Dates that motorcyclists around the world remember

Motorcyclists do not have one holiday approved from somewhere above. They have their own calendar, and it grew from dates the riders chose themselves. It has the birthday of the motorcycle and the first race on the Isle of Man. It has days when the custom is simply to go out on the road, and days when people remember those who did not come back. Below are those dates in order, from spring to winter, with the next ones in 2026 and 2027.

April and May: the season opening and the blessing of the bikes. In northern countries a motorcyclist’s year does not start on 1 January, but on the day the snow goes. In Europe and America that time is tied to the Blessing of the Bikes: a priest blesses the riders and the motorcycles for a safe season. These are local customs, and they have no single date. In Estonia the main event of spring is Eesti Mootorrattahooaja Avamine, the official opening of the season in Pärnu. It is run by Wildcards MC, and entry to the festival and the motorcycle parade is free. In 2026 the opening was on 16 May, and by tradition thousands of motorcycles ride through the town. The date for 2027 has not been announced yet.

The first Saturday in May is International Female Ride Day (1 May 2027). The day for women motorcyclists was thought up in 2007 by Vicki Gray of Canada, the founder of the MOTORESS community. The motto is simple: Just Ride. There is no need for rallies or processions. On the same day women go out on roads, tracks and circuits, alone or in company. The organisers say riders from more than 120 countries now take part. The date was made the same for the whole world on purpose, and the day does not belong to any brand.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in the United States. NHTSA, the national road-safety administration, uses the month to remind car drivers that motorcycles are on the road, and to remind riders about protective kit and that you do not ride after a drink. The US Congress has backed the campaign with separate resolutions. It is an American tradition, but the idea fits any country: in spring car drivers are not yet used to seeing motorcycles in the traffic.

The third Sunday in May is The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (16 May 2027). The charity ride in suits, on classic motorcycles, was thought up in Sydney in 2012 by Mark Hawwa. The idea came from a photograph of Don Draper from Mad Men, in a formal suit on a motorcycle. The money the riders raise goes to the Movember foundation, for prostate-cancer research and programmes on men’s mental health. On 17 May 2026 more than 123,000 riders went out in 1,071 cities in 109 countries, and they raised 7.53 million dollars. There was a ride in Tallinn too.

28 May is the day of the first Tourist Trophy (1907). On 28 May 1907 the first Tourist Trophy was run on the Isle of Man. They rode ten laps of the short St John’s course, about 15 miles. In the single-cylinder class Charlie Collier won on a Matchless, and in the twin-cylinder class Rem Fowler won on a Norton. The TT is still run on public roads, and for many motorcyclists it is the greatest race in the world. It sits in the calendar on the border of May and June, so fans remember the date every year.

The second Tuesday in June is Ride to Work Day (8 June 2027). On that day motorcyclists are asked to ride a motorcycle or a scooter to work, and to show that it is ordinary everyday transport. The first such day was held on 22 July 1992, at the call of the American magazine Road Rider. The idea came from the words on an Aerostich T-shirt: Work to Ride, Ride to Work. From 2008 the day was marked on the third Monday in June, and from 2024 it moved to the second Tuesday, so it would not fall on the American holiday Juneteenth.

21 June is World Motorcycle Day. It falls on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, when it stays light almost until midnight. It has no official status. Among the first to mark it were the riders of the Austrian club Kradreiter: on 21 June 2017 they rode through Villach and declared the day World Motorcycle Day. The club suggests tying a yellow scarf to the handlebar, an old sign of solidarity among riders. In 2027, 21 June falls on a Monday, so many people will ride after work.

2 July is the memory of Joey Dunlop, in Tallinn. Joey Dunlop of Northern Ireland won 26 Tourist Trophy races and is counted among the greatest riders on road circuits. On 2 July 2000 he was killed in Tallinn, on the Pirita-Kose-Kloostrimetsa circuit, during the 125 cc race at the Kalevi Suursõit. There is a memorial stone on the circuit, and every year on 2 July motorcyclists gather there for a memorial ride. In 2026 the ride was already the twelfth, and the year before more than 300 motorcycles took part. It is an Estonian date that motorcyclists know far beyond the country.

The start of August is the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (6–15 August 2027). The rally in the town of Sturgis, South Dakota, began in 1938 as the Black Hills Classic. It was thought up by the local businessman Pappy Hoel and the Jackpine Gypsies club. It is now one of the biggest motorcycle gatherings in the world: ten days, starting on the first Friday in August. In 2027 it will be the 87th rally.

29 August is the birthday of the motorcycle (1885). On 29 August 1885 Gottlieb Daimler filed a patent for a vehicle with a gas or petroleum engine. Patent DRP 36423 was granted in 1886. It was the Reitwagen, a wooden riding machine with a single-cylinder engine of 0.5 hp, which Daimler built with Wilhelm Maybach. It is counted as the first motorcycle with a petrol engine. On 10 November 1885 Daimler’s son rode it from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, reaching 12 km/h. That is why the birthday of the motorcycle is marked sometimes on 29 August and sometimes on 10 November.

September is the closing of the season. Closing the season is the same tradition as opening it, only with a little sadness. In Estonia it is also held in Pärnu: in 2026 it was set for 19 September, and Wildcards MC put on a festival on Supeluse street, a ceremony and a motorcycle parade through the town. Clubs across Europe hold similar meetings at the end of summer and in the autumn, but they have no shared date.

The third Sunday in November is the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (15 November 2026, 21 November 2027). The British organisation RoadPeace proposed the day in 1993, and in 2005 the United Nations made it worldwide. On that day people remember everyone who was killed or hurt on the roads, and they thank rescuers, medics and the police. Motorcyclists, with no protection around them, are especially vulnerable on the road, so the day matters especially to them. It is marked with memorial meetings and a minute of silence.

21 December is the day the FIM was founded (1904). On 21 December 1904, in the Ledoyen restaurant in Paris, the Fédération Internationale des Clubs Motocyclistes was created, the forerunner of the FIM. The reason was the arguments after the International Cup race at Dourdan, where teams from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and Great Britain had ridden. The federation was revived in 1912, and in 1949 it became the FIM. In the same year the world championship for road racing started, and today’s MotoGP grew out of it. The FIM now has 125 national federations.

Some of these dates were thought up by inventors and racers, others by the riders themselves, and one grew out of grief. What they share is that each one is a reminder: a motorcycle is not only a machine, but the people around it. Marking any of them is simple. Ride out with friends, raise a hand to the motorcyclist coming the other way, and come home in one piece.

Sources: MOTORESS, NHTSA, DGR 2026, DGR Tallinn, iomtt.com, Ride to Work, Kradreiter, 5min.at, BBC, Joey Dunlop memorial 2026, Buller, Sturgis, Mercedes-Benz Classic, Pärnu season opening, Pärnu season closing, UN A/RES/60/5, WHO, FIM.