Upshift Issue 87 - November 2023

Limitless dual-sport.

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INSTA-ADV

The mission is simple, if you want to share your adventures on “insta-adv” you’d better start following us! @upshift_online and use the hash tag #upshift_online on your photos

PRACTICE

Riding motorcycles off-road is one of the best things ever; the better you are at it the more places you can go and the more fun you can have. What’s the best way to get better? Practice. What don’t most people do? Practice.

In New Zealand, rugby is the main sport. In some ways it’s more than that, it’s the religion. I like to compare riding motorcycles to playing rugby. The question is would you show up to a rugby match without showing up to rugby practice? Of course not. You would let your team down and probably get hurt because your body is not prepared and your skills are not on point. Now, what’s potentially more dangerous? Playing an organized sport at a facility near town with medics and supporters around you, or heading to remote locations with a small group on a hundred horsepower rocket ship? You get the point.

Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. I really like that statement. Whatever we do the most will become our default, the go-to, and the most comfortable. Let’s get another sporting analogy going. This time we can compare riding motorcycles to playing golf. I’ve played as little golf as I have rugby, but if people want to get better at golf they break the sport down and try to improve and practice each individual component: driving, putting, chip shots, etc. Just playing more rounds of golf isn’t going to get you there. It’s the same with riding motorcycles. We need to break it down to its components and try to improve the weaknesses in our game. Just doing more riding isn’t going to get you there.

Not having enough time is the most common reason for failing to practice our favorite sport, and that’s a fair excuse up to a point. However, we don’t need to be going to the mountains or desert to be working on our fundamentals. Body position, clutch control, balance, and timing can all be practiced within a city, on a dead end road, at an industrial estate, or in a Walmart car park, all of which can be great evening practice areas. We have a whole episode dedicated to this on our saynotoslow.nz website where you can get advice on how and what to practice. I’m pretty handy on a bike and I can easily keep myself challenged and entertained in a car park for an hour or two. Do that twice a week for a month and if you don’t notice a change in your riding I’ll be more than surprised.

By Chris Birch

Mosko Moto Introduces The New Reckless 80L and 40L V4.0

The Reckless 80L is Mosko Moto’s larger capacity rackless luggage system designed for off-road riding/camping, Backcountry Discovery Route exploration, and international fly-to-ride trips.

The Reckless 40L is a smaller rackless luggage system that easily mounts on almost any motorcycle. Mosko designed this bag for long day trips, motel-hopping, and minimalist camping off your bike.

Both The Reckless 80L and 40L are 100% waterproof, expands and contracts for various load volumes and riding conditions, and features adjustable leg angles to fit enduros up to larger ADV bikes. The updated Reckless 80L and 40L V4.0 offer a stiffer, more durable, and lighter-weight design featuring CURV® composite harness material. The stiffness of the CURV® material significantly reduces movement of the bag, adding more stability for technical off-road riding. CURV® has a unique high-impact strength that will not fatigue or crack, even when riding on very hot days or in freezing temperatures. The new design of the harness is 0.5lb / 0.25kg lighter than our previous V3.0 harness.

Additional updates include multi-directional Molle on the beavertail and leg holsters, two settings for leg strap mounting, low-profile non-slip cam buckles, and a helmet clip. The R80 and R40 are also now built with 100% recycled 1680D Ballistic nylon with eco-friendly PVC backing and UV treatment.

The updated luggage system is now optimized for the optional Gnoblin rear mounting accessory, and provides the ability to add two 4L Aux Pox external pockets for extra storage, Fuel Bottles, Water Storage, or Mosko First Aid Kit.

The new V4.0 is now shipping in black! High Desert and Woodland colors are available for preorder and expected to ship by December 2023. Price: Reckless 80L $1,040.00, Reckless 40L $799.00. Go to www.moskomoto.com for more information.

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ADVOCACY AWARENESS

Moab, Utah is a world class riding destination. Each year, riders come from all over the world to sample Moab’s diverse network of fun and challenging trails. There’s something here for every appetite from hard enduro to endless miles of adventure bike exploring through a landscape that is staggeringly beautiful. Yet thanks to an organization called the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), our access to thousands of square miles of public land via roads and trails is being taken away.

To make a long story short, SUWA sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for not closing enough motorized routes (roads and trails) in the agency’s 2008 Travel Management Plans (TMPs) across the southeast half of the state. Many motorized recreation groups like Moab-based Ride with Respect, the Trails Preservation Alliance, and the BlueRibbon Coalition intervened on behalf of the BLM to defend the original TMPs. In 2017, the BLM settled with SUWA and agreed to redo the TMP for twelve specific areas in southeast Utah. Moab’s Labyrinth Rims / Gemini Bridges is the third area to be re-evaluated, meaning that there are nine more areas left.

In Labyrinth Rims, the 2008 TMP closed nearly a thousand miles of existing routes, and the BLM’s new decision closes an additional 317 miles, leaving us with less than half of the routes that were on the ground and open 15 years ago.

Closures may already be in effect, but thankfully the fight isn’t exactly over. The state of Utah and several motorized recreation groups intend to appeal the BLM decision. They’ll also request a stay of the decision which, if granted, would probably leave the 317 miles open for months while the case is reviewed.

If Moab matters to you, and it should, here’s what you can do: ride responsibly by staying precisely on the trail and reducing speed when encountering other users to avoid creating negative impacts used to justify closures. Comment on the TMPs for the next nine BLM areas. Many advocacy organizations put out great comment outlines and provide talking points you can use to construct your comments. You can engage here: Link. Support local organizations like Ride with Respect Link, state organizations like The Trails Preservation Alliance Link, and national organizations like the BlueRibbon Coalition Link. Follow these groups so you get updates on Moab and the other access issues.

The scary thing is that SUWA isn’t the only organization out there working to vastly expand the amount of wilderness area that prohibits all mechanized travel. All over the country, riding opportunities are under attack – so we all need to get involved to help save our sport.

Editor’s note: This is a new feature of Upshift, and as such (and always) we would love feedback on how we can make this content better. The goal here is to spread the word on advocacyaccess issues, so if you or your organization has a trail advocacy issue in which we can help spread the word, please reach out.

Information presented herein was obtained from the Trails Preservation Alliance.

By Chad de Alva

WIDE OPEN PHOTO: OLIVIER DE VAULX ARIZONA

PHOTO: OLIVIER DE VAULX

PHOTO: HONDA RACING

PHOTO: SPENCER HILL

PHOTO: DUCATI

PHOTO: OLIVIER DE VAULX

PHOTO: OLIVIER DE VAULX

PHOTO:

PHOTO: SPENCER HILL

PHOTO: OLIVIER DE VAULX

PHOTO: DUCATI

PHOTO: DUCATI MOROCCO SKYLER

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PHOTO: SPENCER HILL

PHOTO: HONDA RACING

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THE DIRTY DOZEN

Conquer the Rockies and earn your Badge

After four days of gnarly riding in Colorado, risking life and limb for what Ducati North America called the Dirty Dozen challenge, I thought about what drives us to embark on adventures and undertake challenges. This was a self-guided, self-supported scavenger hunt to ride twelve of the most rugged passes in Colorado aboard Ducati’s most ambitious foray into the adventure market to date, the Desert X. If I managed to bag all twelve peaks and document the process via social media, I could expect to receive a custom decal. So, what compelled me to travel to Colorado on a whim to see if I had what it would take? Do we ride to the tops of mountains simply because they are there? Sure, any excuse to ride, right? And the riding promised to be spectacular, but what is the point when the only reward is bragging rights and a sticker?

It all started with an innocuous phone call to my friend Cory Hansen of Camel ADV. I asked if he had seen Ducati’s recent social media post regarding something called The Dirty Dozen. He had not, and after I explained that it was a challenge specifically laid out for Ducati Desert X owners to ride twelve mountain passes over twelve thousand feet in Colorado, his immediate response was: “When are we going?” Similarly, when I watched the first MotoGeo YouTube episode chronicling the challenge with my wife, she presented me with an equally phrased question, albeit, with slight sarcastic undertones.

