Archive for the ‘Motorcycle TV’ Category

Saint Florian – the Patron Saint of Firefighters

By the title of the movie, you can guess this is a film about a firefighter motorcycle club.  You would be right, but there is a lot more to it than just a motorcycle club movie.

This is a movie more about the mental health aspects of first responders and what they bring home after years of service.  How PTSD is impacting their lives and that of their families and the fact that they find it difficult to deal with the issues while on duty.

That said…. This is a difficult film to watch.

The Florian Knights were formed in 2017 in Vancouver, Canada by an active firefighter. It was his attempt to create a group of motorcyclists to ride with and to talk about the hard stuff, away from work. Each of the members of this chapter had a reason, beyond riding, to join the club.

A year or so later, in New York City, another firefighter was starting a riding club with the same name, Florian Knights. When he found out that there was already a firefighter motorcycle club by that name, they decided to open a new chapter to help fulfill the same purpose.

My motorcycle is my medicine.

Many of the Florian Knights, throughout the movie, comment that motorcycling helps cope with their stress and PTSD. This is where the first twist in the movie occurs.

The film switches from a documentary of the two clubs to an actual scientific study of motorcycling on the brain.  A Doctor of Psychology wants to track brain patterns and uses many members of the clubs as test subjects.  Putting on wired caps under their helmets to track how their brains worked while riding.

No surprise to us, motorcycling reduces stress by 28% according to the study.

Right after this segment the movie takes a second, harsher, twist.  This twist I am not going to describe as I will leave it to you to create your own take away. I am also not going to rate this motorcycle move as I don’t think it can judge it on a normal scale, it is just so different.

What do you think of how this motorcycle movie ends? Let me know in the comments.

xmas

How about some ideas for that crazy motorcycle rider you love. Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out what to get for your motorcyclist during the holiday season so I made a list of those things that would appeal to most bikers.

9) Heated gear – We all “Just Want 2 Ride” right. The gift of heated gear will extend the riding season for weeks or months depending on where you live.

8) New tie-down straps – Another piece of equipment that gets old, but one that is especially important if you’re crazy biker tows or hauls their bike(s).  Steal a glance at their current straps, look worn or about to be worn out, get them a new set.

7) Custom Dynamic Motorcycle Lights – Custom Dynamic makes SUPER bright, eye catching lighting for motorcycles.  I have several sets on my bike and wish I had more! Look at the ProBeam LED Motorcycle Turn Signals I have added them to two motorcycle and I am sure I have sold several dozen for Custom Dynamics as well. 

6) A Gift Card – from their favorite local dealership.  That way they can pick out what they want!

5) Frame them – Frame a nice picture of them with their motorcycle.  Simple and cheap but you might have to snoop on their phone to find the best one! 

4) Battery Tender – Winter is here in the northern hemisphere. This gift will help your crazy biker be ready to roll the first chance they get. No recommendation, they are almost all good. Just make sure you get the right connection for their motorcycle.

3) Kevlar lined pants, shirts, or jackets. Kevlar can get pricy but, your motorcycle rider will love you for it.

2) Long sleeve T-Shirts – Motorcycle themed long sleeve T-Shirts provide a wardrobe option when the weather gets cool.

1) Membership in the AMA – That is the American Motorcycle Association.  Membership not only gets discounts on products, it also includes emergency towing. The AMA is the largest, but not the only, lobbyist group protecting your right to ride.

The motorcycle riding Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) and friends are back on TV for season 5.  The show is on AMC (check local listings) and streaming AMC.COM.

I just finished watching episode one, in which Norman and Josh Brolin (Avengers/Deadpool) ride New Zealand’s North island. In addition to the normal tourist “stuff” like the Lord of the Rings Hobbit village and glow worms the show really discusses the impact of the Māori on New Zealand and Māori  culture.

I have reviewed previous seasons of the show and found them mostly enjoyable with the exception of the sound quality when talking between bikes.  This season sound is better but at times still difficult to understand.  Is the technology not there or is a style choice?

A running joke during the show was how people would recognize Norman but not Josh/Thanos.  That was funny, guess the makeup and special affects worked because no one recognized Josh.

I will watch the rest of the season.

