The Lowdown Show - By ADVrider

Some brands of motorcycle--we know who you are--can't stop going on (and on) about their past. Kind of like the neighbor who can't believe a gallon of gas isn't 35 cents anymore. But is clinging to the mythology of past successes healthy for the future of a brand, as marketers would lead you to believe? Or is a backward view unhealthy for both the manufacturer and its true believers. Think of it this way: the brand with the greatest legacy of all, be it Grand Prix wins or iconic models or the way it revolutionized motorcycling itself is a brand we don’t think of as having any legacy at all: Honda. Manufacturers who can’t seem to address modernity lean on legacy like it’s a walker to keep them from falling over. Motorcycle Global’s Michael Uhlarik weighs in on the perils of clinging too tightly to what once was.

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On The Lowdown Radio Show episode 117 managing editor Zac Kurylyk joins Neil Graham to talk about the ins and outs of motorcycle reviewing. We want to know what matters to you. Do reviews influence your decisions? If so, how and why? What’s important to you? Range? Seat height? Tread depth? And what is it that reviewers always miss? Vibration? Buffeting? Engine sound quality? Or do you just think that we constantly suck up to manufacturers for the chance to ride the latest and greatest? Let us know what you want to know
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Two things you’re likely to find at a motorcycle event are bad food and bad music--is it really necessary in this short life to hear another cover of Highway to Hell? There’s a man up here in the northeast who’s attempting to change all that. The Moto Craft fest has morphed from a big city event to a country shindig. Think Born Free with fewer choppers and Panheads Forever tattoos. Alex de Cartier joins the show to talk about the shortcomings of traditional shows, the pitfalls of staging an in-the-flesh event in a virtual world, and why live music at a motorcycle event doesn’t have to suck.
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Do you have 600 cans of chickpeas next to 400 tins of peaches in your bunker? Do you think fuel-injection is a government ploy to plot your every move across the landscape? If you answered yes to either of those questions (or if they gave you reason to pause) then this week's show is unmissable. The two-wheel-drive Rokon is the oddest motorcycle you've never seen in the flesh. And, at 60-plus years old, it's also the second-longest continuously-produced motorcycle brand in America. Take that Indian. The Rokon is proof that a niche within a niche is a sound business plan. Company owner Tom Blais gives The Lowdown the lowdown on staying the course.
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Indian motorcycle have a new owner and a new CEO and they're gunning for Harley-Davidson.
As the cruiser market shrinks, the competition between America's two brands, in the wake of unconfirmed reports of Indian's controversial and inflammatory new initiative, becomes personal. New Harley CEO Artie Starrs is mocked for his pizza and golf past, while Indian boss Mike Kennedy (ex of Harley-Davidson) is held up as the real-deal rider. But beyond the hyperbole, we delve into the effectiveness of political-style attack ads. Is taking down your competition a way to gain market share, or do you risk alienating the exact same people you're attempting to lure into your camp?
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