To understand the Dirty Dozen, you must understand a little about Jason Chinnock, Colorado native and CEO of Ducati North America. This concept was his brainchild and something that started to take shape in his mind some twenty years ago while organizing group rides out of a dealership in Ft. Collins, CO. He is a firm believer that motorcycles should bring you joy, not status and an avid rider himself, he rode a Desert X directly from the press launch last summer to map out this challenge and document the experience with Jamie Robinson of MotoGeo. Once they completed the inaugural run with video footage in hand, they knew it would be a perfect gauntlet for Desert X owners who wanted to put themselves and their machines to the test.

I knew I had to do it almost immediately after the Dirty Dozen was brought to my attention. It instantly assumed residence in my mind rent-free. Within a few days, we discussed dates, and four weeks later, our tires hit Colorado soil. Was it as easy as that? See a challenge and conquer it? I suppose it would depend on your level of interest, but I am fairly sure this is not how everyone is wired. Given the opportunity, most adventure riders would go on a trip like this if all the stars aligned, but what percentage of people would drop everything and move mountains to make it materialize?

From the jump, I knew that my friend Cory was the perfect companion for this challenge because he is one of the most competitive individuals I have ever met and a worldclass rider. His two-wheel resume includes RTW travel, appearances in the GS Trophy & KTM’s Ultimate Race, and podium finishes on large displacement machines in storied races such as The Desert 100 and Virginia City Grand Prix. He had the chops, but more importantly, I knew he was a glutton for punishment, not unlike myself, and he just so happened to have a Desert X of his own for product development.

Thankfully, I had access to a Desert X that I lovingly dubbed the Trail Tech Explorer. I took possession of it new and outfitted it as one of the Trail Tech brand bikes as Marketing Manager. I’d spent the last ten months getting acquainted with the new platform, but was still unsure of its capabilities. Little thought had gone into planning, short of loading various tracks and maps for each pass into our Voyager Pro GPS units and prepping our bikes for battle. When we geared up in Colorado, we hadn’t discussed what order to attempt the passes, where we would stay, or any contingency plans. That was the beauty of undertaking this with just one other rider who shared the same goal. We were agile, and plans seemed to fall in place as the trip progressed.

THE NEW WORLD CONQUEROR

On Day One, we made a quick jaunt to the top of Mosquito Pass from Leadville and then worked our way south via Cottonwood en route to Tincup, Hancock, and Cumberland. Our climb up Mosquito was marked by all-encompassing fog that did not let us reap the rewards of our efforts with a view. It was an excellent warm-up for what would come later in the day, challenging enough to get the blood flowing and shake off cobwebs but not demanding enough to sap our energy completely. However, the thin air above 10,000 ft immediately impacted our bodies and bikes. This was marked by extra huffing and puffing over our helmet comms and a noticeable difference when twisting the throttle. As the misty morning transitioned to an on-again/off-again driving rain, we approached the town of Tincup. The pass itself was a spicy appetizer for what turned out to be a five-star spicy entree in Hancock, complete with side dishes of dirt bikers telling us to turn back. Once we reached the top of Hancock, we cruised over to Cumberland, which was a mellow, if not anti-climactic, way to close out our first day.

On Day Two, we started in Crested Butte and spontaneously decided to ride Schofield Pass based on its proximity and the feeling that we needed some extra relish to make up for the closure of Black Bear*. Scofield’s billing as the deadliest pass in Colorado did not disappoint. We did not die, but it was plain to see how this stretch of “road” has claimed so many lives. At the crux, just above the ominously named Devil’s Punchbowl, large rock spines demanded our full attention both on the way down and up. We rode the pass out and back to negate claims that we did it the “easy way.” However, I would argue that either direction on Schofield would be problematic for most mortals on full-size adventure bikes. We were both shocked by how well The Desert X managed the terrain; it started changing how we rode and our opinions.

After fueling up on tacos back in Crested Butte, we headed for the Alpine Loop and the remaining balance of the passes. We made a quick detour as far up Black Bear Pass as possible before catching the sunset at 12,321 ft and making our way down to Silverton to call it a night.

*Regretfully, we could not complete Black Bear or even ride to the pass itself due to a closed gate.

Day Three kicked off in Silverton, where strong coffee and greasy breakfast food propelled us to scratch Stony, Cinnamon, California, Hurricane, and Corkscrew Passes off the list before noon. Then, after a spirited rip up and over Ophir Pass, we had a late lunch in Telluride and started climbing Imogene just as the day’s heat began to wane. The further we climbed, the more we agreed that this would be the crown jewel of the lot. Our expectations were not high after the blur of passes we knocked out that morning. Imogene was exceptional, and we commemorated it with a pinch flat and grizzly bear encounter on our way into Ouray for sustenance and much-needed rest.

Day Four was when it all caught up with us: the bumpy miles, aggressive riding, slow speed tumbles, and subsequent bike dead-lifts. Thankfully, we had the foresight to stay at an establishment with hot spring pools, and a long pre-breakfast soak can be credited with giving us the will to tackle another day. Similarly to Imogene, we did not have lofty expectations for Engineer Pass, and again, we were bowled over. Having ridden to the top of Engineer together a few years back from the Animas Forks side, we expected a similar milk run to the top. Instead, we were treated to some of the most challenging riding of the trip on our approach from Poughkeepsie Gulch. It was a delightful way to round out the trip and even more rewarding. When we pounded fists at the top of Engineer Pass, an overwhelming sense of accomplishment washed over me, and I immediately knew that endorphin hit was why I made the journey.

It had been a marathon, not a sprint; a little foolish riding or unnecessary bravado could have cost us the trip. I was pessimistic; I did not think we had great odds to complete the ride, and there were too many variables. Weather, injuries, trail conditions, and mechanical issues were all reasonable to expect on an adventure ride of this scale. On day two, I fully submerged my Desert X in a river crossing at the top of Schofield Pass. That should have brought our endeavor to a gurgling halt, but miraculously the engine did not suck water, and the worst outcome was soggy boots. So much had to go right, and only one thing could potentially go wrong and dash our hopes. That is why the celebration atop Engineer felt so gratifying.

Ultimately, we completed Imogene, Cinnamon, Engineer, Corkscrew, Hurricane, California, Stony, Tincup, Cumberland, Hancock, Mosquito, and Schofield; with Ophir, Cottonwood, and (most of) Black Bear as bonuses.

Before we took on the Dirty Dozen, we both logged some miles on our Desert Xs, and they performed admirably, but I do not know if they would have been either of our first choices for this mission. Cory and I both lamented the lack of bottom-end “grunt” and the softness of the stock suspension, but by the end of the trip, we agreed it was the only tool for the job. Part of this can be attributed to custom suspension work, but the bike deserves plenty of roses. We approached obstacles with extra momentum and rode technical sections more fluidly. The bike indiscriminately ate up miles, dirt, and pavement. All the transiting between passes was downright enjoyable, and neither of us was ready to jump off our bikes when the trip ended, as is sometimes the case.

Ducati knew best, or at least assumed, that if customers used their machines to get to these unique places, they would have to see the virtue in their engineering. And if they didn’t? What an excuse to see some of the coolest towns in Colorado! Leadville, Tincup, St. Elmo, Silverton, Telluride, Ouray, Crested Butte. Not to mention the untold number of historic landmarks, ghost towns, and unworldly vistas. No matter the outcome, it would be hard to begrudge them after seeing this cross-section of Colorado.

So, what was the point of this silly competition for a small subset of Ducati owners within a tiny segment of motorcycles? I knew in my bones that this competition was a prompt for one of my life’s most memorable moto trips. The prize or outcome did not matter; the experience was the point and all the reward needed.

THE OFF-ROAD RIDER’S GPS

CHRIS BIRCH

BIRCH ENDURO CLINIC

By Chad de Alva

In October of 2022, I had the opportunity to attend a Say No To Slow Adventure Bike riding clinic with Chris Birch in Richfield, Utah. Issue 75. Over the course of this two-day clinic, Chris proved to be one of the best instructors I’ve ever had the opportunity to learn from. He has a strong passion for motorbikes and combined with his outstanding ability to relate to and communicate with his students, he was able to help each student in his class further their riding abilities. Chris also coaches Enduro (dirt bike) bike riders, and when his 2023 USA clinic schedule was posted with an Enduro Clinic, I made another trip to Richfield, Utah, to brush up on my dirt bike skills.

