Every July, tens of thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts descend on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Morrow County, Ohio, to celebrate and honor the history of motorcycling in America. AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days is a long-standing tradition and the largest fundraiser for the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation, which supports the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum.

“We have vintage racing—off-road, trials, motocross, flat track, road racing, you name it,” explained AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman. “We also have the world’s largest motorcycle swap meet. We have, if you can imagine this, over 850 vendor spaces. It’s just gigantic. We try to add new elements or do something a little different each year, and it continues to grow.”

AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days caters to all motorcyclists, and the event can get a bit rowdy after the sun goes down. “It was crazy,” one attendee told “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long. “Things got louder. There were a lot more two-strokes on the pipe. There were fireworks. There were, let’s call them, festivities.” Next year, VMD is scheduled for July 24 through July 26. Put it on your calendar.

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Mike Mullaney might not be a household name, but if you follow NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing, you’ve likely seen his world-class work, albeit briefly as it flashes past the grandstands en route to a sub-7-second pass. Mullaney designs and builds chassis for “Flyin’” Ryan Oehler, who has already pocketed not one, but two “Wallys,” professional straight-line competition’s top honor.

An accomplished drag racer himself, the 35-year-old husband and father of two got his start a decade ago with Vance & Hines Motorsports. “I knew I wanted to be a fabricator,” says Mullaney, “but I had never turned on a TIG welder. I had never turned on a lathe. I had never turned on a milling machine. Matt Hines, Andrew Hines, and Eddie Krawiec taught me a lot of what I know today.”

When COVID led to staff reductions at V&H, Mullaney struck out on his own, forming Mullaney Cycle Works. Before he cuts metal, Mullaney creates the entire frame in CAD. Why? One, he doesn't want to waste material. Two, he needs to know exactly where everything goes, down to the millimeter. Career highlight? That’s easy: Oehler’s 200.77-mph pass this past May at Route 66 Raceway.

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Chances are your motorcycle bucket list just keeps growing and growing. Sure, you’ll eventually cross a few off our list, but to be honest, the hardest part of any motorcycle trip, is just starting. That’s where Dax Harlow and MotoQuest come in.

Dax has been riding basically his whole life, and was determined to get into the motorcycle industry - or specifically to get paid to ride motorcycles - one way or another. And by pure determination and persistence, he’s living the dream.

Dax’s official title is Chaos Coordinator, which means he runs the Portland branch of MotoQuest, a worldwide motorcycle tour company that was originally founded in Alaska, back in the 90s. Since then, they’ve expanded to offer tours all over the world, like South America and Japan, but they’ve also curated some of the best rides in the United States as well.

Whatever trip is on your radar, both Dax and MotoQuest love to help people achieve their bucket list rides, whether that’s going on an all-inclusive, fully guided tour, as Dax has led in the unparalleled American Southwest, or maybe something as simple as helping plot out GPS points on BDR routes in the just-as-unique Pacific Northwest. Or, if you just want to rent one of their BMW’s and make your own ride, you can do that too.

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Lots of folks fantasize about following their dreams. Most ideas, however, never get past the initial imagination phase. Some years ago, Tim de Jong was backpacking in Southeast Asia. He rented one of the small-displacement motorcycles common to that part of the world. “I really felt the freedom,” he says. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is the best way to travel, actually.’”

After returning to his native Netherlands, however, de Jong fell back into his daily routine, which didn’t include motorcycles. A friend proposed a two-wheel vacation in Colombia. De Jong didn’t have a motorcycle license, but that inconvenience was soon resolved, and his life changed forever. “It was so addictive,” he tells “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long. “I was totally hooked.”

De Jong and his small team now own and operate “Donkey Sunrise,” Colombia’s gateway to all sorts of adventures, including motorcycle tours. Here’s the fun part: Tour difficulty is based on the “banana system.” One banana equates to “pavement only,” while five bananas means you’d better bring your off-road “A” game. How many bananas are you feeling?

