Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: ...assures you of one thing: eventually driving into a tree.This is what Rogers' observations remind me of. It has been a while since I picked up Jim Rogers' diatribe on markets and countries. I am motivated to write this review after hearing that Rogers is still commenting on markets, and is still as wrong as ever. With the test of time, it is useful to go back and see not only how dim someone can be, but how ironic it is to be a traveller that is obtuse to all around you. First of all, this book is definitely NOT worth purchasing. Rather, it is best to borrow a copy from someone willing to admit they own it -- as I did. Then, do your friend a favor and discard of the book so that no one else needs to needlessly suffer the pain. Second, there are many better books to read out there if you enjoy the pain of pouring over words written by someone who is entirely in love with himself. Third, if you like "biker" books, read Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance," which is a much better read about a traveller confronting not only his own ghosts but reacting to his environment. Fourth, if you want to read about investing, you would not harm yourself by reading Grantham & Dodd, Buffet or Marc Faber. Lastly, if you are still determined to spend your hard-earned cash, donate it to charity.
Rating: 
Summary: don't buy--borrow from your local library
Review: An arrogant, rich guy brags at length about snagging a trophy girlfriend (his client's daughter), then chuckles to himself as he motors his shiny BMW bike through crowds of "brown faces" (I think those were his actual words). As a travelogue, this book fails because all of the locations and cultures blur together. As a means of imparting financial strategy, this book also fails--for the reasons noted in other reviews. Anything worthwhile the author has to say is completely nullified by his enormous ego, which comes across on every page. For those of you seeking adventure writing or stock tips, look elsewher.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting book
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone born in the USA. Gives an outlook on the U.S. that's hard to find otherwise. Makes you realize the US won't be top dog forever, and concurrently how lucky one is to not live in most places Rogers visits (at least for now). His story about phoning home from college is worth at least part of the price of the book. Those who are resentful of financially independent people won't enjoy the book, of course. Indeed, I would feel a lot more confident biking across the world with multi-millions in net worth and the title "Doctor" than as a nobody. Being wealthy has a world of benefits...like being able to pay the expenses of that New York ingenue to do the adventure trip with you, and having the option to buy your way out of certain bad situations. One thing I knew before I read page one, you couldn't pay me to do a trip like this. I'm glad Rogers did, so I could enjoy the account from my easy chair. A great read.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent starter book on world economics
Review: I read Investment Biker at the same time I started subscribing to The Economist and the Financial Times. I have a better confidence about our global economy after reading this book then in a month of reading the two newspapers combined. I almost put the book away after the first 50 to 65 pages myself. Early on Jim Rogers focuses too much on the indecision of his twenty-something traveling companion, Tabetha. He moderates this and falls into a compelling rythum of his experiences, impressions and advice.
Rating: 
Summary: Economics Lecture Disguised as a Travelogue
Review: It's lot of fun to travel around the world with Jim Rogers and listen to him describe the world and fulminate against the folly of governments.
It's also fun to think about the things he got right and the things he got wrong (US exchange controls by 2000, for instance) and consider why he thought what he did and how things actually unfolded.
He advocates getting out and living your dream; sound advice, that. He also predicts that Clinton will be the last Democrat ever elected an American president because of irresponsible policies pursued for eight decades, and the collapse of our society because the Republicans aren't fundamentally any better. Certainly with that hanging over your head, you'd be much better off going for a bike ride.
Rating:
Summary: Investment Guidance and Travel Sketch
Review: The author, Jim Rogers, is a international investor and bike adventurer. By reading this book, through the author's eyes you can experience a graet world bike adventure. In this tour, you are going to see natives' lives and cultures in those countries, even to understand those and world economics, for as a investor on the bike the author observes those areas in detail from many viewpoints. It's interesting and useful to read this book, by which you can enjoy a world bike adventure and study economics.