Most riders know of Chris Birch for his exploits aboard KTM Adventure bikes, and a quick search on the YouTubes for Mr. Birch will turn up all sorts of awesome riding content on adventure bikes, enduro bikes, and even some mountain biking. A couple videos that will get you particularly stoked to ride are his Sea to Source and Mud Bath Mountain films. Keep scrolling through the search results and you’ll find sample episodes from his Say No to Slow Adventure bike and dirt bike instructional video series. Both of these video series are great resources, and you can learn more about them by checking out saynotoslow. nz, and our tested on the series in Upshift 63. Prior to attending the in-person adventure bike clinic with Chris in 2022, I studied the adventure video series and found this very helpful in getting the most out of my in-person time with Chris. Whether you’re looking for a great instructional resource you can reference at any time or want to prepare for taking a class in-person with Chris in the future, I can’t recommend the instructional video series enough.

On a bluebird day just outside of Richfield, Chris started off his clinic by asking his students what they’re hoping to learn about. Rather than simply marching through a preplanned curriculum, Chris genuinely wants to engage with his students and help them with their specific needs, and the students responded with a few requests that Chris was happy to entertain. Yet before we got into any particular riding techniques, we needed to start with the basics, and that meant covering proper bike setup.

Improper bike setup can make a bike handle poorly, more dangerous, and harder to ride correctly, so ensuring that your bike isn’t working against you is imperative. Chris covered proper bike setup before starting to help students ensure their bikes are setup correctly with the help of his friend, rockstar rider, and co-instructor Chris Whitehouse. A great example of proper dirt bike setup is rear brake lever position. This should be set high enough so that the rider can fully apply the rear brake with only their foot, and not by having to move their knee forward on the bike to get enough ankle extension. Handlebar position and lever position are two more critical setup items, and soon everyone was turning wrenches and dialing-in their setups.

Once the students’ bikes were setup correctly, it was time to cover body position. Birchy used several interactive demos to make it very obvious just how important correct body position matters. One demo had a student try to push Chris off the seat of his bike to show how much stronger a rider is with their elbows wide and their hips rotated forward than with elbows down and hips rolled back. With proper seated body position the student couldn’t move Chris on the bike. With lazy form, it’s a different story.

Chris has a powerful example to explain proper foot position on the pegs. You can try this one right now: stand up and try jumping off the ground with your ankles locked out. No cheating here – weight those heels if you keep trying to pivot your ankles. Next, jump off the ground normally. I bet you jumped higher when you could pivot your ankles. Standing on your bike’s foot pegs with the arch of your foot over the pegs takes your ankles out of the equation. Just as you can’t jump very high, you can’t absorb impacts or weight your suspension very well when you can’t move your ankles. Standing on your bike’s foot pegs with the balls of your feet allows your ankle joints to pivot. With ankles that can pivot, you can jump higher off the ground, and you’re better able to do things on the bike, like load the suspension and soak up the hits. Birchy has tons of these little demos that explain the how and why of core concepts, and they really help

students understand big ideas, like why body position matters so much.

After covering standing body position for accelerating and braking, it was time to start riding so that students could begin to apply what had been taught. Birchy lead the class around a large paddock and demonstrated how, with proper body position, you can hold on to the bike with only one hand and not crash while accelerating and braking aggressively. As the students peeled off on their own to practice these techniques and drills, the Chrises bounced around between various students to help them refine their practice.

Proper body position is a fundamental skill, and something that’s required to learn effective obstacle crossing techniques. Chris designs the flow of his courses in what he calls a decreasing level of importance and an increasing level of excitement. Topics like body position are critical, but they’re not as exciting as obstacle crossing. Using a standard issue railroad tie and a big round of an oak tree that’s half a wheel high, Birchy covered a number of different obstacle crossing techniques. He demonstrated the safe way to cross the log, how to cross the log at race pace, and how to cross the log at an extreme angle, which as anyone who has ridden in the woods can tell you is quite helpful, as trees do not always fall perpendicular to the trail. With techniques explained and demonstrated, it was time for the students to have a crack at it. Again, Birchy and Whitehouse worked with individual students to help them refine their technique, and the students were quick to gain confidence and improve their obstacle crossing ability.

After several hours of working on drills in the paddock, it was time to head out on a ride to apply the skills the class had been learning all morning to some real-world obstacles. A section of single track wound its way down a gully, and delivered the class to an area with a number of hill climb lines. Birchy ran through hill climb techniques before sending it up the most intimidating line on the hill. From the top of this spicy looking climb, Chris covered descents because reaching the top is only the halfway point when you’re climbing a mountain. The students sessioned a few different hill climb lines before continuing on with the ride.

For the next couple of hours, the class rode miles of trails that were intentionally selected for the learning opportunities they provided. At several key points, Chris stopped the class to explain relevant techniques, and other important considerations when encountering similar obstacles and sections of trails. The ride culminated in a run up a wash that had a little bit of everything: some ledgy obstacles to climb, plenty of off camber sections, and all shapes and sizes of corners that provided great opportunities for students to apply the day’s learnings and just enjoy open OHV riding in Utah.

In-person instruction is one of the best things a rider can invest in to further their riding skill-set. Being taught a concept, seeing that concept performed, and then getting immediate feedback on performing the technique yourself in an environment where you can ask questions at every step of the way is a learning opportunity that can’t be beat. Even as someone who has taken a class from Chris Birch in the past, I still gained valuable perspective and understanding from taking a successive class with Chris. Don’t think of learning from a pro rider as a one-and-done thing. Think of it as a continual process. Go take a class. Actually practice what you’ve learned. Then go take another class and learn more. A good instructor can teach riders at any level, and if there’s one thing I’m certain of at this point, it’s that all riders can learn something valuable about riding from Chris Birch.

Chris Birch will be back in the United States teaching more adventure bike and enduro clinics in 2024, but you don’t have to wait until then to start learning from Chris. Visit saynotoslow.nz to check the Say No to Slow instructional video series for adventure bikes and dirt bikes, check out his curated selection of parts that he has helped develop, and keep up to date on future clinics in the US and all over the world.

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YOUR FINISH

BY CHAD DE ALVA

WP XPLOR PRO FORKS - NORDEN STAGE 2

In Upshift Issue 78, we detailed the first phase of our quest to give the Husqvarna Motorcycles Norden 901 more off-road capability by adding a WP Pro Components shock that was set up by Solid Performance. Long story short, the Pro Components shock proved to be worth every penny by making the Norden’s rear end amazingly plush, able to withstand all of the big hits, and fully adjustable for riding with or without luggage – in other words, exactly what you want for adventure bike suspension. Yet, the Pro Components shock had one downside that we knew we were going to have to address: it made the Norden’s stock forks the very obvious weak link in the system. The proper fix was to give our Norden a set of Pro Component Forks.

Pro Component Forks are a complete replacement set of forks, and there are versions available for most Austrian motorcycles. It’s important to note that Pro Component Forks, Cone Valve Forks, and Xplor Pro Forks all refer to the same thing in this case. Like the Pro Components shock of the same name, the forks can be set to a range of different strokes to match the rider and the bike. Common lengths for 7/890s and the Norden 901 are 240mm or 270mm stroke lengths. Wanting a set of Pro Component suspension that we could install on any 7/890/901 without having to replace the front brake lines, we opted to set our Pro Component suspension at 240mm, so only the side stand from a KTM 890 Adventure R was required to keep the bike from leaning too far over. Our shock had to be set to 240mm as well, so it was sent back to Solid Performance for a service and stretch to best match the forks.

Solid Performance handles more WP Suspension than anyone else in the United States, and as a result, they’ve come up with a few of their own parts to further enhance the performance of Pro Components Forks. For example, Solid Performance has developed their own spring tubes, which change the way the fork ramps up its damping rate as the fork moves through its stroke. These spring tubes create a more linear feel in rate where the stock forks have an obvious rate change when the fork reaches a certain point in its stroke. Another neat quality-of-life part that Solid Performance has developed for the Pro Components Forks are Finger Clickers for the Compression adjusters, which would otherwise require a flathead screwdriver to adjust the compression damping setting.

Just as when I purchased the Pro Components shock, I went through the entire Solid Performance suspension process: I filled out the setup form and then corresponded with the suspension tuner who would build my forks and set my shock up to match. This personalized process leads to much better results than other suspension outfits I’ve worked with in the past, where a simple suspension form is the only information gathered from the customer. Solid Performance carries serious amounts of inventory on all WP parts, so it took only a few days after my order was placed for my new suspension to arrive.

