The suspension components on your adventure motorcycle play a very important part in maintaining the safety of you and your bike. The suspension’s primary objective is to keep the tires in contact with the ground as much as possible, and a well-tuned suspension will accomplish that.
As a motorcycle operator it’s important that you understand how your bike’s suspension works and how you can adjust it to accommodate different riding scenarios and bike configurations. Like a broken clock that’s still accurate once a day, a non-adjustable suspension might be perfect with just the right rider weight and road. However, a custom, durable, fully configurable suspension guarantees a motorcycle will maneuver optimally no matter the road conditions or onboard weight as long as it’s adjusted properly.
We’ve partnered with the suspension experts at BeemerShop and Touratech USA to bring you a playlist of comprehensive technical know-how and guidance that will help make your motorcycle adventures safer and more enjoyable.
There’s nothing more fun than a smooth-running motorcycle tour or adventure ride, but when something goes wrong with the bike or the rider, the fun ends fast. Professional adventure tour operator Dusty Wessels @West38Moto breaks down the entire kit of tools and recovery equipment that he relies on to solve problems with a wide variety of bikes and riders for tours and training rides throughout the southwest United States and Baja.
Here’s a the gear Dusty uses, listed in the order it appears in the video:
Last summer when MOTOTREK contributor David Fox attended Dusty Wessels’ adventure motorcycle training event in Colorado he couldn’t believe his eyes. Petite off-road instructor Cassie Maier was deftly operating her BMW 1250GS with the ease and confidence most riders can only attain riding much smaller bikes. We’re super glad Cassie agreed to guest host!
Cassie grew up with motorcycles throughout her childhood. Although both her parents have ridden motorcycles since Cassie was young, however, she was more interested in sitting in her horses’ saddles than the saddle of a motorcycle. It wasn’t until she was 17 years old that she took an interest in motorcycles. One day, a bike came into her dad’s shop that caught her eye. After Cassie curiously spent many weeks just sitting on that bike, her parents finally decided to send her off to an MSF course.
For many years she rode pavement exclusively and then took a six-year riding hiatus after moving to Seattle. In 2016, Cassie quit her job, borrowed her mom’s bike, and rode around the U.S. for three and half months. At that point she decided motorcycling was her thing and began immersing herself in the industry.
While working for the BMW Motorrad demo truck as a lead rider, Cassie was surrounded by the culture of motorcycling. On behalf of the BMW MOA she was invited to go to the BMW U.S. Rider Academy for additional skills training, where she got her first true taste of off-road riding. She was honored to be offered the opportunity to become an instructor for the BMW U.S. Rider Academy. With zero hesitation, she immediately relocated from Seattle to North Carolina to be near the BMW Performance Center. When love (bigger than motorcycles) swept her off her feet, she moved to the Southwest, where she is now expanding her role in the motorcycle industry.
Sharing knowledge and experiences with others who want to increase their motorcycling skills drives Cassie to improve her own riding abilities. Being a strong rider, continually practicing her riding, and refining her instructor techniques are imperative to her personal success. Her love for this sport is contagious, and she wants to spread the joy.
When Cassie isn’t riding a motorcycle, she enjoys finding the best hiking trails, experiencing any new place, creating art, keeping her dog out of trouble, and being a stepmom to three fantastic kids
Dusty Wessels teamed up with MOTOTREK in February 2020 just as the world began to lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately filming adventure motorcycle videos out in the wilderness is a safe way to distance from the virus!
Dusty Wessels with his BMW R1250GS Adventure on set in Borrego Springs, CA
Dusty is a wilderness kind of guy. Having grown up doing all the outdoorsy stuff Colorado is famous for, Dusty later joined the Navy and spent his early adult years in San Diego. When he returned to Colorado, Dusty attended college and enjoyed a successful career in marketing and sales. Inevitably, he rediscovered his passion for motorcycle adventures and began to rethink the idea of “success.” Dusty ambitiously made the leap from climbing the corporate ladder and pursued the ideal position of creating his own success out of his passion for adventure bikes. After logging thousands of hours and over 200,000 miles of riding, motorcycle camping, immersing himself in training, and exploring new trails on so many different bikes that his wife stopped trying to keep track, Dusty found a natural fit in the adventure motorcycle industry.
