The morning after Sons of Anarchy premiered on FX in September 2008, Harley-Davidson dealerships started fielding calls from people who wanted to buy Jax Teller’s bike. Not a bike like Jax Teller’s bike. His actual bike. That is the difference between a motorcycle TV show that works and one that does not - the good ones make people pick up the phone.
Television gave motorcycle culture something film never could: time. A two-hour movie shows you a ride. A seven-season drama shows you a life built around riding. And the build shows - Biker Build-Off, American Chopper, Motorcycle Mania - let people watch a machine come together bolt by bolt, something no film had ever tried.
Here is the full roster of motorcycle TV shows worth your hours, broken into what they actually are: dramas, build shows, competition series, and adventure rides. For the bigger picture of how TV fits into biker culture alongside films, clubs, and the riding life, check our motorcycle culture guide.
The Dramas: Club Life, Long Form
Sons of Anarchy (2008-2014)
Network: FX. Creator: Kurt Sutter. Seven seasons, 92 episodes.
Nothing else is close. Set in fictional Charming, California, Sons of Anarchy follows SAMCRO - Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original - through gun running, internal politics, betrayal, and a body count that makes most war films look restrained.
Charlie Hunnam plays Jax Teller, the VP and eventual president whose struggle between his father’s idealist vision and the club’s criminal reality drives all seven seasons. Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow delivers one of the most layered performances in cable television history.
The bikes: SAMCRO rides Harley-Davidson Dynas almost exclusively. Jax’s primary machine is a 2003 Dyna Super Glide Sport (FXDX) with T-bars, forward controls, and a reaper logo on the air cleaner. Other members ride Street Bobs, Low Riders, and Wide Glides. The show’s motorcycle coordinator and several cast members were real-life riders, and the riding footage shows it.
We did a full breakdown of every bike in the show - Jax’s Dyna, Clay’s Road King, Tig’s Street Bob, the prospect Sportsters, all of it - in our Sons of Anarchy motorcycles deep dive.
Sutter modeled SAMCRO loosely on real outlaw MCs. The show’s club hierarchy - prospect period, patches, church meetings, the table - is broadly accurate. Where it stretches truth is in the scale of violence and criminal enterprise. Real motorcycle clubs operate on codes that the show captures in spirit, even when it amplifies the specifics for drama.
One detail most viewers miss: several background riders and extras throughout the series were actual 1%er club members. Sutter maintained relationships with multiple MCs during production to keep the texture authentic.
Mayans M.C. (2018-2023)
Network: FX. Creators: Kurt Sutter and Elgin James. Five seasons.
The Sons of Anarchy spinoff shifts to the Mayans Motorcycle Club operating along the California-Mexico border. EZ Reyes (JD Pardo) is a former golden boy turned prospect whose intelligence makes him both valuable and dangerous.
Mayans runs darker and slower than its parent show. It trades Charming for border-region cartel politics, and the tone reflects that. The series ran five seasons but never found the same emotional anchor that Jax Teller gave SOA.
The bikes: Mayans ride Dynas as well - primarily Street Bobs and Low Riders - maintaining visual continuity with the SOA universe. The green-and-black color scheme on accessories and air cleaner covers distinguishes them from SAMCRO’s setup.
The Bikeriders (Series Adaptation - In Development)
After Jeff Nichols’ 2023 film, a series adaptation has been discussed. Whether it materializes or not, the film plays like a limited series - it covers nearly a decade of club life - and belongs on your watchlist alongside these shows. We covered it in depth in our best biker movies guide.
The Build Shows: Wrenches on Camera
American Chopper (2003-2012, revived 2018)
Network: Discovery Channel. 233 episodes across the original run.
Before American Chopper, motorcycle building happened in garages where nobody watched. After it, building was prime-time entertainment and the Teutuls - Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. - were household names.
The show followed Orange County Choppers in Rock Tavern, New York, building theme bikes for corporate clients, celebrities, and events. The real draw was the family drama: father and son screaming across a fabrication shop, throwing chairs, slamming doors, then somehow finishing a beautiful motorcycle by the deadline.
The bikes: OCC built soft-tail choppers with radical rakes, oversized S&S 124ci engines, and elaborate theme paint. Many were trailer queens that saw limited road time. But the metalwork and paint craftsmanship was genuinely impressive.
The cultural impact is hard to overstate. American Chopper brought custom motorcycles into living rooms that had never thought about bikes. It also created the expectation that builds should have corporate sponsors and themes. We have seen the divide in our shop - builders who came up during the American Chopper era and builders who came up after it approach motorcycles very differently.
Biker Build-Off (2002-2007)
Network: Discovery Channel.
This is the build show riders actually prefer, and for good reason. The format: two custom builders get a budget and a deadline to build a bike from scratch, then ride those bikes to a rally where the public votes on a winner.
The critical difference is the “ride to the rally” requirement. Every bike had to be rideable. No trailer queens. No bolt-on corporate logos. Just functional custom motorcycles built by people who actually ride them.
Notable builders featured: Billy Lane, Indian Larry, Dave Perewitz, Eddie Trotta, Mondo Porras, Arlen Ness, and Russell Mitchell of Exile Cycles. The show was a who’s-who of the early 2000s custom scene.
The bikes: Everything from traditional choppers and bobbers to pro-street builds and radical customs. The diversity made it a genuine education in custom motorcycle culture.
Motorcycle Mania (2001-2004)
Network: Discovery Channel. Three specials.
Jesse James and West Coast Choppers. Before American Chopper turned building into a family sitcom, Motorcycle Mania showed it as a craft. The specials followed James in his Long Beach shop - fabricating by hand, welding frames, building bikes that were aggressive, functional, and unapologetically raw.
