The Lowdown Show - By ADVRider

Caius Tenche doesn't do half measures. After discovering motorcycling in his 40s, he promptly decided what the world needed was a film festival catering to riders. And riders only. If you can't make his festival, listen-on, as Tenche picks a few favorites from the past and tells us how to watch them for free.

Motorcycle-mad Peter Dering founded Peak Design off the back of one product. Now, the San Franciscan has built an empire of rolling carts and backpacks and what he claims is the single best motorcycle phone mount in captivity. Peak Design is also a case study in how to build a business in the modern age, as it successfully crowdsources development funding in lieu of seeking outside investors.

Pundit Michael Uhlarik claims we in the west have been getting the KTM story all wrong. Or mostly wrong. The readily-accepted narrative—that new majority-shareholder Bajaj will benefit from KTM's technology and expertise—is pure poppycock. And Michael draws a parallel between KTM's woes and the near collapse and diminished future of another major European OEM to prove his point.   

Brian Price, who joined us in Lowdown 42 to talk all things KTM, is back with an update on the fate of the once-proud Austrian brand. Now that KTM's future is assured—or so KTM would like us to believe—Brian fill us in on what's next now that the brand is Indian-owned.

Fearless Fazer Manny is the luckiest man alive. Just ask him. His confidence far outpaces his skill. He says it himself. But despite a lifetime of crashing—his latest a 100 mph shunt into the woods just this month —he carries on with boundless enthusiasm. He's overweight, out of shape, and at 72 carries on like he's 25. If that doesn't make him legendary, we don't know what does. 

This week's guest is ADVrider editor Zac Kurylyk, who's just returned from riding the Can-Am Canyon. Is this bold new three-wheeler really suitable for adventure riders? What's it like to ride, and who is it made for? Zac and Neil also discuss a recent ride to Cape Breton Island, with some tips for travelers who want to explore this paradise of paved and unpaved roads, with distinct cultures and gorgeous scenery.

Tall tales from Africa part two. The ultimate innocent abroad, Sam Manicom headed out from the UK to Africa having never ridden a motorcycle before. Ever. As in never. Forget working on your skillset to help combat African sand—Sam was just doing his best to differentiate the brake lever from the clutch lever. But he survived with beautiful, well-observed stories from the continent.

Traveller and author Sam Manicom joins us to talk about riding Africa and to read excerpts from his book Info Africa. With little experience on a motorcycle (as in none) Manicom took the advice from his two mates down at the pub and bought an R80GS and set out from England for points south, fulfilling his mother's mantra that her son could be foolishly naive. But he survived. And what a story he brought back home.  

In this episode, host Neil Graham speaks to Inna Thorn and Bryce Stevens from the BDR organization, aka Backcountry Discovery Routes, a centralized, registered non-profit that provides off-road routes through some of the most visceral, breathtaking country in the US. The BDR organization may be the best thing that's happened to adventure riding since the advent of motorcycles that don't fall over.  

JT Nesbitt took a break from fabricating the great American motorcycle—his built-from-scratch Magnolia 4—to chew the fat with Lowdown host Neil Graham. JT shared his feelings on kids these days, the flatlining Harley-Davidson motorcycle company, when to ignore and when to pay heed to criticism and more. All from the land of New Orleans.  

Andy and Alissa, better known as the couple that helm MadorNomad.com, gave up the sensible life in 2018 and hit the road. So far the UK nationals have trekked just about everywhere a wheel can roll. Of particular interest is their website, which is a treasure trove of useful information for tips and advice that burgeoning travellers can't live without. Even if you're just curious about how to live as a globetrotter, is a fascinating read.

“I hope it can get me out of the coal mine.” Cool words spoken by the ultimate underdog. And “coal mine” isn't a metaphor. Jordan Strachan works in the coal mines of British Columbia and, after stepping away from riding after breaking his back a few years back, he came back with a bang. Having applied to race Dakar on a whim, the man who rides for the joy of a crisp beer at the end of the day made it to the finish despite issues that would have discouraged many others. But, as he says, when you work 16 hours a day at the mine, working on your bike in the middle of a sandstorm is no big deal. 

