should check out 1963's The Great Escape, the moto scene with Steve McQueen is bad ass, and HE does all the riding in it (No stunt man)

should check out 1963's The Great Escape, the moto scene with Steve McQueen is bad ass, and HE does all the riding in it (No stunt man)

I couldnt agree more...the movie was a trip, and I totally felt a little lost watching it. It was still good, but I felt like it was really choppy and I totally didnt get it (at least what I was supposed to get out of it) I just walked away saying "hmmm that was interesting...liked the bikes, and scenery" but the guys getting shot by rednecks at the end just seemed a little like WTF?? I'll have to check out "The great Escape" next!

I think it was a triumph, but I can't remember....

I couldnt agree more...the movie was a trip, and I totally felt a little lost watching it. It was still good, but I felt like it was really choppy and I totally didnt get it (at least what I was supposed to get out of it) I just walked away saying "hmmm that was interesting...liked the bikes, and scenery" but the guys getting shot by rednecks at the end just seemed a little like WTF?? I'll have to check out "The great Escape" next!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this classic:

Triumph.
>edit<
I have it in the film library along with other classics like "The Great Esacpe", "On Any Sunday", "From Dust to Glory" and of course any and all Isle of Man TT videos (heh. classic in their own way).

...b/c it seems dated. But all this talk, sounds like its a motorcycle right of passage.

Can I be a real rider if I don't watch it?

Can I be a real rider if I don't watch it?

I think yes...but asking permission very distinctly disqualifies you from being one.

Wow that trailer for a sequeal looks interesting...I dont know exactly how I feel about that one though... The movie as I mentioned above was a trip to me, definitely something that I couldnt completely understand upon first experience mainly due to my age. However, after reading through this post, and talking with my Dad about it a little as well, hell even my recent trip to Hawaii where I rented a Harley and rode the island w/o a lid for two days (shameless plug to my Hawaii thread with pics here) I have a whole different perspective of this movie...I think I need to watch it again.

<snippppp> Any other recommendations??

not to mention you had to know how to kickstart.

My favorite for classic choppers......

I still have a tattered old poster of that I bought back in about '68 or '69.

Here's another slightly off the wall motorcycle movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105267/

Anybody seen "Hell Ride"? It's fairly new

I feel extremely fortunate to have grown up in the late 60s to mid 70s. Sure, there were bad things..every night's news always had the "body count" from Vietnam...but there were a lot of good things too; the birth of hard rock/heavy metal is one; the transition from the hippy ideal of "free love" which meant younger societal acceptance of pursuing your, ahem, "romantic" goals, without severe consequences prior to the advent of the AIDS virus, is another in particular!

This was also a time before industrial globalization, free trade and NAFTA starting gutting family-wage jobs wholesale across the country...the exception being the decline of the steel industry in PA and likely some other notable examples, but for the most part people were growing up with a sense of hope and optimism, and still had the idea your life could be better than that of your parents. We didn't suffer without computers, blackberries (except the ones we picked at the side of the roads, and went home and made turnovers with), electronic calculators, cell phones...in fact I think people today are SO much more tied to their jobs due to these devices, I think they suffer far more stress by having them, than not.

As to motorcycles, they may have not been as knife-edged, powerful and competent as today, but I'm grateful for that as well. I cannot imagine starting out on something like a 600cc supersport. AFAIK there was no MSF, no classes, nor mentors, you just jumped on a bike and either survived and thrived, or didn't. For me discovering the RD350 in Germany, in 1977 opened a whole new chapter in my life still being written. I remember not knowing anything about street riding, and strafing canyon roads like Rodalbestrasse outside of Pirmasens, scraping the undercarriage 'til I almost crashed, scaring the sh*t out of myself and then laughing about it 5 minutes later. That's the magic of youth, the lack of fear @ age 19. The RD350 was one of the very few well-handling bikes available in the 70's era, and as anyone can see from my list to the left, I've never lost my love for the things.

As to being a woman rider, people think today it's still somewhat of a novelty to see them? Back then, it would be YEARS before I saw another woman rider, except on the back. It made for a great way to meet guys, especially the cute blond-haired native ones, since most of the guys I served with were too busy getting drunk, lamenting the fact they weren't back in "the world" (U.S.) and I found it much more interesting to see the countryside from an RD @ 8000 rpm.

While getting older isn't necessarily for the faint of heart, especially when health complications start to manifest themselves, I am happy to have lived through what I feel was the "golden age" of optimism and wealth in the U.S., and would be horrified to be growing up with the world young people are inheriting now....so I'm happy to be 51 now instead of 18!

In my video library here at the motel I have Easy Rider, Dust to Glory, On any Sunday, several Isle of Man videos, stunting vids, Wild Hogs, The Great Escape, Ghost Rider...and of course, Hot Wax Zombies on Wheels....

plotline: undead biker girls terrorize small coastal fishing village by waxing all the body hair off of and then having sex with the male residents ...until they die and become zombie minions. I mean. Come on.

Anybody seen "Hell Ride"? It's fairly new

http://www.hotrodmemories.com/catalogue.php?Format=DVD