This Motorcycle Life Podcast

This Motorcycle Life Podcast episodes:

• 11.18.2023

  A Message From Bruce

  This Motorcycle Life is taking an indefinite hiatus from producing new episodes. A message of thanks from host and producer Bruce Philp.

  
• 08.12.2023

  Episode 54 - The Nicest People

  Would you ride with me? Should I ride with you? What does it take to be a great riding companion, or even know one when we meet one? Meet Bubba Eisenhauer, a former US Army Ranger officer who knows a...

  
• 06.23.2023

  Episode 53 - The Purple Motorcycle

  Do women experience motorcycling in their own way? Meet lori lozinski, a Canadian filmmaker and feminist whose own motorcycle life answers that question with a passionate ‘yes’. Using her personal journey as a template, lori has explored on film the...

  
• 05.07.2023

  Episode 52 - Coyotes

  Who on earth would ride a motorcycle in a city like New York? Meet Brian Lau, a gifted young photographer who set out to document Gotham’s vibrant motorcycle scene in search of an answer. Despite not being a rider himself,...

  
• 03.30.2023

  Episode 51 - The Gift

  Every new rider is somebody’s kid, but what if that new rider is your kid? There’s no more emotionally complicated moment in a motorcyclist’s life than the day their offspring gets a motorbike of their own. Meet Wes Stephenson, who...

  
• 01.25.2023

  Episode 50 - One Light

  Why does motorcycling inspire so much creativity in the people who do it? From true artists to passionate amateurs, something ineffable about these machines compels many of us, including this podcaster, to share the ride with the rest of the...

  
• 12.07.2022

  Episode 49 - Those Who Wait

  What drives motorcycling’s late bloomers? Are mid-life bikers trying to turn back the clock, or is there some wisdom in putting on that helmet just when life is getting comfortable? Meet Catherine Meade, who jumped into motorcycling with both feet...

  
• 10.28.2022

  Episode 48 - Don Quixote

  How can we find goodness in a world gone mad? Obviously, the answer is on a motorcycle… though maybe not the way you think. Meet Harold Serrano, a kid from New Jersey who’s begun a global odyssey not to...

  
• 04.02.2022

  Episode 47 - The Chief

  How do you pass on your love of motorcycles to the people who matter the most? Sometimes, the answer is a motorcycle. Meet Larry Gibson and grandson, Eric Clingenpeel, two of four generations to own and ride the same...

  
• 02.18.2022

  Episode 46 - The Best Medicine

  Are motorcycles really as therapeutic as we think they are? Are we just having fun when we ride, or is something more profound going on under our helmets? Meet lifelong rider Dr. Joe Leondike, a Lieutenant Colonel in the US...

  
• 01.21.2022

  Episode 45 - Boy Interrupted

  Can an epic ride really change your life? Meet Chris Donaldson, whose unplanned 39,000 mile odyssey still burns bright forty years later. Bright enough to write a vivid book from his original diary. Bright enough to keep the motorcycle he...

  
• 12.03.2021

  Episode 44 - Chrome Heart, A Conversation With Miss Emma Booton

  What makes a great mechanic tick? Meet Miss Emma Booton, a ‘humble wrench’ who builds, restores and fixes some of the Bay Area’s most special motorcycles. What begins as an inside look at life in the back of the shop...

  
• 11.05.2021

  Episode 43 - This Is Us

  What is a motorcyclist? And are we really as different as we feel under our helmets? Meet documentary photographer David Goldman, whose continuing odyssey to document our community might just be the most ambitious attempt to find out ever… even...

  
• 10.08.2021

  Episode 42 - Daring Greatly

  Is dirt riding as good for us as everyone says it is? Meet retired NHL power forward Scott Thornton, whose transition from life in professional hockey began in earnest with a ride in the woods. Unsurprisingly for an elite athlete,...

  
• 09.11.2021

  Episode 41 - Horse And Train

  Is progress costing motorcycles their souls? Not if we do it right. Meet Nashville recording engineer and avid rider Chris Mara. In his business, the war between the analog past and the digital future was settled a generation ago. His...

  
• 08.09.2021

  Episode 40 - The Worst That Could Happen

  What if one terrible moment on a motorcycle took away almost everything that mattered to you? Would you ride again? Meet Omar Petralis, who’s lived through exactly that nightmare. His answer might amaze you… or it might not amaze you...

  
• 07.01.2021

  Episode 39 - Chasing Demons

  Are endurance motorcyclists crazy? Iron Butt riders call themselves “the world’s toughest,” so you know there’s more going on here than long hours in the saddle collecting gas receipts. Meet Rick Muhr, an overnight convert to endurance motorcycling. Muhr, a...

