The journeys do something magical to us; those winds that rush through our hairs provide serenity to an otherwise claustrophobic world. Experiences that leap on to us from every corner while stories that stitch up as if a miracle. Motorcycle riding is not just the best way of learning to be an individual but it also brings with it a sense of spirituality, of love for life and of extreme sensory awakening seldom provided by any other (legal) thing. Probably the greatest way to project and to feel true freedom exists only in letting you charter unknown roads on a motorcycle and coming back as a wiser and a better version of yourself. Motorcycle riding makes us have a closer look of our surroundings and the feeling of oneness with your motorcycle can turn you into a storyteller, and no doubt every one of us motorcycle rider is a storyteller and a proud one at that. We have travel across the length and breadth of the world, Meeting strangers as we travelled across the length and breadth of the world, falling in love, falling out of love, moving on, and just standing calm, motorcycling gives us all this and much much more. So there is no doubt that when people who have hit the road on a motorcycle have picked a pen something grand, rebellious and incredibly captivating has been created. And as the spring season gets rolling full swing, we bring you 6 finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this Spring!
1. The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara
For the first book in our 6 Finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this Spring, ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara is as iconic as it can get for a story line that has a motorcycle journey in its heart. Penned by Ernesto Guevara ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ is a memoir that takes coming of age story’s to a whole new level. The book talks about Ernesto Guevara, his friend and their journey together through South America on a 1939 Norton 500cc in. This is the story of a man for whom the only things that ever mattered were his next drink, next bed and the next love who transformed to become a man who could sacrifice himself and his life for the betterment of the tortured Latin American citizens.
As rebellious and as human a story as you can find, the Motorcycle Diaries is a masterpiece of a book that will touch all the right chords inside your soul. Back in 2004, Walter Sales directed a motion picture based on the book by the same name and it was a critically acclaimed movie. Missing reading this epic tale of Motorcycling and the places it can take you to fulfill your destiny is a sin you would not like to commit.
2. Jupiter’s Travels by Ted Simon
There is one thing that is repeatedly said about people who have travels far and across on a motorcycle, that motorcycle ride changed them, as they soaked into the sheer beauty of the terrains they passed, they also took even deeper journeys within to understand themselves better and thus came out a lot different person than they were before. In this respect, the next book in our list of 6 Finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this spring should be among the most intriguing works in literature done on motorcycle touring and the undeniable effects it has on one’s soul and character. It is the book written by Ted Simons and is called, Jupiter’s Travels.
Jupiter’s Travels is a documentation of an epic and a staggering 63000 mile motorcycle journey that Ted Simons took on his Triumph to cover 54 countries around the world back in the glorious 70’s. A story of an experience that mere mortals can seldom dream off, the Jupiter’s Travels is about a man and his motorcycle who together chartered into the unknown and frightening territories and through un-imaginable hard work, sheer grit, breakdowns, war, revolutions, prison, disasters and what not to eventually come on top to a level of euphoria only saints and poets could talk about. What Ted went through that journey is an incredible story of how a man was treated as a spy at one place, a welcomed stranger at the other while at another he was taken as a great traveler. This journey has inspired the famous Ewan McGregor movie – Long Way Round and is a perfect explanation of what motorcycling means to us motorcyclists, a way to find ourselves, and a way to belong.
3. Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books by Ted Bishop
Next up in the 6 Finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this Spring list is Riding with Rilke: Reflections on Motorcycles and Books by Ted Bishop, and is has a fairly basic premise, there is a rider, a ride and its is story simple. However, the way Ted has written this brilliant story of his ride on a Ducati from Edmonton to Austin clearly showcases his love for books, stories, history and his bike. Riding with Rilke was the Playbook Best Book in 2006. Read it, and get captivated by the joyful world of a motorcyclist and his passion.
4. One Man Caravan by Robert Edison Fulton
First published in 1937, our next book in the list of 6 Finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this Spring, is the story of all motorcycle stories, for this epic book is a record of the amazing and the adventurous solo round-the-world tour by Robert Edison Fulton’s on a two-cylinder Douglas motorcycle between July, 1932 and December, 1933. This story of an 18 month journey that took Fulton from London to Tokyo in the times when the world was in turmoil due to the Second World War, those were starkly different times than the world we live in. Imagine how Fulton finished this mammoth ride in the times where there were no cell phones, GPS navigation, a road infrastructure around th world that was archaic as compared to today’s time. This we tell you is an absolute vintage classic about a man, his motorcycle, a world war in the background and one epic ride showcasing how ‘badass’ Fulton was, way way before it got cool.
5. Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
The next book in our bucket list of 6 Finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this Spring is a one that is as grand a motorcycle ride as it can get. This have it all book about the motorcycle journey that changed many lives, has a lot going for it, huge celebrities, iconic motorcycles and one EPIC ride that saw the protagonist’s ride from London to New York. It was when the Hollywood star Ewan McGregor planned to ride across the world with is friend Charley Boorman on their BMW’s; the world knew something big was going to happen. The rider duo rode through the European continent, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia then across the Pacific to Alaska, finally going down through Canada and America. This is one incredible story of true grit, everlasting friendships, never-fading experiences, and above all a story of men and their motorcycles tearing through the vastness of terrains through the world. And it is also full of manly grit as the duo chased their shadows through treacherous conditions, tormenting roads, unpredictable weather, sensitive areas, turbulent politics and everything that was challenging their stamina to the extreme every moment as they suffered exhaustion, injury and accidents that tested their sanity.
The duo of McGregor and Boorman also suffered a lot due to their celebrity status that meant, the eyes of the world was on them, paparazzi chased them in Kazakhstan, at Ukraine they were courted by burly men with large guns, they were hassled by the police and for their supper in Mongolia they were given bulls testicle to eat by the nomads.
So be in no doubt the book, Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman is an absolute gem of a documentation of a ride that saw two men undertake a journey of 20000 miles in 4 months that changed them and their lives forever. This book is a masterpiece that will stir the immense longing for a long ride in the heart of any true blue motorcyclist. This document of their journey as they waded through their grueling ride, Ewan and Charley took pictures, made videos, and wrote the diaries by campfire is a masterpiece on so many fronts that only true blue riders can understand and you wouldn’t want to miss something as brilliant as this, would you?
6. Hell’s Angels by Hunter S. Thompson
When we talk about motorcycles, motorcycling, and books, it is an eternal crime not to talk about one of the greatest piece of writing that has talked about motorcycles and the people who defined biker lifestyle for generations to come. Simply saying, without Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga by Hunter S. Thomson our list of 6 Finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this Spring would remain incomplete without it. This is a classic that is unmatched in its aura, bravery and absolute honesty. An established reported in those times, Thompson in the mid 60’s decide to write about the notorious and controversial Hell’s Angels rider club, during a time when the gang was highly feared and accused of numerous criminal activities. It was a world that was brutal, had brotherhood, and was the epitome of counter-culture movement that terrified USA in those times.
For the book, Thompson spent almost two years of his life staying with this highly controversial club as they rode up and down the Californian coast, drenched in the anarchy that was in the spirit of their closely knit clan, as they personified their name by raising hell where ever they go.
Thompson’s book, thus is a brilliant account of a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and of the times anti-cultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. The book has been written with bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incisive eye, something that came naturally to Thompson. New York Times described, Thompson’s book Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, “a world most of us would never dare encounter”. As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hell’s Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend.
This is not all, we will be back with another batch of great motorcycle adventure books for you, in the meantime do comment below and let us know what you think about the books we have shortlisted for you in our list of 6 Finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this Spring!
The post 6 Finest Motorcycle Adventure Books to read this Spring! appeared first on ColumnM.