Motorcycles Are Drugs: Conversations In Motion

Welcome to the Motorcycles Are Drugs podcast, a show where we speak with artists and engineers, connoisseurs and problem-solvers, from the moto world and beyond. We’re a father/son team that has collaborated for years through storytelling and imagery, often combining our creativity with the adventure and community we’ve found on two-wheeled machines. Thank you so much for spending time with us!

Fictional Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire hates motorcycles as much as Indiana Jones hates snakes, but the New York Times bestselling author Craig Johnson loves bikes as much as he loves his horses and Wyoming ranch. With his 19th novel ‘The Longmire Defense’ set for early September 2023 publication, we spoke with the 62-year-old West Virginia native about his motivation and discipline for writing, how he spent several promotional tours visiting bookstores on his BMW motorcycle, and that time many decades ago when he nearly lost an eye during a motocross race. Listen, enjoy, and share with friends. Please follow or subscribe to receive instant notifications of new episodes. As always, thanks for your support! motorcyclesaredrugs.com instagram.com/motorcyclesaredrugs

You might know Zahn McClarnon from his iconic roles in Longmire, Fargo, Westworld, Reservation Dogs or Dark Winds. After meeting him in the Buffalo Chip at the 2018 Sturgis Bike Rally, we were pleased when he agreed to be our guest. He had one condition: motorcycle talk first, Hollywood second.  It was a joy talking to a fellow 1966 baby who spent his formative years in the Midwest. You’ll dig our conversation about his motorcycle origin story, all the places he’s ridden, which bikes he’s owned, and which bike he’s eyeballing these days. He also drops a spoiler about Dark Winds: Season 2! Listen, enjoy, and share with friends. Please follow or subscribe to receive instant notifications of new episodes. motorcyclesaredrugs.com instagram.com/motorcyclesaredrugs © 2023 MOTORCYCLES ARE DRUGS. All rights reserved

For this special 2023 Quail Motorcycle Gathering podcast episode, Henri stitched together brief conversations with 20 attendees, including custom builder Hugo Eccles, Quail Motorsports Director Gordon McCall, museum curator Robb Talbott, 4-time GP world champion Eddie Lawson, lead judge Somer Hooker, and MC Paul d’Orléans, among others. We hope you enjoy our unique episode of interviews conducted at the 2023 Quail Motorcycle Gathering. Maybe they move you to go on a ride, to fix up your bike, or call up your buddy for some two-wheeled soul-searching. Listen, enjoy, and share with friends. Please follow or subscribe to receive instant notifications of new episodes. motorcyclesaredrugs.com instagram.com/motorcyclesaredrugs

Torsten Robbens is the youngest team manager to win the 24 Hours of LeMans, and with his twin brother Bjorn acquired Saroléa and developed a modern electric bike to race the Isle of Man TT. Torsten has been riding motorcycles with Bjorn since they were 4 years old, planting a mechanical seed of curiosity in them both.  Torsten regales us with his career arc, from riding a 50cc moped to England for a lowly apprenticeship to working with Hollywood A-listers on motorcycle stunt bikes, with his impressive Le Mans accomplishments in between. We were also jazzed to talk to a fellow Belgian! Listen, enjoy, and share with friends. Follow us so you never miss an episode!

Jared Zaugg founded Dravot & Carnehan, a strategic management consultancy, specializing in lifestyle, automotive, mobile technology, and travel. Named after the dynamic upstarts in Kipling’s classic The Man Who Would Be King, Dravot & Carnehan is inspired by those who blaze their own trails with character and flair.  With Dravot & Carnehan, Jared and his wife Brooke identified a gap in the market and pioneered a new approach to motorcycles as art. Hosted at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California, “Legend of the Motorcycle” was launched in 2006 as the first world-class concours d'elegance exclusively for motorcycles, attracting a burgeoning international audience of collectors, judges and aficionados. The Wall Street Journal, London Times, Fortune, CNN Money, and the Los Angeles Times called it the best event of its kind in the world.  In this episode, Jared talks about his entry into motorcycling with an early `70s BMW, how his parents always had one or more British cars on the property, his friendship with the late high-flying Alain de Cadenet, and how “Legend of the Motorcycle” came about. Listen, enjoy, and share with friends. Subscribe to receive notifications when new episodes are published. motorcyclesaredrugs.com instagram.com/motorcyclesaredrugs © 2023 MOTORCYCLES ARE DRUGS. All rights reserved