Rating:
Summary: More Biker than Investment
Review: The book actually has not much to do with investemnts. Except for some global economic predictions, the book is on travelling the world. Do not read it for investment stories except if you are interested in lines like: The Chinese are building roads, construction workers who make them used to farm sheeps, of which the cashmere is exported. Therefore go short in fashion brands when the Chiense start building roads....
Rating:
Summary: Not Bad for a School Assignment
Review: The Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Roger would not have been a book I would have chosen to read on my own but, after being assigned to it I would recommend it to those interested in world economy, travel and BMW motorcycles. One follows Roger around the world on his 22-month expedition of six continents and numerous economies and societies. Along with his girlfriend, Tabitha, Roger, a Wall Street legend, entertains with antecedents from his trip, while giving valuable insight of each economy he comes across. Roger is known from revitalizing the "Sleeping Beauty" that is the Austrian stock market. Over the 65,067 miles traveled BMW motorcycles and thousands more by boat, plane and train, Roger experiences first hand global societies, international economies and how they are seceding and failing around the world.
Rating:
Summary: Zen and the Art of Global Investment
Review: This book is Robert Pirsig meets George Soros. Jim Rogers, gazillionaire of Quantum Fund fame, takes you on a riding and investing adventure around the world. During his travels you'll learn a little about local culture, a little about Jim's investment philosophy (go to where they allow open flows of money - just get there before everyone else) and a little about investment tips. Much of this would be great to have learned 7 or 8 years ago. Indeed, the book sparked my interest in working abroad. If you enjoyed his later work, Adventure Capitalist, you're sure to like this too. The only knock is that many of his observations are now dated, as his pessimism has grown over time. (Examnple: He's not so bullish on Turkey and parts of Latin America.)
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly written rant by a "Master of the Universe"
Review: This is a book about what a Tom Wolfe-style Master of the Universe does on holiday. It's nearly impossible to have an "adventure" when you are carrying 10(!) platinum credit cards. He got cold and wet a few times, worried about finding gas, didn't always have hotel rooms up to his standards, and had delays at some borders. Maybe the adventure was resisting the urge to buy an air-ticket to New York on his Visa card. Mr. Rogers' writing is very poor. It is loaded with clichés. He and Tabitha are always zooming on powerful steeds into gorgeous scenery, or steep, craggy mountains into glitzy, glamorous hotspots or delightful, cozy hostels, or across hot, empty, flat deserts into dumps that are not up to American standards. He'll "describe" the Andes as "the top of the world" (p. 315) for five short sentences and then move on to more important matters like further adventures with border guards and investing. Mr. Rogers is woefully ignorant about the places he goes. He views the world through the tiny keyhole of economics. Most of the "interesting facts" he mentions about theses places are just wrong. One indicative example: He describes the Moreno Glacier in Argentina as, "one of the few in the world still moving." (p. 294) I found myself laughing out loud many times. I rode a bicycle around the world for 19 months at about the same time Mr. Rogers was having his "adventure." I am stunned that he perceived so little in his long travels. He appears to have been completely unchanged by the experience. Considering his mode of travel (making time) and attitude towards the local people, I'm not surprised he didn't connect well. This is not a travel book: Mr. Rogers uses his trip as a way to sell a long economic rant. You can save yourself a lot of time by just reading his final chapter, "Afterword." I will summarize his position: governments are bad; smart, rich guys like me are good. Many of his predictions are laughably wrong. He advocated selling the US economy short in 1993. Check the plots for the S&P 500 for the last 7 years ... If you want to understand the distribution of goods in the world, read "Guns, Germs, and Steel," by Jared Diamond. If you want to read about a real motorcycle trip, read Ted Simon's "Jupiter's Travels." "Investment Biker," a classic? Ridiculous. I rated it two stars instead of the minimum of one because there must be some good investing advice in there somewhere, based on what I have heard and read. Also, he helpfully breaks up the text into obvious sections. When he spins off into another (identical) rant against the local, benighted government, you can just skip to the end of that section and get on with the trip.
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