Adventure Rider Radio

Modern motorcycles aren’t just machines anymore—they’re equipped with advanced technology. Ride-by-wire means your throttle hand communicates with a processor instead of a cable, and that computer considers wheel speed, lean angle, traction, braking, and more before deciding how your bike responds. With ride modes, you can adjust your bike’s personality for pavement, gravel, mud, or rain—varying power delivery, traction co...

We all choose our riding gear for comfort, style, and weather protection — trusting that if it’s sold as motorcycle gear, it must also keep us safe in a crash. But how much of that trust is based on proof, and how much is just assumption? This week we speak with the head of one of the world’s only independent labs that secretly buys gear off the shelf, crash-tests it, and publishes the results. What they’ve uncovered may c...

When everything is perfectly organized—routes mapped, fuel stops planned, meals and beds guaranteed—it feels effortless. But the truth is, no matter how tidy the plan, the real world always gets a vote. On short rides, those small interruptions are easy to patch over. Stretch the miles across countries and weeks on the road, though, and the little things start to compound. That’s when the first casualty is usually the plan...

Chris Birch returns to Adventure Rider Radio with insights from his brand-new Everything Adventure video training series. This is a deep dive into how adventure riding and training have evolved in the last five years. Chris explains why fundamentals like bike setup and body position matter more than flashy skills, how modern ADV bike design is changing the way we ride, and why so much of what riders learn in a course is qu...

Damian (Demon) Rowley spent 35 years riding motorcycles professionally in London—first as a courier, then as one of Virgin’s elite “limo bike” riders, trusted to ferry celebrities and executives through the city’s relentless traffic. With over half a million miles behind him, Damian shares the toll of crashes, injuries, and burnout, as well as the moment he realized he needed a change. At 50, he walked away from security, ...

Chris Birch - What Works, What Doesn’t, And How To Select The Moto Gear That’s Right For You

When it comes to adventure riding gear, the options are endless—mesh, laminated, vented, lightweight, heavy-duty. With so many choices, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. What matters in riding gear? How much protection is enough? And what trade-offs should you be aware of? To get clarity, we turned to Chris Birch. A lifelong motorc...

Fifteen years on the road—and no major disasters. Elsebie and Michnus Olivier of PikiPiki Overland share how they’ve dodged mechanical meltdowns, sketchy border crossings, and costly mistakes while traveling by motorcycle —including one tense moment in Sudan that could have gone very wrong. Is it luck… or a skill you can learn?

🔗 Show Notes & Links:
Find photos, links, and resources related to this episode on our w...

Elisa Rosales lay on her back, head spinning, gasping for air. Her bike lay a few feet away, right where she had dropped it. Darkness pressed at the edges of her vision, and she fought the pull to let go, to drift into sleep. The ground beneath her was cold; she was cold. This was her first motorcycle adventure. She and her husband had set out from Argentina, bound for Arizona, but that destination felt impossibly far from...

This episode is a follow-up to our recent episode, Abandoned on the Dalton, which featured rider Shilo Crane on a journey from Georgia to Alaska to raise awareness for mental health. That story took a turn when Shilo said he was left behind by his riding partner on the remote Dalton Highway, forcing him to continue the trip alone. But shortly after that episode aired, we heard from the other rider—Corey Speck—who says it w...

In this Rider Skills episode with chief instructor Clinton Smout from SMART Performance Centre, we break down the process of navigating obstacles into three simple, easy-to-remember principles—something that’s never been done before. By the end of the episode, you’ll be equipped to assess any obstacle, develop a solid plan, and make confident decisions—even when the terrain gets tough.

Clinton Smout - SMART Adventure Progra...

In the mountains of northern India, surrounded by snow, altitude, and uncertain roads, James Thomas and two other riders pressed on—confident they could make it through. But what unfolded wasn’t just a story of rough terrain or questionable GPS directions. It was about something much more familiar to most of us than we might admit: a mental trap known as cognitive narrowing, where pressure and focus cloud judgment until we...

The mission was simple: ride motorcycles from Georgia to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to raise funds and awareness for mental health among veterans and first responders. Two military men set off as a team, just like they had served—watching each other’s backs and pushing through the miles together. But halfway through, everything changes. The team breaks. Shilo Crane is left to ride alone. And what happens after that… may be the m...

Damian Monkhorst, an Australian rider, loves twisty roads and staying off the tourist track. When an online motorcycle forum connected him with riders in the United States, including Andy Morley, he knew he wanted to experience it for himself. From the other side of the world, he made a bold move—buying a bike and having it waiting for him when he arrived. But once he got there, the adventure wasn’t quite what he expected—...

On this episode, we go beyond the usual explanations of freedom and thrill to explore how riding a motorcycle doesn’t just feel different—it engages our brains in a uniquely powerful way. Cognitive scientist Mark Changizi believes that riding may be the one activity that truly fits how our brains evolved, creating a seamless connection between humans and machines.

Mark Changizi is a cognitive scientist and theorist known fo...

When Eliot Metherell set off on a solo motorcycle journey through Australia, he was chasing freedom, solitude, and scenic back roads. But just days into the ride, a friendly suggestion to try a campground in the hills turned into a nightmare. Being new to adventure riding and with no off-road experience and an overloaded bike, Eliot found himself injured and alone, pinned under his motorcycle on a remote forest trail with ...

Sudden loss of traction is one of the most dangerous situations motorcycle riders can encounter—whether it’s wet pavement, loose gravel, or mud on the trail. In this Rider Skills Plus episode, expert instructor Clinton Smout from Smart Adventures shares four essential riding techniques to help you stay upright and in control when the surface turns slippery.

We then speak with ex-racer and IMS Products owner Scott Wright abo...

Noraly Schoenmaker was living a comfortable life in the Netherlands, building a career as a geologist, when her world was suddenly turned upside down. For some, heartbreak might mean retreating inward, but Noraly chose something radically different. She walked away from the life she knew, packed up what she could, and set off to explore the world on a motorcycle. It wasn’t a wild whim — her work had already taken her to fa...

When Bernd and Anchen Sass’s children moved abroad, the couple decided it was time to start living the dream they had discussed for decades. In their mid-50s, they left behind stable careers and set off on motorcycles—despite Anchen having no riding experience and deep fears about learning. Over several seasons of travel, they’ve crossed tens of thousands of kilometres through Africa and Europe, adapting their gear, pace, ...

It’s been 20 years since Long Way Round changed the face of motorcycle travel—and inspired a generation to dream bigger. That original journey, sparked by a simple idea, captured lightning in a bottle with its raw spirit, sweeping landscapes, and the magic of two friends chasing the horizon on massive BMWs. Then came Long Way Down and Long Way Up. In their latest series, Long Way Home, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman tra...