She's a Bad Motorcycle: Writers on Riding

Why do people ride motorcycles? Thomas Krens, curator of The Art of the Motorcycle, the most popular exhibition ever mounted at the Guggenheim Museum, writes: "For much of society, the motorcycle remains a forbidden indulgence, an object of fantasy, and danger." And of envy. No other machine is thought of as the vehicle — "the perfect vehicle" Melissa Holbrook Pierson calls it "of rebellion, lawlessness, and freedom."

She's A Bad Motorcycle collects the writings of those who have sought tha...