The basic ingredients of the motorcycle are so simple, but its attraction, stronger than ever after more than a century of relentless development, can be hard to pin down.<\/p>\n
Part of the reason for this is that motorcycling is so many things to so many different people. More than just a transport mode, it can symbolize freedom, resistance, independence, and counter-culture. A motorbike can mean an ancient Scott roadster, a simple Velocette single, a modern MotoGP racer, or a fully equipped grand tourer.<\/p>\n
Since the invention of the engine, people have been intrigued and excited by the hundreds of ways it can be adapted to propel objects at ever-increasing speeds, and none has thrilled and fascinated more than the motorcycle, which represents mechanical power at its most raw, pure, and existential.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/motorcycles-Triumph-Bonneville-Bobber-750.jpg\")
<\/a>Triumph\u2019s Bonneville Bobber appealed to the caf\u00e9 racer crowd with its performance and neat styling, including hardtail-look rear end. Photo: Triumph\/Roland Brown<\/p><\/div>\n
The motorcycle has evolved dramatically from its first development by Daimler in 1885 to the superbikes of the 21st century. Landmarks in engineering and design have changed the technology and anatomy of the motorcycle, whether it is for record-breaking sport and racing, or models used for working, or indeed for pleasure.<\/p>\n
When Paul Daimler rode his engineer father Gottlieb\u2019s new contraption named Einspur \u2013 \u201cOne track\u201d \u2013 around the countryside near Stuttgart in Germany on 10 November 1885, he was taking what is commonly accepted to be the world\u2019s first ride on a motorbike.<\/p>\n
Bikes have come a long way from those days to the present, when even ordinary middleweights exceed 100mph (161 kph) reliably and with ease. But when comparing the earliest bikes of the last century to the sophisticated, powerful machines of today, in many respects, it\u2019s noticeable not how much but how little motorcycles have changed. Of course, there is a huge difference between the 1901 New Werner and Honda\u2019s latest MotoGP racer \u2013 but the two are unmistakably related.<\/p>\n
The first ever motorcycle was Gottlieb Daimler\u2019s Einspur. The fastest ever bike was Rocky Robinson\u2019s 376mph (605kph) Ack Attack streamliner \u2013 as seen at Ace Caf\u00e9 in Hollywood and the N\u00fcrburgring.<\/p>\n
But if it is the machines that form the outline of the motorcycling picture, then it\u2019s the people who design, build, repair, and modify them; who pose, commute, or tour on them; and who race, crash, fight, or save lives on them who add the color. This might be Pecco Bagnaia pulling a wheelie on his factory Ducati to Marlon Brando leaning on his Triumph Thunderbird in The Wild One, and from a worker delivering medical supplies in the African bush to an anonymous Sunday-morning superbiker cranking a Honda Fireblade through a turn. Different people, in very different situations, united by a shared appreciation of two wheels and an engine.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Californian firm Zero has produced many of the best electric bikes, including this 2017-model SR roadster.
Photo: Zero\/Roland Brown<\/p><\/div>\n
There is a lot more to motorcycling than simply riding a bike. Owning and using a motorcycle gives a different perspective on life than the average pedestrian or car driver.<\/p>\n
Depending on the rider, the machine, and the moment, you are an individual \u2013 free, rebellious, fast-moving, glamorous, somehow above the dull troubles of the normal world.\nYou\u2019re also mistrusted, maybe persecuted, even pitied, always vulnerable. Those shared emotions produce a bond between motorcyclists that can sometimes bridge the huge gaps between the many different types of riders. Many times, the owner of a superbike has pulled up to help a novice with a broken moped. However, within the two-wheeled scene is a vast number of diverse subgroups and cultures, reflecting the variety of experiences that motorcycling offers.<\/p>\n
Demographics led to motorcycling\u2019s change of emphasis early in the new millennium. A generation of riders had been brought up on sports bikes. Now they were older, looking for more comfort and a fresh challenge, and found both with adventure bikes.<\/p>\n
BMW had started the trend towards large-capacity dual-purpose machines in 1980 with the R80G\/S, a 798cc flat-twin that had been an unexpected hit and the basis for two Paris-Dakar Rally victories. By 2004, the GS boxer family had evolved to create the R1200GS, which combined sharp styling, 100bhp performance, comfort and ride-anywhere ability.<\/p>\n
The appeal of this was vividly illustrated by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, whose Long Way Round and Long Way Down television series aboard big GS Adventure boxers inspired many trips and countless dreams of adventure. As the GS models topped sales charts worldwide, rival manufacturers joined in, notably fast-growing Austrian firm KTM with its Adventure and Super Adventure families.<\/p>\n
Manufacturers also embraced motorcycling\u2019s diversity, producing retro roadsters and caf\u00e9 racers, such as resurgent Triumph\u2019s Bonnevilles and Thruxton. Bikes\u2019 performance continued to improve, with some superbikes\u2019 outputs rising past 200bhp, but chassis advances were less obvious than in previous decades.<\/p>\n
The progress was in electronics, with semi-active suspension, traction control and cornering ABS bringing new levels of comfort and safety. This helped keep showrooms busy, but motorcycling had lost its rebellious image and its appeal to an increasingly risk-averse youth. Harley-Davidson\u2019s annual production had grown to almost 350,000 by 2006 \u2013 but the firm\u2019s aging customer base was a time bomb that exploded with the global financial crisis when sales and profitability plummeted. All manufacturers suffered but most recovered quickly, notably Yamaha, who returned to form with lively and competitively priced bikes, led by the MT-07, a 689cc parallel twin.<\/p>\n
New riders were attracted by the rise of hipster and caf\u00e9-racer culture, driven by websites such as Bike EXIF and centered on festivals, including the Glemseck 101, held near Stuttgart. Younger riders\u2019 preference for lifestyle over performance facilitated the growing influence of China, whose manufacturers arrived not with superior, race-developed engineering, like the Japanese decades earlier, but with sound bikes at competitive prices.<\/p>\n
Chinese firms also bought and revived brands, including Benelli of Italy, and supplied engines or near-complete bikes for many smaller marques. India\u2019s huge market brought great success to Royal Enfield, and Indian firms relaunched old British favorites Norton and BSA.<\/p>\n
Motorcycling\u2019s other trend was an inevitable move away from fossil fuels. Specialist firms Energica and Zero led the way with electric bikes, and others joined in, including BMW with scooters and Harley-Davidson with the striking LiveWire.<\/p>\n
Sales of electric motorcycles remained low compared to cars due mainly to the difficulty of providing adequate performance and range without excessive weight and cost. However, with firms like Honda, Kawasaki, and Ducati increasingly committed to electric and hybrid technology and continuing research into biofuels and other alternatives to petrol, motorcyclists can face the future with optimism.<\/p>\n