ADVrider was launched in 2001 to provide adventure motorcycle riders their own dedicated online community. The site was debuted as an adventure riding forum and has grown to become the most visited website in the world for motorcycle enthusiasts. ADVrider currently has over 350,000 registered members who have submitted 33 million original posts.
We have now expanded beyond ADV’s roots to become an industry leading media network for the moto community. In addition to the forum, this new ADVrider site will act as an editorial voice for the community and provide users free information on ride reports, bike & gear reviews, first-person rider stories and a variety of other content. We have some big plans and hope you will join us on this ride.
What an interesting man. His entire life has been an adventure. I've had some unfortunate things happen to me that have had a profound effect on my life. I'm only 75 and need to put the adventure back in my life. Lets get started!
The site is an Icon. I was super disappointed with the reboot though, with all the pop ups, ads, miss the old days. Reboot also broke every link in my huge Ride Report.
Me and my friends would buy a Harley bagger if there was a mid foot control option. But the forward control seating position is very awkward for many of us used to traditional adventure, standard and sportbike footpeg configurations. If Harley truly wants to bring new riders to the brand through the bagger racing program, then sell a bike (or at least offer parts) that is more similar to the racing bikes.
Great interview! I immediately fell in love with Austin's wacky personality when I first saw him in his BDR appearance. I was super disappointed that he crashed and had to bail on the movie/trip. Interestingly, there is almost 0 trace of the film(s) on the internet and the website is a bust. I think there's a big, new audience for it and it's sad that we can't access his work.
I rode a Pan Am and also found it to be fast, light, and nimble. No one talks about the heat, road noise, and wind buffeting when on the highway. I would all of these to be excessive and am leery of taking this on a 8000 mile road trip. I rarely ride off road so not sure this bike is better than my cruiser but fun to ride.
Thank you interesting chat with AW. Met him several times at HU events some years ago now and even brought his book which is a bit of a tome but well worth reading. I seem to remember him saying to me that he was enjoying his life but wondered how he could move it forward ! What neither of us knew at that time was the Internet was yet to be invented which clearly opened up other opportunities for him. So whilst I totally agree with his views on how the Internet has demystified travel it has at the same time encouraged many others to travel as well. With regards to him being a pacifist I am guessing that doesn't apply if you interrupt him either teaching his pupils or talking about his travels to an audience as the look he gives you stops you dead in your tracks. 😉😉😂😂He is definitely one of life's characters.
I think the comments here totally illustrate why eMotos aren't succeeding in the US and parts of Europe. Because the people in these areas are often either enthusiasts or hobbyists or whatever you want to call them. They're the people who buy motorcycles. But we've had that situation before, and what did Honda do then? Marketed the Cub at people who didn't buy motorcycles. Whether those people still exist is a different question, and whether given increased levels of licence requirements they can exist is a question.
I feel like the host made way too much emphasis on all the male vs female talk and was trying too hard. She has so much experience and history in modern motorcycling and so much interesting information to share. To keep injecting the "female" comments and comparisons is doing her a disservice. Sarah is an amazing ambassador for the sport and a talented rider regardless of gender. I've had the pleasure of riding with her during a Death Valley off road Rally trip and she is beast. The only time the topic of her gender ever came up during our rides was when men couldn't help but bring it up because they had nothing interesting to say, and they should have just shut and paid attention.
I was on the fence about going to see this movie.. After hearing this podcast, I will probably go see it, and have more comments later. I'm 71 years old and have been riding since I was 14. For me the movie that all other Motorcycle movies are judged against is Then Came Bronson. You can see my Avatar is my Replica of the Motorcycle from that movie. Some people called "Then Came Bronson", Easy Rider Light. But Then Came Bronson was actually finished and edited and ready for release 6 weeks before Easy Rider. The Pilot Movie (not the 26 TV Episodes that followed) was actually based on the real life adventures of Birney Jarvis. Birney and I became friends later (when I was in my 50's) Birney was one of the founding members of the San Francisco Hell's Angels. His description of the beginnings is very much like what I'm hearing this movie portrays... Just a bunch of guys who liked to work on and ride motorcycles, and drink beer. Birney is mentioned in Hunter S. Thompson's book "Hell's Angels".. Hunter uses his real name when talking about Birney as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, but calls him Pretam Bobo when referring to his involvement with the Club. It will be interesting to see how the stories overlap.. For those familiar with Then Came Bronson and Michael Parks' portrayal of the character Jim Bronson, you will know that Parks played down the violence and the sex, and portrayed the biker as a "Regular Guy".. Even though the script had more of that in it.
