Driven to Ride

Motorcycling and music seem to go hand in hand, or at least that’s the opinion shared by Wes Fleming, the host of “Chasing the Horizon,” and Mark Long, the host of “Driven to Ride.” Both enjoy playing stringed instruments, Wes favoring the guitar while Mark is a bass player. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” admits Fleming, adding, “It’s the two groups of people that I like.”Besides his podcasting duties, Fleming is the digital media editor for the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, a 25,000-member organization with more than 40 years of history and a network of riders across the entire U.S., 10 Canadian provinces, and all seven continents. Despite its affiliation with the German marque, “Chasing the Horizon” covers other brands and aspects of the powersports industry.In addition to “Chasing the Horizon,” which Fleming describes as, “by, for, and about motorcyclists” he produces three other motorcycle-related podcasts, “200 Miles Before Breakfast,” “The Ride Inside with Mark Barnes,” and “Riding Into the Sunset.” Fleming also fronts an instrumental rock band called Hypersonic Secret and plays in a surf-music band Agent Octopus. Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]

Bob Starr considers himself “lucky,” having spent his entire career in the motorcycle industry, including more than 32 years at Yamaha in marketing and, currently, corporate communications. “I turned a passion of mine at a very early age into a lifelong career,” he says with the enthusiasm of a teenager, “and I have really, really enjoyed it. I hope I’ve made a difference in the industry and, certainly, to Yamaha.”As the New Hampshire native relates, motorcycles made an early impression. Playing in the front yard of his childhood home, he vividly recalls hearing a bike pass by. “It was a Triumph, and it happened to belong to a local volunteer fire-department member. I would always wave, and he would always wave back. He had pipes on it, and it made a lot of noise. It was very influential to me.”Some of the behind-the-scenes highlights that Starr relates to Mark Long, host of the “Driven to Ride” podcast, are almost too good to be true. Like the time Wayne Rainey proposed that fellow three-time 500cc World Champion and mentor Kenny Roberts ride a two-stroke TZ750 flat-tracker at the 2009 Indianapolis Mile in exchange for Yamaha sponsorship at a celebrity pro-am golf tournament. Lucky, indeed. Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]

The couple that rides together, stays together, right? Well, Cassey Stone, founder of the “Hell Yeah! Moto” women’s dirt bike riding school, and Jacob Michna, former head of the AMA Hare and Hound National Championship Series now running the AMA West Hare Scramble Championship Series, bring vastly different two-wheel experiences to their relationship, which probably explains why they get along so well.“Is it a Cassey ride?” That’s the most-asked question Stone hears when word spreads of a single-track off-road ride that she may in fact be leading through the wilds of Idaho. “I love showing people around and taking them on trails,” says Stone, adding that she enjoys turning up the heat. “When people start to ride in the desert, the next step has got to be the walk-out-at-midnight ride in the mountains with Cassey.”Both Michna and “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long have survived Stone’s outings. “She definitely taught me a lot of the ways of the woods—stuff like how to saw deadfall trees,” admits Michna, whose day job is events manager for FLY Racing. “Any woods knowledge I have, I’ve definitely learned through her.” Listen to this episode, and you will understand even better why Stone and Michna perfectly complement each other. Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]

Stage names often have interesting backstories. For Ryan Kluftinger, better known as “RyanF9,” host of the “FortNine” YouTube channel, the explanation is straightforward: His boss came up with the internet alias. At the time, Ryan wasn’t exactly pleased, but he shrugged it off, figuring that was a small cost for the opportunity to produce his own content. Nearly a decade later, “RyanF9” is a household name in motorcycle circles.Ryan holds degrees in art history and physics, but he takes a journalistic approach to his videos. About FortNine, “Canada’s online shopping source for motorcycle accessories,” he says, “From Day 1, they said, ‘Go make some content, brand it under FortNine, and make sure that motorcyclists find it useful or entertaining or valuable.’ They never said, ‘Try to say nice things about the stuff we sell or try to promote this brand.’”Kluftinger is no charlatan. He’s a second-generation motorcyclist who has been on two wheels since his pre-teen years. The Canadian earned his motorcycle license at age 17, and he doesn’t own an automobile. “I tend to buy older stuff,” he admits. He currently owns four motorcycles, a Yamaha TT-R90, a Suzuki RV125 VanVan, a Honda GL500 Silver Wing, and a Yamaha TT350. In other words, he’s one of us. Connect with Us:Website: www.driventoridepodcast.comInstagram: www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/driventorideEmail:[email protected]