Mike Van Der Sleesen, Round 2
05/29/24 • 42 min
Have you ever met someone who describes their life on this planet in such an entertaining way you lose track of time? Well, that is the dilemma “Driven to Ride” podcast host Mark Long faced with Mike van der Sleesen. Mike, the CEO of Vanson Leathers, was one of Mark’s first guests, and that interview barely scratched the surface of a life of adventure spent on and around two wheels.
See, Mike was born in the U.S. but he grew up in The Netherlands and France, where he was first exposed to the joys of motorcycling at 9 years old on a Solex, its front wheel driven by a small engine. Van der Sleesen progressed to two- and four-speed Puchs, followed by another two-stroke, a Garelli. Slot in behind a passing truck at just the right moment, Mike recalled with a chuckle, and you might catch its draft.
In the 1960s, Van der Sleesen found himself in the thick of the vibrant British motorcycle scene, and he has never lost interest. Today, Mike owns five Nortons in various trims, one of which he bought in 1972—two years before he co-founded Vanson Leathers, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Van der Sleesen reminds us that motorcycling, much like life, is all about the journey.
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Have you ever met someone who describes their life on this planet in such an entertaining way you lose track of time? Well, that is the dilemma “Driven to Ride” podcast host Mark Long faced with Mike van der Sleesen. Mike, the CEO of Vanson Leathers, was one of Mark’s first guests, and that interview barely scratched the surface of a life of adventure spent on and around two wheels.
See, Mike was born in the U.S. but he grew up in The Netherlands and France, where he was first exposed to the joys of motorcycling at 9 years old on a Solex, its front wheel driven by a small engine. Van der Sleesen progressed to two- and four-speed Puchs, followed by another two-stroke, a Garelli. Slot in behind a passing truck at just the right moment, Mike recalled with a chuckle, and you might catch its draft.
In the 1960s, Van der Sleesen found himself in the thick of the vibrant British motorcycle scene, and he has never lost interest. Today, Mike owns five Nortons in various trims, one of which he bought in 1972—two years before he co-founded Vanson Leathers, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Van der Sleesen reminds us that motorcycling, much like life, is all about the journey.
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www.Instagram.com/driventoridepodcast
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Previous Episode
Jeff Allen
Jeff Allen has been taking beautiful photographs of motorcycles for Cycle World magazine and its digital sister, cycleworld.com, for more than 30 years. Jeff got his start in the early 1990s as a studio assistant. His current position as staff photographer has taken Jeff all over the world in a unique role that enables him to capture the essence of the sport while also experiencing two wheels firsthand.
Jeff has often documented his experiences for publication in both print and on the web. “Royal Nepal Adventure: Entering the Forbidden Kingdom of Lo Manthang” left him gasping for oxygen at 15,000 feet on a Tibetan plateau. With son Evan, he set out on adventure bikes to experience the “winter wonders of the Baja California Peninsula” and to answer one of life’s great questions: “Corn or flour tortillas?”
Jeff Allen is not only an expert lensman; he is an expert rider. More often than not, on any job he is assigned, Jeff will be the rider with a large pack crammed with camera bodies, lenses, and related gear strapped to his back. But don’t for one moment think the size or the weight of that pack slows him down, forcing others to wait for him to catch up. Jeff is always close behind, looking for the perfect photo opportunity.
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Next Episode
Richard Worsham
“Farm to fork” is a popular movement in which restaurants source fresh, locally grown ingredients from nearby farms for the meals they serve, as opposed to purchasing those items from wholesale distributors that cater to nationwide chains. Janus Motorcycles is the farm-to-fork of motorcycle makers, a regionally focused alternative to the global parts vendors used by many long-established manufacturers.
In this episode of the “Driven to Ride” podcast, host Mark Long interviews classically trained architect Richard Worsham, who founded Janus Motorcycles in Goshen, Indiana. The northeastern part of the Hoosier state is well-known for its large Amish community, which provides the highly skilled and practiced labor to fabricate everything from steel frames—modeled after the classic Norton featherbed—to leather seats and saddlebags.
Janus Motorcycles has purposely kept its offerings smaller in displacement and largely free from current technology trends. “We’re more about the activity our customers are doing on the bike than we are about the technology it takes to get there,” says Worsham. “In our experience, we found the less technology you use, the more direct that feeling actually is—that sensation, that experience you have on the bike.”
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