Walter gets a little nervous when Reid Hobby isn’t around. The 4-year-old Deutsch Drahthaar doesn’t much like being without his human companion. “He’s a social dog,” Hobby says. “Actually, he’s like a leach. He’s the Robin to my Batman. He sticks to me like glue.” Walter has ridden shotgun in every vehicle Hobby has ever…
BMW: Still Time in 2022 to Ride & Improve Skills
BMW has a host of ideas help you improve skills, try out new bikes, and keep the adventure alive. Root for the USA at the upcoming GS Trophy competition or hit the road to a rally. Whatever you pick from their grab bag of options, motorcycles will be front and center. BMW Motorrad GS Trophy…
The Best of the Late Summer Moto Rallies
There’s still time to get in on late summer motorcycle rallies and rides and soak up the remnants of summer sun before the leaves turn golden and the weather cold, and the west has no shortage of great moto events to choose from. Four Corners Motorcycle Rally The Four Corners Motorcycle Rally is scheduled for…
Staples In Tents’ The Gathering is Coming to Vancorum, Colorado, August 18-22
Sonya and Necota Staples of Staples In Tents and Black People Off-road are champions of equality in the outdoor space. They strive to make camping and overlanding accessible to everyone, including those from marginalized communities who haven’t traditionally enjoyed easy access to outdoor recreation opportunities. Enter The Gathering, a weekend of outdoor adventure and education…
How To Become an Adventure Rider
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Spring 2022 Issue. Photography by Susan Dragoo Few motorsports employ such a diverse array of skills as adventure riding. Adventure riders are those enviable souls who ride big-bore motorcycles, some approaching 600 pounds before adding luggage, over terrain befitting a world traveler lost in the wilderness….
The Moment Collectors, by Sam Manicom and Friends
I’ve never been much of a short-story reader; I like to invest in written tales for book-length escapes from reality. However, The Moment Collectors is a different kind of collection of short stories altogether—at least it was for me. As a round-the-world motorcycle traveler, there was something in each writer’s tale that I could directly…
The Overland Adventure Rallies Return (With a New Name) For 2022
Lead photo by Bryon Bass As rally organizers gear up for this year’s full season, I know I’m not the only one looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. Overland rallies are where like minds come together, bundling up for nightly bonfire raffles, visiting with colleagues and friends, listening to stories from…
Finish and Publish Your Moto Travel Stories
Do you have an incredible tale of adventure? Have you been told you should publish your stories? Does the thought of pitching to magazines or publishers sound daunting? If so, you need to check out Carla King’s Your Moto Diaries writing workshop. I took the YMD workshop at the beginning of 2021 to help with…
Off-road Training for a Post-Round-the-World Rider—What I Wish I Knew Before I Left
I’ll admit that after 708 days riding around the world, my first thought was, what could I possibly learn in a Level 1 off-road course? I’d spent two years swerving around stray dogs and potholes, hopping my fully loaded F 800 GS up mountain roads, and throttling through countless creek crossings—what would weaving between orange…
How Good Are You Really?
Photo: Christina Tkacs It’s been a long day. The sun is sinking low, and camp is still 30 miles away. One rider drags behind, struggling to keep pace. Fortunately, the ride leader is counting heads at every turn, but tension mounts as darkness approaches. If you ride off road, chances are you’ve been “that…
Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling by Alisa Clickenger | Book Review
Boost Your Confidence Through Motorcycling by Alisa Clickenger Non-fiction, instructional $20 Alisa Clickenger was a shy, depressed housewife when she decided to reinvent herself and learn to ride a motorcycle. Reeling from a painful divorce, Alisa found that learning to ride was not only cathartic, she was also developing skills to rebuild the confidence missing…
MotoVentures New Adventure Bike Challenge Course
MotoVentures, based out of Anza, California, has added a new adventure bike challenge course to their 350-acre track. The course includes “…short steep climbs, tight turns, hill turns, a log crossing, a narrow beam ride, loose sidehills, sand wash, uphill switchbacks, down-hill slalom, a hill climb, downhill rain ruts, and a hill turn slalom.” That…
One for the Road
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Fall 2020 Issue. Let’s accept that adventure motorcycling means long, unsupported journeys across the world’s developing nations, lately redefined as the Global South. Overlanding is another word for it, as distinct from regular touring vacations or even gnarly domestic adventures that aren’t hard to have…
Traveling Around The World by Motorcycle : A Female’s Perspective
When people learn my husband, Dave, and I traveled around the world by motorcycle, the assumption might be I sat on the back of his bike. I enjoy mentioning there were two bikes. Dave rode a BMW F 800 GS. I was on a G 650 GS then upgraded to an F 800. I’m not…
Mystic Myanmar on Dirt Bikes
To live in South Africa as an adventure biker has many advantages. It is a great place to get your motorcycle fitted out with state-of-the-art equipment, as well as a great starting point for an expedition to some of the wildest and most beautiful countries in Africa, such as Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania, and Rwanda….
Life on the Road | Moto Proven
This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Summer 2020 issue. One of the wonderful things about adventure motorcycle travel is the simplicity, eschewing the complexities and excesses of daily life. As a rider, we can only bring so much, and the more we travel, the more we tend to leave behind. The less we…
The Basic Overland Gear Everyone Should Have
The Overland Journal Podcast #20 Principles of Overlanding: The Basic Overland Gear Everyone Should Have Summary: For this Principles of Overlanding, Matt and Scott review the top 10 pieces of kit that help support local and international overland travel. Topics include navigation, communications, recovery equipment, medical kits, training, tools, and more. This list is all…
The Collective :: Moto Maintenance
This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Gear 2020 issue. After being on the road for 20 months through Latin America, when people ask me what I missed most about home, I have to answer that it’s my tools. Specifically, a shop full of tools with ample space to maintain and repair my motorcycle….
RawHyde Adventure Days 2019
If you haven’t heard of RawHyde’s Adventure Days yet, it is an overland and adventure motorcycle training event planned for February. Their location is about an hour north of Los Angeles in the beautiful Mojave Desert. This location provides easy access for all of our friends in the Southwest, especially SoCal.
The top 10 must-have pieces of luggage
In my article Top 10 advice for new travelers, I ranked first advice to travel as light as possible. And I mean it. I can do without many things, even if they seem vitally important, and I can gratefully use something simple without complaining about lack of comfort or pretentious brand name. Sometimes I even…