  
• 05.28.2021

  Episode 38 - Thunderstruck

  If you had to do it again, how hard would you fight to have a motorcycle in your life? Meet Angie Sandow, whose mid-life return to riding faced her with every obstacle you can imagine, starting with the fact she...

  
• 04.23.2021

  Episode 37 - Eye Of The Beholder

  Are motorcycles beautiful? What is it about the sight of our bikes that sets our hearts on fire all over again every spring? Meet Amy Shore, an avid rider and automotive photographer who has made a career of documenting beautiful...

  
• 03.19.2021

  Episode 36 - Rebel Soul, A Conversation With Erik Buell

  Where is motorcycling going? Depending on whom you listen to, the answer can be anywhere from soulless techno-utopia to outright extinction. In this episode, we’re listening to legendary racer, designer, engineer and entrepreneur Erik Buell, who thinks the sky’s the...

  
• 02.19.2021

  Episode 35 - The Edge Case

  Are motorcyclists really adrenaline addicts? Meet Axe DeKruif, the ultimate edge case. After a lifetime of chasing adrenaline highs with anything on wheels, Axe decided to scratch that itch once and for all by doing something nobody had ever done…...

  
• 01.22.2021

  Episode 34 - The Road Less Traveled, A Conversation With Jocelin Snow

  The most awkward dance in a motorcyclist’s life is the one we have with our limits. Meet world class adventure rider Jocelin Snow, who thinks it’s often ourselves who make that dance so difficult. From the steppes of Mongolia to...

  
• 12.23.2020

  Episode 33 - Liftoff

  Do you still remember your first time? The elation of that first season is a big part of what makes motorcycles so addictive, and it can become elusive as the years go by. Meet Neale Koumbiadis, whose motorcycle life is...

  
• 10.30.2020

  Episode 32 - The Skillful Monk

  Is riding a motorcycle really like meditating? Meet Ven. Kusala Bhikshu, a Buddhist monk who has spent more than 20 years navigating the mean streets of Los Angeles on two wheels. His resounding ‘yes’ could hardly come with more authority....

  
• 09.25.2020

  Episode 31 - Shoshin

  Do sport riders know something the rest of us don’t? It can be hard to tell behind all that leather and armour, but there are few motorcycle lifestyles riders pursue with more dedication. Meet Anna Rigby, an accomplished track addict...

  
• 08.19.2020

  Episode 30 - The Apprentice

  For many of us, the internet is an indispensable part of motorcycle life. But have you ever wondered if the experts on your favourite forums are the real thing? Meet Tom Harley, a moderator on Reddit’s Harley Davidson subreddit. Tom...

  
• 07.03.2020

  Episode 29 - We Could Be Heroes

  What is it about motorcycles that turns some riders into social activists? From charity rides to roadside rescues, one of motorcycling’s most enduring archetypes is the rider who wanders the world to right its wrongs. Meet Lance Jones, an activist...

  
• 05.15.2020

  Episode 28 - Ghost In The Machine, A Conversation With Matthew Biberman

  What does your motorcycle mean to you? For many riders, a bike is simply a tool, a vehicle for the body. But for some of us, a motorcycle is much more than that, a vessel that carries the stories of...

  
• 04.10.2020

  Episode 27 - The Joyous Struggle

  Why do we really seek adventure? Meet Henry Crew, the youngest person ever to circle the globe on a motorcycle, alone. His life barely begun and full of questions, Henry put it all on pause and embarked on a record-setting...

  
• 03.13.2020

  Episode 26 - East Of Omaha

  The archetype of the rock star biker is cool, but are they real? This one is. Meet singer songwriter Mark Kasprzyk, front man for alt rock band Redlight King. Kaz talks about how motorcycles fit into the life of a...

  
• 01.06.2020

  Episode 25 - The Best Laid Plans

  Could you really leave it all behind and live on your motorcycle? Meet James Bai, a cubicle dwelling engineer who decided to do exactly that. James and his wife carefully planned their entire lives to make the dream of a...

  
• 11.25.2019

  Episode 24 - Coming Home

  What is it about soldiers and motorcycles? The connection between military culture and the machines we love is deep and goes back decades, but it turns out there’s more to this affinity than ancient history. Meet Valerie Lower, a combat...

  
• 10.29.2019

  Episode 23 - The Mother Road, A Conversation With Geoff Hill

  What makes a road legendary? From Route 66 to the Pan-American Highway, Geoff Hill is an award winning travel writer and long distance motorcyclist who’s ridden his share of the roads the rest of us dream about. In tales that...

