Every month I post links to the most recent research into motorcycle culture, subcultures, clothing and identity, along with the biggest events in the motorcycling calendar. Here’s what caught my eye this month.
Genealogy of Ethnomotography: Rituals and Identity of a Women’s Motorcycle Group in Adana (Türkiye)
Berivan Can rode with a women’s motorcycle group in southern Turkey and wrote up what she found. The paper proposes “ethnomotography” as a name for autoethnographic work done from the saddle, and it is stronger on ritual and group practice than the label suggests.
https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/10/3/78
Too Much Sand in My Data: How Inadequate Motorcycles and Complete Participation Reveal Authentic Adventure
Jason Wragg’s new piece in the International Journal of Motorcycle Studies opens on day two of a seven-day ride across Morocco. It is an honest account of trying to research a group while riding as one of them, and of what happens to your data when you stop pretending to be neutral.
https://motorcyclestudies.org/volume-22-2026/too-much-sand-in-my-data-how-inadequate-motorcycles-and-complete-participation-reveal-authentic-adventure-jason-wragg/
Inside Motorcycle Studies’ 2026 “Motogeek Summer Camp”
Paul d’Orléans writes up the 13th IJMS conference, held in July at Shelton, Washington. Useful if you have never been, because it explains what the gathering actually is. This was the first year it was livestreamed, half the presenters having been unable to travel to the United States.
https://thevintagent.com/2026/07/24/inside-motorcycle-studies-2026-motogeek-summer-camp/
The wonderful world of motorcycle clothing
Permanent Style turns its attention to non-technical riding kit. The interest here is a menswear writer working out, in public, where protection ends and dress begins. That negotiation is most of what my own research is about, and it is rare to see it set out from outside the field.
https://www.permanentstyle.com/2026/08/the-wonderful-world-of-motorcycle-clothing.html
86th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally sees 10% decrease in attendance
The city counted 448,166 vehicles across the 2026 rally, around 10% below the five-year average and the lowest ten-day total since 2011. Organisers point to the drop-off that follows a milestone year and to later dates than usual. Worth keeping alongside last year’s 85th anniversary figures.
https://rapidcityjournal.com/sturgisrallydaily/article_409515cd-09db-4b3c-98de-b9be3f289e00.html
That’s it for this month. If you’ve come across research I’ve missed, feel free to email me.