The proposed selling of public lands and looming tariffs threaten to derail an already struggling US motorcycle market. Motorcycle Industry Council lobbyist Scott Schloegel, who for years worked inside government, has, for the past eight years, worked to bring the interests of US motorcycle manufacturers and distributors to legislators and lawmakers. In addition to a 2025 status report, Schloegel gives us the goods on what’s looming on the horizon—good and bad—for the American motorcyclist.

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The motorcycle manufacturers' head offices tell us not to worry about the state of dealerships in North America—"Everything's fine, fine fine!" we're told. But if you look around, you see dealerships closing everywhere, and others seeming to be in financial straits. What's going on? Dealers are close-lipped trying to avoid trouble with the OEMs' bigwigs. But Mark Sheffield, who's been working on with dealership insiders for decades, is here to tell us what's really happening in the domain of the dealer. Get the straight information in this second part of a two-parter episode.

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While OEMs claim all is well in dealership land, the dealerships themselves tell a different story—if only they’d talk on the record, which they won’t. Mark Sheffield has been involved with dealerships for decades and pulls back the curtain on a relationship that is as often contentions as it is convivial. Part one of our conversation with Mark is this week, next week in part two we’ll wrap it up.

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America has long been seen as the big bike capital of the motorcycling world. Gold Wings, Harleys, Indians, superbikes and, for this readership, KTM Adventures and BMW GSs. But, as industry watcher Michael Uhlarik points out, it’s just not true. Or at least not true anymore. Small bikes are making a big comeback, and that’s not just an opinion, it’s the truth—sales numbers make it blatantly clear. Michael has the latest figures that show Honda’s CRF300L as the best selling bike in America today. Followed by a Harley. Is it surprising to see a split between the haves and the have-nots? Or is this just what we expect in 2025?

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How tough is BMW’s GS Trophy, the one-make, one-model competition that pits skilled amateur riders from across the globe against each other? We talk to team USA’s Scott Acheson, who competed in Namibia in the most recent competition. Here’s a spoiler: Namibian sand, Scott tells Neil Graham, is not like Floridian sand. Would Scott do it again? Absolutely. Would he prepare for it differently? Absolutely.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.   

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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.

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