AMA INSIDER

By Joy Burgess

Just a few months into my job here at the AMA, an industry friend asked me, “How do you like working there?” My reply? “It’s the dream job I never knew I needed.” And it’s true!

A handful of years ago I never dreamed I’d work in the motorcycle industry. And I’m pretty sure no one who knew me figured I’d work in the industry, either, as motorcycles had not been on my radar at all.

But here I am. And it’s all because I watched a movie. You guessed it… On Any Sunday.

Rewind back to 2015, and I was stuck in the middle of one of the darkest times of my life. My husband had just passed away, and I was suddenly a 35-year-old widow and single mom. Everything in my life had been turned upside down; I didn’t know where I belonged anymore.

Then, one Tuesday afternoon I received a book about Malcolm Smith (who I’d never heard of), started reading it, and it was in those pages I first saw a mention of On Any Sunday. “What’s On Any Sunday?” I asked a friend, who I’m pretty sure was horrified at my question.

A few minutes later, I was watching the movie that would change my life.

“A motorcycle is whatever you want to make it,” Bruce Brown narrated. “Turn it on and you can give yourself a real thrill.” As I watched men, women, kids, grandparents, racers and weekend warriors twisting the throttle, I was hooked — and I hadn’t even ridden yet.

For an hour and twenty-eight minutes I was transported to a place where anyone could jump on a motorcycle, leave their troubles behind and find freedom. Freedom! That grabbed my attention.

Watching Malcolm Smith, Steve McQueen and Mert Lawwill in the cowtrailing and beach scenes absolutely took my breath away. All I could think was that I had to do this. I needed to have that feeling. I’d never been on a motorcycle before, but I felt like I’d found that thing that’d been missing all my life.

I must have watched that movie 50 or 100 times before I finally found my way onto a motorcycle. “Brake, clutch, shift, throttle,” Bruce says at the beginning of the film, “Just simple coordination.” Those words were echoing in my head the first time I jumped on a little Honda and finally tried two wheels for myself. My first ride wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the one portrayed in the film, but it was life-changing.

When I got on a motorcycle, it felt like nothing could catch me. The darkness fell away, and there was indescribable joy. I still feel it every time I throw a leg over my bike and twist the throttle.

I’ve often said that motorcycles and On Any Sunday saved my life. Motorcycles, and the people who ride them, helped me find my way again. And I found freedom, joy and, maybe most importantly, a family where I belong.

I’m so grateful that 50 years ago Bruce Brown had the idea to “do a movie about motorcycles.” My life has been forever changed. And I hope this issue of American Motorcyclist provides him and his family the thanks that mere words can’t.

Joy Burgess is the Managing Editor of the AMA