The winter blues is like a sickness. As the cold begins to take hold, everything seems to wither – the trees, the flowers, and the roar of your engine. The winter advances its front line, and we retreat with our motorcycles like wounded soldiers.
Take cover in the garage! Lay your comrade out on motorcycle stands, like an infirm patient avoiding bed sores. Hook up the intravenous trickle charger, wrap it up tight, and let it be. With some luck, and a good bit of time, your motorcycle will be ready to go when the firing ceases.
But you don’t need to sit around and mope for five months (seven if you live anywhere near Winnipeg – sorry). Instead, breathe some life into your soul with these motorcycle documentaries. They’re mildly educational, highly entertaining, and they make for a perfect cure to the winter blues!
On Any Sunday
This isn’t a ranked list, but we had to put the 1971 masterpiece first anyway. The quintessential motorcycle movie looks into the lives of hard-core riders, asking the simple yet elusive question: Why do they do it? With a multitude of motorcycle styles coming under director Bruce Brown’s microscope, you’ll find that motorcyclists – and their answers to this question – vary greatly.
TT: Closer to the Edge
The other iconic film. But we swear, this isn’t a ranked list! Rivetingly shot, this documentary focuses on the 2010 Isle of Man TT race. It’s a classic dumbfounding documentary – the kind that leaves viewers amazed that people actually do that . And for each burst of breakneck speed, we’re reminding of the quiet, unmoving tragedies that surround this event. One riveting movie, Closer to the Edge might as well describe how viewers will move in their seats.
Dust to Glory
Dust to Glory focuses on the 2003 Baja 1000. Dana Brown – son of On Any Sunday director Bruce Brown – offers an in-depth look at the legendary Mexican off-road race. For non-riders, the periods of un-commentated race footage may grow old. For off-road enthusiasts, however, they’re pure gold.
12 O’Clock Boys
Where Dust to Glory follows dirt bikers in the Mexican desert, 12 O’Clock Boys sees them on the streets of Baltimore. There is no grand race here – just a band of street hooligans and their passion for stunting and evading police. We follow Pug – a local kid who is desperate to join the group. This has to be one of the most unique motorcycle documentaries out there, as motorbike frivolity quickly and effectively transforms into weightier issues of class, family and freedom.
Faster
Narrated by celebrity motorcyclist Ewan McGregor, this is the documentary on MotoGP. Filmed in 2001 and 2002, it was simply in the right place at the right time. Besides capturing the young and newly-dominant Valentino Rossi, Faster also highlights a particularly dangerous time in motorcycle racing. While littered with stunning action shots, Faster also takes the time to explore personalities. In particular, it explores one great commonality among racers – the obsessive and potentially destructive compulsion to go faster.
On Any Sunday, The Next Chapter
The original On Any Sunday was like a perfectly chilled Dom Pérignon. This sequel is more like a lukewarm Red Bull and vodka shooter. Not so classy, but probably more fun for the average participant. This isn't exactly surprising, as the movie was produced by, well, Red Bull.
The Next Chapter carries the pretense of exploring some profound undercurrents of motorcycling – like daring and brotherhood. Unlike his father, however, Dana Brown never really delivers on this. Indeed, any attempt at deeper meaning comes across as half-hearted or heavy-handed. Or both. Fortunately, there are plenty of death-defying stunts that will leave viewers too entertained to care.
Long Way Round
Okay, this one is technically a TV series. But just watch all ten episodes at once and call it a documentary movie. You’ll be glad you did.
It’s a must-see for any ADV rider, as it follows Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York City – the long way round. As in, 31 000 km long. Half motorcycling and half travel documentary, Long Way Round will instill a burning sense of adventure in viewers. In fact, you’ll be poring over maps and putting in orders with BMW Motorrad before the credits roll.
Why We Ride
This 2013 documentary is little more than a giddy celebration of motorcycling. It brims with pride for the sport, and offers up some impressive filmography as a tribute to riding culture. Riders of all ages and stripes are interviewed, and all of them echo the simple enthusiasm of the documentary. The whole thing suggests that the prompt – Why We Ride – can be answered in only one way: “Because it’s awesome.”
Brittown
Brittown is focused on the rider rather than the riding. In this case, that rider is Meatball – a mechanic who lends his skill towards customizing British motorcycles. It’s an intimate look into his life, with an earnest charm that only low-budget documentaries can deliver. We follow Meatball around the shop, out to races, and onto the stage with his small-time band. Overall, the mundane rhythm of this documentary reflects a real, lived-in motorcycle culture. It’s a refreshing respite from the high-octane, pumped-up films of elite motorsports.
Britten: Backyard Visionary
If it weren’t a documentary, you’d never believe that this story could be true. The film details the life of John Britten – a New Zealand inventor who hand-built a racing motorcycle from the ground up. Amazingly, Britten’s home invention outperformed all the top motorcycles from the European, Asian and American giants. It set a number world records, and introduced several design innovations that are still in use today. The visuals in this documentary are not especially stunning. Rather, the movie’s quality rests in a truly astonishing story.