New Trips, New Bags

August 22, 2017

Ash & I have been in upstate PA for the last 6 days attending the Tourtatech Rally East. We arrived Tuesday afternoon, and quickly realized we’d misunderstood the location and accidentally booked a hotel 3+ hours away. Whoops.

Everything nearby was sold-out thanks to ‘move-in’ week at Penn State, which is only 15 miles away. After spending our first night at a Harrisburg ‘love motel,’ we lucked into an open room at this awesome little B&B called McBurney Manor. It’s a vintage postcard-perfect 1840’s house owned by a really nice couple named Nancy & Jay. That was a stroke of luck, we couldn’t have planned it better if we’d tried.

Touratech always runs flawless events, and this was no exception. The rally was held on a 220 acre farm just outside Huntingdon, PA. We learned from the owner Tom that his family is only the third owner of the farm since the Revolutionary war. How cool is that?

It was great to connect in person with so many East Coast riders. Bryon Dorr from Exploring Elements showed up with a full case of Ninkasi on the back of his 990. Nice work man

On Saturday, Mat & Kirsten helped us film new product videos for the website. Matt & Kirsten: thanks so much for the videos… and the help… and the loaner bike… and the tequila… and all the diet Mountain Dew Very much appreciated. Really fun meeting you both and spending some quality time together!!

Saturday afternoon, thunderclouds formed on the horizon, and we were hit by an intense storm. One minute everything was calm, then a couple seconds later three of us were struggling to keep our ez-up from turning into a parachute. We didn’t have any rebar, and the crappy stakes we bought for the show were useless once the ground got wet. 30 minutes later the storm was over, beer kegs were tapped, the campfire was re-lit, and all was good. Except that Ash and I were totally soaked and our ez-up was trashed. But honestly, it was kinda’ fun

We headed into Huntingdon for dinner. There are lots of bars & restaurants with lots of character & history in this area.

For Ash and I, this was our first time attending an outdoor ‘riding-focused’ event back east. Dusty usually handles the eastern shows, while Ash and I cover the west. We were really stoked to see so many riders arrive at the rally with Mosko gear already on their bikes. It was also cool to hear about the quantity & quality of riding available in upstate PA. Next trip, hopefully we can do some riding ourselves.

Pinner Tool Roll

We got our first sample of the new Pinner Tool Roll and it looks great. It’s a smaller version of the Fatty. One more sample with a few small revisions, and it’ll be ready for production.

We experimented with a little ‘socket holder’ inside one of the catch-all pockets, but decided against it. Too much of a hassle, difficult to use. Easier to let the sockets float free in the pocket.

The Pinner is designed to hang off any part of the bike for easy access.

Reckless 15

We also got our first prototype of the new Reckless 15 harness. This is a bag for day rides and dualsport, as opposed to camping.

It’s 100% waterproof, based on a similar platform as the existing R80/R40, with removable drybags that slide into a separate harness that stays on the bike. We don’t have the drybag prototypes yet, only the harness.

For size perspective, these pics are on a 1998 KTM 200 two-stroke.

Waterproof Tank Bags

We’re finally making progress on the two new waterproof tank bags, the ‘Hood’ and the yet-to-be-named mini enduro bag. Prototypes were finished this week and they’re en-route via fedex right now.

Note the vent holes on the underside of the top pocket. We’d like to find a way to reduce the overheating of cell phones due to the greenhouse-effect caused by a clear top panel. Not saying this is the solution, just an idea.

Looking forward to seeing the finished protos in person this week.

Reckless 80 v3.0

We’ve covered most of the R80 v3.0 improvements in past posts. This week we mounted the new removable rear pocket/harness to the leg bags. Similar to the new Backcountry 35, this pocket will come with a removable drybag, but it can also be used to hold fuel bottles, a tool roll, hydration reservoir, etc when the drybag is removed.

Office Renovation

After 4 years, we decided it’s finally time to renovate our $340/month Mosko Moto World Headquarters. With 6 people, a dog, and 3-4 bikes, it’s getting cramped. But we all love the shop and nobody wants to move. Yeah it’s messy… and sometimes loud… and we don’t have a bathroom… and we spend our mornings chopping wood in the winter… and occasionally we get invaded by flies. On the upside though: it’s got plenty of character, the price is right, and we’re only one block from White Salmon, with its coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and brewery. So we rearranged the shop to make things a bit more functional.

Roel & Azure just happened to be in town. They helped us assemble our 5 new Ikea desks.

Here’s the shop post-remodel. To get the full effect you really have to see it in person. There’s a lot more space!!

Rick Lieberson

Rick from T-Line Designs stopped by to discuss our new shirt and hat designs. He arrived with two bottles of whiskey. Work stopped, silliness ensued. Bottles were emptied, more acquired, and some memories from the 1980s relived.

Always great to see you Rick!! Stop by anytime my friend

Stock Status

Scout 25 production is done. The shipment is on the way. ETA is late August or early September. Stay tuned.

More Nomad tank bags are in production, ETA of November/December.

Fatty Tool Rolls are running really low. There’s more in production alongside the Nomad Tank Bags. But if you want a Fatty in the near term, we’ll probably be sold out in a couple weeks.

Everything else is in stock and ready to ship!

Next Up

Pennsylvania kicked off a seven week road trip for Ash and I.

Next we’re headed to Black Rock City for TTITD, where we’ll be getting real, real dusty. If you’re there too, here’s how to find us: look for the biggest driveable chair on the playa. We’ll be on it. Climb aboard!

After that is the KTM rally in Crested Butte, Colorado, followed by Horizons Unlimited in Yosemite, California. From there we’ll fly from San Francisco to Overland Expo East in Asheville, North Carolina. Then we’ll fly back to San Francisco, and finally drive home to the Washington. Then we’ll take a long nap

Hope to see ya’ somewhere along the way!