The Norden’s stock forks were certainly plush, but it didn’t take too much of a hit to get them to blow through their stroke and bottom out with a nice clang if you ran them into something with too much gusto. With stock forks, the name of the game was slowing way down for obstacles and large hits.

With Pro Component Forks, you now feel guilty for checking speed, and you always ride out of an obstacle recognizing that you could have gone faster and/or hit it harder. Yet Pro Component Forks are also incredibly plush, giving the rider the best of both worlds: all day comfort and all of the big hit go-fast capability. Our Norden is now so capable that it’s important to remember that just because you may have the same suspension as Chris Birch, you are in fact, not Chris Birch and should not ride too far over your head. That being said, the way you can ride an 890-platform bike with Pro Component suspension is like it’s a big enduro bike. Whether that means flying down a two track that has perfectly bermed corners and all of the bar ditches to air out, or trying to point and shoot up narrow shelf roads cut across scree fields, Pro Component suspension can handle all of the high horse power enduro bike antics you can throw at it. Pro Component Suspension has completely transformed the bike by providing all of the big hit absorbing capability, and simultaneously all of the plush comfort for long days with hundreds of Ks of corrugations and embedded rocks.

If you’re wondering how Pro Component Forks can make such a difference, the answer to that question is the cone valve inside the forks. A normal fork valve is a piston with thin metal washers called shims on either side that moderate fluid moving through the piston, which is how the fork damps compression and rebound movements. When riders talk about re-valving, they’re referring to changing how these shims moderate fork oil moving through the piston. Adjusting this valving is a compromise between comfort (plushness) and bottoming resistance (big hits). These shims can only allow so much oil to pass through the piston, and if you’ve ever smacked into a big obstacle and felt a harsh hit in the bars, that’s most likely due to you overwhelming the valving in the fork to the point that it can’t damp that impact, so it’s communicating some of that impact up into the bike. Compared to a piston and shim valve, a cone valve can allow much more oil to move through, making a cone valve much harder to overwhelm. This means that an impact that creates a hard jarring sensation with normal folks would be effectively damped and not communicated to the rider with a set of cone valve forks.

The bottom line is that Pro Component suspension is addictingly good, and you’ll be spoiled once you get your head around what it’s capable of. Solid Performance is a key part of getting the most out of your suspension, and given the cost of these parts, you’re doing yourself a disservice to buy Pro Components and just run stock settings. Think of Pro Component suspension as something you invest in – a fully personalized set of suspension that can be transferred from bike to bike to make any bike you install your suspension on perfectly set up for you. Doing this makes the bike that much more fun to ride, and that’s what it’s all about. The proof is in the performance, and thanks to Solid Performance built Pro Component suspension, our Norden is now an off-road weapon.

Solid Performance works on all WP suspension, meaning they can get you dialed in on everything from GasGas trials suspension to KTM 1290 Adventure R suspension. To learn more, visit solid-performance.com

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MOTOMINDED RAD LIGHTS

Super bright LED headlights are nothing new to dirt bikes. There are dozens of companies that offer all sorts of LED lighting solutions that replace the stock headlight on your dirt bike, and some of these kits go a long way to making riding at night a ton of fun instead of an exercise in survival. Yet even the world’s brightest LED headlight is limited as a function of where it’s installed in a dirt bike’s headlight mask. The front fender creates a shadow right in front of the bike, and turning your bars changes where the light is pointed. If the front wheel is off the ground (from an obstacle or wheelie), all of the light is now pointed up into space. MotoMinded has been at the forefront of making top-shelf LED lighting systems for riding at night, and their latest product is a game-changer. MotoMinded’s RAD Lights effectively address the limitations encountered with only having light in the bike’s headlight mask, making riding at night better than ever before.

The RAD Lights are the result of a collaboration between MotoMinded and Cody Webb – one of the best hard enduro riders in the US. While preparing for one of the Red Bull Override Races, Cody had the idea of mounting lights low on the bike’s radiator guards, and MotoMinded made it a thing. After a bit of revision and fine tuning, Cody’s concept is now a commercially available product in MotoMinded’s RAD Lights: a system of lights that mounts to the bike’s RADiators.

Mounting a light on each side of the bike eliminates the black hole shadow of doom caused by the front fender, and there is now light shining in front of the bike regardless of whether the bars are turned, or the front wheel is in the air. With RAD Lights, the rider always has light in front of the bike whether they’re doing a big up (wheelie), smashing through whoops, working their way through tight single track, or any other riding situation. It’s always the things you can’t see at night that can get you into trouble, yet the RAD Lights are the best lighting system I’ve experienced in terms of making everything I want to see visible at night.

RAD Lights are currently available for 2014-2024 KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas 250-500cc dirt bikes. The bike you’re working with will determine the total amount of wattage you have to allocate for lighting. For example, the 2019 KTM 300 XC-W we installed the RAD lights on has plenty of power available, so we were able to install a set of RAD Lights and a Baja Designs XLPro in the bike’s headlight mask. Certain 2023 + Austrian bikes will need an aftermarket stator to run the RAD Lights, so check with MotoMinded for your specific application.

Installing the RAD Lights is an easy process. The included brackets mount up to the outboard side of the bike’s radiators, and a bit of wire routing is all that’s required to get up to where the RAD Lights tie into the bike’s wiring between the headlight connector and main harness. All of these connections are plug and play with OEM style connectors, so there is no splicing or tapping required. The one exception here is if your bike has an OEM horn bracket – I ended up having to grind the horn bracket down a couple of millimeters to fit with the RAD Lights bracket when using the stock radiator louvers.

MotoMinded also makes an option for a battery harness with a switch, and they also have brackets that work with Bullet Proof Designs Radiator guards, if you’ve replaced the stock louvers with BPD guards. Each RADiator light is a Baja Designs S1, which can be independently aimed, and the lens on each light can be configured to best suit the type of riding that you’re doing. Go-fast riders will want spot lenses for more distance lighting, while hard enduro or single track riders will want wide/cornering lenses for more flood lighting. A best of both worlds solution is to run one spot and one wide/cornering lens for distance and flood lighting.

TESTED: MOTOMINDED RAD LIGHTS

For my application where I still have a headlight in the headlight mask, I settled on wide/cornering lenses in both RAD Lights. Riding at night is a unique experience. In the daytime, you’re able to see the world around you, and your brain is used to this level of situational awareness when you ride. From way down the trail to right in front of your bike, you’re able to see the trail, and what is around it. At night, all you can see is what is currently being illuminated by your light(s), and this reduced level of situational awareness is what makes riding at night more difficult. A powerful LED headlight can throw some serious light down the trail, but areas you can normally see in the daytime are either in shadow from your front fender, or poorly illuminated as a function of your headlight’s beam pattern and where your bars are pointing (turned or up in a wheelie). Look at the BEFORE photo and note the fender shadow and the lack of light right in front of the bike. When you add RAD Lights to your bike, you gain so much lighting coverage that you’re able to see much better – look at the AFTER photo and note the lack of fender shadow and light all around the front of the bike. This makes picking your way through technical stuff much easier, and when you’re carrying speed, you can still perceive what’s right in front of you through your peripheral vision. If you turn your bars or loft your front end, you still have plenty of light on the ground, and the net effect here is that riding at night now feels much less like playing minesweeper, and more like riding in the daytime.

TESTED: MOTOMINDED RAD LIGHTS

There are a bunch of super-bright LED headlights on the market, but they’re all limited as a function of being in your bike’s headlight mask. RAD Lights do not have these limitations, and when combined with a LED headlight, you truly get the best of both worlds: your headlight throws light well in front of you and into turns as you turn your bars. RAD Lights fill all the holes in, keeping everything in front of you well illuminated so obstacles and other surprises have no where to hide. RAD Lights are the clutch system to have for anyone who wants to ride at night, and they’re also great for packing a chainsaw around and keeping lights on your bike. The only way to make riding at night better is to add a set of MotoMinded Torch LED Helmet lights to the mix. Upshift 47. Riding at night is awesome, and MotoMinded is the place to go for the best lighting systems out there. For more information on the RAD Lights and MotoMinded’s other awesome parts, visit: www.motominded.com

HOW TO GET YOUR RIDE OVERSEAS

I once pitched a photo series to Honda, asking for an Africa Twin so I could travel around the world and create portraits. Leveraging that old campaign “you meet the nicest people on a Honda,” I had nothing to lose.

