© Ken Bingenheimer / RumBum.com
Ken Bingenheimer takes you through the twists and turns of a life (lived a weekend at a time) on the road. Set mostly in the American west, Ken takes us up mountain passes and down endless highways, looking for the elusive perfect trip with and without his gang, the OFMC.
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by Ken Bingenheimer on December 03, 2011 at 03:27AM
How do you get your motorcycle to look just a bit cooler? OK, a lot cooler? One increasingly popular option is adding LED lighting. Two members of the OFMC took the plunge this year. Once Johnathon caught up with us in ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on November 27, 2011 at 02:59AM
I ran across a new business recently that really made me stop and think. Called Fun2Rent, it is a peer-to-peer site set up to connect owners of motorsports equipment, such as motorcycles, boats, and snowmobiles, to people ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on November 20, 2011 at 03:14AM
There has always been a direct link in my mind between motorcycles and exploring. Back when I was saving my money and waiting for the day when I’d be old enough to buy one and get my license I had visions of breaking out of ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on November 06, 2011 at 02:50AM
Janice Carrington had one thing going for her when she decided to buy a motorcycle and learn to ride at the age of 61: She had owned and ridden a bike 30 years ago. OK, that really wasn’t such an advantage. “I ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on October 30, 2011 at 03:38AM
Snow on the ground this morning, and in the air as well. No riding today. Somewhere, in the less-temperate parts of the country, motorcyclists are probably already putting their bikes in storage for the winter. So sad. Not ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on October 16, 2011 at 04:42AM
My 1999 Kawasaki Concours is a far better bike than my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom. So why is it that it has always been very clear in my mind that it is just more fun to ride the Honda? I may have finally figured it out: ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on October 09, 2011 at 03:19AM
Do you know what it feels like to get tossed through the air like a rag doll? I do now. I had my first highside last week. There are two ways for a motorcycle to tip over. A lowside crash generally happens when you’re ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on October 02, 2011 at 04:30AM
The light turned green and both lanes of traffic pulled forward and then left. As I swung my Kawasaki Concours from the right-hand lane of one street through the arc and into the right-hand lane of the other I saw a common ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on September 25, 2011 at 04:19AM
Ongoing mechanical issues with my 31-year-old Honda CB750 Custom have me thinking the unthinkable, as in getting rid of it rather than continuing to put money into it. Don’t get me wrong. This won’t happen next week. ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on September 18, 2011 at 03:57AM
I’ve read that pilots make better motorcyclists, or motorcyclists make better pilots – I can’t remember which. Probably the latter. Both go beyond the basic right, left, forward, backward movement that you get in a car. ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on September 11, 2011 at 05:03AM
Bikers say the darnedest things. I know, that old line generally starts with “kids,” but there are just too many great quotes out there from motorcyclists, about motorcycles, or in some way related to motorcycling. One of my ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on September 04, 2011 at 04:48AM
When I fail at something I want it to be my fault. I don’t want someone else’s failure to do their job to thwart me. I don’t want a broken tool to thwart me. If I fail I want it to be simply that I didn’t do my job well ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on August 28, 2011 at 03:38AM
Judy went straight to the core: “The worst thing about renting a motorcycle is that it’s not your own.” She was right on the money in two senses. First, unless you rent a bike that is just like the one you ride at ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on August 21, 2011 at 04:33AM
After riding with the OFMC for so long it was a whole new world riding with Alan Baumbach and Dan Leffert. I met Leffert while working on a piece about the Iron Butt Association and the folks who do that butt-burning kind of ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on August 14, 2011 at 03:46AM
At our last stop, as the OFMC headed toward Espanola, NM, I had mentioned to Randy that the tread on his front tire was getting pretty thin and he’d be needing a new tire by the time we got home from this trip. He shrugged it ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on August 07, 2011 at 03:54AM
Having just wrapped up another week on the road with my biker buddies I’ve had a lot of time to observe and think. That happens when you’re out burning up mile after mile, alone in your own head. One of the things I had ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on July 31, 2011 at 03:42AM
We were on our motorcycles just a little past the crest of Cumbres Pass, on our way down to Antonito, CO, from Chama, NM, when we met up with the herd of cattle. There were a good couple hundred of them at least, as well as five ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on July 24, 2011 at 03:43AM
When you head out on a week-long motorcycle trip every year for more than 20 years – as we have in the OFMC – some things just happen naturally. You don’t stop because you want to cover more ground. You do ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on July 17, 2011 at 03:35AM
John and Bill and I were headed to Utah on our bikes. Having been that way so often before, John, our master of maps, was looking for a route we hadn’t been on. He found it in Ripple Creek Pass. More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on July 10, 2011 at 04:45AM
