Issue #01 · July 17, 2026 · Read time: 5 min
THIS WEEK’S LEAD
Video · Itchy Boots · Noraly Schoenmaker · July 8
Noraly rides into the Mongolian steppe planning to cross the Gobi solo, then makes the call to hire a guide before pushing further. She’s specific about what changed her mind — no water, no cell signal, no other traffic for hundreds of kilometers — and honest about the risk math a lot of adventure creators skip past. It’s a five-minute lesson in when to keep going and when to pause, from one of the most-watched solo riders working today.
INDUSTRY NEWS
The new Norton Atlas
Article · Powersports Business · July 14
Norton has released specs on the 2027 Atlas and Atlas GT — the British brand's ADV lineup that started teasing at AIMExpo in January. Both models will get Apex variants with additional touring and safety kit. U.S. pricing hasn't dropped yet, but the range is real and coming.
Article · ChinaMotor · July 10
Signed July 8 in Hangzhou — the first strategic partnership between a Chinese motorcycle brand and the Italian braking specialist. Scope goes beyond parts supply into joint development on braking systems and motorsport programs, with a focus on larger-displacement bikes. Worth watching if you ride an Ibex, a 450MT, or anything in CFMoto's ADV range.
BIKES
Article · Motor Sports NewsWire · July 10
Two street-legal dual-sports built on Husqvarna’s enduro platform, aimed at riders who want a light bike for backroads and technical trail. Worth knowing before dealer allocations disappear.
Video · Moto Planet · Liam · July 11
An honest first-ride verdict on a £3,999 adventure bike. Soft suspension and a numb front brake, but a legitimate low-cost entry point if you want to try green lanes before committing to a CRF300L or 390 Adventure budget.
RIDING TIPS
Video · Adventure Bike Experience · July 12
Specific instruction on freeing up rear-wheel drag, leaning the bike while your body stays upright, and keeping momentum through obstacles. Aimed at riders wrestling 200kg-plus ADV bikes off-road, no gear sales pitch.
TRAVEL & ROUTES
Blog · Mad or Nomad · July 2026
A rare, careful ride report from a country most riders can’t cross right now. Two riders on loaded bikes push from Jordan into Syria and press on to Palmyra, checking in with locals, navigating checkpoints, and quietly documenting what the country looks like at ground level in 2026. Not a highlight reel — a working travelogue, honest about what’s changed and what hasn’t.
Not a route we’d send anyone toward casually. But if you follow overland riders working the edges of what’s possible, this is the kind of firsthand read that clears the algorithm noise.
RIDING TOGETHER
Video · We Ride Vietnam · July 10
A small group of New Zealand riders tackles Vietnam’s less-traveled northeast border region on CRF300Ls. A good example of why riding with a small group and local guides opens up terrain solo travelers typically skip.
COMMUNITY
Article · BDR · Bryce Stevens · July 13
BDR is releasing a new 520-mile Idaho and Oregon route at the Yamaha Ténéré Trek Owner’s Rally in August, with the reveal event and free GPS tracks open to the wider community — not just rally attendees.
GEAR CORNER
Article · Visordown · Simon Hancocks · July 9
Shoei’s ADV helmet platform now meets the newer ECE 22.06 safety standard, with a multi-density EPS liner and AIM+ shell construction carried over from their street lineup. Small but useful updates come along for the ride: a tool-free visor swap, four intake and four exhaust vents, and an emergency quick-release system for cheek pads. Starting at £529.99 for solid colors — not cheap, but it’s a known quantity getting a real safety-spec upgrade, not just a repaint.
Blog · Dancing the Polka · Chris Cope · July 8
A budget-minded 3-in-1 ADV suit — roughly £570 for jacket and pants combined — tested over thousands of miles of European riding in a UK heatwave, with EN 17092 Class AA armor and legitimately good ventilation. The reviewer flags real weaknesses too: the ‘waterproof’ pockets aren’t fully waterproof, and the removable liner is more gimmick than functional layering. Still recommended as comfortable, well-built, and a fair pick if you’re not ready to spend Aerostich money.
FROM OUR GARAGE
By Keith · waarmoto.com
I've been asked whether adventure riding is worth the risk more times than I can count, and I've never once given a great answer. Freedom. Scenery. The focus it demands. All true. None of it real.
The real answer took me a long time to find. It’s about proportion — the way certain places reduce the noise until what’s actually real starts to come through. It’s about being fully present by force, the kind of focus modern life quietly stopped requiring. It’s about coming back whole to the people who need me whole.
I don’t ride to escape my life. I ride to return to it.
That’s Issue #01. It’s the first one — we’ll refine the shape of this over the coming weeks, but the intent stays the same. Every Thursday morning, one page of the best ADV and dual-sport reading, watching, and listening from the week before. No race recaps. No press-release rewrites. Just the stuff worth your time.
Andrea and I are riding into the Kootenays this weekend — her on the CFMoto Ibex 450, me on the Aprilia Tuareg 660. If you’re out there, wave.
— Keith & Andrea
P.S. Two housekeeping notes. First, if this ended up in your Promotions tab in Gmail, drag it to your main inbox so Thursday mornings aren’t lost. Second, we’re building this in public — feedback on the format shapes what Issue #02 looks like.
Hit reply — tell me what you loved, what fell flat, or what I missed. Every reply lands in my inbox.
World ADV Dispatch by WaarMoto
waarmoto.com · Calgary, Alberta
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