In December 1956, Soichiro Honda and his sales chief Takeo Fujisawa flew to Europe looking for their next big idea....
In 1936, Harley-Davidson bet its future on an engine nobody had asked for. The country was still climbing out of...
In the spring of 1969, big motorcycles still ran on drum brakes, kickstarters and a fair amount of faith. British twins ruled the top end of the market, American V-twins thundered along their own separate path, and real speed usually came bundled with oil leaks, vibration and electrics that quit...
There is a factory in Chennai, India, that turns out close to a million motorcycles a year. The bikes rolling...
We take it for granted that 99% of our motorcycles’ headlights are always on, but how did we get here...
What is the pursuit of speed but the unparalleled thrust of girth into the void where noise is last and fear is first – where you don’t come to meet your demons but to run with them. Those who willingly throw themselves into this void, we salute them and remember...
Next time you see some dinky little beginner’s bike, pit bike, pocket bike or el-cheapo Chinese knock-off that makes you...
It’s fairly hard these days to find a movie playing in theaters that doesn’t have some kind of motorcycle involved....
If you’re a child of the ’70s and ’80s like me, your first experience of motorcycle ice racing will probably be a lot like mine. The first time I ever contemplated the idea of motorcycles having bloody great spikes in their tyres was when I saw Roger Moore in the...
Tell us honestly, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of Finland? For hockey fans,...
For the longest time, if you mentioned the name Royal Enfield, the first thing most people thought of was a...
It’s something that we take for granted these days: that 99.9% of the jackets, gloves, pants, and boots we buy to ride in will have some form of CE Level 1 armor. We expect it at the heel and toe, over the ankles, and at the knees, elbows, and shoulders....
There is a wise saying about inventions that says that “the invention has to make sense in the world it...
When someone mentions Italian motorcycles, the first image that goes through pretty much everyone’s head is that of a sleek,...
The noise. The speed. The danger. The rebellion. It seems motorcycles were made to cause trouble. From scaring old ladies to changing the course of world cultures, it seems there is nothing motorcycles can’t flip upside-down, set on fire and have a good giggle about. But what if we were...
You can’t go far these days without hearing about electric motorcycles. It seems like every week there is a new...
The 1970s and 1980s were a golden age for forced induction engines. Like shoulder pads in suits and mascara on...
Forgive me if I sound about 10 years old, but as a grown-ass man I still have my childhood obsession with weird and wonderful WWII vehicles in full effect. Be it their wild creativity, overblown mechanicals or straight-up ‘let’s cross our fingers and see if this works’ hopefulness, they still...
So, just how much do you know about T.E. Lawrence? Who, you ask? And as you do, the long dead...
Since the very first 1885 Daimler Reitwagen motorcycle, the passion for two-wheeled goodness has covered the globe. Motorcycles fill all...
The world is full of amazing motorcycle brands, but I cannot think of a single other manufacturer that can claim to have a lifestyle. Is there any other brand of motorcycle in the world that has the level of global recognition of Harley Davidson? I cannot think of a single...
All brands have certain challenges to overcome, especially the historical ones. Be it a poor marketing decision, failed product launches,...
Like many teenagers in 1980s Australia, I was a willing participant in the Japanese rotary-engined street racer phase that swept...
The global success of George Miller’s Mad Max first installment in 1979 meant a lot for Aussies, young and old. Not only did it prove that we could punch above our weight when it came to motion pictures and storytelling and introduce the world to the new genre of ‘car...
Next up on our voyage through the decades, we arrive at the 1990s. While the 80s was a decade of...
As we continue our journey through the decades, it’s time to take a look at the best motorcycles of the...
Good ol’ Eddie ‘Dave’ Davenport from the Tulare Raiders on the borrowed Harley with all those smashed beer bottles. It’s the image from photographer Barney Peterson that launched a thousand motorcycle clubs, and upset an infinite nest of America’s letter writing moral guardians. It also spawned a multitude more twenty...
Talk to any biker over a few beers at the end of the day, the same old question comes up....
As we reported earlier this month, Road Guardians is auctioning off the Harley-Davidson New Glory Flag Bike, with the entries...
While every decade has its icons, the 1970s have so many good models to choose from. It was a time when the Japanese were really stamping their authority over the scene, flexing muscles and cylinders with each other, and driving once-mighty international brands into obscurity. Despite the changing landscape, the...
The 1960s was a transformative time for the motorcycle industry. As the mobility culture shifted from affordable motorcycles to affordable...
The 1950s was an interesting decade for the motorcycle industry. As countries began to show signs of economic improvement after...