I had always worn leather riding gear, as long as I’ve owned motorcycles, until I picked up a textile jacket about two years ago. The trouble is, leather gets pretty hot on hot summer days. I kept reading about how the ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on July 03, 2011 at 04:27AM
I passed the RiderCoach training course that I discussed last week, but at the end last Sunday I felt no elation. The only thing I felt was a profound relief that it was over, a relief I would have felt regardless of the ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on June 26, 2011 at 05:23AM
By the end of the first day I was truly bummed out and depressed. Early failure seemed like the most merciful option. I had signed up for a class to become a RiderCoach but I never dreamed it would be this hard! ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on June 19, 2011 at 03:52AM
You are going to be riding your motorcycle to work on Monday, June 20, aren’t you? If that’s not already on your agenda, consider putting it on there. June 20 is Ride to Work Day. This is an annual thing nationally ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on June 12, 2011 at 04:11AM
I got the chance to see how fast a Kawasaki Z1000 Ninja will go the other day, and while it was extremely interesting, I wasn’t exactly pleased about it. Kawasaki came to town over the weekend with a truckload of demo ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on June 05, 2011 at 03:32AM
I have never claimed to be a mechanic, though I would say I’m mechanically inclined. If something breaks I like taking it apart, figuring out how it works, and fixing it. Still, the only things I’ve ever done on my ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on May 25, 2011 at 04:29AM
They’re called “outriders.” While the bulk of the group rides together and observes a military-style discipline, the outriders do it on their own. I’m talking about the 2011 Run for the Wall, which is currently ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on May 22, 2011 at 04:22AM
“Have a safe ride.” That’s an admonishment we’ve all heard countless times and my standard weak-joke response is along the lines of, “Oh darn, I wasn’t planning to, but I will if you insist.” ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on May 15, 2011 at 04:40AM
Racing is different on slow motorcycles. That’s one of the first things I’ve learned as this racing season begins, in which I plan to follow a local racer on his quest for the podium. The season kicked off last weekend ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on May 08, 2011 at 03:34AM
The more gas prices climb, the more attractive motorcycles and scooters become to many people. Comparing 45 or 50, on up to as much as 90 or more miles per gallon of gas to a piddling 25 or so with many cars and you’ve got a ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on May 01, 2011 at 03:15AM
One of the motorcycle journalists I met on last fall's EagleRider media tour in California had only one eye. It made me wonder how that affects your riding. After all, a person's depth perception depends on having two ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on April 24, 2011 at 04:46AM
Ever since its introduction in 2007 I have had an eye on Kawasaki’s update of the venerable Concours. That’s only natural considering that I own and have ridden a Concours, or Connie as they are affectionately called, since ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on April 17, 2011 at 04:36AM
Some motorcycles are made for riding in the dirt, some belong on the pavement. Put my Kawasaki Concours firmly in that latter category. Some riders learn to ride in the dirt and are very comfortable doing so. Others have ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on April 10, 2011 at 04:01AM
I ride my motorcycle in winter, so I know all about cold hands. Up till now I hadn’t really figured out how to keep my hands warm on an extended ride, so I generally don’t do that when it’s really cold. Now I have the ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on March 27, 2011 at 04:51AM
A week from now I’ll be in Amado, AZ, which is just 30 miles from the Mexican border, at Nogales. The temptation is to take a run down into Mexico, but crossing the border is too involved for me to give it serious ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on March 20, 2011 at 05:01AM
Have you ever seen someone on a motorcycle go down? I only have once, and it was a minor get-off, but it’s an amazing thing to witness. What’s amazing about it is how quickly it happens. My buddy John and I were up in ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on March 13, 2011 at 04:48AM
If you’ve only driven a car or some other four-wheel vehicle, the chances are reasonable that you’ve never deliberately come to a full stop at a red light and then driven on through it. And I’m not talking about trying to ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on March 06, 2011 at 03:45AM
Anyone who has taken a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) rider training course – and a lot of people who haven’t – will be familiar with T-CLOCS. T-CLOCS is the abbreviation the MSF uses for a pre-ride ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on February 27, 2011 at 04:32AM
I’m really committed now. Just this morning I gave my credit card number to one of the folks at ABATE of Colorado to lock in my spot in their upcoming Rider Coach training course. I’m going to learn to train people to ride ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on February 20, 2011 at 04:50AM
I had no intention of doing the Elephant Ride again this year, that quixotic thrashing of motorcycles with screws in their tires through drifted snow in an attempt to cross Colorado’s Guanella Pass. But there I was last ... More »
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by Ken Bingenheimer on February 13, 2011 at 03:10AM
I’ll knock on wood and say that I’ve never gone down on my motorcycle except in the mildest circumstances possible. That includes a 2 mph tip-over in mud and wiping out on gravel at about 5 mph when a dog walked out in front ... More »