We ride because ugliness and foulness have clipped our soul’s wings. Why did Pirsig name the wolf Phaedrus? Plato wrote Phaedrus as a dialog between Phaedrus and Socrates it was on the topic of LOVE, madnesses(4 of them) , divine inspiration, and mastery of an art and for them it was the art of rhetoric. Phaedrus leads Socrates out to the country. Socrates is out of his element because his love for learning has kept him in the city and he sees no value in being where “the trees and open country won’t teach” but he credits Phaedrus for leading him out of his comfort zone or “native land.” Socrates says, “Yet you seem to have discovered a drug for getting me out. A hungry animal can be driven by dangling a carrot or a bit of greenstuff in front of it; similarly if you proffer me speeches bound in books I don't doubt you can cart me all around Attica, and anywhere else you please." Why do so many men go middle age crazy? Madnesses? Errotic love is way deeper than sex. Plato shows in the dialogue between Praedrus and Socrates that a relationship is give and take. Socrates wants Phaedrus to deliver the Lysius speech but he only does it after leading Socrates out of his comfort zone. Socrates is ecstatic! He says that Phaedrus gave the speech better than Lyscius did! Then Socrates says he can give a better speech on that subject than lyscius did!Phaedrus begs to hear it and Socrates refuses. Phaedrus threatens to whoop his ass wants to hear it. He wants understanding. Phaedrus throws a temper tantrum and says he will NEVER recite one of Socrates speeches again! That is a nail in rhe coffin for a rhetorical artist. How will his legacy live on without being remembered? Socrates relents and gives several speeches. One on the 4 madnesses of Love and if the previous speeches were right then the madness of love is wrong. But what if the gods gave the madnesses? The prophetic, the poetic, the erotic, the initiatory(leaps of faith) He tells Phaedrus that there is DIVINE love and it has been given to us in these forms. Socrates goes on to tell the famous chariot allegory. All souls are chariots with wings. But it is ugliness and foulness that makes these wings disappear. Leaving the soul unable to fly. That is why my fried has logged 250,000 miles on his GOLD WINGS. He doesn’t know why but I do. His wings were clipped like many of us with the ugliness and foulness done to us. But do we have the courage to ask ourselves who we have clipped with our foulness and ugliness? I just finished a 5 day trip 10 hours per day logging 1471 miles. We road the tail of the dragon, the devils whip, the rattler, the charahola skyway. Why? It is as close to getting our soul’s wings back. By the third day my friends weight of the world was lifted and a smile was returning to his face. We punished our bodies like monks seeking redemption on our motorcycles. I saw my friend get his wings. Phaedrus leads Pirsig. Pirsig is Socrates. The nymphs and muses are saying find your wings. My friend said to me that Dollie his Harley was speaking to him about forgiveness. She is his muse leading him to the greatest understanding of all. We get our wings back and we give wings back with forgiveness. Ps all my kids can ride and all do their own maintenance. All own Subarus so the better know how to do maintenance! One can remove your cataract, one can teach you to master math, one can shim his own Ducati valves and tune that belt by ear. One built three motorcycles by the time he was 15. I am very optimistic about the next generations.
I own a 2021 Gear Up since new... just a few thoughts. Uphills, off pavement, loaded with passenger and gear I can tell you this, 1st gear is geared too high for real world off pavement work which is a REAL SHAME IMHO. The Sachs shocks are worthless POS. The Enduro bench seat is as comfortable as a brick up the backside. 2wd is very handy and so is reverse. Just about every person that sees you either smiles or waves. UDF, Ural Delay Factor, is for real. Ural's 3 yr warranty is a must and they are great at honoring it. I run Duro 307 trail tires and surprisingly, they work very well. Don't expect to zip up hills 6% or more any faster than say 40-50Mph. Owning one is a lesson in pulling over at wide spots to let traffic go by that we were holding up and never been flipped off! Waves, photos smiles even some stares but, everyone is like "Oh a sidecar. Must be old and slow." That and I have a reflective sign that reads, "Please Be Patient" on the back. Suspension upgrade is expensive at $1500.00-3k+. But the one thing that I would say is the most annoying thing about my Gear Up is the lack of a Granny Low Gear to be able to crawl over an obstacle. It is a HUUGE drawback. It means a lot of clutch work and irritation, so, get a winch if your seriously going off road. You will need it. If you're the typical Uralista that never takes the machine off pavement then the gearing will be fine and, "Shifts like a tractor." The $34,000.00 version has good suspension but, is it really worthy of that price? My answer is a sad "No." For less you could buy a street legal side by side that is much more capable and won't pound you to death and into physical therapy for an impinged spine. Of course that wouldn't be as "COOL" though.
I can't believe Neil doesn't seem to know who Austin Vince is, or to have seen any of his seminal documentaries, he truly is the godfather of adventure motorcycling and alongside his brother Gerald is credited by many as having coined the term. Neil get yourself copies now, then get on the phone and get Austin on the show ASAP, he's far more entertaining than his youthful Hollywood namesake.
