The Lowdown Show - By ADVrider

Jaksot

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  The Good, The Bad And The (Really) Ugly 11.09.2026 33min

  ADVrider.com managing editor Zac Kurylyk joins Neil this week for a summer summation. Zac talks about getting back on a motorcycle after a serious accident last season, Neil confesses that after years of middling feelings towards the BMW boxer flat twin grudging respect has turned into genuine fondness, and the lads address motorcycle rallies. Zac's been to a few in his time while Neil swears that gunpoint won't be enough motivation to get him to another one after a debacle this summer. The Moto Craft rally was pitched as a different kind of rally, which is noble, except the same old thugs showed up and made a mess of things. Finally, Zac talks about time on the Kawasaki KLE 500 and Neil says the BMW R 12 G/S is a bike to be taken seriously.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Can Sturgis Change Into An Adventure Bike Rally? 04.09.2026 32min

  Numbers are down at the traditional motorcycle rallies. Way down, depending on who you talk to. And who hasn't had more than enough of fat old men on Harleys blatting about at 25 mph making enough noise to wake the dead? Perhaps it's time to stage a revolution. (Peacefully, of course!) The backbone of the cruiser movement--the baby boomers--are doing their part by dying off, but what are the rest of us doing to resurrect rallies from a slow death? Texan Robert Pandya has an idea. Why not turn Sturgis into an ADV rally? The riding is spectacular, the scenery is stunning and, once all the classic rock bands are put out to pasture, maybe even the music will be tolerable. (Daytona, however, remains hopeless. Can't think of a less interesting place to ride a motorcycle. No offence, north Floridians, but geography has not favored you.) Give the Lowdown Radio Show a listen and let us know if you'd go to an ADV-based Sturgis rally. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Yamaha Fixes The Problem Before There Is One 28.08.2026 34min

  On Episode 125 of the Lowdown Radio Show, Motorcycle Global's Michael Uhlarik tells us about the quiet revolution taking place within Yamaha. Unlike certain American motorcycle manufacturers, Yamaha wasn’t bleeding cash or mired in a crisis of confidence. Yamaha makes money. And yet the CEO for the world’s second-largest motorcycle manufacturer envisioned a day when the wellbeing of the company could be at risk. Is this the sign of a millennial mastermind (the new CEO is in his 40s) or is it paranoia brought on by the instability of the tumultuous world in which we live? You be the judge. But remember this: American taxpayers were spared the weight of billions in dollars in loans because one domestic automotive CEO had the foresight to do exactly what Yamaha’s boss is doing right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  The Doctor And The Designer Go For Broke 21.08.2026 32min

  A motorcycle designer and a plastic surgeon walked into a bar in New Orleans. What happened next? A plan to set a world speed record on the salt flats at Bonneville. Ex-Confederate designer JT Nesbitt and LSU-based surgeon Praz Patcha fell into a fast friendship and decided to take a shot at speed record immortality. But nothing comes easy on the salt, as Nesbitt knows. For Patcha, who’d be doing the riding, this was his first go-round. How did they do? When the pair finally made it back to New Orleans after the attempt, Patcha broke into tears. But were they tears of joy or tears of sorrow? All will be revealed within. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Don't Shed a Tear for Indian 14.08.2026 32min

  On the Lowdown 123, Harrison Withers gives us the skinny on the aftermath of Indian Motorcycle’s Harley attack ads from a few months ago that split the punters into two camps. One side praised Indian’s guns-loaded, America-first agenda while everyone else gagged on the whole affair. According to Withers, both camps missed the story. Did Indian motorcycle lose its mind or is a plan executing on schedule? Here’s a hint. The product isn’t an Indian motorcycle. It’s the company itself.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  The Real Reason That Damon's Electric Motorcycle Business Failed 07.08.2026 58min

  On episode 122 of the Lowdown Radio Show the topic is the star-crossed Damon HyperSport, the motorcycle that promised 200 horsepower, 200 miles-per-hour, and a 200 mile range from its electric propulsion system. 200/200/200. Catchy and easy to remember. And, seemingly, irresistible for investors, who poured tens of millions of dollars into the Vancouver startup. A startup that has now gone bust without having produced a single motorcycle. Michael Uhlarik did two stints at Damon and he’s here to share his experiences on how, and how not, to design a motorcycle company. For more lowdown on the inside of the motorcycle business, find Michael at motorcycleinsider.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Don't Make The Mistake Of Getting The Wrong Gear 31.07.2026 53min

  On episode 121 of The Lowdown Radio Show Oregonian Brian Price joins Neil to talk all-things riding gear. Price, easily the biggest riding gear nerd we've ever met, has elevated choosing gear for motorcycling to far more than just grabbing a jacket from the closest on the way out the door. At least it should be more than that, according to Price, who has spent much of his professional life—he’s also an online gear retailer—musing about the helmets on our heads and the gloves on our hands. If you’ve ever wondered about neck braces or airbags or the boots on our feet—boots, incidentally, are Price’s obsession—it's a conversation that will, hopefully, prompt you to think far more critically about what’s saving your skin.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  California Dreaming: Here's What's Coming Next For The Motorcycle World 24.07.2026 32min

