Search by tags The Bike Life
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The Down Side of Being Out There
by Ken Bingenheimer on August 29, 2010 at 03:16AMOne 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 ...
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Sturgis in the Rear View Mirror
by Ken Bingenheimer on August 22, 2010 at 03:08AMThe 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?
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A Crowded Cruise Down Spearfish Canyon
by Ken Bingenheimer on August 15, 2010 at 03:10AMSpearfish 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 ...
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Just a Little Further
by Ken Bingenheimer on August 08, 2010 at 03:08AMForty 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.
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Pits and Pinnacles: Bike Trip Accommodations
by Ken Bingenheimer on August 01, 2010 at 02:24AMWe 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 ...
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Baggers
by Ken Bingenheimer on July 25, 2010 at 03:37AMThis 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 ...
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On the Road Again
by Ken Bingenheimer on July 18, 2010 at 03:21AMExcitement 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?
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The Biker Brotherhood: Paying It Forward
by Ken Bingenheimer on July 11, 2010 at 03:51AMYou 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.
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Pilgrimage to Sturgis
by Ken Bingenheimer on July 04, 2010 at 02:37AMIt’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.
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To Fair or Not to Fair
by Ken Bingenheimer on June 27, 2010 at 02:13AMI 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 ...
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Sometimes, It's Good to be a Cager
by Ken Bingenheimer on June 20, 2010 at 01:14AMThe 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 ...
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Cool vs. Cool
by Ken Bingenheimer on June 13, 2010 at 03:30AMName two things that are cooler than a well-worn black leather motorcycle jacket. That takes a bit of thought, doesn’t it? And of course it’s that whole image thing that is a big attraction for many of the people who buy motorcycles and then only ride ...
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Before the Cell Phone
by Ken Bingenheimer on June 06, 2010 at 03:12AMAs once-new technologies pervade our entire lives it can be hard to remember what we did before we had these devices. Cell phones are an example, and the change they have made in motorcycle trips with the guys is far-reaching.
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Spontaneity
by Ken Bingenheimer on May 30, 2010 at 04:23AMAlthough I’ve always loved just riding motorcycles, it was motorcycle touring that really set the hook for good. Travel can be a wonderful thing in nearly any type of vehicle but travel on a motorcycle is the best you can get. You take the back roads, ...
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Letting it Rip on Track Day
by Ken Bingenheimer on May 23, 2010 at 04:59AMHave you ever wished you could get out on your motorcycle and just let her rip? No worry about speeding tickets. No worry about hitting that pocket of gravel as you carve that turn. No worry about that idiot cager who’s just about to pull out in front ...
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"Cagers"
by Ken Bingenheimer on May 16, 2010 at 03:22AMReach back in your memory to those blissful times driving along on that hot summer day smelling the fresh cut hay, enjoying the dips into the ravines for the coolness they bring, and . . . Stop! You don’t remember those things? No, of course not, what ...
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Getting My Fix
by Ken Bingenheimer on May 09, 2010 at 02:37AMWhen you’re seriously addicted to cruising on two wheels you’ll go to extremes to get your fix. I know I did when a company I once worked for sent me to Sacramento for a month. This was going to be an opportunity to ride some fabulous roads in a place ...
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Camping and Couch Surfing in the Name of Laughlin
by Ken Bingenheimer on May 02, 2010 at 04:59AMMotorcycle travel by definition is a fair-weather activity. You’re not going to do it when there is snow and ice on the ground. As a consequence, living as I do in Colorado, the trips I’ve taken have been in the summer months, when wind and rain are ...
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My Scariest Ride
by Ken Bingenheimer on April 25, 2010 at 02:12AMWhich way is up? Which way is down? Can you imagine being out on the road and not being sure of those directions? I can, because I’ve been in just that situation, and it wasn’t pleasant.
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Playing in the Dirt
by Ken Bingenheimer on April 18, 2010 at 02:31AMI haven’t done much dirt-biking, a deficiency I intend to rectify this summer, but I’ve had a couple opportunities. The first one was compliments of my friend John. You can think of him as the pusher. “Try this, you’ll really like it,” he seems ...
