BMW Motorrad is the most successful manufacturer of large-capacity touring enduros, but unless you’re an avid do-it-yourselfer there hasn’t been an Adventure variant class midsize bike based on the F800GS to parallel the R1200GS Adventure… until now.

Once again BMW is creating a comfortable test ride environment free of testostrionics and rampant dude-ism with the “BMW Motorrad Exclusively Female Test Ride Event” scheduled for May 4th, 2013 in BC’s lower mainland. We highly encourage moto-centric women of all stripes to attend this consistently fun and well organized event.

At the end of Highway 4’s devil’s picnic of serpent twists and in-helmet laughter sits Tofino, BC on Vancouver Island.  The area is well know for surfing and storm watching, but how about dirt and adventure biking?  Even better, dualsport riding mashed with a gourmet lunch in the backcountry?  Throw in some gun play?  This compelling mix isn’t an Anthony Bourdain episode, but  Dirty Moto X Gourmet — an eclectic sampler of riding and “wild” cuisine.

Protect your assets, or at least your bike’s tail. R&G has released its Carbon Kevlar Tail Sliders to protect your bike’s tail from light drops and slides, as well as wear from boot scuffs and luggage.

A number of eyebrows were raised when BMW sold Husqvarna to Stefan Pierre of KTM, a mere five years after BMW acquired the Italian dirtbike mark from MV Agusta. BMW’s move makes sense in light of today’s announcement of a long-term cooperation agreement with India’s TVS Motor Company, positioning BMW for reentry into the sub-500cc market.

We’ve been big fans of Barkbusters’ Storms for adventure riding, but not everyone needs a plastic umbrella of coverage per hand.  Luckily, Barkbusters has introduced their new JET line for 2013 – an affordable handguard solution for dual-sport, trail and enduro bikes.

Transport Canada has issued a third recall for BMW‘s new liquid cooled R1200GS. According to the government agency, the threaded plugs securing the fork tubes to the upper triple clamp may loosen over time …

The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) is trying to implement a major land use restriction to Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) usage as well as random camping in Southern Alberta. It will affect every aspect of outdoor recreation, eg. Dual-sporting, Dirt biking, Quading, Biking, Camping, Hunting, Fishing ect…. Check out the petition against OHV loss in this region.

The Tacita T-Race is a 100% electric motorcycle, but with a difference, it’s meant for rallies. Canadian Dakar finisher Patrick Trahan just happens to be meant for rallies too. Here are Patrick’s thoughts on the T-Race he tested at the 2012 Merzouga Rally.

KTM North America is a lucky company, they’ve landed Jim McKenna (formerly of Ducati North America) as a Dealer Development Specialist. OWD’s history with Mr. McKenna goes back a a ways, even including his providing encouragement and insight into advertising sales and the machinations of the motorcycle industry, so we’re truly happy he’s landed a plum position. KTM’s press release follows.

KTM has announced preliminary dates for its “KTM Ride Orange Demo Ride Program“. The program provides an a chance for you as an orange-afficianado to experience first hand the defining attributes of the KTM Ready to Race philosphy—performance, adventure, purity and extreme.

It’s hard not to have a gut reaction to the freshly announced 2014 Honda CTX700T, a strange and disfigured attempt to graft the Goldwing F6B’s styling onto a NC700X. What does look the business, or at least startlingly dashing by comparison is the naked CTX700N. The CTX700T (doomed) and CTX700N, will share the NC700X’s 670cc liquid-cooled parallel-twin, and should have similar good manners on the road.

Read on for marketing bumph and specs…

Remember when the Dakar rules changed? We hoped for a trickle down of small displacement adventure bikes? That never happened. Bucking the trend of bigger and less wieldy, meet the CCM 450i Adventure. It’s a bike riding the huge credibility of Rally-Raid Products UK, a company well know of their KTM 690 Enduro R parts.

The One Motorcycle Show (Feb 8th-9th, 2013 in PORTLAND, OR) was born from the idea that every bike was built, restored, or preserved for a reason. The One Motorcycle Show is not about rules or pre-conceived notions because their is no right or wrong way to build a bike. It’s about motorcycles with a purpose and a story.

One year ago, Husqvarna presented the Husqvarna Concept MOAB at the EICMA in Milan ‑ a study designed as a modern interpretation of the scrambler theme. It is a motorcycle which embodies both the identity and the history of the Husqvarna Motorcycles brand. Now it’s back, boiled down to a less avant guard production ready form a.k.a. a BMW G650GS stripped and tweaked, but it’s still looking cool as all get out.

Ducati has just thrown a high-performance hand-grenade into the mid-sized road-adventure market, with the 2013 Hypermotard Family. The new Hypermotards, in base, SP (performance) and Hyperstrada (touring) garb, are new from the ground up. Based around a the 110hp Ducati 821cc Testastretta 11° engine in a new Trellis frame, all garnished with best of class chassis components.

Respected motorcycle photojournalist, Jon Beck, offers up this Kerouacian existentialist meander of a video, shot on his way to the Adventure Summit held May of 2012 at the Miller Motorsports Park.

In a world full of off-road capable machines, Suzuki is harkening back to the Dr Big with… Oh, it’s another road oriented adventure bike – the 2014 Suzuki V-Strom “concept”.