MOTOTREK

Category: Behind the Scenes

Learn what goes on behind the scenes when we make MOTOTREK episodes.

  • Guest Host Profile: Cassie Maier

    Guest Host Profile: Cassie Maier

    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

    Cassie’s Off-Road Training @ West38Moto
    Cassie’s On-Road Training @ FullGearFemale

  • Host Profile: Dusty Wessels

    Host Profile: Dusty Wessels

    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 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.

  • Mike Spurgin, Stunt Rider

    Mike Spurgin, Stunt Rider

    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.

  • MOTOTREK’s Video Production Kit

    MOTOTREK’s Video Production Kit

    MOTOTREK Camera Kit
    MOTOTREK’s Camera Kit

    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.

    Currently shooting with:

    Panasonic GH5 using V-LOG
    Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art DC HSM Lens
    Metabones Speed Booster XL 0.64x
    Hoya Solas IRND 1.2 72mm Infrared Neutral Density Filter
    Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 lens (gimbal shots)
    Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 35-100mm
    Panasonic Lumix 25mm f/1.4 lens (rarely)
    Zhiyun Crane 2 stabilizer
    DJI Mavic Air drone
    Tascam DR-05 Audio recorder
    Sennheiser ME2 Condenser Microphone
    Rode Video Mic Pro
    GoPro HERO8 Black x2
    Neewer Professional Camera Case Backpack
    AmazonBasics 62-Inch Aluminum Ball Head Tripod

    2017 episodes were shot with:

    Canon C100 mk2 camera
    DJI Osmo

    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!

  • Be a MOTOTREK Guest Host

    Do you love adventure motorcycling? Do you have a story to tell or a skill to teach? Are you comfortable on camera?

    MOTOTREK’s goal is to educate, inform and entertain our worldwide audience of adventure motorcyclists. If your story syncs with ours, let’s get together and make a MOTOTREK video!

    Contact producer Tim Tyler at info@mototrek.net

    Here are few guest hosted episodes we’ve had the pleasure of producing:

    RTW Paul and his amazing KTM 500 EXC 6-Days motorcycle
    USAF Air Commando Veteran Robert Burnes
    Helge Pedersen of GlobeRiders
    Ted Simon chats with Sam Manicom
    Mike Spurgin from Taco Moto Co

    Iain and Eric from Touratech USA

    Iain and Eric from Touratech USA

  • Bret Meets the KTM 790 Adventure

    David Fox, a frequent aerial cinematography contributor here at MOTOTREK, totaled his BMW F800 GS last month on our ride down to Phoenix to meet Ted Simon and Sam Manicom. He chose to replace it with the newly released KTM 790 Adventure S.

    Bret was eager to try out this highly-touted machine… so let’s make an episode out of it!

    “The mountain was out” (as we say here in the PNW) so we started the day with Bret’s intro, positioned with Mt Rainier in the background.

    For the next eight hours we roamed the park for the most interesting and challenging surfaces to ride and film on.

    With evening approaching we headed back to the paved roads and finally called it a day.

    Hope you enjoy the episode!

  • Living Legends: Ted Simon & Sam Manicom

    Ted Simon – WWW / BOOKS / TWITTER
    Sam Manicom – WWW / BOOKS / TWITTER

    “What an opportunity!” Those are the words I emailed to Sam Manicom once I found out he and Ted Simon would both be at the 2019 Overland Expo West in Flagstaff, AZ. A loose plan to film a conversation between the two motorcycle travel authors was put in place.

    Bret was scheduled to teach in Colorado that same week, so we packed our panniers and headed south from MOTOTREK HQ in WA state.

    Camping in Moab on the way to Overland Expo

    In Utah we stopped to camp and film an episode in the beautiful Moab outback, and when Bret and Christina headed east to CO, co-cameraman David and I rode further south to Overland Expo in Flagstaff, AZ.

    At the Expo we connected with Ted and Sam and tried to find a time and a quiet place to film the conversation. Impossible! We made plans to reconnect in Phoenix after the event.

    En route to the “Valley of the Sun” city we opted for some dirt and exited interstate 17 onto Bloody Basin Road – which turned out to be a bad idea.

    David meets a side-by-side head-on without notice.

    Fortunately David left the ER that same night with a clean bill, ready to film the next day!

    Many thanks to Al and Julie Jesse for accommodating us at their wonderful home in Phoenix! A very special Thank You to Ted Simon who was cold and tired from an uncomfortable trip from Flagstaff to Phoenix just before we started filming, and to Sam Manicom for making the whole thing come together.

    Ted and Sam with MOTOTREK producer, Tim Tyler

    I hope you enjoy the video.

  • The Kawasaki Versys 650 Adventure Bike

    Just because a motorcycle is not marketed as an “Adventure Bike” does not mean it can’t take you on amazing off-road adventures! Bret Tkacs makes a quesadilla and takes a closer look at MOTOTREK producer Tim Tyler’s modified 2014 Kawasaki Versys 650.

    Hepco Becker skid plate and crash bars http://motomachines.com
    Happy Trail Rack and TETON Panniers http://happy-trail.com
    Short Brake and Clutch Levers https://amzn.to/2PwNPcm
    Oxford OF690Z Heaterz Grips https://amzn.to/2NCeGD4
    Ultimate Beadrider Seat 12 x 12 https://amzn.to/2CioMro
    Rigid Industries Aux Lights https://amzn.to/2MIIfqc
    Pelican 1550 Camera Case https://amzn.to/2NaZFLu
    RAM Spring Loaded Cell Phone Cradle Holder https://amzn.to/2LRM3ju
    Fiamm Horn https://amzn.to/2CinKf0
    Touratech Zeha Pro Topcase Rack https://touratech-usa.com/
    R&G Racing Front Axle Sliders https://www.revzilla.com/
    Cyclops Adventure Sports LED headlight Bulbs https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com

     

  • Adventure Pillion – Behind the Scenes

    Thanks for the photos, David Fox!

    Shoot Coordinates: 46.92667, -123.12167

     

  • 5 Tips for Riding Dirt and Gravel Roads

    Dirt and gravel roads can be challenging and scary to even the most experienced paved road motorcycle rider. Bret Tkacs offers five tips that cover the basics of transitioning from paved to unpaved roads.

    Filming location: The road to Brooklyn, WA