I would show the inclusivity of motorcycling. Men, women, black, white, straight, gay and any other variation there of using stills, audio and GPS. I would focus on individuals whose lives were deeply connected to motorcycles including builders, racers, collectors and world travelers. I felt there was a more esoteric connection between people and their bikes, I intended to prove it.

The meeting went better than I could have imagined. I kind of went in through the back door via some industry connections (you know who you are) and floated out the front.

I never heard back and I never knew why. Regardless, I had started something and I was going to see it through, manufacturer backing or not.

BY DAVID GOLDMAN

LYNDON POSKETT, ADVENTURE RIDER

JOHN McGUINNESS, 23 TIME WINNER OF THE ISLE OF MAN TT

MARK WELLS, CHIEF DESIGNER AT ROYAL ENFIELD

AUSTIN VINCE, WORLD TRAVELER

KINGA TANAJEWSKA, WORLD TRAVELER

JOCELIN SNOW, BMW GS TROPHY COMPETITOR

When Covid hit I, like many people, was left sitting on the couch eating too much ice cream (is there ever too much?). I decided to see if this project had legs. I needed to get a bike that would be more conducive to long trips. Goodbye Thruxton, hello KTM 790 ADVs! The “R” was too tall considering my experience at the time and the APR was perfect for the “S”.

Was it possible to use my bike as a mobile photo studio? Could I do a road trip and meet people to photograph? Would they be receptive? Two months, 14 portraits and 6000 miles later through California, Oregon Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, I had my answer. I interviewed each subject and asked the same few questions. For continuity, I asked the same three questions of each subject.

I’m lucky, I’ve been a photographer for many years and some of my work is recognizable, like the album packaging for Blink 182’s Enema Of The State, Anderson Cooper, or the band MUSE, so “no” was rarely uttered from a potential subject. I asked each subject to suggest a future subject and that served me well. I was fortunate that prior to leaving on this “proof of concept” trip, AMA Magazine published a very nice selection of images I had taken with two distinct covers — one on dirt and one street. Since the AMA has a pretty large subscription list, many of the subjects I met on the road had already seen the magazine and of course, that helped. I created a website: www.themotorcycleportraits.net and began sharing them on my Instagram: @thedavidgoldmanphoto.

At the start of 2021 and in the depths of Covid, my mother passed away. Not directly from Covid but I certainly think her cancer diagnosis was delayed due to the Covid protocols in Canada. Suddenly dealing with grief I needed time and space. If you have lost someone close to you then you know how grief works. I got on my bike and I rode.

After leaving Los Angeles in June of 2021 with the goal of riding around the US and Canada, I gave myself as much time as I needed and in the end it was a four month trip. I rode, I cried, I laughed, and I suffered from the intense summer heat. I experienced the Dragon’s Tail and the Trans-Labrador Highway among many others that dot the US and Canada. I added more portraits to the series but even more stories to the canon of my life. I also decided to move back to Canada, buying a house in Nova Scotia.

By then, I was closing in on 100 subjects. Way more than I could have imagined during that Honda meeting. Giacomo Agostini, Wayne Rainey, Keven Schwantz, Lyle Lovett, Megs Braap, Jocelin Snow, and the list went on.

I moved into my new house and kept busy renovating. Grief ever present, when something snuck into my brain. I wanted to take my bike and go to the UK/Europe and continue The Motorcycle Portraits the following summer. I gave myself until the end of the year to make it happen.

I’ve been very lucky to receive support from a number of brands. They knew I wasn’t the best off-road motorcyclist but they believed in me and the project, so the trip was planned.

FLYING YOUR BIKE

How does one get their bike overseas?

I had heard that Air Canada had a program where they would fly your bike to one of their destinations. However, due to Covid it seemed like that was no longer an option. I kept searching and eventually found another Canadian airline that seemed to offer a similar program. WestJet, although a smaller airline to Air Canada, was expanding its cargo operations and their global reach.

I made a cold call and with their help flew the bike and myself to Dublin this summer and back home from Paris. This was a huge coup for me. But it also allowed me to get some answers to a lot of trans-continental questions that are often asked but rarely easily answered. So I thought I’d share a few here. Please remember that these tips and notes will be based on how WestJet transports motorcyclists from North America to Europe and back. There may be other airlines that do this and certainly one can ship a bike on a boat. I’m not totally sure what all the costs would be but this is what you need to know and how to prepare your bike based on my experience.

WestJet has a program they call: “BIKE AIR” Link

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WestJet flies out of Calgary as their hub. This means that all North American overseas flights MUST originate from Calgary. So getting your bike and presumably yourself to Calgary will be the first goal, although you are not obligated to fly WestJet of course. They offer flights to Calgary from Vancouver (YVR) and Toronto (YYZ). They also offer a number of flights from the US to Calgary including Los Angeles (LAX) and Miami (MIA).

Dublin was the destination I wanted, and since WestJet serviced it, the choice was easy. They fly to a number of European destinations but remember they all originated in Calgary. As of this writing, they fly to the following European destinations: Barcelona (BCN), Dublin (DUB) Edinburgh (EDI), Gatwick (LGW), Heathrow (LHR), Paris (CDG), Rome (FCO).

For my journey, I’d be starting in Halifax since I live in Nova Scotia. I took the following route: My bike was put on a cargo flight from Halifax (Cargo may no longer be going from Halifax) with a destination of Calgary. I took a WestJet commercial flight to Calgary. Once we were both there, the bike and I were put on the same wide bodied jet that flies to Europe and we departed for Dublin.

Returning home is essentially the same thing. You will pick your airport from the European destinations, you and the bike will fly to Calgary, and then from Calgary you will need to get to your home city. If WestJet services your city, then you are in luck. If not, then it will be a bit more complicated.

Those are the basic logistics of flight planning but of course that is not the nuts and bolts of what you need to know. I’m going to lay out some info but please remember this applied to me and my experience with WestJet.

I’m a dual citizen Canadian/American and I flew on a Canadian passport, so I think this info applies for anyone originating in North America.

There are two main bits of paperwork that need to be addressed to fly:

• The Dangerous Goods Declaration

• Air Waybill

WestJet is the airline that flies the bikes but they are not the ones that take care of the paperwork and forms that need to be filled out when transporting a motorcycle, which is considered a “dangerous good.” For this you will be in contact with the freight forwarding company. I used https://gtagsm.com/ and they were very helpful and thorough. More than likely, you will have a contact person there that will ask you all the pertinent questions relating to your travel and your bike.

Bike Insurance

To ride your bike in the UK/Europe you will need what is called “Green Card” insurance. Since your local (North American) insurance is most likely not valid overseas, you will need proof of liability insurance. This is a MUST. You can also choose to get comprehensive insurance to cover for fire/theft as well. I personally chose to get both. Since I was still paying off my bike, the thought of it getting stolen (I’ve heard too many stories) and me being out a bike and still having to pay for it did not sit well.

There are a number of options for getting this type of insurance. I personally went with www.knopftours.com They were very helpful and were able to provide me with what I needed when I needed it. I’m not saying they are the least expensive, but it worked for me and there was more than one border crossing where I was asked to show proof of insurance.

Health insurance

As a documentary photographer that travels overseas to some less than ideal locations, and coming from a home where my step-father was in the insurance business, I always make sure I’m covered for my health and safety. I get insurance that will evacuate me in case of emergency and/or get me to the best hospital as quick as possible. To me this is non-negotiable. I can’t think of too many things worse than being injured in a country with little to no help and not speaking the language. Before I left for the trip, I chose Allianz but look around and see what’s best for you. There are many options.

I also carry a Garmin InReach for emergency and I share my location with some key people in my family/friend circle so they know where I am at all times. We are very fortunate to live in a time where this info can be shared with the people we love. Attempting to sort this out once an accident happens is not ideal.

FLYING YOUR BIKE

Prepping the Bike

Here is how I prepped my bike for the travel. Again, this is how WestJet does it, I can’t speak for other airlines but I imagine there to be some similarities:

• No more than 1/4 tank of a fuel.

• Clean and vent any extra fuel tank (Rotopax).

