Our guest is Angel Marie Kendall, who just passed her California motorcycle license course! She bought a low-mile Ninja 400 because sibling rivalry waits for no rider. Her first go served up right-on-red threats, reflexive lane swaps, cutoff-switch stalls, fellow riders flashing hazards and a gentle driveway flop.

Brian opens the door to that fresh new rider perspective. He pushes skill over spec-sheet ego before steering our guest toward practical gear such as Shoei and Arai helmets with Snell logic and Insta360 cameras. One of his war stories emphasizes why we look where we want to ride and manage attention under stress.

Robin's most often heard answer to new rider questions remains "what do you think?". His clear lane goal is to see the most and be seen the most. Confidence comes from competence and a brutal dose of self-awareness: spot threats, remove them, pick your own risks and ignore groupthink.

Brian teases EICMA news and stirs SEMA FOMO. He says electrics will rise from the scooter and bicycle trenches. Zero has a legit scooter and Royal Enfield has the charming Flying Flea.

Robin answers Brian's K6 tale with fitment tips (wash and reseat Arai liners if fit feels off). For RV-friendly wrenching, use a bicycle work stand as a fork holder. For packing, use Ziplocs as emergency boot liners and bright Gorilla tape when the universe mocks you.

Both point out that, when fixing in the field, fight the urge to "lean beyond the problem." Use a simple playbook. Repurpose parts (wrench-as-lever), run dry bags inside soft luggage and use offline maps when there is no cell service.

Robin gives a warm, drummer-to-drummer salute to Jack DeJohnette before slamming Cloudflare for breaking TRO's podcast feed. He's changing tires, tubes and all, on a '70 CB350 while considering cool SAE selector ideas (one battery tender for three bikes). Brian's battery-tender advice is met with Robin's half agreement and a bit of eye-rolling.

Brian plans a winter of family road miles and rereading Moby-Dick along with Lord of the Rings. He's all cheers 'n' tears about Blackhawk Farms raceway getting a pavement makeover. Eventually he dives into the techno jargon of cylinder count.

Both take aim at mushy moto-speak, mocking phrases like "hand tight" and clearing up foot-pounds versus pound-feet. Also, save your chicken strips and knee dragging for clear, actionable coaching. Let's have a sane talk about dual-sport difficulty so that we can all maintain our momentum.

Brian starts with a frost warning and the mental side of winter. He talks deer season, icy Indy sidewalks and how your brain misses the scrub of focused riding. That leads to skill rust, so keep riding and stay connected.

Robin is deep in TRO housekeeping. He runs SEO and LLM tune-ups and fixes a plugin that mangled web-ready images. He still sneaks runs toward Silver City in New Mexico.

To would-be racers both are blunt: you're not MotoGP (yet). Go to organized track days (shout out to MotoVid), get your license, start small or on a vintage bike and learn without ego. Yes, that can mean following a Goldwing at Road America.

Robin's all in on wrenching as it's time for his GSX-8R's first valve check. Plastics peeled away, the wiring looks like a bowl of ramen and ... what does cam-chain slip sound like? Everything's now at the top end of spec.

Brian demos Triumphs, then wanders into an Indian test ride. He says cruisers still scrape floorboards and drag toes but they have high-quality engines and nice controls. He leads a well-timed Kentucky ride built for short fall days, deer o'clock and tobacco barns full of hemp.

Joanne brings the gear and a clear take on navigation: pick your method. Plan on Furkot and add fuel stops, hotels, bike range and your day length. For rugged dashboards, use Chigee CarPlay/Android units that talk to cameras and TPMS.

Jordan concludes his salute to Bessie Stringfield with real proof. She did work as a civilian courier in Florida during WWII. The Harley-Davidson Museum has dispatch certificates, photos and those white fringe boots.

Robin points out how the "download app" button on our weather page is actually Ventusky's embed. We "taped over it" so you can scroll to TRO's real data. Maintenance logs now auto-back up 10 deep because he himself deleted notes and learned the hard way. Happily marooned in Truth or Consequences, NM, Maggie scored a mint Suzuki SV650! Next, it's on to tire logic full pit chief: street at 36/36 psi on Robin's Suzuki, about 15% lower for track work to grow the contact patch.