  Wonder where all the young riders have gone? Well, the ones in California that aren’t riding electric Surrons and the like are riding ratty old choppers and Triumph Desert Sleds. Episode 120 of The Lowdown Radio Show features Nathanial Ramirez, a young Mexican-American enthusiast whose tasteful films document the west coast scene. Ramirez tells us about his influences—Spaghetti Westerns among them—and why any motorcycle over 10 grand is, to many his age, irrelevant. We’re going to be featuring video clips from his Motorcycle Archives project so, if you can, head over to YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  The Future Of Print Magazines: What Happens When The Game Changes? 17.07.2026 39min

  Word leaked out this month that the parent company for Cycle World—formerly the magazine and latterly the website—has pulled the plug on the publication. Not so many years ago this would have been unimaginable. At its height, Cycle World had 300,000 subscribers and was the main conduit for OEMs to reach enthusiasts in the most lucrative motorcycle market in the world. And now, seemingly, it’s all come to an end. Joining Neil to talk magazines and shifting markets are Motorcycle Global’s Michael Uhlarik and ADVRider.com managing editor Zac Kurylyk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  When A Motorcycle Manufacturer Gets Stuck In The Past 10.07.2026 41min

  Some brands of motorcycle--we know who you are--can't stop going on (and on) about their past. Kind of like the neighbor who can't believe a gallon of gas isn't 35 cents anymore. But is clinging to the mythology of past successes healthy for the future of a brand, as marketers would lead you to believe? Or is a backward view unhealthy for both the manufacturer and its true believers. Think of it this way: the brand with the greatest legacy of all, be it Grand Prix wins or iconic models or the way it revolutionized motorcycling itself is a brand we don’t think of as having any legacy at all: Honda. Manufacturers who can’t seem to address modernity lean on legacy like it’s a walker to keep them from falling over. Motorcycle Global’s Michael Uhlarik weighs in on the perils of clinging too tightly to what once was. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Do Test Stories Still Matter To Riders? 03.07.2026 31min

  On The Lowdown Radio Show episode 117 managing editor Zac Kurylyk joins Neil Graham to talk about the ins and outs of motorcycle reviewing. We want to know what matters to you. Do reviews influence your decisions? If so, how and why? What’s important to you? Range? Seat height? Tread depth? And what is it that reviewers always miss? Vibration? Buffeting? Engine sound quality? Or do you just think that we constantly suck up to manufacturers for the chance to ride the latest and greatest? Let us know what you want to know Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  How To Build A Better Bike Show In The 2020s 26.06.2026 40min

  Two things you’re likely to find at a motorcycle event are bad food and bad music--is it really necessary in this short life to hear another cover of Highway to Hell? There’s a man up here in the northeast who’s attempting to change all that. The Moto Craft fest has morphed from a big city event to a country shindig. Think Born Free with fewer choppers and Panheads Forever tattoos. Alex de Cartier joins the show to talk about the shortcomings of traditional shows, the pitfalls of staging an in-the-flesh event in a virtual world, and why live music at a motorcycle event doesn’t have to suck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  The Perfect Motorcycle For Surviving The Apocalypse 19.06.2026 1t 5min

  Do you have 600 cans of chickpeas next to 400 tins of peaches in your bunker? Do you think fuel-injection is a government ploy to plot your every move across the landscape? If you answered yes to either of those questions (or if they gave you reason to pause) then this week's show is unmissable. The two-wheel-drive Rokon is the oddest motorcycle you've never seen in the flesh. And, at 60-plus years old, it's also the second-longest continuously-produced motorcycle brand in America. Take that Indian. The Rokon is proof that a niche within a niche is a sound business plan. Company owner Tom Blais gives The Lowdown the lowdown on staying the course. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Indian Motorcycles Takes A Hard Shot At Harley-Davidson 12.06.2026 48min

  Indian motorcycle have a new owner and a new CEO and they're gunning for Harley-Davidson. As the cruiser market shrinks, the competition between America's two brands, in the wake of unconfirmed reports of Indian's controversial and inflammatory new initiative, becomes personal. New Harley CEO Artie Starrs is mocked for his pizza and golf past, while Indian boss Mike Kennedy (ex of Harley-Davidson) is held up as the real-deal rider. But beyond the hyperbole, we delve into the effectiveness of political-style attack ads. Is taking down your competition a way to gain market share, or do you risk alienating the exact same people you're attempting to lure into your camp? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  How An Industrial Design Firm Shaped KTM's Motorcycles 05.06.2026 57min