Rhys Lawrey sets to become the youngest person to go solo, around the globe, on a motorcycle. He rode nearly 57 thousand miles through 71 countries in 15 months.  This motorcycle TV show is his accounting of that trip.

Along the way he also set a world record for the “Most Consecutive Capital Cities visited by Motorcycle”.  Currently on Amazon Prime this 15 episodes show (which Amazon compresses into one 3 hour viewing) was, at times, very interesting and at other time quite slow.  I think a bit tighter editing would have made things a lot better.

I watched most of this TV series during flights to and from Denver CO. Overall it was entertaining enough to keep my interests even during the slow parts.  I am giving it 3 stars; I genuinely believe it could have been improved with better editing.

Ride On, Ride Safe

motorcycle fail

There are so many crazy motorcycle videos out there I thought “Why not start a new weekly post?”. Not sure where this is going but drop me a note in the comment section if this is something you would like to see. Otherwise, I will do it until I lose interest, LOL.

In this video we find out that those little bumper sticks will wreak a motorcycle and the guy’s buddy has some quick reflexes.

This year’s list of motorcycle movies, or TV shows, has some oldies and some independent films.  These are all films that I think should help you though winter sparked PMS (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome).

Have some films to recommend? Add your list in the comments section!

Speed is My Need – I have not yet reviewed this movie, but it is interesting.  The film follows Leon Haslam through two racing season and the associated high and lows. It took be a while after watching but, I decided this film was as much as a sports psychology film as a film about motorcycle racing.

Long Way Up – Another Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman documentary expedition.  On this film they ride 13,000 miles from South America to Los Angeles on electric motorcycles.  It is on Apple TV and I have not yet seen the film as I refuse to pay for another streaming service. I recommend it based on their other films.

Electra Glide in Blue – A story of an Arizona motorcycle cop that is assigned to investigate a murder.  This film is 100% 1970s ethos, with the hero’s disillusionment as a goal. I enjoyed the movie; it is something for you to watch on a cold winter weekend.

Bennett’s WarBennett’s War story opens with two soldiers parachuting into an unknown location along with a couple crates. Turns out there are, what appears to be electric, adventure style, motorcycles in the crates. They had me hooked right there, fictional as hell, but hooked. You can check by 4-Star Review here.

Being Evel – “A generation of Americans grew up worshipping self-styled hero Evel Knievel–watching him every Saturday on Wide World of Sports and buying his Ideal toys. But few knew the incredible and often complex aspects of his epic life, which, like his jumps, was sometimes glorious and sometimes disastrous.”  That about sums up the entire movie! You can read my review of the film here.

Ghost Rider – Ok… spit balls welcome!  But I like this movie, and the motorcycle scenes were well done. If you know the comic book you know the story.  If you do not know the comic you know the story, “man sells soul to the devil and things don’t go well”.

Never Ride Alone – Not only did he ride his dirt bike alone Scott Englund also was the star, director, editor, cameraman, narrator, and everything else. For a one man project this film turned out wonderfully.  I give it a 5-Star review.

The Flying Dutchmen – a touching story about how Jonathan Helmuth created an extraordinary experience for a man that had been friend, mentor, and large part of his life. His friend Daryl Zook is going blind, and Jonathan wants to fulfill Daryl’s desire to take a 3000-mile motorcycle trip from Daryl’s home in Indiana to the Pacific Northwest coast. Daryl is more than a “bit” curmudgeonly and this leads to some humorous moments as well as some not so humorous.  You can see my 4-Star review here.

Harley and the Davidsons – With literary licenses fully engaged, Discovery Channel tells the story of how Harley Davidson came to be.  A fun show that you should find time to watch.

Ride on, Ride Safe

actor

Start Motion Media Production Company is looking for motorcycle riders to “star” in a commercial!  Could it be you?   THIS EXPIRES ON MAY 31 2020, SO GET A MOVE ON!

With a date to be determined Start Motion Media is casting for a motorcycle commercial for a unique “road noise” support safety system for riding, which doubles as a wireless phone.

But of course in the age of COVID they are taking  precautions.  “We are working to keep our locations clean and our staff and communities healthy. We are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation to make sure we’re doing the right thing for the health and safety of our actors, film crew, and communities.  Given the shoot plan, we can protect our crew and the shoot participants. We are aware of the current regulations in place in Denver, and we are following all of them: gatherings of 6 people or more are restricted, This production will include only 4 total participants onsite – two actors and two crew. “

Not sure why it says Denver in the text above because everything else states that it will occur near Petaluma (Sonoma County) CA.

Of of course there is is this additional requirement, “Please only apply if you are 100% healthy and have had no contact with symptomatic people, additionally we can confirm that all crew onset do meet the same requirement.”

So if you want to be an action star check out their full information page here!

If you were not aware a new Batman movie is in production.  There is a new “Batcycle” motorcycle for this new movie. While it looks cool it might be a beast to ride, at least in the way it was handled by this stuntman. Or he just is not much of a motorcycle guy.

There have been different Batcycle motorcycle’s over the years here are a couple along with a different view of the new motorcycle.

Bike down Glare cool blue Movie Poster DRAFT 1

Never Ride Alone is a good rule to live by if you ride motorcycles. As a title of a dirt bike motorcycle film where the guy does just that in some of the most rugged and remote parts of the Peruvian Andes, well it’s weird.

Not only did he ride his dirt bike alone Scott Englund also was the star, director, editor, cameraman, narrator and everything else. For a one man project this film turned out wonderfully. Although I just don’t get the tag line “Because you can’t tell a story with a band-aid”, some of my best stories end with band-aids or worse!

In the film Scott walks us through what brought him to this point in his life. Moving his family to Peru setting up several businesses, including an off-road motorcycle touring company, all to serve the local community. He shows us how he and some of his customers and friends ride the rugged trails including one scene where a guy drops a bike over the hill, there was little left of the motorcycle.

Next, he shows us how he trains to get ready for the big ride, his training is also alone. Riding his motorcycle over even more harsh and severe terrain at high altitudes to get his body and mind ready to ride up and over a 15,000 peak where no one had ridden a motorcycle before.

The final ride up and over the peak was very well filmed. I just can’t imagine riding 30-40 feet stopping and moving the camera’s or breaking out a drone, putting away a drone and riding another 30-40 feet. Put that on top of some of the toughest off-road motorcycling I have seen, wow, props to Scott!

You can find Never Ride Alone on VIMEO or FilmFreeway.

“Never Ride Alone” was a Portland Motorcycle Film Festival Peoples Choice winner in 2019 and a 2018 Official CARE Awards Selection. Now it is also a IJustWant2Ride.com 5-star award winner (which that and $10 might buy you a cup of Star Bucks).

5 star

 

ob 2

A feature length documentary released in 2019 covering the “contemporary motorcycle culture”. The film attempts, and I think accomplishes, to show how individualism is embedded into our culture. “This is not a film about motorcycles, its about motorcycle people.”

This was a very ambitious undertaking. According to their website they interviewed nearly 300 custom motorcycle builders, riders, racers, artists, etc. from the US, Japan, Europe, Australia, and Africa. They also talked with representatives from Harley Davidson, BMW, Yamaha, Ducati and Royal Enfield. ON TOP of all that how about attending events at the Bike Shed in London and Paris, The Trip Out, The Brooklyn Invitational, The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, Dirt Quake, Snow Quake, Mama Tried, and Mooneyes among many others.

So, with all that, is this motorcycle film any good, is it worth your time? Yes and yes. Theob 1 only negative was that they had so much content that some will think it is a bit too long at 2 hours. Now don’t get me wrong, it was a lot of fun to watch and it will be on my winter 2020 motorcycle movie list! I like the interviews and discussion around why people are doing the things they are doing. I really loved seeing myself or someone I know in nearly every person they talked with.

I do have one additional negative; they went back to one guy multiple times who did nothing but lambast people who “customize” via bolt on and manufactures who sell limited addition motorcycle. That guy really pissed me off. Not all of us are a wiz welders and have hundreds of hours to create our personal masterpieces.

I am giving this film 5 stars. I know some will think that this is a bit long, but I enjoyed seeing that motorcycle people, around the world, are pretty much the same. The “Oil in the Blood” documentary is available on Apple, Google, Amazon and other streaming services.

5 star