Fictional Absaroka County Sheriff Walt Longmire hates motorcycles as much as Indiana Jones hates snakes, but the New York Times bestselling author Craig Johnson loves bikes as much as he loves his horses and Wyoming ranch.

With his 19th novel ‘The Longmire Defense’ set for early September 2023 publication, we spoke with the 62-year-old West Virginia native about his motivation and discipline for writing, how he spent several promotional tours visiting bookstores on his BMW motorcycle, and that time many decades ago when he nearly lost an eye during a motocross race.

Nearly five years ago, Henri and I rolled up to the Buffalo Chip at the Sturgis Bike Rally in South Dakota, our first. As we flicked our Harley kickstands down, I noticed a familiar face doing the same a few bikes over. He was easy to spot with long, raven black hair cascading down his shoulders, the man I knew from his role as Officer Mathias on the television series Longmire that Jean and I watched the year before on Netflix. A few minutes after Zahn McClarnon got off his borrowed Indian Chieftain, I sauntered over and introduced myself.

Before Jean considered getting a motorcycle, she’d talk about keeping her two-wheeled pursuits simpler and closer to home on a Vespa. As we approach the fifth anniversary of her earning an M1 class license – and trying four different motorcycles until a 2020 Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster became THE ONE – Jean is the proud owner of a 2009 Vespa LX150, purchased from a sweet and gentle 76-year-old handyman named Kenny in Sacramento this past weekend. 

Henri Boulanger’s first Quail Motorcycle Gathering experience was in May 2016, meeting Keanu Reeves in the Arch Motorcycles booth after chatting up Mert Lawwill on the green minutes before. After riding through the Mojave desert to watch Travis Pastrana don a cape and jump over the Caesars Palace fountain in early July 2018, Henri rode across the country with Gary, stopping to watch flat track racing at Sturgis before spending two days on the salt during Bonneville Speed Week in August 2018.

For this special 2023 Quail Motorcycle Gathering podcast episode, Henri stitched together two-minute conversations with 20 attendees, including custom builder Hugo Eccles, Quail Motorsports Director Gordon McCall, museum curator Robb Talbott, 4-time GP world champion Eddie Lawson, lead judge Somer Hooker, and MC Paul d’Orléans, among others.