An interview with RevZilla's own Jeff Kiniery

Jeff is the perfect example of an individual who has built a life around motorcycling despite the fact that he doesn't work with motorcycles. Yes, he does work for RevZilla as our Director of Facilities, but his day-to-day has nothing to do with motorcycles. Jeff is in charge of making sure all of the warehouses and physical retail spaces across the RevZilla and Cycle Gear family are being adequately supported.  

Jeff grew up riding dirt bikes. By 17 he was commuting to high school on a Triumph Speed Four. His adult life has been spent tackling everything from track days on the weekends to week-long excursions through the Rocky Mountains on dirt bikes. Through motorcycles, Jeff’s built up a loyal group of close friends and has become an active member of the motorcycle community. Personally, he's been a huge influence on me and my decision to dive more deeply into dirt riding.  

So for Episode Six of our Highside/Lowside Season Two interviews, we turn the spotlight on one of our own. I sat down with Jeff and discussed how motorcycles have shaped his life and how anyone out there can do the same for themselves. The following is an excerpt of that interview.

Spurgeon Dunbar: Let’s start at the beginning. What got you into riding motorcycles?

Jeff Kiniery: Growing up, my dad always had bikes and when I was in sixth grade, my mom got one. One day, my dad came home from work, and his client had a dirt bike leaning up against their shed that hadn't run in about 10 years. So he came home with that bike in the back of his truck. We fixed it up and I started riding. So, it's kind of a family affair.

The bike was a '79 Suzuki RM 125 two-stroke, so a good big bike to learn on (sarcasm). I was maybe 12 or 13 and I should note that I was definitely not an athletic kid. I hated it. It was terrifying. So, I rode that for a little while and then ended up on a TTR225.

SD: That seems more manageable...

JK: Right? The TTR is a perfect little four-stroke woods bike.

SD: What was your first street bike?

JK: A Triumph Speed Four.

I read all the magazines and was pretty stoked on it but my dad told me it wouldn't be big enough. It was only 600 cc. He thought I'd grow out of it pretty quickly. And I remember the first time he rode it, it definitely scared him.

He had grown up with a Harley-Davidson Panhead in the garage and didn't really know much about modern bikes, especially not a four-cylinder. I think his first time cracking the throttle on that bike was pretty surprising for him.

SD: At 17 you were dating a girl who would go on to become your wife. Did Liz immediately start riding with you?

JK: I was lucky enough to have Liz around in my life during high school. So I’m thinking I got a nice Speed Four (completely ignoring those clip-ons and aggressive riding position), I’m gonna throw Liz on the back and we’re gonna have fun. Well, she absolutely hated being on the back of that bike.

So we started to ride more comfortable bikes. I had a Buell Thunderbolt for a while, and that fit the two of us a little bit better. And then, finally I bought an FZ-1, which I still have, and I thought, "This is gonna be the perfect two-up touring bike. We're going to go do everything." And she got on the first day, and it was just miserable. We realized that she didn't want to be on the back of a bike.

At that point it was time for her to get her own motorcycle. She took the rider course and slowly became a street rider. Got a street bike, puttered around for a while getting more and more comfortable. And it took off from there. Together we’ve experienced everything from sport-touring to track days.

SD: Do you think that the fact that Liz rides plays an active role in your ability to spend more time on a motorcycle from a leisure standpoint?

JK: Absolutely. If Liz didn't ride, there is no way that I would have the time or the free availability of money to spill into my motorcycle hobby… or her motorcycle hobby! But really it’s just the time. The fact that motorcycling is something that we do together is what makes it such a prominent part in both of our lives. We know that when it's time for the weekend, we have a plan. We're going to go out, we're going to go for a street ride. We're going to go for a dirt ride. We're going to go race on Sunday. We're going to plan our schedules and our lives around the riding that we want to do together or independently.

Anyone out there who isn't encouraging their wife to get a motorcycle is missing out in a big way.

SD: Does working at RevZilla play any part in your desire to ride? 

JK: Had I never worked at RevZilla, I don't know that I would've dove so quickly into the dirt bike world like I have.

Having so many riders around allowed me to talk to a bunch of people about different types of riding that they were doing. At first, I was pretty convinced I was going to get into regularly attending track days. My riding on-road was getting a little spirited, and I was looking for another way to kind of continue to push myself and hone my skills as a rider. That's what drew me to the track.

But some of the dirt riders at the office convinced me to try woods riding, instead. It was the classic, "Oh, just skip the track, get a dirt bike. It does the same thing for you, and it'll be so much cheaper." And, man, were they wrong, it has not been cheap at all.

SD: For the folks reading this who don’t have the benefit of working at RevZilla or a robust riding community to lean on, how would you recommend they start getting involved in different aspects of the riding community? 

JK: When I first moved to Philadelphia, I knew no one who rode. So, I got myself involved with the local motorcycle community, just talking to other people who had similar bikes. And through that community, I found out about organized rides, meetups, and additional riding opportunities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I got really passionate about sport riding and sport-touring.

In addition to local riding groups, I'm heavily involved in the dirt community. I am a member of the DelVal Trail Riders, a dirt bike organization that's based 60 minutes from my house. I found these folks through a Facebook page. They post stuff about rides all the time. Social media opens up the doors to a ton of different avenues to find those local riders in your area. 

SD: So you started riding off-road and hitting up a few local dual-sport events. How did you make the decision to start racing at 31?

JK: I got roped in by a couple of friends to do a 24-hour enduro. Having never raced a motorcycle or really competed in anything, I just got completely hooked. I had a broken foot, I was out of shape, I got my ass kicked. I was just getting passed by everyone and anyone who was out there, from 18-year-olds to 65-year-old guys. But it was inspiring to me because I knew could get so much better. I wanted to push myself and get better. I was immediately excited to do it again, but I didn’t want to wait a year.

So I started to look into the local race scene and I showed up to a local ECEA event. And from there, I was pretty well hooked.

SD: What effect has motorcycling had on your life as a whole?

JK: Wow. I mean, I don't know what else I would be doing. I would need another hobby, and maybe that would be fishing. That looks beautiful.

But every kid who gets into motorcycles is probably also really into cars. I know I was. But cars are expensive, and those dream cars are insanely expensive. I literally have a garage with a Ducati and a KTM in it, and that's the coolest thing ever. If you told 15-year-old me that I would have a Ducati and a KTM, my mind would've been blown.

SD: Technically speaking, the Ducati belongs to your wife, though….

JK: It's in our garage, okay?! We share the garage.

SD: Jeff, you’re an extremely active member of the motorcycle community, both on- and off-road. If you could offer just one piece of advice for a rider who is interested in being more involved in his or her community, what would it be?

JK: Don’t let not having a specific bike stand in the way of trying different types of riding.

When I had my WR250R, it was the perfect street bike for the city. I would commute back and forth to work on it all the time. I could easily ride that bike out to most of the events that I wanted to do because it was a very compliant street bike. Ignore the people who will say things like "It's not powerful enough" or “it’s too small.” It will do pretty much everything you ask it to do.

You can find a bike that'll work for everything that you need it to do, even if it can only can do those things at 80 percent of what the bike next to it might be able to accomplish. You don't own a truck but you want to get access to some dual-sport trails? Get a KLR or a DR650. There was a guy up at the enduro this weekend on an XR650. Was he struggling a bit? Sure. But did he make it through? You bet. And then he rode it back home.

That’s a lot more fun than just staying home.