several motorcycle-related books, including BMW Motorcycles: The Evolution of Excellence and Ducati People: Looking into the Lives of the Men and Women Behind This Legendary Marque. He also authored a guide, Going Dutch, in the late 1990s on the parallel import of right-hand drive cars to the United Kingdom from other countries in the European Union.
Death
{{rquote|right|There are moments on bikes when you're concentrating so intently on the moment, the rest of the world, life, worries, memories are all pushed out of your mind as you focus on the now. There's no such thing as perfect happiness, but on two wheels, these can get close.
– Kevin Ash, 2011 Interview, Bike Exif }}
Ash was involved in a fatal motorcycle crash near George, Western Cape in South Africa, during a press test ride at the launch of the 2013 BMW R1200GS.{{citation|publisher=Cycle World|title=Rest in Peace, Kevin Ash / British journalist killed in crash at BMW R1200GS press launch|date=23 January 2013|author= Matthew Miles|url=http://www.cycleworld.com/2013/01/23/rest-in-peace-kevin-ash/|access-date=24 January 2013}}
Ash crashed his R1200GS motorcycle during one of BMW's six scheduled press launch trips that included a total of 60 to 70 journalists, while passing through Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve on a gravel road between Willowmore and Patensie. UK motorcycle journalist Alun Davies,{{cite news
| title = British journalist dies in Cape crash
| publisher = The PE Herald, 24 January 2013
| url = http://www.peherald.com/news/article/11723| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130126093117/http://www.peherald.com/news/article/11723| url-status = usurped| archive-date = 26 January 2013}} following directly behind Ash on another motorcycle, either struck or narrowly avoided striking (reports vary) the fallen Ash and his motorcycle, which straddled the route. Davies was treated at a hospital for a dislocated shoulder and other injuries and discharged several days later.
BMW engineers from Germany were brought to South Africa to investigate all the test motorcycles. {{As of|April 2013|alt=As of April 2013}} investigators have neither announced a connection between a possible problem with the motorcycle and the crash nor released formal details of the accident or investigation.
Works
- {{cite book|editor=Kevin Ash|title=Bikes of the Millennium|year=1999|publisher=EMAP Active|asin=B000S37BOM}}
- {{cite book|last=Ash|first=Kevin|title=New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles|year=2000|publisher=Greenwich Editions|isbn=978-0862882730}}
- {{cite book|last=Ash|first=Kevin|title=Ducati People: Looking Into the Lives of the Men and Women Behind this Legendary Marque|year=2002|publisher=Haynes|isbn=978-1859606865}}
- {{cite book|last=Ash|first=Kevin|title=BMW Motorcycles: The Evolution of Excellence|year=2006|publisher=Haynes|isbn=978-1884313578}}
- {{cite book|last=Ash|first=Kevin|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles|year=2007|publisher=Oceana|isbn=978-1845733520}}
Notes
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
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References
{{refbegin}}
- {{Citation |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motorbikes/10639679/Caroline-Ash-Back-in-the-saddle.html |title= Caroline Ash: Back in the saddle; How Caroline Ash, the wife of our motorcycle correspondent who died just over a year ago, regained her independence by returning to riding a motorcycle |first= Erin |last= Baker |date= 16 February 2014 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date= 17 February 2014 }}
- {{Citation |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/columnists/kevin-ash/10242404/Bikers-tribute-to-Kevin-Ash.html |title=Bikers' tribute to Kevin Ash; Suzi Perry led bikers from all walks in a fitting farewell to our late motorcycle correspondent, Kevin Ash |first= Paul |last= Hudson |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=15 August 2013 |access-date=15 August 2013 }}
{{refend}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ash, Kevin}}
Category:Motorcycle journalists
Category:British motoring journalists
Category:The Daily Telegraph people
Category:Motorcycle road incident deaths
Category:Road incident deaths in South Africa
Category:People educated at Ipswich School
Category:Alumni of Imperial College London