Articles by Ken Bingenheimer
-
Bike Week Roars
by Ken Bingenheimer on March 10, 2010 at 03:13AMLeather riding gear was far more prevalent last week at Daytona Bike Week than the skin that is usually on prominent display. Cold weather that has inundated the Northeast in snow also sent its icy fingers to Florida, putting a damper on the ...
-
Buyer Beware
by Ken Bingenheimer on March 07, 2010 at 02:35AMMy Honda CB750 Custom has always leaked oil from the head gaskets, with the result that I go for a long ride and come home with my jeans spattered with oil from the knee down. One summer I decided I’d had enough of this and, feeling flush, took my bike ...
-
So You're Ready for Your First Bike
by Ken Bingenheimer on March 03, 2010 at 10:14AMWinter has dragged on far too long, but the calendar swears spring is coming soon. Honest. And you have promised yourself that this is the year when you're finally going to get that motorcycle. You're going to have the wind in your face, the throbbing ...
-
Target Fixation
by Ken Bingenheimer on February 28, 2010 at 02:20AMWhatever you do, don't think about pink elephants. Ha! Right, now there's no way that you can't think about pink elephants even though they were the furthest thing from your mind a moment ago. OK, try this. You're putting down the road on your favorite ...
-
If the Bike Fits...
by Ken Bingenheimer on February 24, 2010 at 03:39AMMotorcycles are a lot like shoes: You can walk down the street in pretty much any pair of shoes, and you can ride down the street on just about any kind of bike. But you don’t want to be stupid about it. Just as you wouldn’t hike 10 miles in 6-inch ...
-
Partying with the OFMC
by Ken Bingenheimer on February 21, 2010 at 03:25AMSomehow the world has changed since the OFMC was formed and we started taking our summer motorcycle trips. In the beginning it was just the three of us, John, Bill, and me, and we were young guys out for a good time. Nights would generally find us in ...
-
Snow? What Snow?
by Ken Bingenheimer on February 17, 2010 at 03:18AM“I don’t care what we run into, I want to go to Georgetown tomorrow.”
-
Off the Pavement
by Ken Bingenheimer on February 14, 2010 at 03:49AMSome motorcycles are built to go off the paved road, even off any road at all. Generally, these have knobby tires for getting a good grip and serious suspension that can take big bumps without complaining.
-
You Only Live Once...
by Ken Bingenheimer on February 09, 2010 at 07:17AMIf you knew you only had a year to live, what would you do during that year? OK, now what if you had 10 years to live, 20 or 30? At some point, you've got to decide the things that are important to you. You've got to make a bucket list. Because, if you ...
-
Facing the Inevitable
by Ken Bingenheimer on February 07, 2010 at 01:28AMThings break. It's a fact of live and we all know it. And it's a fact that does apply to motorcycles. What do you do when a bunch of guys are off on a weeklong trip and someone's bike breaks down? You're not going to abandon your buddy but at the same ...
-
Are Motorcycles Greener than Cars?
by Ken Bingenheimer on February 04, 2010 at 02:00AMRiding a motorcycle is fun. Plus, it's nice to know that you're helping the environment when you ride one, instead of driving a car, right? I mean, motorcycles go a lot farther on a gallon of gas, so obviously they're a very green alternative to cars, ...
-
The Shining
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 31, 2010 at 03:46AMHave you ever been out on the road and stayed at a really creepy place? I’m not talking about dumps. Heck, we’ve stayed in plenty of those, like the place in Kemmerer, WY, where it turned out the three rooms next to ours didn’t have roofs. You see, ...
-
They. Are. Here.
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 26, 2010 at 09:00AMAs hybrid and even full-out electric cars make inroads in the marketplace, electric motorcycles may be nearing their day in the sun as well. In a movement reminiscent of the early days of cars, when hundreds of companies offered their models to the ...
-
The Ride Not Taken
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 24, 2010 at 02:46AMWhile it may be true that “A bad day fishing is better than a good day in the office,” the same is only true up to a point when you’re riding a motorcycle. Some rides are better left undone, at least until later.
-
See the World...Go on Tour
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 20, 2010 at 10:25AMThe longer you ride, the more you cover the roads within reach of where you live, the more you are going to want to ride your motorcycle – or someone's bike – in new places. Motorcycle tours companies are more than happy to make that a reality for you ...
-
Wanting What You Have
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 17, 2010 at 03:39AMOne of the newer members of the OFMC commented a few years ago that a big part of our summer motorcycle trips, for him, is going a really long distance. It seems he liked returning from vacation and wowing the folks at work with how far we'd gone and the ...
-
Racing that Bites
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 13, 2010 at 02:02AMStaying upright with only two wheels on a zero-friction surface is a recipe for disaster, so motorcyclists generally avoid ice at all costs. But what if you drill about a thousand screws into your tires to give them some bite? Welcome to the world of ...
-
The Insane (or Brilliant) Practice of Lane Splitting
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 10, 2010 at 01:30AMCompared to the rest of the U.S., California is like another country. Like Europe, to be exact. That is to say, California is the only state in the U.S. that allows lane-splitting, something Europeans take for granted.
-
The Top 10 Motorcycle Events in 2010
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 06, 2010 at 04:19AMWhen winter weather has your motorcycle trapped in the garage, there’s no better remedy for the biker blues than planning your riding excursions for the year. Here are 10, listed chronologically, that should be on your list of possibilities.
-
Road Food
by Ken Bingenheimer on January 03, 2010 at 04:20AMBecause, on a motorcycle, the journey is the destination, it's common practice to look for whatever excuse you can find to ride. Happily, food can be that excuse. There aren't many things better than an eatery with terrific food that also happens to ...