Illinois native Matt Park is a retired Marine who runs the parts department at BMW Motorcycles in San Francisco. With a personal soundtrack and demeanor that oozes style, class and character, Matt is the pure reflection of what vintage looks like in 3D. His bikes, his cars, his house, his clothing, his beard: all authentic, imperfect and classy.  A founding member of the Sunday Moto Club in August 2017, Matt relates his origin stories with cars and bikes, in an interview sprinkled with where he’s served around the world, and why he digs living in Niles, a small San Francisco East Bay canyon town gloriously stuck in 1955, where none other than Charlie Chaplin – working for Essanay Studios – shot The Tramp in 1915.  Matt and Gary talk about their shared appreciation for the Longmire Netflix series and Craig Johnson books and other notable topics. His dedication to hunting down vintage memorabilia extends to reserving the first Sundays of each month to attending the Alameda Antique Fair to seek more storied treasure.  Listen, enjoy, and share with friends. motorcyclesaredrugs.com instagram.com/motorcyclesaredrugs © 2023 MOTORCYCLES ARE DRUGS. All rights reserved

Jay Ward is the Creative Director of Franchise at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California, with several Formula One, MotoGP and NASCAR legends on speed dial. He's a car and motorcycle buff whose expertise takes him worldwide to judge at concours competitions. No stranger to a wrench himself, Jay managed the parts department of a Bay Area Harley-Davidson dealership after art school before his jump into show business almost 25 years ago. In this episode, Jay describes his introduction to motorcycles and cars, making his way into Pixar, and how his deep knowledge of four wheels caught the attention of the top brass, catapulting Jay into the Pixar stratosphere and up the creative ladder. Jay explains his past and current stable of motorcycles and scooters, how he resurrected and acquired a 1976 Porsche 911S from a kind neighbor, brings us behind the scenes with last year’s record-setting Sally Special Porsche Carrera auction, his recent acquisition of a rare aluminum-bodied 1953 Austin-Healey 100 with a Chevy V8 wedged under the bonnet, and what he hopes to accomplish in 2023. All this, including some encouraging digs on Gary for his never having been to Disneyland. Listen, enjoy, and share with friends. motorcyclesaredrugs.com instagram.com/motorcyclesaredrugs © 2023 MOTORCYCLES ARE DRUGS. All rights reserved

Livio Suppo is our first guest of 2023. He is best known for leading Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez to multiple MotoGP world championships for Ducati and Repsol Honda, respectively. Based in Monaco, Suppo was candid, jovial, and transparent about the current state of MotoGP, how things have changed, the riders he managed, the advent and growing popularity of electric mountain bikes, all while raising a boxer puppy named Spyder, who managed to make an appearance early on during our conversation. Suppo also co-founded e-bike company Thok in 2017, before leaving his role as team principal for Repsol Honda after Marquez’s fourth premiere class title. Feeling restless after recharging his personal batteries, Suppo was hired to lead Suzuki’s factory MotoGP team a year ago, only to be told a few months later that Suzuki was pulling out of the championship by the end of the 2022 season, one that saw its rider Alex Rins win two of the last three races. Listen, enjoy, and share with friends. motorcyclesaredrugs.com instagram.com/motorcyclesaredrugs © 2023 MOTORCYCLES ARE DRUGS. All rights reserved

Fashionista and professional cymbal-smasher Sam Fogarino shares stories from the early days of Interpol in early 2000's NYC, breaks down the uniquely post-lockdown creative process they developed while recording their new album The Other Side of Make-Believe (out July 15th), and opens up about navigating a brain aneurysm after a successful world tour in support of Marauder (2018). We get into classic motorcycles, Sam's self-described 'mechanical dyslexia', and the upsides of moving from vintage bikes to something a bit more modern. He's come a long way from West Philadelphia and it's all thanks to a leap of faith and a fateful audition. Are Motorcycles drugs for you? If they are (or if you just enjoy good conversation with rad people) head on over to our website or instagram page for more. . . motorcyclesaredrugs.com instagram.com/motorcyclesaredrugs © 2023 MOTORCYCLES ARE DRUGS. All rights reserved