Motos and Friends from Ultimate Motorcycle magazine

Kawasaki KLX230S and SM + Gary Pattee

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast -- Motos and Friends.  My name is Arthur Coldwells.

Motos and Friends is brought to you by the 2023 Suzuki Hayabusa. This legendary Sportbike is the quickest, most technologically advanced and aerodynamic Hayabusa ever. Head into your local Suzuki dealer now, or visit suzukicycles.com to learn more.

In this week’s first segment, Associate Editors Kelly Callan and Teejay Adams discuss the new Kawasaki KLX 230 ... but with a slightly different twist. This dual-sport actually comes in 2 other flavors than just the standard, neat trail bike we’ve seen before. Kelly has ridden the KLX230SM (Supermoto version), while Teejay got her first taste of off-road riding on the KLX230S model—that’s the one with the shorter seat height. There’s not much to dislike on these bikes, but the ladies discovered there are some differences that might intrigue you.  

In our second segment, Teejay chats with a good friend—Gary Pattee. This multi-talented father of five, worked as a top-level orthopedic surgeon for around 30 years until he stepped away recently. But there’s waaaay more to him than “just” that.  As if that wasn’t enough, Gary is an artist, a motorcycle aficionado who coaches at the Reg Pridmore Riding School, he's a magician, and even a drummer.

Teejay’s chat with him covers a whole spectrum. It’s a fascinating insight into a truly accomplished man who has seemingly endless drive to excel at everything he turns his hand to. He’s one of the good guys who manages to be modest and fun to be around too. Impressive stuff. 

So from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling and Motos & Friends, we hope you enjoy this episode.

BMW F 900 XR ADV + Ricki Marenghi from Wheels in Motion

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends—Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast… My name is Arthur Coldwells.

In this week’s first segment, Associate Editor Kelly Callan tells about her take on BMW’s upper middleweight ADV-style bike, the BMW F 900 XR with Premium package. The smaller, much less expensive sibling to the awesome 1000 XR could easily be overlooked on the showroom floor, so Kelly gives us her take on whether it would be worth your time, if you’re in the market for this type of moto. 

In the second segment I chat with Ricki Marenghi.  He’s the service manager at Wheels in Motion, a dealership in Chatsworth California. Of course he’s crazy busy, but he still manages to ride his various motorcycles 24/7, on the street, the track and off-road too. Ricki’s an absolute hoot to talk to. He’s an energetic young guy with a truly positive vibe, and a magic sense of humor, so we had a good time and laughed a lot. I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing his stories.   

So, from all of us here at Motos & Friends… we hope you enjoy this episode!

 

BMW F 900 XR Kelly Callan Review

Ducati DesertX + Dale Wagler and his BMW 1250 GS Adventure (Owner Review)

In this week’s first segment, Senior Editor Nic de Sena take a look at the Ducati DesertX ADV bike. Powered by the same liquid-cooled V-twin motor as several other models in the Ducati range, the DesertX is another entry into the upper-middleweight class of ADV machines. The big question of course, is can the DesertX make its mark and differentiate itself from a growing field of competitors?

The second segment is the premiere of our new series of ‘Owner Reviews’. These are real-world opinions of machines owned by everyman riders. For this first one, I chat with my friend Dale Wagler. Dale is a former Marine and hard-core street- and dirt-bike rider. Dale recently acquired a new BMW 1250 GS Adventure, and he gives us his thoughts on the bike’s positives—and a few negatives too.  

If you’d like to be considered for a future Owner Reviews segment on an episode of Motos & Friends, please email us at producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and tell us briefly about your bike. We’d love to hear from you!  

So, from all of us here at Motos & Friends… we hope you enjoy this episode!

KTM Super ADV R + Lightning Motorcycles’ Richard Hatfield

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends—the weekly Podcast brought to you by the editorial team at Ultimate Motorcycling. My name is Arthur Coldwells.

In this week’s first segment, Editor Don Williams rides KTM’s new 1290 Super Adventure R. This hardcore ADV bike is big, powerful, and a true expert-level machine. Interestingly, it has multiple points of adjustment within its highly capable electronics package, and Don discovered several big surprises where the bike changed personality completely. His is an intriguing look at one of the most capable off road ADV bikes on the market today.  

In the second segment, I chat with Richard Hatfield, CEO of Lightning motorcycles. This silicon valley based manufacturer was founded in 2006, and having racked up several notable race victories (including Pikes Peak in 2013 with the late Carlin Dunne on board) Lightning have certainly dominated in racing terms. In another first, Lightning has just announced a new rapid-charging battery technology that may well bring electric motorcycles into becoming real-world, practical transport.

So from all of us here at Motos & Friends… we hope you enjoy this episode!

 

Yamaha MT-10 SP + Val Collins with Teejay Adams

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends—the weekly Podcast brought to you by the editorial team at Ultimate Motorcycling.

My name is Arthur Coldwells.