Brian leans into the seasonal pod paradox before flexing luggage nerd cred. He put fresh Givi E22s on to replace clapped E21s. He actually washed the bike and even cleaned the sprocket! His Missouri recap runs as short highlights: P, DD, 32 and the mega-sweeper 34. A blissful thunderstorm turned lanes into leaf marbles. A St. Genevieve ferry hop unfolded and the inevitable Illinois slog followed. Back home, the MSF ARC with Coach Chad sharpened his braking and precision. The garage saw a tire swap and a postponed valve check. One-hour Brown County "full hatred" rip proved why a truly copacetic riding partner beats any quickshifter.

Jordan shines a light on Bessie Stringfield, poking the myth-versus-record bear. Was she born in 1911 or 1912? Jamaica as she claimed or North Carolina per the SSA? The paperwork is messy. His point is clear: treat her as both truth and legend. Focus on who she was, not only what can be notarized. He sets the table cleanly, wink 'n' promise, with respect and a proper deglazing of tall tales.

Brian's liking Suzuki's latest additions to GSX-8 surge. The 8T and 8TT naked/retro siblings to Robin's faired 8R stand out. His Road America report mixes poetry and pain, hitting over 130 mph on a naked bike in the wet. In the mailbag he says use real starting batteries: DEKA, Super Start, Big Crank or MotoBatt. He then explains his navigation style: north-up maps and a matrix he keeps in his head.

Robin fires off a heartfelt thanks to track day helpers: Jack's ramp, Mallory holding the bike on chocks and Adam's Snickers diplomacy. He passed on a sweet SV650 for his wife because it lacked ABS (always buy the bike you actually want). His Road America saga runs from U-Haul chaos to warm Wisconsin hospitality, riding wet slides through turn five into a 1/2 zen "this is going to be expensive" rear step out. His mantra ... fear and tension are not fuel. In the incommunicado segment, his route-first planning approach contrasts that of Brian's.

Joanne keeps it simple in the Armory. Flashy OEM dash screens are fine for stats and for maintenance via apps but navigation and rider-to-rider talk still belong to Cardo and Sena. Pick gear based on the crew you ride with. She's Team Cardo for IP67 waterproofing and current Bluetooth support, from Freecoms to the Pactalk Edge. Cross-brand pairing can work but mesh systems do not mix.

Jordan continues the origin story of USA pavement, beginning as wagon ruts that grew into the National Road. Railroads later sidelined it but in the 1880s, bicyclists brought it back. Towns then grew short spurs to tap the traffic. He traces the surfacing path from Baltimore Pike to concrete and asphalt. He pits old Portland cement longevity against today's "rebuild in four years" approach.

Robin admits he's redoing the site's weather page (again). He'll add hourly rain peaks, daylight averages, allergen info, basically everything a data nerd wants (the whole bacon-saving enchilada). He answers listener questions with clear chain-care tips and a five minute Snapjack life hack.

Brian chases an "indestructible helium and feathers" ultralight tool roll, as Robin suggests his feels like 10 pounds of Ozzy grade heavy metal. Brian's tool-roll rules: skip deep wells unless you really need 'em, watch aluminum combo levers, carry L-keys, use bike-specific axle tools and buy real tools like Wera, Motion Pro and Asahi Light. Aluminum-handled ratchets and coupling-nut axle tricks ... fine.

Joanne clears up a gear mess by matching gear to your ride mix. If you ride 70/30 or 80/20 street to dirt, don't roast in heavy Gore-Tex or wear MX jerseys all day on pavement. She points to dual-purpose kits like REV'IT Territory and Klim Mojave/Dakar, mixing tough abrasion zones with big airflow.

Jordan gives a lively history on how the USA turned dirt into macadam, tracing the National Road from Jefferson's 1806 plan to the 1830s westward push. He follows the route from Cumberland to Wheeling to Columbus to Vandalia and to the Mississippi before explaining why those roads lasted. His point is clear, that without these early federal roads we might still be riding on top soil.