  
• 09.29.2019

  Episode 22 - The Perfect Metaphor

  Do motorcycles matter? In a time when the industry worries about its survival and riders quietly wonder if we’ll one day be legislated out of existence, it’s fair to ask why the rest of the world should even care. In...

  
• 08.09.2019

  Episode 21 - Fear Itself

  Does riding motorcycles scare you? For more riders than we imagine, nagging fear is one part of motorcycling nobody talks about, and just feeling it can undermine our confidence. Meet Dr. Mark Barnes, a clinical psychologist who thinks that isn’t...

  
• 07.05.2019

  Episode 20 - Reborn, A Conversation With Melissa Holbrook Pierson

  Does riding ever get old? For a lot of us, Melissa Holbrook Pierson’s book “The Perfect Vehicle” is a perfect record of how we felt about motorcycles in the rush of those first few seasons. Now, 35 years after her...

  
• 05.28.2019

  Episode 19 - Burning The Ships

  What is ‘adventure riding’? In an age when the spirit of adventure is sometimes eclipsed by horsepower, technology and fashion, it’s easy to forget that it still comes down to having the courage to take a chance, and then let...

  
• 04.29.2019

  Episode 18 – Built Not Bought, A Conversation With Eric Gorges

  Builders are some of the most fascinating characters in motorcycling today, with fame and influence that reaches every corner of the sport. But what makes them tick? Are they just fellow riders with more skill and ambition than the rest...

  
• 03.11.2019

  Episode 17 - Common Ground

  Why do gatherings and gathering places matter so much to motorcyclists? In this episode, I talk with automotive journalist Kyle Cheromcha whose story “Mulholland is Burning” chronicles how California’s historic 2018 wildfire season nearly claimed the legendary Rock Store, even...

  
• 01.14.2019

  Episode 16 - The Discomfort Zone

  Motorcyclists have complicated relationships with their comfort zones. On one hand, they’re where we feel safe and in control. But on the other, they can also make us complacent and lazy. Eventually, we take those comfort zones for granted, and...

  
• 12.14.2018

  Episode 15 - A Thousand Words

  Since the first motorcycles took to the road, they’ve been objects of fascination for artists. The trouble is, not many of those artists were actually riders, and images of motorcycles in popular culture ended up as symbols for things that...

  
• 11.09.2018

  Episode 14 - Thanksgiving

  With the riding season coming to an end for many of us, this seems like a good time to take stock. But as we reflect on the places we’ve been and the memories we’ve made, are we forgetting something? In...

  
• 10.09.2018

  Episode 13 - Invictus

  They say you never see a motorcycle in front of a therapist’s office. Most of us, in fact, freely admit that there are days when we just ride to stay sane, and that sometimes the only place life makes any...

  
• 08.31.2018

  Episode 12 - The Harley Thing

  No motorcycle brand inspires stronger emotions, deeper loyalty, fiercer criticism and maybe more seething envy than Harley Davidson. With 115 years of history behind the bar and shield, more North Americans ride Harleys today than any other make, and the...

  
• 07.02.2018

  Episode 11 - In The Blood

  You know the look. The one your parent or partner gets as you gear up for a ride, the one that says, “why couldn’t you have taken up golf?” Sometimes, being a motorcyclist means being misunderstood by the people who...

  
• 05.14.2018

  Episode 10 - The Sense Of Presence, A Conversation With Freddie Spencer

  Awareness is how motorcyclists survive. And, for some, it’s also how they win. That would seem to be the story of Grand Prix legend “Fast Freddie” Spencer, an extraordinary talent whose awareness was so acute he could tell who was...

  
• 04.16.2018

  Episode 9 - A Certain Madness

  Right from that very first ride, motorcycling is about pushing ourselves a little further, beyond our comfort zones, beyond our perceived limits, and sometimes beyond common sense. Does this hunger to do more ever stop? Not if you’re Oliver Solaro....

  
• 03.12.2018

  Episode 8 - A Postcard From California

  For some motorcyclists in the north, winter can be just too much to bear. Some of us ride anyway. Some of us grit our teeth and wait. Some of us escape to an island for a few days. Me, I...

  
• 12.18.2017

  Episode 7 - Linguine With Clams

  There must be a reason why some of motorcycling’s most sacred shrines started out as places to eat. So, what does food mean to us? Guy Arnone is an avid rider and motovlogger who also happens to be the executive...

  
• 10.31.2017

  Episode 6 - Rebirth Of The Cool

  The custom bike scene, along with the legions of ‘modern classic’ bikes it’s spawned, has invigorated motorcycling. Beyond the cafés, scramblers and choppers that adorn our Instagram feeds, this retro aesthetic has even crossed over to the mainstream, making moto...