In this week’s first segment, Senior Editor Nic de Sena rides the much anticipated Yamaha MT-10 SP. That’s the model with the Ohlins semi-active suspension. It’s only been available in Europe for the last couple of years, but finally the good news is, that it’s coming to America. The big question is, whether the extra 3k you’re going to have to pony up for the Ohlins is actually worth it, or perhaps there’s just not that much improvement over the stock KYB suspension that has suited the Yamaha MT-10 so well until now?       

In the second segment, Associate Editor Teejay Adams chats with Val Collins. Val grew up on motorcycles and learned to love speed, however her real love is Formula 1 tunnel-boat racing. These are the guys and gals that are strapped into a tiny cockpit and then hurtle down the straights at 120 mile per hour and pull 5G in the corners. We attended the recent season finale in Lake Havasu and watched our friend Mike Quindazzi try to take the win. Val chats with Teejay about her love for two-wheels and tunnel-boats. Yeah, it’s crazy stuff.

From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode and have a great Thanksgiving Holiday!

Lake Havasu F1 heat race

Buckshot Racing Facebook

Valerie's Art Gallery

 

EICMA show round up with Don Williams

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends—the weekly Podcast brought to you by the editorial team at Ultimate Motorcycling.

This week’s we only have the one segment… But if you’re interested in a tasting of what’s to come in 2023, then you’ll want to listen to Don Williams’ roundup from the very recent EICMA show in Milan, Italy.

Don tells us about new machines coming from some of the major manufacturers, including the Honda XL750 Transalp, the CL500 scambler styled machine, and Honda’s light-touring machine derived from the Honda Rebel 1100—and it comes in the DCT version.

From Suzuki of course we have the main models featuring that all-new parallel 800 motor we talked about last week. News of the all-new V-Strom 800 DE ADV bike, and the naked upright GSX-8S, are eagerly anticipated, especially by our staff here at Ultimate Motorcycling!

Indian have done some interesting things with its lineup of various versions of the awesome FTR 1200, and Royal Enfield have produced a cruiser—the Super Meteor 650—that features its 650 twin motor that powers the Interceptor.

From Italy, Aprilia has gone to extremes with the 660 Extrema—basically a track ready version of the well-acclaimed machine. Yamaha interestingly, has revamped the Niken GT—one of the most interesting motorcycles I’ve ever ridden. 

Lastly, Don tells us about Kawasaki’s newly announced Electric Hybrids Hydrogen fuel cell machines—those are a peek into the near future for sure; love ‘em or hate ‘em, you’d better get used to them as they’re just around the corner.

EICMA is arguably the most important show in the world for motorcycling, so from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy Don’s round-up this episode!

Suzuki’s New Motor + Mark Leiss and The Cannonball Run on a 1928 Indian Chout

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends—the weekly Podcast brought to you by the editorial team at Ultimate Motorcycling. My name is Arthur Coldwells.

This week’s two show segments highlight two very cool engines. There’s much more to a vehicle than just the engine of course, but for motorcycles, the engine is of course, the heart of the machine.

The first of the two motors is explained by Editor Don Williams, who tells us about a brand new powerplant from Suzuki, just announced at this week’s EICMA show in Milan.

The second motor is the Indian Chief inside an ex-Max Bubeck Indian 101 Scout from 1928. It's entered in next year’s Cannonball Run.

Both of these engines hold some surprises. The Suzuki motor is an exciting departure for the brand.  It's an upper-middleweight parallel twin, set to power several exciting new models from Suzuki.

The Indian Chief motor’s story, is told by new owner and vintage bike enthusiast Mark Leiss. He tells us all about not just this bike, but it’s late owner: land speed record holder and AMA Hall of Famer, the legendary Max Bubeck.

Bubeck held land speed records for several decades, and is considered one of the more important figures in Indian Motorcycle history. Mark has drafted in the Sturgis Hall of Fame builder Micah McClosky to ride the bike in the Cannonball. This is no easy feat for either the rider, or the support crew.  Mark explains the superhuman effort it takes to finish, let alone win, a Cannonball Run.

So from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!

Vespa 300 GTS + Cyndi Sadler of Sportbike Track Time

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends—the weekly Podcast brought to you by the editorial team at Ultimate Motorcycling. My name is Arthur Coldwells.

Vespa is possibly the storied name among scooters. The Italian marque produces premium quality machines that excel in urban environments. And what better urban environment to test a Vespa than in the heart of Italy—Rome? Senior Editor Nic de Sena took himself there—not to splash around in the Trevi fountain as one might assume, but to actually ride the new Vespa 300 GTS in its natural habitat. If you live in Rome, you need a Vespa like the Pope needs a balcony. If you live elsewhere—well you be the judge after you hear what Nic has to say.   

In our second segment, Editor-at-Large Neale Bayly chats with Cyndi Sadler, co-owner of track day provider Sportbike Track Time –the biggest provider of track days on the East Coast. Cyndi is a real rider and loves her track days riding her Honda 125 two-stroke GP bike.

So from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!