  From irrelevance in the mid-'90s to Europe's best-selling brand to near collapse--KTM surfed high on the waves yet nearly succumbed to the troughs. But there's far more to the story than COVID-era overproduction and camshafts with substandard metallurgy. Industry watcher Michael Uhlarik takes us through KTM's backstory with a special emphasis on its unusually intimate relationship with Kiska, the industrial design firm who shaped the motorcycles, the messaging, and the meaning of the brand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Here's The Story Behind Motorcycle Dealership Fees 29.05.2026 1t 9min

  Many things in life are perplexing, but none more than this: buy a pack of Sweet Caporal cigarettes from old Mrs. Harrison down at the general store, and she doesn’t charge a separate fee for handing them to you or for having them shipped to her store. And yet, when you buy a motorcycle, the price on the manufacturer’s website isn’t what we pay at a dealership, because it's subject to shipping fees and setup charges as separate line items. Why isn’t there just one price? The National Powersports Dealers Association is lobbying for just this. But, alas, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Longtime dealership man and NPDA board member Mark Sheffield joins us to untangle the bizarre and byzantine pricing practices of the motorcycle industry. All this on The Lowdown Radio Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Forget Round The World—Ride To Work Instead 22.05.2026 37min

  Have you noticed the price of fuel lately? Unless you’re living like the Unabomber, of course you have. And since most of you have a motorcycle or two in the shed, that most likely gets far better mileage than your car or truck, the time has come to save a little money and have a little fun. Just yesterday I took a 100-mile round trip to a car dealership for a new coolant reservoir. I stuffed it into my backpack like a high-schooler their homework, then wobbled off to a coffee shop to warm my numb hands. Did I mention it was 39 degrees? Our first guest this week knows all about pain. Duluth Minnesota’s Andy Goldfine, despite living farther north than even foolish Canadians, rides as much as he can, as often as he can. And it’s not just because he’s cheap. Frugal is a kinder word. Andy knows the benefits of riding and is loathe to abandon them the eight months of the year when his homeland turns to barren, hostile, sinister tundra. Our second guest is ADVRider helmsman Zac Kurylyk who reminisces about dodging moose and deer on the way home from his turn-of-the-century gig as a newspaperman. And then Neil Graham, never to be outdone, shares his stories of riding to a horrible summer job on an XT500 long before the turn of the last century. Add this week’s episode up and what do you get? The annual Ride to Work day, which happens the second Tuesday in June and which is spearheaded by Andy Goldfine himself, who, incidentally, has a designated winter commuting motorcycle. All this, on this week’s Lowdown Radio Show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  From A Dating App To Riding The Death Road 15.05.2026 43min

  Would you travel round-the-world with someone who showed up at your house in the early days of dating with their own pillow? I like my pillow as much as the next man, but bringing one to an overnighter with your new lover is as sexy as bringing you own slippers. But wait, Heather Lea’s story gets even odder. Twenty-seven days after meeting the pillow-man, she decides to ride around the world with him. This from an independent woman who ran her own arts and culture magazine and who had a history of short relationships. But this man—Dave—was, in Heather’s words, “handsome, adventurous, smart and employed.” Here’s a tip for young men everywhere: “employed” is the key word there. Predictably, they had challenges, which included getting out of the driveway on day one and a bad crash not long after. But because bad things make for good stories, Heather wrote about the experience in in the book Riding Full Circle, and it’s on deck this week on The Lowdown Radio show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  A Straight-Talking Harley-Davidson Dealer 08.05.2026 1t 1min

  Everybody—everybody—has an opinion on Harley-Davidson. The company, who’s stock, not so many years ago, was a safer bet than gold, has fallen upon challenging times. This from a company—according to analyst Michael Uhlarik—that in its heyday turned a profit of nearly 30 percent on each motorcycle sold, when the industry average is nearer the mid-single digits. In the fat years, Harley-Davidson was indeed a license to print money. But no more. Past Harley CEO’s have tried seemingly everything the right the ship. There’s been the re-wire, the hardwire and the cut-the-wire-in-two. As much fun as speculating on the future of Harley is, this week on the show we speak to someone with skin in the game. A Harley Dealer. George Gatto owns Three Rivers Harley-Davidson near Pittsburgh. Gatto also runs Gatto Cycle, a Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, CF Moto and Royal Enfield dealership. On top of all this, Gotto chairs the National Powersports Dealers Association Harley-Davidson dealer council. He’s a busy man. With a bad back. But he made time for us—and we’re chuffed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  Unpacking The Secret History Of The Suzuki V-Strom 01.05.2026 46min

  On Episode 108 of the Lowdown Radio Show, Michael Uhlarik pedals his fixed gear bicycle into town to talk about the most unhip motorcycle this side of the Bajaj Pulsar. It’s motorcycling’s equivalent to sensible shoes, and you and I know it as Suzuki's V-Strom. It’s not pretty, it won’t brighten the corner of your garage in wintertime and it’s clearly built to a price. And yet—as its adherents never fail to tell you—it’ll do everything a BMW or KTM can do for half the cost. But while the V-Strom is moderation personified, its development history is anything but dull—it may have ended up as everyman’s motorcycle, but at its heart, it was a machine built to conquer the racetracks of the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices