The Lowdown Show - By ADVrider

While OEMs claim all is well in dealership land, the dealerships themselves tell a different story—if only they’d talk on the record, which they won’t. Mark Sheffield has been involved with dealerships for decades and pulls back the curtain on a relationship that is as often contentions as it is convivial. Part one of our conversation with Mark is this week, next week in part two we’ll wrap it up....

America has long been seen as the big bike capital of the motorcycling world. Gold Wings, Harleys, Indians, superbikes and, for this readership, KTM Adventures and BMW GSs. But, as industry watcher Michael Uhlarik points out, it’s just not true. Or at least not true anymore. Small bikes are making a big comeback, and that’s not just an opinion, it’s the truth—sales numbers make it blatantly clear....

How tough is BMW’s GS Trophy, the one-make, one-model competition that pits skilled amateur riders from across the globe against each other? We talk to team USA’s Scott Acheson, who competed in Namibia in the most recent competition. Here’s a spoiler: Namibian sand, Scott tells Neil Graham, is not like Floridian sand. Would Scott do it again? Absolutely. Would he prepare for it differently? Absolu...

Hugo Eccles does it all. Designer, teacher, customizer, lover of petrol and enthusiastic about electrification. In this episode, Hugo and Neil dig into the perils of designing electric motorcycles, the challenges of customization and malaise that makes most new motorcycles look so damn busy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Lear...

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.    Learn more abou...

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about...

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 g...

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. Learn more abo...

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 b...

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.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

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...

“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...

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

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 to...

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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...

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 tel...