Riding on the Small Screen

With the world back in lockdown, short days and long, cold nights of winter and the short-lived escape of a few hours of snowball fights now a memory, getting a fix of motorcycling can feel like it’s a long way away. However, while you may not be able to get out on your bike yourself (unless it’s for work or an essential journey), you can still immerse yourself in some motorcycling on TV, DVD or online with a selection of biking movies and telly.

We’ve chosen a selection of engaging and significant films based around the world of motorcycling, ranging from straight-up comic-book heroes and anti-heroes to tales of cultural separation and misunderstanding. And while it’s often good to lose yourself in the imagined world of movies, others may prefer the factual, so we’ve also got a range of non-fiction, all intended to get into the head of the motorcyclist to understand what we do and why?

Some are only available on DVD while much is also available to stream, so you can watch instantly should the mood take you. So sit back, pop open a bag of popcorn (sweet, obviously – none of that salted muck) enjoy some on-screen two-wheeled action.

No Limit

For a film of its age (it was made in 1935), No Limit is surprisingly modern. It tells the story of George Shuttleworth, played by George Formby, who isn’t cleanin’ winduhs but is convinced he has what it takes to win the Isle of Man TT. So, in this story of underdog achievement, he heads to the island on his home-made bike, the Shuttleworth Snap and takes it to the works racing teams. Sure, the racing effects are a little prehistoric and the songs are ‘of their time’ but it’s a reminder of Britain several generations ago.

The Wild One

Perhaps the first rebel-biker movie, The Wild One is Johnny Strabler, leader of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club which has just ripped-up a race meeting and stolen a trophy. The gang ends up in Wrightsville and proceeds to stomp around, causing much tutting but not too much resistance, as they’re spending plenty of money in the town. Johnny starts to fall for a local waitress before coming up against a rival gang and a weak and resentful sheriff. A tale of anti-establishment angst, The Wild One set the scene for countless movies and shows and can legitimately lay claim to inspiring everything from James Dean’s Rebel without a Cause to the more modern Sons of Anarchy.

On any Sunday

This 1971 documentary looks at the world of off-road racers in the USA in the late 1960s, including motocross and desert racing and interviews riders to find out what the attraction is and why they ride. Hollywood legend Steve McQueen features in the film, as he was an avid motorcycle rider and racer, having done all the ground-riding during the famous border scene in The Great. So successful was On Any Sunday that it spawned a series of sequels.

Silver Dream Racer

Silver Dream Racer follows motorcycle mechanic and aspiring racer Nick Freeman, played by 1970s heart-throb David Essex as he struggles to find a break. When his engineer brother dies, he inherits the innovative racing bike he was developing – cue the famous line “it’s a prototype”. He eventually enters the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on the Silver Dream Machine (the song of the same name went to No.4 in the UK charts in March 1980) – which gives rides to some excellent imagery. Two different endings were produced and this DVD available on Amazon features both.

Ghost Rider

The irrepressible Nicholas Cage is Jonny Blaze, the indestructible stunt rider who inadvertently made a pact with the devil to cure his father of cancer. As a result, Blaze becomes the Ghost Rider, the Devil’s henchman, tasked with preventing Blackheart from creating hell on earth. It’s an enjoyable romp with Cage’s trademark intensity and uniqueness and benefits greatly from Sam Elliott’s voiceover and appearance. It also includes a delightful nod as Mephisto, played by Peter Fonda, compliments Cage on his chopper (see Easy Rider).

Easy Rider

Easy Rider is the story of two hippies crossing the USA from California to New Orleans after a particularly lucrative dope deal. They take to the road on a pair of Harley-Davidsons and along the way, get arrested, pick up lawyer Jack Nicolson and experience some of the good and the bad of the USA at that time. Things inevitably start to go wrong for the pair, who stand out from the establishment and are feared and resented in equal measure as they travel through rural America.

Race to Dakar

Two years after riding around the world with Ewan McGregor in The Long Way, Charley Boorman decided to enter the 2006 Dakar Rally on a BMW F650GS. This documentary follows him as he attempts his lifelong dream of competing on the event, pairing up with veteran off-road racer Simon Pavey. It turned out to be an arduous task and there is much insight into not just the physical but also the emotional and psychological demands that are put on the rider in the run-up to, during and after the event.

TT: Closer to the Edge

We all know just how intense the Isle of Man TT is. It’s been going on for more than 100 years and while we can virtually ride with the stars as they thread their way through the narrow public roads, until Richard de Aragues’s documentary, we’ve rarely seen any further into the riders’ psyche than TV interviews. Filmed at the 2010 event and featuring now-celeb Guy Martin as well as numerous other riders, the film looks at what drives them on an event that has claimed more than 200 lives since its inception.

The Long Way Up

It all started with The Long Way Round in 2004, where Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman rode from the UK to New York east around most of the world on BMW R1150GS motorcycles. Three years later, the pair remounted for The Long Way Down, from John o’Groats in Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa. Then, in 2019, they reformed once more to ride Harley-Davidson Livewire electric motorcycles from Ushuaia in Argentina to Los Angeles in the USA, stopping constantly en route to recharge the bikes from support vehicles and strangers’ homes.