• Disconnect the battery terminals.

• Make sure there were no compressed gas, oils, greases, etc. That means do not have chain lube, camping fuel, or similar. You will need to buy this at your final destination.

• Camera, phone, drone batteries, or similar should be carried with you on the plane.

• You may want to have a bit of cardboard or foam that you can put on the seat to protect it from the compression created by the straps. This way you avoid any indents or damage to the padding when they tighten down the ratchet straps.

• Leave your key in the ignition but also have a zip tie or some kind of way to secure the keys to the bike so if it were to pop out of the ignition it won’t get lost.

• Carry an extra set of keys for the bike or whatever you have associated with the bike just in case they are lost during the travel.

• You can leave your panniers on the bike with your clothes or whatever inside except what I’ve already mentioned.

• You can leave your tank bag on the bike although originally I was told I was not allowed to keep the tank bag on so it’s possible you may have to remove that.

• The bike is strapped to a metal pallet. It is NOT put in a box or crate etc. It will remain exposed and strapped down.

• Make sure you have your registration sticker up to date or at least proof of it on your person.

• I always carry photocopies of my passport, bike registration, insurance, etc in a few places just in case I lose one or have to hand it over to someone for some reason.

Picking the bike up at your destination

I’m not going to lie, this part was a bit more stressful for me, and since I was no longer in the care of the airline or even the freight forward company I had to rely on my wits here.

You will pick your bike up at “cargo”. This is not where passengers arrive in the airport. This is more often than not a bit of a drive/bus ride or long walk from “arrivals” and when you ask for directions, the people you ask may very well not know where it is. If the language is not your native tongue then be prepared for some challenges (I’m talking to you France). Eventually you will find your way to this area. This is where you will present your paperwork and if everyone knows their job, you should be able to get your bike within an hour or so of handing over the paperwork. You may be responsible for some fees. I had to pay approx. 140.00 Euro to release my bike from cargo. BUT and this is a big but, when I arrived in Dublin, I was told to go to the import/duties area to get a release for my bike. Now depending on how informed the people are and if they have ever dealt with someone in your position, it can go smoothly or it can be painful. For me it was painful and then finally it smoothed out.

Basically the duties officer was saying I was “importing” my bike and as a result would need to pay an import duty. As if I was moving to Ireland and wanted to import the bike. This of course was not true. He was not budging and I was getting more stressed, since all the investigating I had done prior to this trip did not lead me to believe I would have to pay anything to import the bike. I was not in fact importing it, I was simply riding around on it and then would leave. Eventually some folks at one of the offices who help people do imports explained to this man that I was there on a temporary import and that I had 90-day exclusion to have my bike there. So in the end they did not charge me, but I cannot stress this enough: make sure you know the laws for the country you are going to. If you do not have to pay, then copy that info so you can show it to the duty officer as proof.

In the end, they rolled my bike off the pallet towards me and it looked as I had left it. I connected the battery, strapped the bags I had carried on the plane, and changed into my bike outfit. Then I went looking for a gas station.

Of course, I had to pay very close attention since I was now riding on the wrong side of the road… for me.

Main image by Upshift Online

A Country of Kindness and Culture – Part I

Words by Travis Gill - Photos by Travis Gill and Dan Rowland

“My bike’s on fire!!” exclaimed Chantil, as she instinctively grabbed the clutch lever and allowed the momentum of her motorcycle to coast to the side of the road.

“What?! You’re kidding, right?” I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing through our connected Bluetooth headsets. “No! Something is wrong with my bike. I saw a puff of smoke and now it smells like it’s burning.”

My mind raced as I imagined her BMW G650GS pack-mule burning into a smoldering mess on the side of the roadway. “Turn off the ignition!” I yelled while pulling over to make a quick U-turn. As I parked across the street, Chantil was already off of her bike and removing the tank bag so we could get access to the battery location.

Getting to the battery on our BMW mules is a process in itself – 10 Torx-style screws hold on the plastic center cover, with two of these screws being concealed by the seat. To remove the seat a latch must be popped, which lies behind a lockable cover under the trail rack. A process so long that it’s easy to imagine her bike being engulfed in flames, with us madly jumping around trying to remove luggage and Torx screws, while hopelessly flailing water from our CamelBak backpacks.

Thankfully, Chantil was able to get the bike over to the side of the road and shut off the ignition before any further damage occurred. The immediate crisis was over. We took a moment to compose ourselves, survey the area, and push her mule across the street onto a concrete sidewalk where we could escape the heat of the afternoon in the shade of a large maple tree.

Once we had the covers removed, we could see, and smell, that the extent of damage was significant. A two-foot section of 10-gauge wire had burned through the main wire bundle. The plastic insulation was charred and had melted into other neighboring wires. This wasn’t going to be a quick MacGyver fix using a Swiss Army knife, a few paperclips, and some chewing gum – this was going to take some serious time to rebuild or replace the main wiring harness.

Not A Good Start

We had just crossed from Greece UPSHIFT Issue 86 into Bulgaria a few days before and were looking forward to presenting about our travels at a Horizons Unlimited event at MotoCamp Bulgaria. Unfortunately, we were still three hours away from reaching MotoCamp – stuck in the southern Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. We quickly realized that there was probably no chance for us to present at the event unless we were able to get a new wire harness shipped and installed in the next four days. Not likely.

We booked a hotel within pushing range of Chantil’s broken mule and got online to see if we could find a solution to our dilemma. We decided to contact the folks at MotoCamp and let them know the bad news. Within minutes of reaching Polly Marinova she had us in contact with “Peachy” who agreed to make a three hour drive to pick us up with a trailer. The rest of the evening we researched the process and cost of replacing a main wire harness. It was going to be expensive and time consuming – the harness was well over $1,100 USD, but we felt pretty confident we could do the replacement ourselves with enough time and patience.

The next morning Peachy arrived with a minivan and trailer. We loaded both of our mules and strapped them down for the threehour journey north to MotoCamp. Once at camp, we found a quiet corner where we could set up our tent and begin the lengthy process of removing the wire harness. Within the next day we had the harness removed and could get a sense of the damage. We discovered a portion of the metal frame which appeared to have worn through the wire insulation and shorted a two-foot section of the cable from the battery to the ABS computer.

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THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING BRANDS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS:

• Custom Paint Job

• Touratech: Extreme Rear Shock & Closed Cartridge Conversion for Front Fork, Zega Pro Panniers 31/38 ltr., Zumo XT 2 with Locking Mount, Defensa Hand Guards, Rear Brake Reservoir Guard and Rear ABS Sensor Guard

• Outback Motortek: Crash Bars, Skid Plate, Tail Rack, Luggage Racks

• Upshift Online: Scotts Steering Damper with Muller Motorsport Mount

• TripleClamp Moto: HPCorse SP-1 Titanium Short Exhaust

• Cyclops Adventure Sports: Auxiliary Light Kit

• Wolfman Luggage/ Threadworks: Custom Tankbag

• Motoz: Tractionator Dual Venture (front) & RallZ (rear) Tires

• Black Dog Cycle Works: Foot Pegs

• Doubletake: Mirrors

• CruzTools: Tool Kit

• Rich’s Custom Seats: Leather Seat

• Moto Camp Nerd: Complete Camping Set Up

• Butler Maps: Full Set of BDR Route Maps

Over the following day we replaced the damaged section of cable with a new spliced-in cable and then insulated everything with copious amounts of 3M electrical tape. I also made a ride to the nearby city of Veliko Tarnovo to order a new wire harness from the local BMW dealership. We decided that it was best to replace the harness so that we wouldn’t have to worry about future problems since we intended to continue motorcycle overlanding throughout the next year.

It was a busy week for us – working full-time from sunrise to sunset. Somehow Chantil carved out some time to bake a cheesecake to commemorate my 49th birthday and the 346th anniversary of the independence of the United States – complete with candles, blueberries, and strawberries to represent the Fourth of July. We also worked on our presentation about our European travels for the Horizons Unlimited meeting.