Michnus Olivier had a good life working in the insurance business in Johannesburg. That is until his partner Elsebie goaded him into take a chance on taking a chance. There was no looking back. They hit the road to points unknown and, in the process, developed South African designed-and-made touring gear via their Turkana brand.

Have you had a ride that's changed your life? Designer and industry watcher Michael Uhlarik joins Neil Graham and they talk about the trips that changed them. Not always for the better...

Is the cost of lodging stopping you from travelling? How does $20 bed and breakfast sound? Curious? Christi Reynolds' Motorcycle Travel Network could be just your thing.

Michael Waterford is the kind of super-enthusiast you can't help but love. The Hoosier seemingly has a hand in just about everything going on in Indiana. He's a keen ADV-er on his Yamaha T7 and is part of mostly-moped club that has saving turtles as one of its mandates. All that and he's paddled down the Mississippi. Twice. Mark Twain would be proud.

With 30 miles of riding experience under his belt, Geoff Hill set out on a Royal Enfield from India to Ireland. And that was just the beginning. Hill then retraced the ‘round-the-world ride of Carl Stearns Clancy, a 22-year-old American who hit the road in 1912. Additionally, Hill is the most capped volleyball player in Ireland's history, whatever that means.

On the eve of the Daytona 200 we speak to hard-ass road racer Trevor Daley. Most of you won't know Trevor, but he's the epitome of what a racer should be. Think of him as a modern-day Gary Nixon. He's as tough as they come: he's raced with broken everything—hands, hips, feet. And he builds his own bikes, and finds the money, all while running a one-man fabrication shop that supplies many of the top teams in the MotoAmerica series with specialized pit equipment.

Hacking up old BMW airheads is a common pastime for anyone with an angle grinder. But Robert Sabel, who operates out of Los Angeles as Roughchild, is different. His BMW restomods are tasteful, useful, balanced and purposeful. It's the closest the motorcycling world has to the manic-obsessiveness of Singer's Porsche 911s. 

What do you do if you're stuck in a rut—a snowy rut? ADVrider editor Zac Kurylyk left the snowbanks of the Northeast behind for the sunshine of the Southwest, hitting the AIMExpo moto industry show, the record-setting Mecum Las Vegas auction and even The One Moto Show's first road trip appearance in Sin City, meeting a few former Lowdown Show guests along the way. He's back to tell us all about it, and the bikes he rode on the trip.

There are motorcycle industry insiders... and then there are real motorcycle industry insiders. Michael Uhlarik is the latter, with a career that's spanned the western world, for overseas powersports manufacturers like the Piaggio Group and Yamaha Motor Europe, then back in North America with Bombardier as well as other startups. He's seen it all from a high-level perspective, and he's here to tell you the motorcycle industry is changing. Remember Universal Japanese Motorcycles? This term came about in the 1970s, used to describe a situation where all the bikes from Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha had started to follow a very basic pattern. Now, 50 years later, we're seeing a similar thing happen, spreading across the entire motorcycle industry no matter where your bike is from. We've gone from the UJM to just... "UM."

Farkles won't make you a better rider; you need to frankly assess your riding skills, and work on developing them. That's the message Dallas Shannon preaches at Traction eRag's XTADV riding school, based on a decade and a half of leading dirt bike tours and teaching people how to ride enduros, dual sports and ADV machines. Along the way, he's learned a few other things as well: The ins and outs of electric dirt bikes, and just how good we have it as motorcyclists in North America.

Mr. Price Is Right is here with us this week. Oregon gear retailer Brian Price has, with an unusual dose of diligence in his research, dug into the root of the financial problems that have led to the company entering bankruptcy protection and now looking for buyers, even as the CEO steps down.

Just Do It. Rosie Gabrielle isn't you typical globetrotter. She doesn't over plan. She doesn't much plan at all. She doesn't even carry a tool kit. Leaving the details to serendipity isn't for everyone, but it works for her. Though her father was killed in a motorcycle accident, it didn't scare her off. Quite the opposite. It gave her the desire to ride. Eschewing the machismo of many travellers, Gabrielle habitually pushes herself to breaking and beyond. Why? Let her tell you in her own words. And learn why Pakistan is more that just another country to check of her to-do list.

