Motos and Friends from Ultimate Motorcycle magazine

This episode is brought to you by Leod Escapes.

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Have you ever wanted to ride a real MotoGP track? Well, here’s your chance! Leod Escapes does all sorts of incredible touring experiences with the very best that Europe has to offer. Fabulous accommodation, incredible food, and motorcycles what more can you ask for! So for the trip of a lifetime, visit LeodEscapes.com and check out your dream vacation.

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The 2026 Aprilia Tuono V4 Factory 1100 remains one of the purest expressions of excess in motorcycling, standing proudly as an example of two-wheeled wish fulfillment done right. There are no gimmicks, pangs of guilt, or disappointment in the Tuono V4 Factory; it is simply a damn good bike. Nic de Sena tells us all about why you need this exceptional motorcycle in your garage.

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This year, ARCH Motorcycle shocked the MotoAmerica Mission Super Hooligan series by capturing their first historic race win. To explore the massive behind-the-scenes effort that fueled this success, we sit down with Executive Producers John Stevens and Chance Wright, of the new six-part docuseries, Hooligans: The ARCH Racing Project with Keanu Reeves & Gard Hollinger. In this segment, they give us an inside look at the show, which follows ARCH as they transition from building custom bikes to entering the high-stakes world of professional racing. Joining us alongside is Brad Knight from technical partner BDO. BDO USA serves as the official race tech and consulting advisor for ARCH Racing. Their technology partnership centers around a bespoke, AI-powered race intelligence platform designed to drastically optimize the team's track performance. The AI side of this project focuses on taking raw race and telemetry data and transforming it into immediate, actionable insights for the crew. It’s a fascinating insight into the new technology that helps make them faster on track.

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Our guest this episode is Paul Puma, President of the United States Motorcycle Coaching Association (USMCA) and a Relationship Manager for Wells Fargo Motorsports Division. He leads the organization in connecting riders with certified coaches to promote nationwide safety, skill development, and sport growth.

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Here’s quick reminder to check out our monthly digital magazine. It’s filled with everything you want to read on motorcycling, including some things you’ve probably not seen elsewhere. It’s absolutely free and you will find it on the Apple App Store and of course on Google Play as well.

Don't forget to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!

  @ultimatemotorcycling

 @UltimateMotoMag

 @UltimateMotorcycling

 producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com

This episode is brought to you by Leod Escapes.

Have you ever wanted to ride a real MotoGP track? Well, here’s your chance! Leod Escapes does all sorts of incredible touring experiences with the very best that Europe has to offer. Fabulous accommodation, incredible food, and motorcycles what more can you ask for! So for the trip of a lifetime, visit LeodEscapes.com and check out your dream vacation.

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Not many of us have heard of Moto Morini, the old Italian brand. Now Chinese-owned, the new Moto Morinis are still designed in Italy and are making a comeback. Don Williams recently rode the Vettore 450 adventure bike and gives us his thoughts on whether this bike has earned a place in the highly competitive US ADV market.

Associate Editor Freeman Wood and his good friend Alex Cobb decided to try the Lost Coast BDR-X route on the 2026 BMW R 12 G/S and Honda Africa Twin . Teejay Adams chats with Freeman and Alex about how both bikes fared on the 500-mile, figure-eight loop that ventures deep into the untamed heart of Northern California’s last stretch of undeveloped coastline. You can also check out their travels on Instagram @woodysmototravels

*  *  *  *  *

Here’s quick reminder to check out our monthly digital magazine. It’s filled with everything you want to read on motorcycling, including some things you’ve probably not seen elsewhere. It’s absolutely free and you will find it on the Apple App Store and of course on Google Play as well.

Don't forget to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!

  @ultimatemotorcycling

 @UltimateMotoMag

 @UltimateMotorcycling

 producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com

This episode is brought to you by Leod Escapes.

Have you ever wanted to ride a real MotoGP track? Well, here’s your chance! Leod Escapes does all sorts of amazing European tours, including the incredible Munich to Mugello tour at the end of June, or you can try the Core of Catalunya or the Portimão Andalusia trips, both in October. These are incredible touring experiences with the very best that Europe has to offer. Fabulous accommodation, incredible food, and motorcycles! So for the trip of a lifetime, visit LeodEscapes.com, now.

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In our first segment, Don Williams and Nic de Sena chat about the latest Yamaha MT-07. The amazing motor in the Yamaha is mostly unchanged, however just about everything else with this bike has changed. Don and Nic have extensive experience riding this beast and you’ll hear both their likes and a couple of dislikes too.  

