The Ultimate Motorcycle Riding Playlist: A Soundtrack for the Saddle
IT WAS TOO QUIET WITHOUT SOME MOTORCYCLE SONGS. A few years back, I found myself staring down the barrel of a long, empty highway, one stretching across the continent like a ribbon of possibility and regret. Then, somewhere between the third cup of gas station coffee and the first glimmer of sunrise off the tank, I decided to wire music into my helmet. This was a modest technological leap, but one I’d been resisting.
The idea had seemed like heresy at first. Music while riding? Wasn’t the wind enough? But as with so many things in motorcycling—heated grips, rain gear that actually works sometimes—reluctance gave way to revelation. Suddenly, the right song could transform a dull stretch of slab into a scene from a movie I wanted to be in.
Music Soundtracks for Long Rides
Not that I’m the type of rider who needs a soundtrack for every trip to the grocery store. For a quick jaunt—two, maybe three hours tops—the music stays off, the helmet quiet but for the symphony of valves, chain, exhaust notes and wind. But on the long rides, the ones for a week or more, music can be a tool—maybe not as important as GPS and a good map, dry socks and a willingness to eat whatever the locals are having. I started loading my phone with songs for every mood a long ride can conjure: anticipation, nostalgia, the creeping sense that you might have taken the wrong turn somewhere back in Nebraska. And, of course, the pure, throttle-twisting joy that only a great road and a willing motorcycle can deliver.
Which songs? There are the classics—anthems that have become as much a part of motorcycling as bug splatter and roadside diner coffee, like Steppenwolf singing “Get your motor runnin’, head out on the hioghway,” or Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” where he sings “Sprung from cages on Highway 9, chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, and stepping out over the line.”
Those 50 BEST Motorcycle Riding Songs
But I think it’s time, like with any good project, to open up this “Ultimate” list of the 50 best motorcycle riding songs for everyone’s input. It’s equal parts inspiration and exasperation, but designed to generate a few late-night debates about what deserves a place on the list and what gets left behind.
Now’s your chance to critique and suggest. Let the inevitable arguments begin. One rule, if you want to add a song, you’ll have to tell me which one to replace. That’s the hard part. The list, like a well-packed saddlebag, has only so much room. So here it is, a collection of 50 songs to chase the horizon by. Some you’ll know by heart, others might surprise you. Either way, I hope they make your next ride a little more memorable—or at least give you something to hum while you’re waiting out a thunderstorm under the leaky awning of a forgotten gas station.
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The 50 Best Motorcycle Riding Songs
- Born to Be Wild
Artist: Steppenwolf - Born to Run
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
- Kickstart My Heart
Artist: Mötley Crüe
- Mainstreet
Artist: Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
- Downtown
Artist: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- Danger Zone
Artist: Kenny Loggins
- The Chain
Artist: Fleetwood Mac
- Country Roads
Artist: John Denver
- Bad Motor Scooter
Artist: Montrose
- Motorcycle Emptiness
Artist: Manic Street Preachers
- Ride
Artist: Joe Satriani
- Hell Bent for Leather
Artist: Judas Priest
- Iron Horse / Born to Lose
Artist: Motörhead
- Midnight Rider
Artist: The Allman Brothers Band
- Motorcycle Drive By
Artist: Third Eye Blind
- Ballad of Easy Rider
Artist: The Byrds
- Uncaged
Artist: Zac Brown Band
- Ruff Ryders’ Anthem
Artist: DMX
- Wanted Dead or Alive
Artist: Bon Jovi
- Bat Out of Hell
Artist: Meat Loaf
- Freewheel Burning
Artist: Judas Priest
- Turn the Page
Artist: Metallica
- Ride
Artist: Lana Del Rey
- Radar Love
Artist: Golden Earring
- Ghost Rider
Artist: Rush
- Ezy Rider
Artist: Jimi Hendrix
- Little Honda
Artist: The Beach Boys
- Stuntin’ Like My Daddy
Artist: Birdman & Lil Wayne
- Highway Song
Artist: Blackfoot
- Motorcycle Ride
Artist: Rancid
- Ride to Live, Live to Ride
Artist: Twisted Sister
- The Leader of the Pack
Artist: The Shangri-Las
- Slow Ride
Artist: Foghat
- Panheads Forever
Artist: David Allan Coe
- Motorcycle Cowboy
Artist: Merle Haggard
- Back in Black
Artist: AC/DC
- Immigrant Song
Artist: Led Zeppelin
- Brothers in Arms
Artist: Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL)
- Purple Rain (Motorcycle Version)
Artist: Prince
- 1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Artist: Richard Thompson
- The Motorcycle Song
Artist: Arlo Guthrie
- On the Road Again (Live)
Artist: Willie Nelson
- Paradise City
Artist: Guns N’ Roses
- Holidays in the Sun
Artist: Sex Pistols
- Hotel California
Artist: Eagles
- Sweet Home Alabama
Artist: Lynard Skynard
- Southern Man
Artist: Neil Young
- Sunny Afternoon
Artist: The Kinks
- Maddest Kind of Love
Artist: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
- In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Artist: Iron Butterfly
Nice list Steve. There are more.
