Ari Henning could easily have ended up doing something completely different. Instead, he has spent nearly 20 years testing motorcycles, explaining how they work and making films about where they can take us. From Motorcyclist to his current role as media lead at RevZilla, Ari has become a familiar face and a trusted source of motorcycle knowledge. He also owns CRF300L Big Bore, modifying Honda CRF300Ls for riders setting off on adventures of their own.
That path was far from certain. When Ari was a young teenager, his father, Todd, suffered a traumatic brain injury in a motorcycle racing crash. The life their family had shared at the racetrack stopped, and for a time motorcycles disappeared from Ari’s life as well.
When they returned, they became part of Ari’s attempt to understand more about who his father had been before the accident. A journey shaped by Todd’s past began giving Ari a direction of his own. Along the way, the life his father had lived continued to appear in unexpected places—in what Ari knew how to do, in people who remembered the Henning name and in opportunities that opened years later.
Ari made those opportunities his own. He turned his mechanical curiosity into knowledge other riders could use and his willingness to travel on imperfect motorcycles into films that show adventure from a different angle. Eventually, the path led back to the Drixton, the race motorcycle Todd had crashed and the family had sold years before.
Learn more about Ari’s work at CRF300L Big Bore.
