Driven to Ride

Ultan Guilfoyle is a filmmaker and an author, who co-curated the landmark 1998 exhibition “The Art of the Motorcycle” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. “Installing motorcycles in the rotunda was a thrill,” he recalls. “It was like taking sculptural, three-dimensional objects and putting them up in the space and allowing people to see them in a way they had never seen before.” O...

Wendy Schneider’s recently released film, “Angels of Dirt,” is a true labor of love. The 90-minute picture focuses on Charlotte Kainz, who, as a child, embraced the male-dominated sport of flat-track motorcycle racing. One of the challenges, Schneider tells “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long, was explaining the rich history of this “go fast, turn left” form of two-wheel competition to a new audience....

Motorcycling has opened nearly every door imaginable for Heather Wilson Schiltz, both personally and professionally. Schiltz heads up High Gear Success, a communications and marketing firm that caters to motorsports companies, event organizers, and racers. She is also the host of “Momentum: A Motorsports Podcast.” And, borrowing from her childhood dreams, she teaches others to ride. Schiltz was qu...

Beachman Motor Company makes one of the coolest-looking electric motorcycles you’ve never heard of. It may legally be considered a moped, but don’t get it twisted, you can actually ride their ‘64 model on the road.  It’s the brainchild of Ben Taylor, the co-founder of the Canadian company, who’s got a soft spot for the classic designs of the 60s and 70s, whether its fashion, cars, or motorcycles....

Every July, tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts descend on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Morrow County, Ohio, to celebrate and honor the history of motorcycling in America. AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days is a long-standing tradition and the largest fundraiser for the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation, which supports the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. “We have vintage racing—off...

Mike Mullaney might not be a household name, but if you follow NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing, you’ve likely seen his world-class work, albeit briefly as it flashes past the grandstands en route to a sub-7-second pass. Mullaney designs and builds chassis for “Flyin’” Ryan Oehler, who has already pocketed not one, but two “Wallys,” professional straight-line competition’s top honor. An accom...

Chances are your motorcycle bucket list just keeps growing and growing. Sure, you’ll eventually cross a few off our list, but to be honest, the hardest part of any motorcycle trip, is just starting. That’s where Dax Harlow and MotoQuest come in. Dax has been riding basically his whole life, and was determined to get into the motorcycle industry - or specifically to get paid to ride motorcycles - o...

Lots of folks fantasize about following their dreams. Most ideas, however, never get past the initial imagination phase. Some years ago, Tim de Jong was backpacking in Southeast Asia. He rented one of the small-displacement motorcycles common to that part of the world. “I really felt the freedom,” he says. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is the best way to travel, actually.’” After returning to his native...

As adolescent introductions to motorcycling go, author and podcaster Ted Kettler’s first two-wheel experience probably isn’t unique. But, as he tells host Mark Long on this episode of the “Driven to Ride” podcast, that moment in time more than half a century ago left an indelible mark on his consciousness—in the shape of Harley-Davidson’s iconic bar-and-shield logo, no less. “I can remember standi...

“Jimbo” Tarpey describes himself as “the guy riding a motorcycle from the Arctic to the Antarctic. I talk about the history and the culture of the places I visit—the details, the nitty-gritty, the fun stuff.” No matter who you are or what adventures you’ve experienced during your lifetime, while the first part of that quote definitely grabs your attention, the last bit holds it firmly in place. Ta...

Peter Egan is one of the most beloved voices in automotive and motorcycle journalism. In a warm, wide-ranging conversation that takes place inside his Wisconsin workshop, Egan reconnects with “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long to discuss his new book, “Landings in America,” a memoir meets travelogue that chronicles a six-week journey across the U.S. in a Piper Cub. Egan shares stories of how he and h...

For the past 20 years, fast friends Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor have been wandering the globe on an eclectic mix of motorcycles. “Long Way Home,” the intrepid pair’s fourth and most recent television series, captures their journey through 17 European countries aboard a resurrected 1973 BMW R75/5 and a well-traveled 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado. “There’s something wonderful about a big trip,” Lon...

Andrew Richardson has been the face of REALRIDER for more than a decade, but when he created the government-certified automatic crash-detection app, he didn’t even own a motorcycle. Richardson has since obtained his license and become an avid commuter and a weekend rider. He has even tested the app for exactly what it was designed to do: keep motorcyclists protected on the road. “Thinking that eve...

