Articles by Ken Bingenheimer

  • Kenbingenheimer-mtn_1

    Strangers When We Meet

    by Ken Bingenheimer on September 01, 2010 at 02:44AM

    It’s a typical first-timer's scenario. You’re on your motorcycle headed for a town where you’ve made arrangements to spend the night with some total strangers. The nearer you get, the more you have second thoughts. Will these people be weird? Will ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-beingoutthere_4

    The Down Side of Being Out There

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 29, 2010 at 03:16AM

    One of the sweetest joys of riding a motorcycle is being out there in the world you’re passing through. That’s as opposed to being enclosed in a steel cage, peering out through a windshield that limits your view, shut off from the smells and other ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-alcan_1

    Going the Distance

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 25, 2010 at 03:58AM

    “The appeal is the distance and the destination. It’s a great excuse to come to Alaska.” In case you’ve ever wondered why someone would want to ride a motorcycle on 5,000 miles of bad road, there’s at least part of your answer, straight ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-sturgisrearview_1

    Sturgis in the Rear View Mirror

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 22, 2010 at 03:08AM

    The Sturgis Bike Rally is over and it’s time to sort through the memories. This was my second trip to the rally and it was a vastly different experience than my first time. How do they compare?

  • Kenbingenheimer-needleshighway_3

    Two Great Roads for the Price of One

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 18, 2010 at 04:24AM

    There's a reason the Sturgis Bike Rally is such a big event, and it's not because Sturgis is such a cool, unique place to go. What has made the rally so big is that the Black Hills are home to some of the best motorcycle roads in the country. Rally goers ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-spearfishcanyon_2

    A Crowded Cruise Down Spearfish Canyon

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 15, 2010 at 03:10AM

    Spearfish Canyon is one of the three best motorcycle roads in the Black Hills, and therefore is a favorite of the bikers who come to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which is just coming to a close. U.S. 14A runs up the canyon from the town of Spearfish to ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-sturgisrally_1

    The Big Boys Play in Sturgis

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 11, 2010 at 07:53AM

    It happens every August, and it has for the last 70 years. Sturgis, SD, is now inundated with motorcycles and those who love them as the 70th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is in full swing.

  • Kenbingenheimer-gettotheshop_2

    Just a Little Further

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 08, 2010 at 03:08AM

    Forty miles out of town and there’s some green fluid dripping. Oh, no! There’s no mistaking coolant, and on a day with temperatures in the 90s this could be seriously bad.

  • Kenbingenheimer-liveinsturgisi_1

    Life in Sturgis

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 04, 2010 at 03:23AM

    As Sturgis, SD, Mayor Maury LaRue describes them, the Black Hills are “60 miles by 90 miles of good roads, three national monuments, and two state parks. It doesn’t get any better than that.” Little wonder then that every August hundreds of ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-pitsandpinnacles_1

    Pits and Pinnacles: Bike Trip Accommodations

    by Ken Bingenheimer on August 01, 2010 at 02:24AM

    We ran the gamut in terms of lodging on the just-ended OFMC summer motorcycle trip this year. Considering that we spent about $340 per person for nine nights, what is actually surprising is how nice some of these places were. What is not surprising is ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-baggers_1

    Baggers

    by Ken Bingenheimer on July 25, 2010 at 03:37AM

    This luggage thing on motorcycles just grows and grows. When John and Bill and I started taking our summer OFMC bike trips, like this one we’re on right now, we used to strap things on our small bikes with bungee straps. Even now, none of the three of ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-trailridgeroad_2

    Cross the Continental Divide on Trail Ridge Road

    by Ken Bingenheimer on July 19, 2010 at 07:32AM

    You climb through the Big Thompson Canyon heading west out of Loveland, CO, with the river crashing down through this jagged granite gorge. Worthy of the ride all by itself, the canyon is just the appetizer as U.S. 34 continues through Estes Park and then ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-ontheroadagain_1

    On the Road Again

    by Ken Bingenheimer on July 18, 2010 at 03:21AM

    Excitement is building, emails are flying, and the countdown is nearing zero. The OFMC is about to hit the road for our annual summer trip. How can two days take so long to pass?

  • Kenbingenheimer-brotherhood_1

    The Biker Brotherhood: Paying It Forward

    by Ken Bingenheimer on July 11, 2010 at 03:51AM

    You start to learn about the brotherhood of motorcyclists right away, as soon as you start riding. You’re out on the road on your new bike and some guy you don’t even know waves at you. Then another, and then another. Welcome to the club.

  • Echosforberg_atribution_hoka-hey

    Come Hell or Hoka Hey

    by Ken Bingenheimer on July 07, 2010 at 02:21AM

    Try this on for a great motorcycle ride: Start at Key West, FL, and ride across the U.S. and Canada all the way up to Homer, Alaska. Depending on your route, that’s a good 7,000 or 8,000 miles, the kind of trip that would be a good extended summer ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-pilgrimage_1

    Pilgrimage to Sturgis

    by Ken Bingenheimer on July 04, 2010 at 02:37AM

    It’s not too far a reach to say that Sturgis is like Mecca. Every one of the faithful ought to get there at least once in their life. And the guys in the OFMC are nothing if not faithful, so in 2006 we made our pilgrimage.

  • Kenbingenheimer-hillclimb_5

    Race to the Top (of the Mountain)

    by Ken Bingenheimer on June 30, 2010 at 02:09AM

    When Zebulon Pike first laid eyes on the Colorado mountain that now bears his name, he declared that no one would ever be able to climb it. He'd be astonished to see the fields of racers scream to the top of the mountain last Sunday during the Pikes Peak ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-fairings_2

    To Fair or Not to Fair

    by Ken Bingenheimer on June 27, 2010 at 02:13AM

    I was pretty ignorant when I bought my first motorcycle but there was one things I was sure of: I didn’t like getting pounded by the wind. So one of the very first things I did was go to a parts shop for wind protection. I asked to see fairings and ...

  • Kenbingenheimer-bothworlds_1

    The Best of Both Worlds

    by Ken Bingenheimer on June 23, 2010 at 01:30AM

    Travel this country on a touring motorcycle and you’ll see fabulous views, ride some incredible places, and create memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime. You’ll also miss out on about one-third of the really good stuff.

  • Wetsun_atribution_riding-in-the-rain

    Sometimes, It's Good to be a Cager

    by Ken Bingenheimer on June 20, 2010 at 01:14AM

    The opportunity to see 1,000 Cushman scooters engulfing downtown Sturgis, SD, was too good an image to miss, so the rally is now underway and I’m writing from a motel room in Deadwood, about 8 miles from Sturgis. And I have to confess, I did not come ...

Columns

Ken Bingenheimer’s
The Bike Life
Chris DeMorro’s
Camp Across America
Melanie Neale’s
Boat Makes Three
Adam Sievering's
Wingin it in Costa Rica
Patricia Poulin's
Dirtbagger Diaries
Alisa Clickenger's
Have Bike, Will Travel

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