In 2014, Dusty Roads MotoVentures was born and, over time, transitioned into what is now West38Moto. West38Moto provides everything from foundational riding skills and advanced riding techniques to unforgettable tours and shared experiences with new friends. Since the beginning, Dusty’s goal has always been built on bringing together the folks in the riding community and being a catalyst for new riders. There’s no better way to come together than to spend days riding and evenings around a campfire with good food and even better company.
Dusty enjoys hosting MOTOTREK, where he shares his passion for adventure riding through helpful tips and skill building exercises for beginner, intermediate, and advanced riders.
When he’s not training , guiding a tour or filming with MOTOTREK, Dusty can be found fly-fishing across the west, scouting new routes, camping in the backcountry, riding the remote deserts of the southwest U.S. and Baja, or discovering the next best small town to convince his wife to live in. He’s given up on believing his dog, Zeppelin, will be a riding companion.
Back in February 2020 I traveled south to Arizona to shoot four MOTOTREK episodes with hosts Dusty Wessels and RTW Paul. The first two days of filming were to focus on Paul’s tricked-out KTM 500 EXC “Six Days” bike which he was planning to ride on his newest around-the-world adventure to start just a few weeks later.
Rider Mike Spurgin, producer Tim Tyler and rtwPaul outside Phoenix in February 2020
As soon as I arrived in Phoenix I met with Paul who was working on his KTM’s electronics in the garage with Mike Spurgin from Taco Moto Co. A few minutes later Paul gave me the bad news. That morning he had pulled a muscle in his lower back and he didn’t expect to be able to ride his bike anytime soon. That explained why he was hobbling around the garage like an 80 year old man.
Fortunately Mike stepped in an offered to ride Paul’s bike for the b-roll shots when we filmed the following day in the desert outside of Phoenix. Phew! Thanks, Mike!
Paul was still able to host what turned out to be a great episode detailing all the modifications he’s made to his KTM, but if you watch closely you can see that he’s not moving around much. Paul was a lot more uncomfortable than he appears in the video.
Fast-forward to January 2021. I was editing the Fuel Mods episode I filmed with Mike Spurgin in May 2020 and was trying to decide what to use for b-roll since we hadn’t shot any in May. Then it occurred to me that I did have cool shots of Mike on a bike! Since it had been a full year I didn’t expect anyone to notice that the Arizona b-roll shots were being reused, but sure enough, a perceptive subscriber did!
So, yes, that’s Paul’s bike in Mike Spurgin’s episode, but it’s Mike riding it!
On the other hand, the b-roll riding shots of the KTM near the end of Mike’s Fuel Mods episode are actually of Paul riding his own bike, which he was able to do with some muscle pain later that week back in February.
There is an inexpensive, sturdy way to mount the Garmin zūmo XT on a KTM 790 Adventure.
I’ve been riding with the Garmin zūmo XT for almost a year now. It’s the best motorcycle GPS I’ve ever had. It does everything right. At first I was worried that the mounting method would not be secure enough to hold the GPS when riding on bumpy, challenging terrain, so I epoxied a lanyard to the XT as a backup.
Zumo XT lanyard
After thousands of road miles, hundreds of rough off-road and trail miles and a few off-road crashes the GPS has never come loose or disconnected from the Versys 650’s mount.
Last fall I switched from the Versys 650 to a KTM 790 Adventure and mounted the zūmo XT using RAM mounts.
Heavy bulky undesirable mounting method using RAM mounts.
This worked great but the added weight and offset made the GPS bounce around more than I liked.
I’ve been using this custom cell phone holder mounted to the handlebars on my adventure bikes in all kinds of weather and terrain, and it’s held up perfectly. It’s the perfect phone holder because:
Phone can be inserted and removed easily with one hand.
Phone will never, ever fall out.
Charger is waterproof. No removeable cables.
Industry standard RAM mount.
Since I’m assembling a second one today, I thought I’d show you the simple parts and steps involved. Parts are about $55 USD… plus epoxy.
You might be able to use a different charging pad but it’s imperative that it be very thin. This one is advertised as being IP67 waterproof too.
Insert your phone in the holder and determine the best place to align the charging pad. Remove your phone from the holder.
Use a sandpaper scrap to scuff the RAM holder and the back of the charging pad.
Attach the RAM ball to the RAM mount tightly.
Loosely attach the four side stoppers to the RAM cradle.
