Overland Journal Winter 2009

I have to say I really enjoy your magazine. I’m pretty new to the whole do-it-yourself overland thing—I only got my Defender 110 last year. There are loads of good articles to whet the appetite; good reviews of gear, etc. When I’m finished I pass the magazine on to my dad, who owns a Royal Enfield Bullet 350 and Kawasaki W650, and a friend who’s a big KTM fan. They love it too. Spurred on by stories in your journal, my wife and I did our first small trip to Europe this July (Dublin-Bratislava-Dublin, via southern Germany and Austria, taking in some decent alpine roads). We ended up covering 3,600 miles over three weeks. Here’s some proof of the global appeal of Overland Journal—the Spring, 2009 issue during July snow in…

Ron Moon Ron and his wife, Viv, have spent much of their lives exploring and writing about Australia’s wild places, although their travels have encompassed the world. Together they have contributed to or written 13 guide books covering the outback; Ron was the long-time editor of 4X4 Australia, and now serves as an editor-at-large there. Viv is also the author of two outdoor cookbooks. Together they launched the magazine Let’s Travel. Their writing reflects a wide range of interests, including 4WD travel, birding, fishing, hunting, canoeing, and photography. They now share their experience with others through their tour company, Legendary Outback Expeditions. Chris Collard Chris’s early years riding dirt bikes in Baja, Mexico, with his father lead to a life-long passion for overland adventures. His journalism career has taken him from Australia and…

You might not gasp at the revelation when I tell you that two people can analyze an identical situation and react with diametrically opposed emotions. But sometimes I’m astonished at the divergent views extracted from a single concept. Recently I received two emails and a phone call on the same afternoon that illuminated this perfectly. In spite of—or perhaps because of—our subscriber-driven editorial layout (low ad density, high text and photo content, archival print quality, and resulting premium subscription price), Overland Journal’s renewal rate is above the industry average for all periodicals, including those 12-issues-for-$9.95 car magazines that make up the revenue with ads for cheap cigars and Pajamagrams, and pitches guaranteeing improbable physical enhancements. For those of our subscribers who do fail to renew, we send out personalized letters inviting them…

Now that our long-term Royal Enfield Bullet EFI (Fall, 2009) is run in, I’ve been scooting around the mild dirt trails south of our place. It’s hilarious to watch occasional riders on “normal” adventure motorcycles twist their heads trying to figure out what the heck just went past them the other way. Several have almost ended up in the cactus. So far the RE has embarrassed itself just once, when (as it turned out) a faulty sidestand switch prevented it restarting during a ride. I hate those things anyway, so I simply unplugged it. Now I can open and close our gate without either shutting off the engine or putting the bike on the center stand. I replaced the stock, 5.5-inch-diameter sealed-beam headlight with a seven-inch halogen “tribar” unit that not…

Variations on a Theme of Diesel The temperature is in the single digits in northern Minnesota, and you’ve stopped at a station that advertises diesel fuel. But instead of a single yellow handle, you’re confronted with a line of nozzles. The choices are disorienting, and to make matters worse, a local notices you and starts telling horror stories about friends of friends left stranded when diesel turned to jelly in their tanks. In a surprising number of these tales, someone eventually gets eaten by a cougar as a result. So which of these nozzles is least likely to increase your chances of getting eaten by a cougar? In much of the country you’ll only encounter one diesel nozzle at any station, but this changes as you head for the colder regions, or to…

Even in a Down Market, SEMA Delivers the Goods The annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, November 3 to 6, 2009. The show, the largest of its kind in the world, drew an estimated 100,000 attendees from over 100 countries. Overland Journal featured two vehicles at the show: the Overland JK, which had pride of place at the entry corner of the Chrysler Jeep booth; and our 2006 KTM 950, which was featured in the RAM Mount booth. Both placements reflected the surge in interest in overlanding products at this year’s SEMA event. Scott counted at least 30 rooftop tents at this year’s show, including four in the trend-setting tire and wheel area. Among the over 2,000 new products featured at the show…