Nick Ienatsch has spent most of his life riding and racing motorcycles. He’s an acknowledged expert in his field, having won club and national championships on everything from single-cylinder street bikes to exotic grand prix road racers. In the second of a two-part interview with “Driven to Ride” host Mark Long, the magazine editor turned instructor emphasizes continuing education.

Following a long run with the Freddie Spencer High Performance Riding School, Ienatsch co-founded the Yamaha Champions Riding School, which offers a multi-tiered approach to “building confidence and maximizing fun.” Options run the gamut, from online courses to hands-on instruction. As Ienatsch says, “There’s a path to doing this well forever.”

Ienatsch doesn’t pull punches when the discussion shifts to avoiding dangerous situations while piling up street miles. “I hate to preach,” he says, “but if you're riding with people who push, push, push, push everywhere they go—through traffic, lane-splitting—you will meet their family in the hospital, I promise you. So, be careful of that.” Sound advice, indeed.

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In the early 1980s, Nick Ienatsch was studying English at the University of Utah and working part-time at a Salt Lake City motorcycle dealership. He wrote a letter to Art Friedman, the editor of Motorcyclist magazine, asking for a job. Friedman hired Ienatsch in 1984, launching a two-wheel adventure that has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists.

“All we did was think about motorcycles,” Ienatsch recalls of his early days in moto-journalism. “I lived with [fellow editors] Lance Holst and Jason Black; we started Sport Rider magazine. We lived together. We worked together. We raced together. Everything was motorcycling. All we wanted to do was ride motorcycles. There were a lot of crazy, funny times, but it was all bikes.”

Ienatsch eventually transitioned from writing road tests to rider instruction, first with the Freddie Spencer High Performance Riding School and, since 2008, the Yamaha Champions Riding School. His 2003 book, “Sport Riding Techniques,” remains a must-read. Over a 40-plus-year career, Ienatsch’s enthusiasm for motorcycling has never dimmed, burning brightly to this day.

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There are motorcycle-industry professionals who need an introduction and those who don’t. Scot Harden is in the latter category. From Baja to the boardroom, this hall-of-fame racer and business leader has been there and done that. He likely designed the proverbial T-shirt, too. To his credit, however, Harden is quick to praise those who guided him on his 50-plus-year two-wheel journey.

Harden got his start racing off-road, beating the best in the desert near his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. “Back then, Barstow to Vegas was the biggest race in the world,” he says. “It started just east of Barstow, California, and went all the way to Las Vegas—a 170-mile point-to-point hare and hound. In 1973, there were 3,000 entries. I got third overall, first 250cc Expert.”

Decades of top-level international competition helped Harden develop models and programs that quite literally transformed the sport. Those successes aside, Harden, who will soon celebrate his 70th birthday, isn’t resting on his many laurels. “Motorcycling can’t be taken for granted,” he cautions. “There are a lot of challenges, and we need to be more proactive.”

See what Scot is up to now at harden-offroad.com

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