Insert your phone, position the side stoppers, remove your phone, tighten the side stoppers.
Attach the charging pad to the holder with epoxy.
The black chargers were not available so I bought a white one and I’ll spray paint it. I wish the USB cable was a bit more durable but so far I haven’t had any problems with this setup at all.
This is a vast improvement over the RAM X-Grip holder. Good luck!
The first thing I add to every motorcycle I get is a set of amber auxiliary conspicuity lights. For me, riding without them is like riding with bald tires.
In 2019 I was pleased to find a conspicuity light option that checked all the right boxes:
Why would you want auxiliary lights on your motorcycle? Conspicuity. Besides brightening up dark roads and trails, front-facing auxiliary lights make you and your bike more visible to oncoming traffic all the time, day or night. That might save your life.
Results from a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration here in the US “suggest that enhancing the frontal conspicuity of motorcycles with lighting treatments beyond an illuminated low beam headlamp may be an effective countermeasure for daytime crashes involving right‐of‐way violations.”
Aux Lights on the KTM790 Adventure
I prefer amber since it contrasts with my white headlight. Ideally you want to create a triangle configuration with your front-facing lights. This helps oncoming drivers recognize perspective and determine how far ahead you are.
When drivers glance and see a single motorcycle headlight in the distance, even if it’s just a short distance, their brains subconsciously interpret that as two automobile headlights close together, and therefore very far ahead. So they pull out into your right-of-way thinking you are very far away and not a threat. Their innocent mistake in judgement might kill you.
When drivers glance and see three lights their brains work a little harder to figure out what’s coming. Is that a locomotive? That mental double-take is hopefully enough to delay their actions, and keep them out of your way.
These Exzeit LED lights are surprisingly bright and will help you navigate dark forest roads and campgrounds. When positioned properly, the beam pattern compliments your headlight’s without blinding oncoming traffic. When switched to high-beam, the light is higher and brighter. My initial installation on the Kawasaki Versys 650 combined the high and low-beam wiring and the lights were way too bright and offensive. I’ve since disconnected the high-beam wiring permanently.
I’ve had aux lights on all my bikes in the last ten years and these are by far the easiest to install. They are small enough and light enough that you probably don’t need any extra brackets or widgets to attach them to your bike. The aluminum housing has threaded holes on four sides so they can be mounted from just about any angle. Use thread–lock on those short little screws that come with the lights. You could probably even zip-tie them to your fork legs if you’re lazy.
Wired to the bike’s rear 12v switched accessory connectors
On my KTM 790 Adventure I simply drilled a hole in the plastic side panels and bolted the LED brackets in a hanging position. This puts the lights exactly where I want them, creating an almost equilateral triangle. They are out of the way if the bike tips over and they do not interfere with steering. The wiring from each light is joined under the front seat and is routed to the switched auxiliary connectors near the tail light.
Tim’s camera kit is very portable and packs into a single waterproof case attached as a top box on the KTM 790 Adventure, and previously on the Versys 650.
At first I was worried that the camera body or lens would get damaged bouncing around in the case over thousands of miles of off-road riding, but so far everything is still solid.
The easy access top case makes it quick to grab b-roll shots while travelling. I’ve tried storing the camera gear in side panniers, but then the whole camera bag needs to be removed from the pannier, placed on a flat surface, unzipped, etc. Too slow.
99% of MOTOTREK is shot handheld, and some b-roll on the gimbal. If I need a tripod I strap the durable yet inexpensive Amazon sticks to the top of a Mosko pannier.
Up until 2020 in the classroom we shot with the Canon C100 mk2 camera and a Rode NTG2 boom microphone. The workbench is lit with KinoFlo’s.
Our Workflow
All the segments with the host talking are shot in 4K 4:2:2 at 24p in VLOG. A lot of the action shots that are not super-slow-motion are shot at 4k 60p 4:2:0 since we still can use the audio but have the flexibility to playback smoothly in slow motion if necessary. The super-slow-motion shots are 1080p somewhere between 120 – 180fps. All editing, grading and audio mixing was done using Premiere Pro until 2020 when we switched to Davinci Resolve.
Most episodes take a day to shoot and one or two days for post production. We upload 1080p 24P 30mbps MP4’s to YouTube.
UPDATE: ADVrider recently published an article about Tim’s video gear. Check it out!