MotoCamp Bulgaria And Horizons Unlimited

In 2006, the motorcycle culture in Bulgaria was in its infancy due to the economic isolation of this former Soviet Union satellite state during the Cold War. Doug Wothke, an American riding his 1948 Indian Chief motorcycle, saw potential in the rich history and natural beauty of this eastern European nation. He was riding through Bulgaria during one of his round-the-world trips, when he met Polly – a local Bulgarian who was impressed that Doug was riding such a vintage motorcycle around the world. A year later they began the process of purchasing a large 200-year-old farmhouse and property that they hoped to refurbish and share with other motorcycle overlanders. Ivo Stefanov joined the MotoCamp team as well, and manages the daily tasks of overseeing the camp, ordering tires and parts, and coordinating insurance policies for motorcycle travelers.

16 years later it’s grown into a low-key and relaxing oasis that feels like returning home. Polly and Ivo are always happy to greet new arrivals with warm smiles and set them up in either of their clean and comfortable guest houses or in the large tent camping area. The camp’s dog “Harley” is a big and bushy black dog that’s as chill as MotoCamp itself – content to just lay in the afternoon sun and enjoy the relaxing vibe. The camp has cold drinks, warm showers, and a sense of history and family that is rarely seen in today’s corporate camping sites. It really is a special place that no motorcycle overlander should miss on their travels through Bulgaria.

During the Horizons Unlimited event we had the pleasure of meeting many travelers from all over the world including Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. Most notably we met Dan Rowland and Phil Crofts from the UK, Kira and Brendon Hak from Canada, and Anita Yusof from Malaysia. Anita has been recognized as the first Muslim woman to ever ride around the world, and she presented on the challenges of riding through Africa as a single female rider. During our presentation, we talked about the difficulty of traveling during the COVID pandemic and shared many stories from the last two years of travels through Europe and north Africa. It was especially nice to see so many motorcycle riders come together from all different countries and cultures to share a cold beverage, a laugh, and stories from the road. There really is something quite special about the motorcycle community.

Back To Work On The Wire Harness

The Horizons Unlimited event was a nice break from the problems we faced from the previous week, but we still had to install the rebuilt harness and confirm that there were no other issues. Although we were fairly certain the harness fire was caused by a short, we didn’t know if the problem spread to other parts of the motorcycle like the computer. The only way to be certain was to reinstall the harness, start up the mule, and go for a ride. It took two days to systematically reinstall the wire harness – a process that included a lot of cable routing, bending, insulating, zip-tying, electrical plugging, and occasionally some cussing. When I would get frustrated Chantil would take over and vise-versa. By the afternoon, on the second day, we finally got the wire harness completely reinstalled and were ready to start Chantil’s mule. We gathered everyone around, crossed our fingers, said a short silent prayer, and turned the ignition key to START…

IT STARTED! We were ecstatic! Lots of hugs and handshakes were exchanged as we let her mule warm up. Chantil strapped on her helmet and rode around the grass for a bit, but we wouldn’t be certain it was fixed without a proper functional check flight. We sat down and planned a nice 100-mile loop ride for the next morning along with our friend Dan. The next morning the three of us set off from MotoCamp – Dan, riding his Triumph Tiger 800 XRT, me on my G650GS Sertão, and Chantil on her “Mad Max 650” minus all the front fairing covers. We decided that if there was another fire, we wanted quick access to the battery and wire bundles. We all rolled on the throttle and pointed our handlebars to a couple of landmarks south of MotoCamp.

Bulgarian History And Brutalist Monuments

After a lovely one-hour ride through twisty country roads and into the Bulgarka Nature Park, we reached the first landmark at Shipka Pass. This region was the site of intense fighting between the Russian Empire, aided by Bulgarian volunteers, and the Ottoman Empire. Four battles were fought here from 1877-1878, but the most notable was in August 1877 when 5,000 Bulgarian volunteers and 2,500 Russian troops repulsed a much stronger Ottoman army of 30,000 troops. A prominent tower monument was built here in 1934 to commemorate the fighting spirit of the Bulgarian volunteers who defended this pass and later helped the Russians push the Ottomans all the way back to the gates of Constantinople of modern-day Istanbul, Turkey.

Just 13 km (8 miles) east of Shipka Pass, via a potholed filled and broken concrete roadway, are the remains of the Buzludzha Monument, or the Monument House of the Bulgarian Communist Party. This Brutalist-styled architecture has the likeness of a 1950’s UFO flying saucer and a tower that stretches upwards 70 meters (230 feet) and is topped with a large communist red five-pointed star.

The building was completed in 1981 at the current equivalent cost of $35 million US dollars. The interior used 35 tons of cobalt glass, and 60 artists to create the intricate mosaics that illustrate the history of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The structure’s round ceiling features a large mosaic of a hammer and sickle encircled with a quote from the Communist Manifesto: “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”

Over the next decade, the building was used by the Communist Party for ceremonies and hosting delegation visits. It was also visited by more than two million Bulgarians for free since it was largely funded and built by many volunteer laborers and artists.

On January 15th, 1990, the Bulgarian National Assembly abolished the Communist Party’s leading role in politics and the first multi-party elections were held in June of that same year. It was the beginning of the collapse of the Communist Party and the decline of the Buzludzha Monument. Looters stripped away the metal, copper ceiling, and other expensive materials. Over the next two decades the winter weather continued to deteriorate the monument, leaving just a skeleton of its former grandeur.

After exploring the outside, we rode down to the large torch sculpture, at the base of the mountain, and parked the mules. We marveled at the sheer size of the architecture and contemplated what visiting this monument would have been like in the 1980s. Thankfully, there are efforts to restore some portions of the building. During our visit, a permanent guard was stationed to prevent future looting, and there was a small team working to conserve and restore some of the murals. It’s hopeful that the Buzludzha Monument will be open to the public once again in the future.

Back On The Road To Discovery

When we returned to MotoCamp we were now fairly certain that the original fault was an electric short and we could confidently reinstall a brand-new wire harness. Over the next two days we removed the old harness and reinstalled a shiny, brand new one, all while filming a YouTube video tutorial to help anyone who may have a similar problem down the road. We certainly hoped this was an isolated issue and not something we ever wanted to repeat again. However, we were also glad that we were able to tackle the complexities of such an endeavor by ourselves and with the help of Polly, Ivo, and Peachy at MotoCamp. As a parting memento, we created a wooden plaque, that we nailed the old wire harness to, and wrote a handwritten message of gratitude.

It was time to move on. We said “Do skoro!” (so long) to all the wonderful folks at Motocamp, gave Harley a pat on the head, and climbed aboard our traveling mules bound for the next pin on our Google Map. As we were heading east towards the city of Veliko Tarnovo, we came across a massive field of incredibly bright sunflower fields. We stopped to marvel at how they seemed to grow from horizon to horizon in this sunny and temperate part of eastern Europe. They also gave us hope to continue on despite the hardships that we sometimes face while traveling full-time. Sometimes it’s a world-wide pandemic like COVID, or a burned wire bundle, but in the end, it always seems to work out. Like the sunflowers all around us, we turned toward the sunny day and headed to explore even more of the wonderful country of Bulgaria. More adventure awaits…

About viajarMOTO

Travis and Chantil Gill started full-time motorcycle overlanding in early 2020 with the hopes of seeing and experiencing the different countries and cultures of the world. You can follow them on their website at www.viajarMOTO.com.

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TO THE TIP

Family Time

Spending three weeks with my son and daughter at the Australian East Coast after not seeing them for over a year was just lovely. We had left the bikes with a friend in Sydney, went shopping for cheap camping gear and set off for a real “Australia for Tourists” intermezzo. We strolled around Sydney for a few days and finally chose Cairns as a starting point for some of the finest snorkeling on The Great Barrier Reef, long hikes in the Daintree rainforest and a visit to the many exotic islands off Australia’s east coast. It was quite a contrast to our daily travel life and we enjoyed it a lot, but once the kids were on their flight back home, the adventure travel bug struck again.

To the Outback

We tried to get away from the busy, touristy coastal region as quickly as possible and rode along the freezing cold Blue Mountains inland of New South Wales. After starting on tar roads, we soon rode an average of 200 miles on endless dirt tracks in the middle of nowhere. Apart from the many kangaroos, emus, and cows, we didn’t see a living soul for hundreds of miles. We were told it’s better not to ride at sunrise and sunset. The many roadkill kangaroos and emus (I’ll spare you the pungent odor) had clearly not survived the rough contact with the bullbars of the local off-roaders .

Rusty car wrecks from back in the days are all over the place. Grawin, NSW, AUS.

