Getting Your Fix
Jan 12th, 2009 by Leo
So you don’t feel like taking a ride in 19 degree weather… What’s a rider to do? I personally don’t like looking at the ‘latest & greatest’ machines to demand my money in glossy magazines. Everything looks pretty much the same to me in a glossy anyway. To me the real fun is not in owning something shiny it’s in riding the thing. So a better route is to get yourself some good movies or videos that capture the feeling and the challenge of riding. Here are a couple of standards to get you started:
#1 Faster – A 2004 documentary on MotoGP. Even if you’re not into racing, this is a fun documentary with lots of motorcycle footage. It’s a good introduction to Valentino Rossi and his old rivalry with Max Biaggi. If you’re not a stickler for video quality or copyright laws you can watch it online here.
If the movie interests you there’s a sequel, and even better you can catch up on last year’s MotoGP – there was a good mid-season summary here, and plenty of torrents floating around the web of last year’s races.
#2 On Any Sunday – A 1971 documentary that is as interesting for it’s 70’s kitsch as it is for its motorcycle footage… It gives a good survey of different riding styles and events… As old as it is, it really captures the fun of motorcycling and at the same time can help you learn a couple of things you might not have known… Curious? You can find clips of the movie here.
#3 World’s Fastest Indian (with Anthony Hopkins) – If you want more of a story, there’s a good (not great, but nice, and something you can watch with non-motorcycling folks). Not really something you’d watch for the motorcycle footage, but fun nonetheless. It’s the true story of Burt Monroe, who set the under 1000cc motorcycle land speed record at the age of 63 on a hacked up Indian at a 180 mph (the top speed of a stock Indian was around 53mph). A few years later he got it up to 190mph. Curious? Here’s a clip with the real Burt Monroe.
Plenty of movies I haven’t named (including the one of the poster above), but I think I got some of the better ones. What’s your favorite fix…motorcycle movie?
Related posts:
Kino’s Journey is an Anime about a girl and her sentient motorcycle (a Brough Superior) on a tour of the world.
Long Way Round and Long Way Down are two “series” of cross-continent riding insights- these guys circumnavigated the world, on bikes! Just two friends and their love for bikes and riding, traveling through every type of condition you can think of. Incredible people and culture along the way. Oh, how nice it would be to have months and dollars to do these things.
I youtube it. I love to shake my head at all the squids, be amazed at the stunting videos until I realize they do pretty much the same tricks on virtually the same terrain, try to pick up some pointers from the track guys, and then watch the crashes to make myself remember this can be dangerous.
“Long Way Round and Long Way Down”
I second these. I own both of these as well as faster. Great to watch when it starts raining.
Hi Leo,
Thanks for this website. I am 53, and I live in DUMBO Brooklyn, and teach in the Bronx.
I drive my van to and fro work. I get their in about a half hour in the am, up the FDR, over the 3rd ave bridge, and onto the cross Bronx to 3rd ave. In the evening, the commute home is between 1 and 2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic.
Well, I can’t take it any more, and I just got my hand on 6 grand, and it is time for a nice bike.
20 years ago I rode a honda 500 for a while. So, it has been a while since I have been on a bike. Well, I just want to say that I appreciate your website for the information about riding in NYC. I am trying to figure out what kind of bike to get, because there are so many nice bikes out there
Scott