I think it's going to be a lot more than 10 years before I can drive 150km on my Tenere equivalent e-bike and get another 100km charge in a small town in the mountains of northern Greece. I got range anxiety there on a Honda SH350 that has about 200km range. There's not going to be a charger I can top up at out there for a long time. I don't care if 99% of bikes can get along with 50km range and charge at home over night. The riding I do just will not work with an ebike. I seriously doubt the R1200GS crowd will convert to ebikes by 2035.
I agree with Shopcraft’s assessment of Zen that it’s wrong about both Zen and motorcycle maintenance. And the thing it wants to be right on, it manages to fumble really badly. It’s an important book, but only because it got people to think. It just didn’t get anyone to think well, at least that I’m aware. Every conversation I’ve ever had about it seemed like the book was provocative in thought, but not worth holding in mind. If you hold it in mind, you won’t think well or learn or grow well, in my experience. I did enjoy reading it, but quickly learned to throw it out of my mind.
Around 2012, the only beginner bike in the US with a modern engine was the Ninja p twin which was really a decade (?) old. Great engine. It was when Honda that came out with the ch500s that the p-twin, and the modern beginner bike in the US was reborn. A inexpensive bike with good power, agility, and modern dynamics, made possible by the P-twin. Had a cb500f - still one of the best bikes I ever had in terms of a joyful experience. I suspect when the Cub and cb750 killed the travesty that was the British motorcycle industry, many had the same experience - get on it, ride, enjoy it. So I sure don't get P-twin hate. Any format, if properly engineered - and most modern bikes are very properly engineered - can be great, and distinct from other formats. I have an L-twin and a Suzuki I4 - and I love them, but still think fondly of that Honda.
The future is around the corner, and it will be electric. In the meantime, I agree with Michael that "P2's" have a place, and although my Super T is not as sexy as the V-4 in my VFR, it's big dopey twin is a reliable and tolerant workhorse. However, I'm still reeling from Michael's last appearance where he suggested the Super T represents a sort of group think failure, and so in the spirit of contemporary discourse I must say -- you're wrong damn it, and I'm horribly offended and insulted, etc. (In fairness, although I am one of 18 who love the T, he is probably correct.) Enjoyed the dialogue. Cheers.
Idk, as technology improves the batterys will charge faster, if the bike has 200 miles of highway range and hits 80% charge in 15 mins it's not a huge inconvenience. You roll up to the fast charger, plug in, tap a button on your phone then go take a piss. All motorcycles being designed to use the same swappable battery on the otherhand is a pretty big ask. Plus think about the swap process, you pull up de rack your current batterys wich will be a stack of 20 lb bricks, drop them into the charger 2 or 3 at a time walking back and forth hoping there's enough in the rack at full to get a full charge. You've proably spent 15~20 mins just fiddling with stuff.
I think the future of motorcycles is definitely electric. Why? Because the future of cars is electric, the production of fuel will lose economy of scale and become too expensive and rare to use ice outside of race tracks.
I haven't watched a ton of videos. But I don't see alot of talk of how this bike rides on the freeway. Coming from a roadglide..will this bike travel comfortably at 75 80 mph ?
Shills!!! Everybody knows that the CCP cannot be trusted. NO WAY I will ever buy a Chinese motorcycle. Poor reliability is only the start. Human rights violations TRUMP cheap products for me!
I read the book in 1975 appro. when riding my Ducati 900ss around Australia when I was 25-26 years old. I loved it and have re-read a number of times. It changed my live!
I do not care where a motorcycle is produced, if it’s a quality product that proves to be reliable I will have a sincere look. The extent of my politics are limited to one day every four years. The rest of the time I’m too busy enjoying this short life.
I dunno man - I'm not sure I agree that no one would be caught dead wearing a 20 yr old jacket. Maybe people who are overly concerned with being a fashion plate but most people just get what they get and don't worry if it's a 20 yr old design or not. Maybe I have new feature fatigue but that's my take on this.
"I'm glad I never had the opportunity to meet Mr. Persig." As they say "Never meet your heroes". It's often not a good idea at all as you find they're not what you're imagining. Really interesting interview!! Haven't read Zen in a long time but I'm tempted to give it another go as I'm finding my riding has taken on a new and vibrant feel after many years of not riding. I'm absolutely loving riding again and it's been a LONG time since I felt this way!!
It's a wonderful book! Read it a number of times, and I discover new details in it every single time. It's not an easy read by any means, but I never thought it was meant to be either. For those who want to dive into Pirsig's mind and ways of thinking even deeper, I would recommend Lila: An Inquiry into Morals.