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As adolescent introductions to motorcycling go, author and podcaster Ted Kettler’s first two-wheel experience probably isn’t unique. But, as he tells host Mark Long on this episode of the “Driven to Ride” podcast, that moment in time more than half a century ago left an indelible mark on his consciousness—in the shape of Harley-Davidson’s iconic bar-and-shield logo, no less.

“I can remember standing on the front seat of my mother’s car,” he laughs. “We were at a traffic light and a motorcycle pulled up in the lane next to us. I said, “Wow! What’s that?” And my mother said, “That’s a Harley-Davidson.” I remember it was turquoise and white. Then, the light turned green and he took off. From that moment on, I was all about Harley-Davidson.”

Kettler has hosted the “Motorcycle Men Podcast” for a decade, and in 2024, he published, “The Road Most Traveled: A Motorcycle Ride Along the East Coast of America.” Whereas most riders seek out the best back roads, Kettler set off on his trip with the polar-opposite intention: to follow the busiest highways, from the northeast to the Florida Keys. Beep, beep! Honk, honk!

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“Jimbo” Tarpey describes himself as “the guy riding a motorcycle from the Arctic to the Antarctic. I talk about the history and the culture of the places I visit—the details, the nitty-gritty, the fun stuff.” No matter who you are or what adventures you’ve experienced during your lifetime, while the first part of that quote definitely grabs your attention, the last bit holds it firmly in place.

Tarpey began his journey three years ago in his native Minnesota, traveling first to the Arctic Ocean in Deadhorse, Alaska. Over the course of two-and-a-half years, he followed the Pan-American Highway, recognized as the longest road in the world, all the way to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in South America. Being bilingual with more than a passing interest in history helped.

Similar to others engulfed by a lust for travel, Tarpey counts Ted Simon, author of the 1979 book, “Jupiter’s Travels,” among his inspirations. “He said, ‘Being in a car is like watching a movie. On a bike, you’re in it.’ It’s a much more involved experience, and when you get to the other side, the feeling of accomplishment is so much more profound.” May the road never end for you, Jimbo.

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Peter Egan is one of the most beloved voices in automotive and motorcycle journalism. In a warm, wide-ranging conversation that takes place inside his Wisconsin workshop, Egan reconnects with “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long to discuss his new book, “Landings in America,” a memoir meets travelogue that chronicles a six-week journey across the U.S. in a Piper Cub.

Egan shares stories of how he and his wife, Barb, navigated the skies in 1987 with paper maps, a handheld radio, and no GPS, landing in small towns, sleeping in motels, and soaking in the vastness of the country from 1,500 feet above. They avoided big cities in favor of grass airstrips, friendly strangers, and fly-ins, where fellow aviation enthusiasts gathered around their bright yellow aircraft.

Known for his decades-long career writing for Cycle World and Road & Track, Egan brings the same introspective charm and observational wit to this interview that made his magazine columns and features enduring favorites for readers and riders alike. While motorcycles only appear briefly in “Landings in America,” the spirit of adventure is deeply familiar.

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For the past 20 years, fast friends Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor have been wandering the globe on an eclectic mix of motorcycles. “Long Way Home,” the intrepid pair’s fourth and most recent television series, captures their journey through 17 European countries aboard a resurrected 1973 BMW R75/5 and a well-traveled 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado.

“There’s something wonderful about a big trip,” Londoner Boorman relates to host Mark Long on this episode of the “Driven to Ride” podcast. “Sometimes, it almost feels like you’re sort of on holiday and you don’t want the holiday to end. You’ve got that freedom of the open road, you’re carrying everything on the motorcycle that you need, and there you are, just going off.”

While some aspects of their adventures haven’t changed much since Boorman and McGregor set off on their inaugural 2004 trip—“two friends riding round the world together and, against the odds, realizing their dream”—the cameras used to record the experience, plus the advent of in-helmet communication, have revolutionized the process. But, as Boorman attests, it’s still escaping.

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