A motorcycle adventure is the real-life equivalent of Phileas Fogg set out to do in Around the World in 80 Days. It is as thrilling as a road trip can get – you and your motorcycle against the world, you can feel the air of all the different places you go on your face and through your hair. You are one with the world when you are exploring on your motorcycle. A mechanical marvel, a motorcycle can prove to be the best companion of travel. It takes your adventure to an entirely other level because of the experience it presents. If you are looking for an experience that is incomparable, exhilarating, and exciting, go put your helmet on.
Many have set out on this revelation of a journey before. They have recounted their adventures in magazines and excerpts in newspapers. Going back to the very start of the 20th century, in 1903, George Wyman published an excerpt about his journey from San Francisco to New York, probably the first to have put forth a narrative for an adventure that grand.
So if you are looking for inspiration or ideas, or just want to take a look into the incredible adventures motorcycles have made possible for people, we are going to present you with a list of the top 7 motorcycle adventure books.
We, at Siima MotoWear have done a nice research and we present some of the best motorcycle adventure books. These books will recount tales of adventures that have been larger than life, carried out on the adventurers’ trusted motorcycle companions, that satisfied wanderlust and wonder about the world and to travel through it.
Set in 1932, this books follows the adventures of a young Fulton who had just spent the year in Austria, completing his post-graduate degree of architecture. He was returning to New York when he decided to make a stop in England to see some friends. He was at a dinner party, where he casually mentioned – in
response to someone’s query about his plans ahead – that he would want to ride a motorcycle through the east: Europe and Asia. So it happened that fate conspired with him on his adventure and someone present at that table was the owner of the Douglas Motorcycle Company. He invested in Fulton’s dream and offered to give him a 750cc Mastif model as his trusted steed on the adventure. He set out for the East in July, with a trip that lasted 18 months, and returned home to publish his book of adventures in 1937.
Sulkowsky and his friend set out in 1928 to satiate their wanderlust on their second-hand bought Harley-Davidson J-model to go across six contents, visiting 68 countries, amounting to more than 100,000 miles on their motorcycles.
Riding a Panther M100 motorcyle with a Watsonian sidecar
and trailer, Wallach set out with a friend in December of 1934. They travelled as far as South Africa, being the first motorcycle across Sahara Desert, using the Tamanrasset route. Even though they encountered a complete breakdown of their bikes mid-trip, they managed to successfully complete their trip.
A father/son team, both journalists and photographers, bought a 600cc Zundapp with a sidecar. In February 1953, they head out from a frozen Germany to the warmer south, to Italy. Their trip lasted a year and cost only $10,000, amounting to a 30,000 land miles trip.
A student of geography at Oxford 1961, Severin had an epiphany to follow the route taken by Marco Polo en route China in the 13th century. With three friends in tow, he travelled all the way to Calcutta, on two BSA 650s with sidecars, successfully completing the journey although they were amateur motorcyclists.
Another father/son duo took off travelling to California from Minnesota, in 1968. Pirsig, an extraordinary teacher, took his 12 year old son on trip, fearing that he may be suffering the same mental problems that Pirsig did. This gives the book a more philosophical edge as well as a literal insight to the travel, making this book a best-seller.
This read gives us an insight into the life of an English journalist in his forties, who found his life to a be little dull and ventured to be the first motorcyclist to travel across the world, even with his limited knowledge of motorcycles and lack of a license. Although he failed the first attempt, he gained a license on his second try as well as
the half-hearted support of a major British Newspaper. Triumph was convinced to give him a 500cc T100, which he generously overloaded. He spent the next four years on the road, amounting to 80,000 miles across six continents. Having encountered less than a fair share of failures and breakdowns, he wrote a travel narrative that is as engaging as his journey.
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