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Our guest for this episode is Nikolas Lazos, a 15-year old young man from Melbourne, Australia who starting racing in the Supersport 300 category in Australian Superbike last year. Nikolas had an awful crash at the tail end of last year that put him out of contention for the Championship. Teejay chats with Nikolas about his journey so far, and the physical and mental challenges he’s facing coming back from injury.

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Here’s quick reminder to check out our monthly digital magazine. It’s filled with everything you want to read on motorcycling, including some things you’ve probably not seen elsewhere. It’s absolutely free and you will find it on the Apple App Store and of course on Google Play as well.

Don't forget to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!

  @ultimatemotorcycling

 @UltimateMotoMag

 @UltimateMotorcycling

 producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com

Hello and welcome again to the Motos and Friends Podcast. This episode is brought to you by Leod Escapes. My name is Arthur Coldwells.

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Have you ever wanted to ride a real MotoGP track? Well, here’s your chance! Leod Escapes does all sorts of amazing European tours, including the incredible Munich to Mugello tour at the end of June, or you can try the Core of Catalunya or the Portimão Andalusia trips, both in October. These are incredible touring experiences with the very best that Europe has to offer, as well as riding these amazing tracks on brand new BMW S1000RRs. So for the trip of a lifetime, visit LeodEscapes.com, now!

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In our first segment, Nic de Sena tells us all about his recent trip to Spain to ride the new 2027 Suzuki GSX-R1000R. Suzuki did a slightly different spin on this particular launch where they split the journalists into teams of 3, and had a 6-hour endurance ‘race’ to see how well everyone fared. Nic gives us the lowdown on what it’s like to the new Gixxer and for such long track sessions!

Rider Market from just outside Orlando, Florida, is the winner of the recent Royal Enfield BTR Build-Off competition in the Road Race category. Brian Koster is the Parts Director at Rider Market and he tells us briefly about the machine and parts he selected that made this retro-looking Royal Enfield stand out and take the trophy.  

Our guest for this episode is Brian Bentley. A few years ago, just prior to Covid, Brian had a chance to buy a Ducati 916. He’s always been a major fan of the bike ever since it launched in the early nineties. He’d actually been looking for a 748 for a while, but when this great example came to his attention he couldn’t resist. The only snag was that it was completely disassembled. So, Brian did what any reasonable bike-fanatic would do: he loaded all the endless boxes of parts into the trunk of his SUV, headed home to Daytona Beach, and started the build. Brian recounts the story of this incredible machine and what eventually happened to it in the end.   

*  *  *  *  *

Here’s quick reminder to check out our monthly digital magazine. It’s filled with everything you want to read on motorcycling, including some things you’ve probably not seen elsewhere. It’s absolutely free and you will find it on the Apple App Store and of course on Google Play as well.

Don't forget to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!

  @ultimatemotorcycling

 @UltimateMotoMag

 @UltimateMotorcycling

 producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com

This episode is brought to you by Leod Escapes. 

Have you ever thought “MotoGP… well that’s an easy sport”? Yes you have? Well, here’s a chance to prove to yourself if you could have been a contender! You can ride one or all of the classic MotoGP tracks, like Mugello, Portimao or Catalunya.   Leod Escapes does all sorts of amazing European tours, including the incredible Munich to Mugello tour at the end of June, or the Core of Catalunya and the  Portimao Andalusia trips, both in October. These are incredible touring experiences with the very best that Europe has to offer, as well as riding these amazing tracks on new BMW S1000RRs. So for the trip of a lifetime, book here at LeodEscapes.com, now!

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In our first segment, Don Williams talks about a bike brand you’ve probably never heard of: the new Benda Napoleonbob 500. It’s a really nice looking entry or intermediate level cruiser-style bike, and yes, it’s from China. Don gives us the lowdown on its performance, quality, and of course, its price.    

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Our guest for this episode is Gary Christopher. When I first started around 25 years ago, Gary was the Senior PR manager for American Honda motorcycles. Of course with a lifelong career at Honda he’s seen some incredible things, and ridden a few bikes that you’ve probably never even heard of. His stories are dripping with nostalgia, and even if his time was before your interest in motorcycling got started, his knowledge and experiences are an absolute treat to hear.

*  *  *  *  *

Here’s quick reminder to check out our monthly digital magazine. It’s filled with everything you want to read on motorcycling, including some things you’ve probably not seen elsewhere. It’s absolutely free and you will find it on the Apple App Store and of course on Google Play as well.

Don't forget to leave us your comments on our social media—we’re on all the usual platforms at Ultimate Motorcycling. We love hearing your feedback… so good or bad, please let us know what you think. If there’s something you’d like us to cover, we’d love to hear those ideas too!

  @ultimatemotorcycling

 @UltimateMotoMag

 @UltimateMotorcycling

 producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com