Tiger Cub by The Exhaust Notes
Eye of the Hurricane by David Wilcox
Motorcycle Bill by The Willis Brothers
Great additions, Bill. The list could easily grow to 100, songs keep going. Best to Susan.
When I turned 70 I gave each of my sons my bikes and gear. Now at 83 I’m content to build furniture and play clarinet and tenor sax. I still have my C6 corvette and use it for road trips. Next up is Michigan’s upper peninsula this summer.
Thanks for writing
Bill Karry – like the guy I used to ride with? How did you get to be 83? Wow. Yes, I’m still writing. I wrote a book this year. It’s full of motorcycle stories. http://Www.stevelarsen.net
I personally am not one who chooses to listen to music while riding but certainly have no issue with those who do (I don’t have music on in the car or the shop either, so it is no surprise that I don’t listen while riding). That having been said, I do enjoy many of the tunes on your list and will have a listen to those which are unfamiliar to me.
I have my own playlist of riding songs but this is a really good one. There is nothing better than riding with your wife thru Italy on great twisties and listening to a great playlist.
Love the list, Steve!
Before becoming enlightened (something you assisted with), in my early Harley days I would have added Low Rider by War. Yes, it’s a car song, but ‘don’t go too fast always seemed to apply…;-)
It was always fun having you and Urch up ahead or following behind. Miss you both.
When I did listen to music while riding, before the voices in my head drowned out all else, I was drawn to many of the songs and groups you listed. ANY song from the Strikes album by Blackfoot ruled! Etched forever on my ‘Hard Drive’ are mental movies; like riding solo on a perfect day across the twstiest section of Monashee Pass to AC/DC’s ‘If You Want Blood’, or of my crash on a Kawasaki 750 Turbo through a 4-strand barbed wire fence to the soundtrack of Skynyrd’s ‘That Smell’.
Later I steered more toward instrumental mixes, to leave other’s words out of the lyric bank. Faves include Tangerine Dream, Movie Thief Soundtrack, especially the pieces Beach Theme and The Confrontation. Alan Parsons, Dream Within A Dream from Tales of Mystery and Imagination, Foreigner’s Tramontane, select long solos from Nugent, such as Stranglehold.
I am coming around again to more sedate riding and less article writing so may return to the music since it is so easy now with some of the streaming and built in helmet sound. But the dangers are more present and maybe I want to hear those screeching tires or sirens or parts falling off my bike…
My riding pal Frank Del Monte wouldn’t dream of having music anywhere near a bike he is riding. I understand that. It’s the way I rode for many years. Then I found the long 400 mile plus days with a lot of flat highway were enhanced with music and sometimes even books on tape.
You damn fool! You don’t know what you’ve done? You’ll start a war!
Waddleyasknext? What oil should I run?
Bejasus.. *smh*
PS. I could never respect a playlist that didn’t include The House of The Rising Sun by Mumford & Sons (Live at from Nawlins Jazz Fest)
😁
Yes, the list should be 100 songs. You’ve added one. Bill Dragoo added a few, too.
Honda by the Beach Boys should be on the list. It not only goes on about Honda. it mentions Matchless
Totally agree, Roger.
Great minds sometimes think alike! I have my own list, but I will start listening to yours, one by one, and Glenn, those I like, and those are not too fond of I will swap with something from my oldest with an effort to keep the list at 50 and send it back to you.
Steve, can’t wait to see your improvements.
Steve,
Thanks for sharing your list. Everyone has different tastes in of music but we are of the same age so I can relate to all of yours. Ever since I got my first Harley bagger I have been listening to music on my bikes. I transitioned.from AM/FM to tapes then CD’s to Sirius radio. Now it’s the first thing I check off my list when I take off. Listening to tunes in my helmets is fine but full blast on my speakers on my Harley at any speed is the only way to go for me! In fact I’ll go settle up and do right now. Thanks for the suggestion. Happy trails.,
Mark, you rode with playlists long before I did. You’re sort of an expert at it.
Steve,
Thanks for sharing your song list. Being the same age I can relate to almost all your songs. Any list can be improved on but who has the time for that, when I am on my bike listening to my tunes! It’s the first thing I check after all the bike check list is if my tunes will work. Ever since my first Harley in the late 70’s I have listened to AM/FM then tapes them MP’s then CD’s and now Sirius radio. Times change but our musical tastes rarely do. Listening through my helmet speakers is OK.but full blast at any speed on my Harley is the way to go for me!
Steve,
Thanks but I only listen to Christian rock.
Great list! Love the Priest, TS, and DAC (RIP), tunes. Consider adding this cruiser:
https://open.spotify.com/track/0MLArQRraAugJV1x2uzilJ?si=LHCsjQxaSK2YkDPic0lDMw