Funny, perceptive and articulate. B.J. Hessler has, seemingly, done it all. From a degree in Latin American studies at Boston University to a career in public health to chucking it all away to run DC Dirt Camp, an east-coast school for off-road riders of all skill levels. But that's not all. B.J. credits riding in the dirt as a major factor in helping to pull her out of a lifestyle that teetered toward addiction.

Lawrence Hacking is a veteran off-road racer, with plenty of motocross and enduro experience in North America and overseas (including the Baja 1000, ISDE, Baja Rally, and lots more). This week, he's here to talk about what it takes to prepare for, and then survive, in the Dakar Rally. He knows what he's talking about—Hacking raced in the very last Dakar Rally that ran the traditional France-to-Senegal route back in 2001.

All things old: Airhead 247 podcaster Darren Dortin talks vintage BMW, life in rural Arkansas, his love of paper maps, and why he just can't fathom cell phone ownership. 

What is adventure? How do you find it? Most of us will answer that question in different ways. In the case of Nick Adams, he doesn't attack near-impossible terrain, ripping up the mud with full-on knobbies and a hundred-horsepower-plus engine. Instead, Nick takes regular street bikes—particularly his old 1972 Moto Guzzi Eldorado—much farther into the wilderness than most adrenaline bros would ever dare.

Motorcycling was shocked by KTM's worsening financial news, and saddened by the passing of racing legends Malcolm Smith and "Motorcycle Mary" McGee. This week, podcast host Neil Graham and ADVrider managing editor Zac Kurylyk discuss the big news and the cultural shifts (would you ever ride a Chinese motorcycle?) that we see in the world of moto.

Doug Wothke isn't your typical globetrotter. From his home in LA ("Lower Alabama” he says with a chuckle), Wothke, better known around these parts as rtwdoug, has ridden an oddball assortment of antique motorcycles to the far corners of the earth. Ever wondered what to do if your 1940s Indian shreds a transmission while you're half-way across Russia? Talk to Wothke, he's been there.

From the balls-out Confederate to the ornate and unexpected Curtiss EV, designer JT Nesbitt strikes out on his own to make the ultimate American motorcycle—the Magnolia 4.

Lois Pryce is a low-key rebel. She bailed on her record label gig in her 20s and hit the road. And hasn't looked back. From Alaska to points south, through snow and deserts, to a romp through Iran—and all done by her lonesome. But what makes her different is her acutely observed writing. And then there's the banjo…

It's the most wonderful time of the year for motorcyclists. This week, in Milan, Italy, the EICMA motorcycle show ran, with manufacturers from around the world showing off their new bikes. Podcast host Neil Graham and guests Zac Kurylyk (ADVrider managing editor) and Michael Uhlarik (veteran motorcycle designer) all have some thoughts on the show's good, bad and ugly machines.

Bike shows are dying. And bike shows are thriving. Thor and Tori Drake of Portland's The One Motorcycle Show give The Lowdown the lowdown on making a bike show succeed amid the ashes.

Ryan Egusquiza from Bend, Oregon's Giant Loop is our guest this week and we talk hard cases (not head cases) vs. soft bags and the art of leaving LA.

A half-dozen years ago flat track racing was having the most unusual resurgence. The most American—and the most cultish—of all motorcycle sport had superstars like Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi under its spell. But then something happened. The grids shrunk, the riders began to feud with management, and the spectators stayed away. This week Cory Texter, a former champion in the sport and a long-time critic, is our guest as we try to unpack how something with so much momentum hit the skids with such ferocity.

As the 2024 riding season winds down, Neil and ADVrider managing editor Zac Kurylyk meet up to talk about the different bikes they rode this summer (new and old), including Zac's time on the new Royal Enfield Himalyan 450. He thinks it's stiff competition for the KLR650 and DR650.

Who built the first ADV bike? Was it the BMW R80 G/S, or was there another dual sport/travel bike hybrid before that machine? This week, designer/industry insider Michael Uhlarik returns to The Lowdown Podcast to talk about another brand that has a solid claim to the title of first to the ADV segment.

Motorcycling's most happening man. Paul d'Orleans is a historian, curator, author, and founder of The Vintagent, the go-to for motorcycle culture online. He's also funny, shrewd, a keen lover of all things obscure, and a natty dresser. 

