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Guest Columnist: National Motorcycle Examiner - 'Why I ride'

Thomas Bachur's photo
Baltimore Motorcycle Travel Examiner

National Motorcycle Examiner Ken Bingenheimer with members of OFMC.  (Photo: Ken Bingenheimer)

Ken Bingenheimer is the National Motorcycle Examiner.  Ken and I recently "swapped" articles, writing as "Guest Columnists" for each others column.  I wrote "Two Wheels That Changed My Life" for Kens' column, and Kens' wrote "Why I Ride," published below.  I hope you enjoy both articles. Thanks Ken, for sharing your story with us!

Tom Bachur
Baltimore Motorcycle Travel Examiner

Why I Ride
Ken Bingenheimer

National Motorcycle Examiner

Freedom, the wind in my face, the physical pleasure of rolling the bike from a left turn into a right turn . . . these are all part of what it is about motorcycling that I find so pleasurable. The "why" in why I ride. 

But it's more than that. Ever since I was a kid I've thought motorcycles were just the coolest things out there, and I wanted one.

I was all set to buy one when I turned 15, which was the legal age in Nebraska at that time. Back in those "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" days I had my eye on the 49cc Honda Cub, or what we just called the "Honda 50." It cost $300 new. For a year I had saved money from my paper route so I could get one, and I had told anyone who would listen that that was my intent.

My birthday came, I had the money, and I announced that the time had come, I was getting a motorcycle. To which my mother replied, "You'll never have a motorcycle as long as you're living in my house."

For an entire year I had spoken of this and planned for it and she hadn't said a word. "Devastated" would hardly describe how I felt.

To me that bike embodied freedom. Without it I was trapped in an area defined by my range on my bicycle, and I knew there was a whole lot of the world out there that I had never seen. To this day I love to explore and that bike was going to allow me to go so many places and see so many things. Instead, it would be far too many years before I finally had my own motorcycle.

The day did come, however, and for that I thank my friend John. He bought an old Virago and took me for a few rides and soon he and I were out shopping for my bike. I ended up with the CB750 Custom I still ride. And after the dream had lain dormant for all those years I found the reality was far better than the dream had ever been. Of course, by now we were talking real road machines that you could actually take to any place you chose, and that's exactly what we started doing.

Without a care in the world, with no plans but to follow our noses, John and I and our buddy Bill took off on a series of trips covering the entire western United States. If there's a road we haven't been on that's all the reason we need to take it. Again and again as we rolled along I had to throw back my head and scream to the sky, "I love my motorcycle!"

I do love my motorcycle. And I'll leave you with this thought: You never see a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrist's office.

And then there's this remark, from Valentino Rossi, speaking of his bike: “I don't give it a name, but I always speak with it. I don't know if other riders do the same. This is not only a piece of metal - there is a soul.”

Enjoy reading Tom's articles?  Bookmark his page and stop back frequently, or subscribe (at the top of this page) to receive an email update when Tom publishes new articles.

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, Baltimore Motorcycle Travel Examiner

Tom's an avid rider, a Motorcycle Safety Instructor and an editor of the "Super Magna" discussion forum. Tom's been "riding Baltimore" for over 25 years. You can email Tom at tbachur@yahoo.com.

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