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Vivre Vite: Lou Reed, Tadao Baba, and Death

Suzanne Ferriss

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In November 2022, Brigitte Giraud, a novelist and short story writer, became only the thirteenth woman in 120 years to win the Prix Goncourt, France’s most prestigious literary award, for Vivre Vite (Live Fast). In this memoir, the author grapples with the death of her husband, Claude, in a motorcycle accident that took place in 1999, over twenty years ago. Stopped at a red light in Lyon, he took off when the light changed and must have inadvertently done a wheelie, resulting in his death … Continue reading

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Authenticity Roundtable – Authenticity Through Solo Motorcycle Travel

Jason Wragg

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Building upon the other two papers, this autoethnographic narrative delves into the lived experiences of embarking on solo adventure travel by motorcycle. Departing from conventional academic discourse, this narrative offers a personal and evocative exploration of the captivating world of solo adventure motorcycle travel. The purpose of this autoethnographic narrative is not to present a definitive thesis or unwavering conclusion … Continue reading

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Authenticity Roundtable – Two-wheeled Authenticity, or: Existentialism on a Motorcycle?

Mathew Humphrey

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In 2018, cultural historian Maiken Umbach and I published a book on ‘authenticity’ as an ideological concept. We explored the ideological appropriation of the idea of authenticity across discourse about the natural world, about industrial society, in leadership, and in the field of consumption. We had a few pages in there on authenticity and motorcycle subculture, and that potential connection between motorcycling and authenticity … Continue reading

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Authenticity Roundtable – Authenticity in Motorcycling

Steven E. Alford

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Significantly, motorized transport is often an element in an owner’s identity formation, from Ford Mustangs to Teslas, from Vespas to Harleys. What one drives or rides reflects the owner’s character, suggesting that there’s no small identity anxiety involved in the purchase and use of a motorized vehicle. Groups form around them, and then further distinctions are made among owners. In the world of motorcycling, distinctions are often made … Continue reading

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Iron Horse Cowgirls: Louise Scherbyn and the Women Motorcyclists of the 1930s and 1940s

Book Review By Sheila Malone

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The story of Louise Scherbyn, the founder of the Women’s International Motorcycle Association (WIMA) is strikingly rendered in the forthcoming book Iron Horse Cowgirls: Louise Scherbyn and the Women Motorcyclists of the 1930s and 1940s by Linda Back McKay and Kate St. Vincent Vogl, McFarland Publishers (Fall 2023). The authors overlay the acts of writing with riding (driving) motorcycles … Continue reading

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Identifying the barriers to a wider uptake of motorcycles as a primary mode of transport for commuting in the UK

Alex Parsons-Hulse

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A growing body of research indicates numerus benefits could be achieved from a modal shift in personalised transport from cars to motorcycles, or other forms of powered two-wheelers (PTWs). Benefits include a potential 40% reduction in congestion for all road users coupled with a 6% reduction in the emission cost of pollutants (Yperman, 2011). In most vehicle “use case scenarios” a reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions … Continue reading

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Remembering Geoff Crowther

Steven Alford, Suzanne Ferriss, Christian Pierce & IJMS Friends

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It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Geoff Crowther, one of the founding board members of The International Journal of Motorcycle Studies and the driving force behind our first international conference, held on the Isle of Man in 2007 to celebrate the centenary anniversary of the TT races … Continue reading