Million Mile Man

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Million Mile Man

David Edwards

SOME THINGS ARE JUST TOO GOOD TO make up. Recently, when Florida resident Dave Hingson logged his millionth mile on a motorcycle, the Daytona Beach News-Journal did a nice little write-up—penned bystaffer “Scoop” Baslee, no less-complete with photograph and prime placement on the front page of the paper’s local section. Curiosity piqued, I tracked down Mr. Hingson’s phone number and called his home.

Wouldn’t you know, he was out riding.

I eventually hooked up with Hingson, a 68-year-old retired quality-control expert for the Department of Defense, after he returned from three weeks and 3500 miles in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was darned lucky to catch him at all.

“Hey, I’m working on my second million now. When I’m home, I go for a ride nearly every day, at least five days a week. Sometimes, I’ll ride to Georgia, 225 miles, just for lunch,” says Hingson, who has averaged about 18,000 miles a year for the 57 years he’s been riding motorcycles. According to the most recent Motorcycle Industry Council statistics, the average rider in the U.S. racks up all of 2337 miles annually.

“When I retired in the ’70s, I had ulcers and a palpitating heart. The doctors told me I was gonna die. I didn’t believe ’em,” Hingson says. “One day at a time, that’s the way to go. And try to ride every day. I’m not kidding: Throw a leg over a saddle and go somewhere. It’s therapy. Puts ya in a good mood.”

Hingson’s two-wheeled odyssey began before World War II on a Whizzer motorbike, used for delivery runs from his father’s meat market and grocery store. One day in 1939, an older friend let 12-year-old Dave take his ’36 Harley 61 for a spin. Hingson hasn’t stopped riding since.

“He started it for me, then shoved me off in the direction of Jacksonville,” Hingson recalls. “It was quite exhilarating; obviously it made quite an impression. I was hooked.”

Over the years, Hingson has skydived, sailed competitively, raced sports cars, flown gliders and compiled almost 3000 flight hours on his private pilot’s license. But motorcycles remain the number-one draw.

“I enjoy doing all kinds of things,” Hingson says, “but I really like bikes. I get more bang for the buck riding a motorcycle. I’ve always come back to ’em.”

In the five decades since his fortuitous encounter with the Harley, Hingson, a life member of the American Motorcyclist Association, has owned 29 motorcycles. Besides numerous tours across the continental USA, he’s ridden in Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Guam and Saipan.

“I just like going places on a motorcycle,” Hingson explains. “I’m not really in a big hurry; I just ride here, there and what-not, smell the roses. I like the hills and dales-you know, the squigglies on the map. I’ll stop for a cup of coffee or a piece of pie, but mainly I ride. In my spare time, I eat and sleep.”

Hingson has 100,000 miles on HarleyDavidsons and 300,000 on BMWs, but a major chunk of his million miles, some 403,789 according to his detailed records, has been amassed on Yamahas. His present mileage-maker of choice is a 1994 Virago 1100, stock except for a luggage rack and small windshield. This is his third Yamaha cruiser-a 1986 Virago took him 119,000 miles, his ’90 went 124,000. He plans to pile up at least 200,000 miles on the current edition before its four-year extended warranty runs out.

And he isn’t shy about extolling the bike’s values, either. “I tell ya, I wish I got a commission for every Virago I’ve helped sell,” he laughs. “I prefer air cooling over a radiator, and the seat is low so I can touch the ground at stops. Plus, it runs on 87 octane. That’s important-I don’t like that 'high-priced spread.’ If ya only ride down to the saloon once a week, gas price doesn’t matter, but I ride 150 to 200 miles at a time.”

For a while, Hingson the motorcycle hobbyist became a shop owner, purchasing the Daytona Beach Ducati/Moto Guzzi/CZ/Norton dealership in 1969. Things didn’t work out, though, and he sold out within two years.

“It was horrible. Here I was in the quality-control business, and they just didn’t have any back then-there was no quality in that junk,” Hingson remembers. “It was just too hard to keep the things running.”

Hingson is a firm believer in preventive maintenance, and changes oil and filters every 3000 miles. In all of his marathon mileage, he’s proud of the fact that not one of his machines has ever required an overhaul. The secret, he claims, is to never let the bike sit idle for any length of time.

“Some people change batteries; I change oil,” says Hingson. “Castrol 20w50. Of course, I’m changing it about every three weeks, so I buy mine from the local Pic ’N’ Save, three or four cases at a time. Works out to 88 cents a quart.”

Hingson hasn’t accumulated one million miles all by himself. His wife of 28 years, Dottie, joins him for some tours and held a motorcycle license for many years-she even drag raced an Ariel Square Four.

“Oh yeah, she’d lay some rubber with that old Ariel,” he attests, with obvious pride in his spouse.

Soon, Hingson hopes to add several hefty blocks of mileage to his logbook. “Key West to Fairbanks, Alaska, and back sounds good,” he says. “And I’d like to do a four corners of America tour. After all, I’m not getting any younger, you know.”

In any event, Dave Hingson, the Million Mile Man, hopes to keep his bike’s odometer spinning for the rest of his days. “There’s always another mile to make down the road,” he says, and you can hear the chuckle in his voice.

Not a bad philosophy, I’d say, whether you’re talking motorcycles or life in general. □