Watching bikes are the next best thing to riding them,
but what should watch to let the thrill keep going up?
1- TT3D: Closer to the Edge
I can’t say enough about this documentary. Forget about the 3D bit, because the story is easily strong enough to carry the film without the whizz-bang technology – and has everyone actually bought a 3D TV? The 2010 TT will go down in history, and not all for the right reasons, and the film makers were here to record the whole lot. Amazing.
2- Faster
Fastest, by the same director Mark Neale. May be fresh out at the minute, but the original is still the best. An almost wet behind the ears Valentino Rossi gives fun and frank interviews about life on the 500s – “Mya first time ona five hundred a bit like – fak!” – with the supporting cast every bit as interesting and spectacular.
3- Top Gear
Top Gear? Yes, Top Gear. The 2008 Vietnam Christmas special was a glorious advert for bikes and where they can take you physically and spiritually. The trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Ha Long was an epic 1609.34 km journey on three of the shittest bikes you could buy - the whole show was proof that 15m Vietnamese dong is enough to buy you the greatest adventure ever.
4- On Any Sunday
Easily the most important bike the documentary up until the current crop, On Any Sunday (and its subsequent sequels) follows the lives of racers doing whatever they can to compete and win across a wide spectrum of America sport. It was even nominated for an Oscar (albeit in one of the categories no-one cares much about)
5- Easy Rider
A passage of rites for any biker, Peter Fonda and Denis Hopper’s road trip takes them across the Southwest of America in the search of freedom.
6- The Doctor, The Tornado and the Kentucky Kid
As MotoGP returned to California in 2005, Mark Neale charted the home riders – and Mr V Rossi – as they approach the reincarnated Laguna Seca round.
7- World’s Fastest Indian
Don’t get me wrong, the Indian is a bike. The story of Burt Monro, a kiwi who pushes his Indian ever faster is a great yarn, helped immeasurably by Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal.
8- Motorcycle Diaries
It turns out that one of the most important revolutionary’s in the world, Che Guavara, was into his bikes as a kid. Shame he didn’t keep it up in his later years. Anyway, a great true story, great scenery and bikes, too.
9- The Long Way Around
Inspired by Ted Simon’s book, Jupiter’s Travels, McGregor and Boorman’s original Long Way trip from London to New York, is better than the sequel – the Long Way Down. Through pampered, the trip is an entertaining and illuminating story that details the perils perfectly.
10- Fastest
Faster, Mark Neale’s latest project, isn’t quite up to the original, but who cares when sights and speed of race bikes plastered all over your 42-incher.
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