Hugo Eccles does it all. Designer, teacher, customizer, lover of petrol and enthusiastic about electrification. In this episode, Hugo and Neil dig into the perils of designing electric motorcycles, the challenges of customization and malaise that makes most new motorcycles look so damn busy. 

Caius Tenche doesn’t do half measures. After discovering motorcycling in his 40s, he promptly decided what the world needed was a film festival catering to riders. And riders only. If you can’t make his festival, listen-on, as Tenche picks a few favorites from the past and tells us how to watch them for free.

Motorcycle-mad Peter Dering founded Peak Design off the back of one product. Now, the San Franciscan has built an empire of rolling carts and backpacks and what he claims is the single best motorcycle phone mount in captivity. Peak Design is also a case study in how to build a business in the modern age, as it successfully crowdsources development funding in lieu of seeking outside investors.

Pundit Michael Uhlarik claims we in the west have been getting the KTM story all wrong. Or mostly wrong. The readily-accepted narrative—that new majority-shareholder Bajaj will benefit from KTM’s technology and expertise—is pure poppycock. And Michael draws a parallel between KTM’s woes and the near collapse and diminished future of another major European OEM to prove his point.   

Brian Price, who joined us in Lowdown 42 to talk all things KTM, is back with an update on the fate of the once-proud Austrian brand. Now that KTM's future is assured—or so KTM would like us to believe—Brian fill us in on what’s next now that the brand is Indian-owned.

Fearless Fazer Manny is the luckiest man alive. Just ask him. His confidence far outpaces his skill. He says it himself. But despite a lifetime of crashing—his latest a 100 mph shunt into the woods just this month

This week's guest is ADVrider editor Zac Kurylyk, who's just returned from riding the Can-Am Canyon. Is this bold new three-wheeler really suitable for adventure riders? What's it like to ride, and who is it made for? Zac and Neil also discuss a recent ride to Cape Breton Island, with some tips for travelers who want to explore this paradise of paved and unpaved roads, with distinct cultures and gorgeous scenery.

Tall tales from Africa part two. The ultimate innocent abroad, Sam Manicom headed out from the UK to Africa having never ridden a motorcycle before. Ever. As in never. Forget working on your skillset to help combat African sand—Sam was just doing his best to differentiate the brake lever from the clutch lever. But he survived with beautiful, well-observed stories from the continent.

Traveller and author Sam Manicom joins us to talk about riding Africa and to read excerpts from his book Info Africa. With little experience on a motorcycle (as in none) Manicom took the advice from his two mates down at the pub and bought an R80GS and set out from England for points south, fulfilling his mother’s mantra that her son could be foolishly naive. But he survived. And what a story he brought back home.  

In this episode, host Neil Graham speaks to Inna Thorn and Bryce Stevens from the BDR organization, aka Backcountry Discovery Routes, a centralized, registered non-profit that provides off-road routes through some of the most visceral, breathtaking country in the US. The BDR organization may be the best thing that’s happened to adventure riding since the advent of motorcycles that don’t fall over.