Stage names often have interesting backstories. For Ryan Kluftinger, better known as “RyanF9,” host of the “FortNine” YouTube channel, the explanation is straightforward: His boss came up with the internet alias. At the time, Ryan wasn’t exactly pleased, but he shrugged it off, figuring that was a small cost for the opportunity to produce his own content. Nearly a decade later, “RyanF9” is a household name in motorcycle circles.

Ryan holds degrees in art history and physics, but he takes a journalistic approach to his videos. About FortNine, “Canada’s online shopping source for motorcycle accessories,” he says, “From Day 1, they said, ‘Go make some content, brand it under FortNine, and make sure that motorcyclists find it useful or entertaining or valuable.’ They never said, ‘Try to say nice things about the stuff we sell or try to promote this brand.’”

Kluftinger is no charlatan. He’s a second-generation motorcyclist who has been on two wheels since his pre-teen years. The Canadian earned his motorcycle license at age 17, and he doesn’t own an automobile. “I tend to buy older stuff,” he admits. He currently owns four motorcycles, a Yamaha TT-R90, a Suzuki RV125 VanVan, a Honda GL500 Silver Wing, and a Yamaha TT350. In other words, he’s one of us.

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Like so many of his peers, Sean Bice began his lifelong love affair with motorcycling on a minibike. His adventures in small-town, northern New York state eventually led to the purchase at age 16 of a two-stroke Yamaha RD350, which Bice still owns. “My dad was cool enough to go, ‘I’ll pay for half, you pay for half, but you have to take care of this bike,’” he recalls. “It’s where I got started. I have a lot of memories of that motorcycle.”

A writer by trade, Bice kicked off his professional career working for advertising agencies, but he is best known within motorcycling for time spent with first Yamaha and now MotoAmerica. “When I worked for Yamaha as a press officer,” he explains, “there were a fair amount of people who knew me for that, and it was mostly because I not only did road racing, but I also did motocross, supercross, off-road, and ATV.”

Bice has been part of the MotoAmerica team for the past eight years. On this episode, he provides a primer on the eight classes that comprise the 10-round national series. Bice also touches on the forthcoming Talent Cup, which will replace Junior Cup in 2025, as well as the youth-oriented Mini Cup. On free weekends, Bice enjoys throttle therapy. “I like to go out on a perfect Sunday afternoon,” he says, “and just bomb around town.”

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What comes to mind when someone says, “Sturgis”? As in, the annual motorcycle rally set in the South Dakota city of the same name. If you’re Mark Long, host of “Driven to Ride,” you know only what you’ve read or been told. See, before this year, Mark had never been to Sturgis, never mind the rally. So this past August, he packed his bags and pointed the headlight of his Yamaha XSR900 toward Mount Rushmore.

Among the half-a-million rally attendees, some, like Mark, are wide-eyed newbies. Take it from Richard Worsham, co-founder of Janus Motorcycles: “Driving through Sturgis at night, it’s wild—bikes back to back.” Others, like Zach Parham, president and CEO of Comoto Holdings, have been coming to the Black Hills for decades. “I rode my first time on my own bike when I was 16,” he says. “This is my 29th year.”

Long relates his own adventure, with insights from Worsham, Parham, photographer Michael Lichter, YouTube star “Doodle on a Motorcycle,” and others, including Cody Ertman, media and PR manager at the Legendary Sturgis Buffalo Chip, known as “The Best Party Anywhere.” He says, “If I wasn’t working at ‘The Chip,’ I would definitely be one of those people who came every year. It’s such a cool experience.”

The Buffalo Chip

Janus Motorcycles

Official Sturgis Website

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