Lots of Travel #NOREGERTS

October 11, 2017

The new Scout 25 panniers v2.0 are finally in stock. You can order on our website at this link. Thanks for waiting!

So. Much. Travel. 8 weeks on the road with only 3 days at home.

After the last post about Touratech, we flew home from PA and immediately headed south to camp with 70,000 of our new best friends on a dry lakebed in Nevada (aka Burning Man). We returned home two weeks later, covered in dust and exhausted, with lots of wacky stories, and a plethora of unexplained bruises & scars (the good kind). Pretty sure we had a blast.

Once home, we had just enough time to shower, get a good night’s sleep in a real bed, connect our rally trailer, and drive to Colorado for the annual KTM rally.

KTM Adventure Rally

On our way out of the Gorge, headed for Crested Butte, we made a quick stop in Pendleton, OR. It happened to be the first night of the famous Pendleton Roundup. We’d originally planned to keep driving, but this was too good an opportunity to miss. We stayed for a very fun night of steaks, drinks, and bull riding.

This was our fourth year at the KTM Rally. So fun. We connected with a bunch of Mosko riders and industry friends. Our booth was located directly next to Black Dog Cycle Works, so we spent a bunch of time with our friends Kurt & Martha, the owners. They brought snacks and we brought beer from Everybody’s Brewing in White Salmon, so together we hosted happy hours on Friday & Saturday night.

Horizons Unlimited

After 4 days in Crested Butte, we packed up again and headed west to Mariposa, California – just outside Yosemite – for the Horizons Unlimited Travelers Gathering.

We took the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada, home of Area 51. We had a few hours to kill, so for the first time, we actually stopped at all the stops and did all the things. And of course, stickered the sign.

Another great event in another beautiful spot. HU is very different from the KTM Rally. The KTM Rally is very riding-focused – i.e. skills, bikes, performance – whereas the HU gathering is much more travel-focused. Both are awesome.

We ran out of happy hour beer, so Ash and I had the unique challenge of fitting 4 cases of beer, 9 bags of ice, and $200 of groceries on two bikes. Amazingly, it fit.

Friday night, Ash and I gave our favorite presentation on buying & selling bikes in developing countries for a net cost of $500 or less.

As usual, we were the last vendor to tear-down and the last vehicle to leave. Our good friends Paul & Aida left directly from HU, headed for South America. Thanks for the whiskey and fantastic company. Travel safe!

Overland Expo East

After Mariposa we checked the dogs into a kennel near Manteca, and drove to SFO for a flight to Asheville, North Carolina for Overland Expo East. There was no time to ship our full show kit, so instead we ordered new samples from the warehouse and bought a shade canopy, table, etc when we arrived.

OXE started four years ago. Mosko has attended every year since, but this was Ash and my first time going personally. The weather was perfect and attendance was much higher than we’d expected. Our booth was nearly as busy at OXE as it was at Overland West, even though the east coast version is smaller. This event is becoming something really special.

OXE is held at the Biltmore Estate. The pic below is of the Biltmore House, which was built by the Vanderbilts in 1895. It’s the largest privately owned house in the world at nearly 180,000 sq ft.

Ash & I were doing an interview with Steve Grasso for Cafe Racer Podcast, when our new friend Jeffrey White walked up and handed us an unopened bottle of Fireball. Which made for an even more entertaining interview We like whiskey gifts!

Ash & I stepped out of the booth for a few minutes to attend our friend Roel’s (My Ticket To Ride) presentation on the subject of ‘fear,’ specifically as it pertains to embarking on a round-the-world motorcycle trip. Great presentation, very inspiring. Roel and his girlfriend Azure are 8 years into their RTW journey. They’ve see and done a lot. They’re representing Mosko at several rallies and shows in Europe this winter, including the Birmingham Motorcycle Show, Utrecht, and INTERMOT.

While we were at OXE, it was cool to see Mosko bags featured in a bunch of brochures and advertisements for other companies.

Here’s one from our friends at Aether Apparel.

Another one from our friends at Ecuador Freedom bike rental. We were very stoked to be next to their booth at OXE.

Here’s another from our friends at Moto Patagonia. Thank you!!

Carla King always wins the award for the ‘Sexiest Ural’ at OX events. That’s Ashley on the back in blue.

I didn’t catch the name of this company, but check out their awesome handmade leather & canvas panniers. They were a couple booths away from us.

BF Goodrich sponsored a 4×4 obstacle course. Anyone could sign up and drive it in a loaner vehicle with an instructor. Ash drove, I joined for the ride.

On Sunday we enjoyed dinner & drinks with our extended overland family, including the legendary Ted Simon (center, blue shirt) author of Jupiter’s Travels, Simon & Lisa Thomas from 2RidetheWorld, Roel & Azure from My Ticket To Ride, adventure author Sam Manicom, motorcycle misadventurist Carla King, and international man of mystery Jonathan Ehly.

After dinner and a healthy sampling of three different varieties of Kentucky Moonshine that were circulating, Ash & I found ourselves on stage to give away a new set of Backcountry 35s at the Saturday night raffle. That was fun

The owner of Simple-Shot slingshots stopped by the Mosko booth to buy bags. Later, we stopped by his booth to buy slingshots.

Back In The Office

After 8 weeks on the road, we’re finally back in the office getting caught up on emails and checking in on the many new product development projects that Andrew has been working on.

The Reckless 80 v3.0 looks great. We have a new prototype, which I’ll be taking out for testing later this week.

This is the new beavertail design.

We’re adding ‘breakaway’ strap buckles.

We’re adding an additional polyethylene armor panel riveted to the top of the existing hypalon armor, which is sewn on top of 1680d ballistic nylon.

There are a bunch of other cool new features, including adjustable width/angle, enhanced locking capabilities, and a helmet clip. The new version should be ready sometime around Fall 2018 if not before.

The mini tank bag looks good too. It’s simple, compact, and waterproof.

This is the larger waterproof ‘Hood’ bag, which still needs some additional work.

The Hood includes these two removable organizer inserts.

The latest prototype of the Reckless 15 is a bit smaller than we’d hoped. Not quite 15 liters. We’ll revise it in a future round.

Dan Cox has been working with Andrew to create labels for our riding apparel. We’re calling the new riding kit ‘the Basilisk.’ The gear is still being sampled. We expect to have 16 full sets in a variety of sizes in November.

Tomorrow morning I’m going riding and camping with Jesse Felker from PNW Dualsport. We’ll be somewhere in the Southeast Oregon desert until Sunday.

On Monday, Andrew, Lee, and I are flying to Munich, Germany to meet with BMW and discuss new products. Very stoked for that!

#NOREGERTS. That would make a great tattoo. Hope we spelled it right.