Recent research into motorcycle culture — May 2026
Three for May 2026: the 15th Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride on 17 May, Bike Shed Moto Show’s 15th edition at Tobacco Dock, and Paul d’Orleans named IJMS 2026 keynote.
Research
Culture, Motorcycle Safety, Research
Has Motorcycling Lost Its Cool? Sales, Regulation, and the Subcultural Problem, May 2026
May 2026: motorcycle sales in the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union are contracting unevenly. Royal Enfield is the conspicuous exception. The deeper problem is cultural — an ageing rider base, a federation of demographically narrowing sub-tribes (Maffesoli’s neo-tribalism), and a regulatory environment in Europe that is tightening while the United States continues to do almost nothing.
Motorcycle Safety
The United States Is the Outlier by Choice: A Survey of Motorcycle Safety Legislation, May 2026
A May 2026 survey of motorcycle safety legislation across British Columbia, the United Kingdom, India, and Australia — and an argument for why the United States remains the outlier by policy choice rather than by accident.
Culture, Events, Research
Recent research into motorcycle culture — March 2026
Three for March 2026: Daytona Bike Week’s record-breaking 33rd edition, The Vintagent on Wendy Pojmann’s USA/Italy motorcycle book, and IJMS’s 2026 call for papers.
Culture, Research
Recent research into motorcycle culture — February 2026
One central piece this month: Steven Burr’s IJMS essay on the motorcycle as aesthetic and ontological vehicle, working through Keats, Heidegger and Pirsig.
Culture, Research
Recent research into motorcycle culture — January 2026
Three from IJMS Vol 22’s January launch: Wragg on European biker comics, Hoiland on The Bikeriders, and Stanley & Bridge on UK transport policy.
Culture, Research
Recent research into motorcycle culture — December 2025
A quiet December: PetaPixel’s photographic-criticism pickup of Jack Lueders-Booth’s American Motorcycling Culture is the standout.
Culture, Events, Research
Recent research into motorcycle culture — November 2025
Two for November 2025: EICMA broke attendance records in Milan, and D’Orazio & Mambelli’s ethnography of Thailand’s “Vanz Boys” landed.
Events, Research
Recent research into motorcycle culture — October 2025
Quiet October: only Daytona Biketoberfest worth flagging this month, with academic publishing in pre-EICMA holding pattern.
Events, Research
Recent research into motorcycle culture — September 2025
A thinner September: European Bike Week at Faaker See and the Myrtle Beach Fall Bike Rally on the Atlantic seaboard. Light on academic publishing.