Jason Momoa and Keanu Reeves Are Among Profiles in ‘Motorcycle Life’

“All we represent to them, man, is somebody who needs a haircut,” says actor Dennis Hopper in his portrayal of the freewheeling hippie Billy, lying by the campfire. “Oh no,” replies Jack Nicholson’s character George Hanson. “What you represent to them is freedom.” That line of dialogue poignantly encapsulates the 1969 film Easy Rider, which brought the motorbike and its devotees, or at least one Hollywoodized facet of the latter, into mainstream consciousness.

Today, that movie may appear outdated in its depiction of what have become stereotypes, but it accurately presents the relationships that develop with riders—both with their bikes and each other. That juxtaposition of independence and belonging is now intimately explored in the new coffee-table compendium Motorcycle Life: Stories, Wisdom, and Obsession from Riders Around the World. Released on September 29, this 352-page treatise—laden with evocative photography—was written by Eric Hendrikx and published by Artisan Books.

“Obsession is a wonderful way into someone’s character. Ask an actor about their latest film and they’ve probably answered those questions a hundred times. Ask about the first motorcycle they loved, and suddenly they’re talking about their father, the kid they were at fifteen, fear, independence, friendship, or an adventure that changed their life,” states Hendrikx, a highly respected author, journalist, and rider. “That became the idea behind Motorcycle Life. Motorcycles gave me a way past what someone does for a living and into something far more interesting: Who are you outside of your career?”

Rather than taking the route most bike books do, which is to focus on the craftsmanship, components, performance, and provenance of a specific model example, this tells the story of the individual—why and how the bike has become their powerful means for self-discovery.

“A motorcycle is a very emotional machine for everybody . . . whether people have used a motorcycle to process grief, or find connection, or make deep bonds with friends—it’s an emotional experience,” Hendrikx tells Robb Report. To accomplish translating that emotive narrative, Hendrikx not only relied on his extensive experience as a rider and journalist, but also his understanding of anthropology, a subject in which he holds a master’s degree.

“I wanted to take a real cultural snapshot of what motorcycling is like today,” says Hendrikx, “not like what the brands tell us it is, or what it should be like, but who’s really riding, and so I was looking at it through that lens.”

Focusing on that perspective, Hendrikx interviewed 107 riders—an array that included professional motorcyclists, celebrities (including Jason Momoa, shown in opening image), custom-bike builders, and enthusiasts—many of them women. “There’s like 20 to 25 percent women motorcyclists in North America,” he notes. “I wanted the book to reflect that, and it does.”

The writer also uses the disparate stories to highlight the variety of motivations and responses individuals have when it comes to the motorcycle and its role in their own identity. For Hendrikx, two subjects in the book particularly stand out for their different draws to the same passion.

“Jason Momoa and Keanu Reeves surprised me in very different ways,” explains Hendrikx. “Jason has an extraordinary knowledge of motorcycle history, particularly prewar Harleys. He’s not simply collecting old bikes; he’s genuinely interested in their provenance, the people who built and rode them, and preserving that culture. He approaches the culture like a historian. Keanu surprised me differently. I’d ridden with him on Angeles Crest, and I knew how much he loved riding, but I hadn’t realized how deeply it informed his philosophy about life. He talked about acknowledging the danger and consequences and then asking yourself, ‘How do you want to live?’ Jason is interested in what deserves to be preserved from the past; Keanu, in how we choose to live in the present. I loved that contrast.”

Hendrikx has a few goals for this book, not the least of which is for it to be a way that he can give back to the two-wheel world he has embraced since, as he recalls in the book’s introduction, “perched in front of my dad on his 1978 Yamaha DT250 Enduro.” To that end, he donated the entirety of his preorder royalties to the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride and Movember charities to aid in their mental health and prostate cancer awareness and treatment programs.

Another aim is to broaden the motorbike’s appeal: “There’s a stigma still about motorcycling and what a motorcyclist is and what they look like and how they are, and I think that this book will hopefully help break that down and show what a kind, passionate, obsessive, enjoyable, fun community it actually is,” Hendrikx shares with us. “I hope people will open this up to any page, meet some new people, and become inspired and maybe go sign up for their motorcycle license and join the community.”

See Also

Custom Line Just Unveiled Its New Navetta 35 Superyacht

Motorcycle Life is far more than another beautifully crafted tome about two-wheelers, it’s the monograph gathering of a tribe that’s as diverse, innovative, and performance driven as the machines that liberate it. Here, Hendrikx plays anthropologist to a culture that compels each of us—whether a rider or not—to find our own vehicle for fulfillment, then take it to redline.

Click here for more photos from the book Motorcycle Life.