The Lowdown Show – By ADVRider

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 Brittany to Milwaukee: French engineer Chloe Lerin has followed an unusual career path. Rebuked by KTM and BMW, she elected to stay in America after school, 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!

This summer, The Bikeriders plays in theaters across North America, sharing the story of a fictional motorcycle club that's based in reality. The storyline and even much of the filmography is inspired by Danny Lyon's classic photo book of the same name. But is it really an honest look at motorcycle culture? Neil Graham and ADVrider managing editor Zac Kurylyk discuss their thoughts on the film.

The Lowdown Podcast returns, with host Neil Graham once again dialing up industry insider Michael Uhlarik to discuss the world of motorcycling. But this time, while some listeners might think this is inside baseball, Neil's got a few sliders and knuckleballs to pitch at Michael to keep him on his toes. Neil is challenging the industry's claim that EVs are going to be the great replacement for our current internal combustion engines, and he raises some arguments from the world of boat racing, of all things.

No wonder Neil calls this the "Disagreement Episode," because he also has a beef with parallel twin engines (Michael likes them, Neil claims he doesn't). Neil also beefs with the current Japanese racing programs, while Michael has his own complaints to air, as he thinks the current motorcycle design scene is mired in the same malaise that automakers foundered in back in the 1970s.

The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming! Jason and Chris Chris (Director Motorcycle Strategy CFMoto Powersports), the CF Moto men, sit down with Neil to take us though the upstart manufacturer and their plan for world domination. Did we hear them say a “heated seat is standard”? We sure did.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is the seminal motorcycle book. And its most misunderstood. Author Mark Richardson, who’s book Zen and Now is an homage to Zen and the Art, gives us the lowdown on Robert Pirsig’s masterpiece and chronicles the troubled life of an author Richardson calls a “genius.”

A life designed. From growing up in a small town near Buffalo to designing KTMs in Austria and, now, electric motocrossers in Spain, Jack Morris gives us the inside scoop on making a motorcycle from the ground up. 

Andy Goldfine is a rebel with a cause. When he saw manufacturing disappearing from America in the 1980s, he decided to do something about it. Working out of an old factory in Duluth, Minnesota, Goldfine founded Aerostich, bought industrial sewing machines, and began crafting his legendary Roadcrafter riding suits. More than just a garment for motorcycling, the Roadcrafter—and everything else in Aerostich’s quirky catalogue—is a middle-finger aimed at offshore manufacturing and the style-conscious imperative of modern motorcycle gear.

Nick Ienatsch is a big deal in the world of motorcycle coaching. He runs/owns the Yamaha Champions roadrace school. 

And when Nick isn’t working, he continues to enjoy his two-wheeled passion, but off the beaten path. 

On today’s episode of The Lowdown Show, host Neil Graham sits down with Nick to discuss his passion and adventure and impart some of his expert off-road riding wisdom.

You won’t want to miss it.