The first Motorcycle Mania special remains the best single piece of television ever produced about custom motorcycle building. Jesse James working a lathe at 2 AM, sparks flying, Led Zeppelin on the shop stereo - it captured what actually drives a builder to stay up all night finishing a set of exhaust pipes nobody asked him to make.
The Adventure Shows: Long Roads, Big Miles
Long Way Round (2004) / Long Way Down (2007) / Long Way Up (2020)
Networks: Sky (UK), Apple TV+ (Long Way Up). Stars: Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman.
The gold standard. In Long Way Round, McGregor and Boorman ride BMW R1150GS Adventures from London to New York the hard way - through Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Mongolia, and Alaska. Long Way Down runs Scotland to Cape Town. Long Way Up covers southern Argentina to LA on prototype electric Harley-Davidson LiveWires.
These shows work because both men are genuinely skilled riders who genuinely suffer. Mongolia’s ruts destroy their bikes. Siberia’s mud nearly ends the trip. The support crew openly questions whether the route is possible.
The bikes: BMW R1150GS Adventures (Round and Down), Harley-Davidson LiveWire (Up). The “Long Way Round effect” became a real phenomenon at BMW dealerships - GS sales spiked after the series aired.
Ride with Norman Reedus (2016-Present)
Network: AMC. Star: Norman Reedus.
The Walking Dead star rides motorcycles through various countries with different companions each episode. Reedus is a genuine motorcycle enthusiast who owns a custom bike shop, so the show carries more credibility than most celebrity riding projects.
The format is relaxed - more travel show than biker show - but Reedus’s guests bring real riding credentials. Peter Fonda appeared in one memorable episode before his death in 2019, closing a loop that connects back through the entire history of motorcycle cinema.
The Competition Shows: Speed on Screen
TT3D: Closer to the Edge (2011)
Technically a documentary film, but it streams like a series and belongs in this conversation. It follows Guy Martin and other racers at the Isle of Man TT - the most dangerous motorcycle race on earth. The racing footage is extraordinary. If you want to understand why people risk their lives racing motorcycles on public roads at 200 mph, start here.
Evel Knievel Specials (1970s)
Networks: ABC, CBS.
Not a series in the traditional sense, but Knievel’s televised jumps were appointment television through the entire decade. He rode Harley-Davidson XR-750s for many of his famous motorcycle jumps. His Snake River Canyon attempt in 1974 - which used a steam-powered Skycycle X-2 rocket rather than a motorcycle - drew massive ratings and remains one of the most-watched stunt events in television history.
Knievel’s TV appearances made him the most famous motorcycle rider in American history. His influence on stunt culture, on the broader perception of motorcycles, and on what television thought people would watch is impossible to overstate. Every rider who has seen those jumps has thought - briefly - “I could do that.” Most of us had enough sense not to try. The ones who did try are the reason emergency rooms exist.
MotoGP Docuseries
Various streaming platforms have started producing MotoGP and motorcycle racing documentaries, following the model that Drive to Survive built for Formula 1. Amazon’s MotoGP series and other race-focused projects bring Grand Prix racing to audiences who may never watch a live race. The production quality is high, the access is genuine, and the racing footage is spectacular. Whether these shows convert viewers into riders is an open question - but they are introducing two-wheeled motorsport to an audience that previously thought racing meant four wheels and pit stops.
Shows That Missed the Mark
Not everything with a motorcycle in the promo art deserves your time:
- Full Throttle Saloon - More bar drama than bike content. Reality TV wearing a motorcycle costume.
- Biker Battleground Phoenix - Tried to manufacture drama around the Phoenix bike scene. Felt fake because it was.
- Outlaw Chronicles: Hells Angels - Interesting subject, but the talking-head format strips away everything that makes MC culture compelling.
What Separates the Great Ones from the Forgettable Ones
The pattern across every great motorcycle TV show is the same thing that separates a good biker movie from a bad one: authenticity.
Sons of Anarchy works because Sutter embedded himself in club culture before writing a word. Biker Build-Off works because the builders are real and the deadline pressure is real. Long Way Round works because the suffering - the broken spokes, the mud, the arguments at 3 AM in a Mongolian field - is real.
The shows that fail use motorcycles as set dressing for generic reality TV conflict. Bikes are not props. The audience - especially an audience of actual riders - spots the difference in the first five minutes.
We have had both kinds of shows playing on the shop TV. The build shows get people asking questions about frame jigs and exhaust wrap. The reality shows get the channel changed.
If any of these shows got you fired up about club culture, our MC complete guide covers the real organizations. The Ghost Rider motorcycle breakdown is worth a look if you want to see where comic books and choppers collide. And if the build shows have you itching for a garage project, browse our patches and merch to outfit the shop wall while you wrench.
Sources
- Sons of Anarchy (2008-2014) - IMDb series page with full episode guide and production credits
- American Chopper (2003-2012) - IMDb page for the Discovery Channel build series
- Long Way Round (2004) - IMDb page for McGregor and Boorman’s round-the-world ride
- Ride with Norman Reedus - IMDb page for the AMC motorcycle travel series
- The Manual - Best Motorcycle TV Shows - curated guide to motorcycle television across genres
- Rolling Stone - Bruce Springsteen, Kid Rock, Foo Fighters at Harley-Davidson Bash - coverage of the cultural intersection of music and motorcycle TV events
- Lyon, Danny. The Bikeriders. Chronicle Books, 1968 - the photo book documenting 1960s MC culture that inspired the series adaptation