Dave Roper has been racing motorcycles for more than half a century. The New England native is probably best known for campaigning exotic vintage machinery under the Robert Iannucci-led Team Obsolete banner. He’s fast, too. In fact, Roper won more than half of the races he entered on Iannucci’s 1959 Matchless G50, including, famously, the 1984 Senior Historic TT at the Isle of Man. “We lived relat...

Jon DelVecchio came to motorcycling later in life than many riders—as an adult and after starting a family. Yet, he’s accomplished a lot on two wheels, from becoming a Motorcycle Safety Foundation coach and the founder of the Street Skills School to the author of a popular riding technique book, “Cornering Confidence: The Formula for 100% Control in Curves.” In his conversation with “Driven to Rid...

From a teenage pizza-slinging street racer to a professional National Hot Rod Association-winning Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racer, Steve Johnson understands the value of humble beginnings. He also knows exactly how it feels to reach 200 mph in less than 7 seconds. “I always tell everybody it’s like hanging on to a bullet after it's been shot out of a gun.” “First to 500” is Johnson’s career callin...

Greek philosopher Plato is credited with the expression, “Our need will be the real creator,” which, loosely translated centuries later, became, “The true creator is necessity, who is the mother of our invention.” Peter Dering knows this feeling all too well, having come up with a device that, in the words of his company, Peak Design, “would make carrying and using a camera an absolute joy.” As he...

If you’re a motorcyclist living and riding in the U.S., Nick Haris works for you. Even more so if you’re one of the more than 200,000 members of the American Motorcyclist Association, whose tagline is “Rights, Riding, and Racing.” Haris leads a team of six who comprise the AMA’s government-relations department. Their job is to protect your rights as a motorcyclist in the halls of government. In th...

Annick Magac and “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long grew up in different parts of the country, but they share common ground. They both live to ride and ride to live, as the saying goes, and they both have a strong sense of community. What’s more, Magac founded her own motorcycle-oriented podcast, “Féroce,” which, as its title suggests, inspires listeners to “live fiercely.” No surprise, Magac has a c...

Motorcycling and politics don’t mix, right? They do for Nick Haris. In college, the Washington state native was an economics major and worked at a motorcycle shop. Degree in hand, he applied for his dream job: a government-relations role at the American Motorcyclist Association. “It was just kind of a natural combination of that interest in politics and that love for motorcycling,” he says. In 202...

Larry Fletcher grew up in Wisconsin in the late 1960s and early ’70s, like a lot of people his age, doing “silly stuff” on minibikes with his buddies. He took a break from motorcycling until he moved to Chicago as a 20-something. “I figured out, what a great way to commute,” he says. “Bikes were an easier way to get around, and I loved getting back in the saddle again. It was great.” Fletcher work...

Thalassa Van Beek fell in love with motorcycling as a teenager working as a hostess and model in her native Netherlands. She was handing out brochures at a trade show when a blue Yamaha YZF-R6 caught her eye. “Right then and there,” she recounts to “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long, “I decided to get my license because I needed to ride that bike.” Van Beek earned her license at age 19, and she has b...

Moms are the best advice-givers. Wyoming native Brady McLean once dated a woman from a multi-generational motorcycle family. “Her mom is the first one that I can ever remember saying, ‘Go fast, don’t die,’” he recalls. McLean took that message to heart and ultimately founded a lifestyle apparel brand by the same name dedicated to “the culture and community that inspired our existence.” Emboldened...

Vanessa Ruck is a self-proclaimed “go-getter, a chase-your-dreams kind of girl.” Her path to motorcycling came in a roundabout way: on the heels of a devastating bicycle accident that required seven surgeries and put the adventure-lover out of action for most of a decade. During her recovery, Ruck decided that life-changing event would not dictate her future. In the eight years since Ruck began ri...

Daniel Ritz stumbled upon motorcycling a dozen years ago while working as a newspaper editor in Southern California. “There was a small shop up the street from where I was living,” he tells “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long. “I started looking at Triumphs, and I saw the Scrambler as a good mix: heavy enough for big trips but light enough to still move around a bit.” For three years, a Matte Khaki Gr...