Carnarvon National Park, NSW, AUS

Husky vs de kangaroo: 1-0. Valley of the Lagoons, QLD, AUS

Scored a “breaky” in a typical Outback supermarket. Brewarrina, NSW, AUS

Lightning Ridge, NSW, AUS

Mitchell, QLD, AUS

Huskies vs Kangaroos

Countless times we felt the adrenaline spike when yet again we missed one of those unpredictable animals, until finally, things went wrong. It was about two o’clock in the afternoon when we were cruising a beautiful gravel track somewhere in Carnavron National Park. One of the kangaroos seemed to jump enthusiastically along with my bike until, God knows why, it changed direction and jumped straight towards my bike. It was too late for braking, so the throttle went full open in an attempt to avoid a collision. Unfortunately... the poor kangaroo smashed into my pannier .

The back of the Huskie took a big hit and after some front wheel wobble I barely managed to keep the bike upright. Unfortunately, the kangaroo did not fare as well. He or she is in kangaroo heaven now.

Freedom at Last!

The favorite pastime of many retired Australians is exploring their country by car and trailer. Big 4WD vehicles with enormous tires and a trailer that could easily survive a moon landing are pretty much standard here. They drive mostly on tar roads, while we have a distinct preference for the dirt. Behind the wheel is usually an elderly guy enjoying his retirement. Next to him an equally old Australian grandma who, under slight duress, travels with him. In her hands a ball of wool and a knitting needle. Crossing this huge country takes time. Consequently, in the evenings we often happened to sit at a campsite somewhere in the bush with half the Australian Senior Citizens’ club over a pint of Australian beer, chatting about the things of life. That is to say, we drank a few beers, those Ozzies drank until they dropped. Drinking seems like a national sport here. The further away from the coast, the more remote and the greater the boredom we assume.

A rundown truck and a license is all you need to find your fortune in the opal mining region. Grawin, NSW, AUS

Termite mounds are all over the place. Lakefield National Park, QLD, AUS

“For the real Outback Experience, you have to be in Grawin,” one of the oldies had assured us. We absolutely had to visit The Club in the Scrub. Why? “You’ll see when you get there!” A couple of hundred kilometers of gravel and sand finally took us to the center of the opal mining region, where many an Australian fortune hunter buys a license and an old truck to diligently mine until they stumble upon that one giant black opal stone. Because those are worth a fortune. The state of the people around the opal pits suggests that the chances of digging up that one treasure are extremely slim. But luckily, after a day’s toil in the Australian desert soil, there is still that “Club in the Scrub,” that colorful no-nonsense bar where all the misfortunes of the day, week, month or year melt away like snow in the sun. Around three o’clock the first fortune seekers walk in, by 5 o’clock the bar is packed, and by 6 o’clock everyone is dead drunk.

We were invited by Doonman, a half Aboriginal who, together with 75-year-old, crazy, wrinkled aunt Katie, went down to his “man cave.” That turned out to be not much more than a wasteland with twenty rusting car wrecks, something that looked like a corrugated iron shack in the distance and a concrete slab with a sound system powerful enough to chase away all the kangaroos for the next hundred or so years. We had to drink rum, or so it sounded! Before we even realized, Caroline and I were each sitting on something that must have once been a comfortable office chair, in our hands a large coffee mug filled to the brim with rum and ice while 75-year-old Katie was happily puffing away a huge green cigarette. Doonman drank rum like a cow drinks water, and as his mind became more and more blurred, the most improbable stories emerged about forest fires they fought with their bare hands, about bush medicines they invented themselves, and about more rum. We only finished a quarter of those mugs and walked the way to the campground, despite Katie’s insistence that we ride with her in her over-aged Land Cruiser. The many rules and the strictness of the coastal region in New South Wales, there really is nothing left of it at all in the Outback. Freedom rules, at last!

A motley crew and a blurry picture taken by a 75 year old granny in The Club. Grawin, NSW, AUS

Carnarvon National Park, NSW, AUS

Bloomfield Track, Cooktown, QLD, AUS

Koalas on Magnetic Island, QLD, AUS Wild camping

Daintree Village, QLD, AUS

To the Tip, and Back!

Going to the tip, Australia’s northernmost point, is one of those once in a lifetime experiences that many Australians dream of. With off-road machines that are more like monster trucks on steroids, the most adventurous souls head to the Cape York peninsula. Along the way, remote dirt tracks, red dust and, above all, an endless stream of terrible corrugations await them. Every now and then they feel the need to drive off the main road into the bush and guide their cars past the deepest and steepest obstacles on the most challenging stretches to finally, at best, actually reach “The Tip”. At worst, the car ends up on the back of a tow truck that waits patiently near the worst obstacles until yet another one folds his chassis, crushes his suspension or expertly drowns his engine in one of the deeper river crossings.

Our tires had been on the bikes since Pakistan and were clearly past their best. At every encounter with other bikers on fresh knobbies, we heard the same story: “That doesn’t really fit the job now, does it?” But before we knew it, we were eating hundreds of miles of bull dust and corrugations, riding through rivers with crocodiles and camping among the off-road monsters at the only building in a two hundred mile range: the roadhouse. Everything was covered in red dust! Every evening we did a check of the bikes to replace or tighten loose bolts. Along the road there was this endless series of broken-down cars, and occasionally a caravan with a broken suspension.

Rattling our bikes apart on the corrugations was not an option, so we gassed it a bit more to try and fly over the bumps. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones on the road. Overtaking a car is not without risk. The huge dust clouds take away your view and the cars don’t see you coming in their mirrors. Add to that the road trains, huge trucks with sometimes up to four trailers, and not surprisingly, we ingested more dust than the average Chinese miner on a regular working day. Postponing our daily shower until the next morning was absolutely out of the question.

Not that we noticed anything unusual… Wujal Wujal, QLD, AUS

To the tip of Australië. Cape York, QLD, AUS

Fruit Bat Falls, QLD, AUS

An office with a view. Cape York, QLD, AUS

Bloomfield Track, QLD, AUS

Bloomfield Track, QLD, AUS

Fresh water crocodiles in Musgrave, QLD, AUS

That will be wet feet honey! Bloomfield Track, QLD, AUS

To avoid the worst stretches, we dove into the woods in search of a more enjoyable surface. Well, more enjoyable... it was either corrugations or deep sand. I didn’t care too much, but for my motarda it was really choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea. Sand is definitely not her thing and I had to encourage her a lot to get her bike through the worst bits. “Gas it, honey! Gaaaaas! Lean back and above all don’t touch the brakes!” Like an experienced Dakar pilot, I was giving instructions as if I had never done anything else in my life. Caroline passed with flying colors and drove the grittiest stretches without falling. Not able to resist the urge to show for once “how it’s really done,” I tried to pass her on one of the deeper sections on our worn tires. The front wheel just barely hit the right track. The rear wheel stuck in the left track. This tough guy smashed into the ground and with him the whole bike and his ego. The foot peg hit my ankle pretty hard. Should she have laughed at me, I wouldn’t have blamed her. We’re a week later now and I am still limping with my swollen blue ankle. Pride comes before the fall...

We finally made it to the tip and it has to be said, the view of the ocean and the lazy atmosphere here more than make up for the hellish ride of the past few days. Yesterday there was a fish & chips party with 80’s music. A trip to the supermarket is best done before the morning shower and the cheese sandwich crunches as usual between our teeth from the windblown sand. Next to our tent is a drowned Toyota Hilux and just moments ago another written-off wreck was picked up. But the weather is beautiful, the atmosphere is fantastic and the people still overly friendly. For those in doubt: we still love it!

Next Up

For the next few weeks we will have to ride our bikes back down the same corrugations and we both dread that a bit. There is no ferry back down. After that we will head west on about 3000 miles of dirt tracks, through the Northern Territories into western Australia. It seems to be very worthwhile there too. Our bucket list for Australia is long....

Cape York, QLD, AUS

Hundreds of miles nothing but red dust. Bramwell Station, QLD,

The Tip of Australia! Cape York, QLD, AUS

Beach ride. Cape York, QLD, AUS

WE’RE EXPERTS IN THE BUSINESS BECAUSE WE RIDE TOO!

WE’RE EXPERTS IN THE BUSINESS BECAUSE WE RIDE TOO!