GEARING UP: Soft Luggage vs Hard Luggage - The Essential Pannier

Ready for another big adventure, Dustin Nere reunited with a good friend at the Delhi airport for a 2-month adventure in the Himalayas. Apart from booking flights, reserving a hotel for the first few nights, and reserving bikes in Dehradun, they had no real plan. They knew of only a couple of notable places that Dustin had read about, and they hoped they could connect the dots. To make things more interesting, they began the journey with two other Americans who were visiting India for just two weeks. In the first week, they experienced bike troubles, landslides and altitude sickness. They made poor decisions and they learned valuable lessons. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio and RAW are the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcasts and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

When 62 year old Don Nelson from Colorado walked into a motorcycle dealership for a casual look around, little did he know what was about to happen. After the salesman offered for him to test ride a bike, Don found himself making an impulsive decision—he bought a Triumph Bonneville on the spot. Despite not having ridden a motorcycle in over 40 years, he rediscovered his passion for riding and felt immediately at ease on the bike. Now, over a decade later at the age of 75, Don prefers to travel solo, riding long distances from his home to Alaska, coast-to-coast across the United States, and to the Rocky Mountains in Canada. For Don, age is just a number as he continues to embrace the freedom and excitement that motorcycling brings. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio and RAW are the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcasts and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

In this episode of DEEP TROUBLE, we talk with James McCormick who went on what he calls, a ‘leap of faith ride’ in Baja, somewhere he had ridden many times before. This time he and his friend chose to explore a more remote area and everything seemed to be going smoothly until they were well past halfway into the ride, when suddenly the road they had counted on following was gone and all that remained was sand, rocks, cactus, and brush. Facing a critical decision, they decided to push on and by nightfall they found themselves stranded in the desert without enough fuel to either continue or turn back, and even worse, they ran out of water. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio and RAW are the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcasts and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

Proactive off-road awareness is a crucial safety step which allows riders to anticipate and respond to hazards effectively. Being in tune with the environment enables riders to navigate unpredictable obstacles such as rocks, roots, or uneven terrain, reducing the risk of accidents or injuries. And to talk about that we have SMART instructor, Clinton Smout. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio and RAW are the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcasts and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

When planning a motorcycle adventure, it’s important not to forget essential items that could impact your trip. You’ll double-check your tools, riding, camping, and cooking gear, and ensure that any necessary maintenance has been done. However, there’s one crucial component that’s often overlooked—think of it as a safety net for when you’re on the road, something that will give you the ability to deal with unforeseen situations effectively. To tell us more about this, we have Greg Turp, a lifelong motorcyclist with a career in healthcare, who is now training riders in effectively dealing with trauma and emergency situations. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio is the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcast, since 2014, and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

Africa is a top pick for motorcycle riders seeking adventure, but many see it as a tough destination for only experienced travelers. Is it too risky for beginners? Do you need special skills? What's there to see? In this episode, we'll explore these questions with an expert in Southern African motorcycle travel. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio is the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcast, since 2014, and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

Two adventure riders, worlds apart are pinned by their own motorcycles. Join Dave Rodgers and Joe Siegel, as they face perilous challenges in this episode of DEEP TROUBLE. In this exclusive series, we’ll explore the captivating stories of riders who found themselves in DEEP TROUBLE. We'll be dissecting these situations, shedding light on the challenges they faced, the strategies they used and the valuable lessons they learned. Most critically, we’ll discuss how the situation could have turned out differently if some controllable aspects were changed. We’ll talk about the possibilities and potential outcomes, so that perhaps other riders can learn from their experiences and avoid making those mistakes that get them into DEEP TROUBLE.   Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio is the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcast, since 2014, and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

In 1999, Todd Lawson lost his brother, Sean, to cerebral malaria after a motorcycle journey through southern Africa. Wracked with guilt, Todd meets Christina, a kindred spirit, and together they embark on a motorcycle trip across the Americas, spreading Sean's ashes along the way. Inspired by Sean's adventurous spirit, they decide to return to Africa to distribute mosquito nets to those in need, turning their journey into a meaningful exploration of the continent's beauty and its people. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio is the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcast, since 2014, and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

Situational awareness while riding a motorcycle means being aware of your surroundings and predicting what might happen based on what you see. It's about paying attention to the road, other vehicles, weather, people and more. In this episode, Clinton Smout, Chief Riding Instructor at SMART Adventures, talks us through ways to read the scene around us as we ride and use that information to help predict what may happen next. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio is the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcast, since 2014, and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!

Satellite communication has been used for many years for emergencies during motorcycle adventures. But what about non-emergency situations? Sometimes, we might have a breakdown, need a part, be running late, feel sick, or decide to stay somewhere for an extra day. In such cases, messaging is the key to getting in touch with someone without causing panic. In this episode, Morris Shawn, President of Zoleo, discusses the importance of comprehensive satellite messaging for motorcycle riders. Additionally, Sean Steede's experience in British Columbia highlights the necessity of reliable communication, as he faced an unexpected situation during an off-road ride and had to use his satellite messenger's SOS button for assistance. Photos and links related to this episode can be found in the show notes.  Adventure Rider Radio is the longest-running adventure motorcycle and travel podcast, since 2014, and we remain committed to bringing you new and exciting episodes every Thursday. Listen to over 500 episodes anywhere you listen to podcasts or at adventureriderradio.com. Never miss an episode, be sure to FOLLOW the show on your favourite podcast app. Have a show idea or suggestion, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you! If you can, we’d love to get your support, please visit the Support page on our website. Thank you for listening!