From building choppers in the decadent 1990s to amassing more than a million kilometres in the past 15 years, Paul Stewart doesn't hang about. But Stewart's more than just about hammering his way across continents. For his latest expedition, he pottered across America on a Honda 125 retracing the steps of a man who, 120 years ago, headed into the wilds on a bicycle with a clip-on motor as the very first ADV rider. Add to this a passion for helping stray dogs and perpetual struggles with his vision—he's had multiple eye surgeries—Stewart is not a man to be held back.

Eric Hougen has a lifetime in the ADV riding aftermarket scene, founding Wolfman Luggage from nothing and equipping thousands of riders for adventures around the world. Today, he talks with host Neil Graham about the challenges of the business and what he's up to now, with his new Threadworks project.

In the early 2000s, Royal Enfield was a niche company, an India-based oddity building crude bikes that were basically unchanged since the mid-20th century. Now, they're a fully up-to-date manufacturer, with ABS, traction control and other modern electronics, and they have a wide range of products from cruisers to retros to scramblers to adventure bikes. How did they make this all happen? Mark Wells, the company's UK-based head of design, is here to tell us how Royal Enfield transformed themselves into the mid-sized motorcycle market leader.

Neil sits down with special guest Scott Acheson from the US BMW Challenge Team ahead of his trip to Namibia. Can he and a group of other ADV-ers bring GS Challenge Gold Back to America?

The Bear, based in Australia, has been a valued forum member on ADVrider for a long, long time, and is one of the site's most valued contributors. He's been working for motorcycle magazines since 1978, and has a lifetime of adventure on machines ranging from a World War II-era Harley-Davidson WLA to BMW adventure bikes and everything in between. Tune in to hear his experiences from decades of adventure, including an incident where he and his slightly off-kilter riding companion feared they'd get a visit from a Japanese fighter-bomber after their turbocharged CX650 broke down!

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum houses the world's biggest motorcycle collection, as well as a roadracing track that's built to an aesthetic standard you won't find anywhere else in North America. Oh yes, and a vintage motorcycle festival that's a must-visit event every fall. Still not convinced to make the trip to Birmingham, Alabama to take in the museum? By the end of this week's episode with communications director Robert Pandya, you will be!

Eva Rupert is a motelier, an overland adventurer, a Baja devotee, and a woman who once, while naked, cut the head off a boa constrictor and ate it—the body, not the head. At least we don't think she ate the head. She's chock full of advice about riding in Mexico and the American West, and offers candid views on adventure riding's "awkward teenage phase." 

Cynical about coffee shops that align themselves with motorcycling? Jim Vandekas's Flying Squirrel Motorcycle is a café with a difference. They host OEM test days, they built the Moto Craft custom bike show, and they've only just begun.

If you think the Dos Equis spokesman is the most interesting man in the world, you're wrong. That honor goes to ADVRider.com founder Chris MacAskill. From a hardscrabble childhood to Stanford to a career as a geophysicist to working with Steve Jobs to his own little family run startup that he sold for a cool $100 million, Chris is one of us and yet not one of us.

From Marseille to Milwaukee: French engineer Chloe Lerin has followed an unusual career path. Rebuffed by KTM and BMW, she headed to America, working for Cummins diesel and John Deere before landing at her current gig developing powertrains for Harley-Davidson. A racing enthusiast, Lerin also works with Harley's entry in King of the Baggers, the madcap racing series where Indian and Harley cruisers are modified to go at ungodly speeds. Lerin—never one to sit idle—is also a data engineer for a Suzuki-backed road-racing team in MotoAmerica.

When the Cold War ended, schoolteacher Austin Vince and his friends rode around the world on Suzuki DR350s, and did something nobody had done before: They made an adventure movie about their trip, called Mondo Enduro. Millions saw their film and its follow-ups, and thousands were inspired to start their own ADV riding careers. Yet, it was an uphill battle to even get their film on television, as it was rejected by every single broadcaster.

Sarah Schilke is the ultimate motorcycle industry insider, with a career that had stops at various gearmakers as well as BMW Motorrad. On top of that, she's one of the people behind Women Riders Now, one of the longest-running female-focused motorcycle websites out there. Oh yes, and she loves riding dual sport bikes!