INSPIRATION

There’s no coincidence in the the amount we feature Marcin Kin’s photography in RUST, he’s just the best and KTM’s allegiance to him is well placed. Great composition here, looks like evening light playing over that beautiful tree. Nature at its best. Cody Webb there, on his way home for supper.

We love our classics here at RUST. Now you can’t see it here, but that red trace is left by a 1970s classic Coupe d’endurance racer. It’s arcing through the famous Eau Rouge in the latter stages of the 4hr classic race held annually at Spa Francorchamps at the end of June. Not dirt, not adventure, but 100% well worth seeing (and smelling, and hearing). See our Scene section. Image: JB

HP2. A great model from BMW, just a pity so few of us could afford one (or can afford one now for that matter). 12-13 years on it still looks cool, probably because at 105hp and 175kg is so right? A classic for sure.

We love adventure bikes. You could park up four or five cars like this and you’d get no emotional reaction from us here at RUST. But these ADVs spark a feeling, a want to be out there experiencing the world, and for going off-piste (as it were). You can ride these all day, until you’re toast, then next morning take one look at those wheels and want to do it all over again. Special things.

Great to see Sam Sunderland in best form again, leading the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge after three stages. KTM are again frustrating Honda’s five-man super team in what is one intense ongoing rally rivalry. Beautiful image by Marcin Kin for KTM.

You want your ride to handle well? You gotta get the basics right first. Like tyre pressures. Our Argentinian friend here knows the truth…

Looking back at the BMW Motorrad International GS Trophy 2012 here. Great shot by Ramona Schwarz. Free-riding by Felipe Massionave of Argentina

While snow and ice has postponed RUST’s latest enduro test, over in Finland our mate Jamie McCanney was loving the fluffy white stuff, enough to take control of the E1 class in EnduroGP 2018. Lovely, lovely image here courtesy of Yamaha Racing

A reminder to all in the UK and elsewhere – entries for the 2018 Welsh Two Day Enduro open at 9am this Saturday (24th March). They fill almost immediately so it pays to be prepared and ready…

On #FeatureFriday (that’s a thing, apparently) here’s an image from our Polaris General test in RUST #34. We’re bike riders first and foremost, but just as most bike riders love a gokart, so we can get big kicks from these SSV things!

On #TBT here’s Steph Jeavons back in March 2014 as she was setting off for an 18-month round the world tour. 48 months later she’s just finishing that tour, completing her circumnavigation by returning to the Ace Cafe, London (her start point) this Sunday. Steph shows what you can do if you put your mind to it – and her Honda CRF250L has shown just what that wee bike can do, too. Respect.

On Wheelie Wednesday here’s UK dirt bike dealer Gavin Hockey of GH Motorcycles showing you don’t need megabucks to ride a big rally. His WR450F stood him in £3500 and he bought the rally tanks and the odd other extra second hand. He then joined forces with some local mates to get his bike and support to Africa for the 14-day Intercontinental Rally. He finished well, but more importantly got home again having spent less than £4000 on the whole experience…

Tea plantations are magical places (we visited one in the Western Ghat of India where wild elephants roamed) – never quite associated them with hard enduro before, but this image of Wade Young in Malang, Indonesia does it for us. Two loves in one image: enduro and tea. Does it get any better? Image: Red Bull Content Pool / Sergey Shakuto

Classic (mostly 70s & 80s) enduro is picking up traction around the world. In New Zealand there’s a thriving scene and each new meeting by the Vinduro NZ fraternity finds more entries. Here’s a great image by Craig Stephens of this weekend’s event at Maramurua run by Greg Power

Kind of itching to get out on the lanes and trails now. There’s sun today but the trails will be a mud fest. Gotta wait for just a little longer for the wet to subside and we’ll be doing a bit of this (mixed in with the rest…).

Yep, beginning of the year, Saturday nights are supercross night as the AMA takes it to the limiter every time. Compelling viewing whether you ride dirt bikes or not. And tonight it’s Daytona – special! Image: Red Bull / Garth Milan

On International Ladies Day lets celebrate the International ladies of the BMW GS Trophy who’ll be competing in the final in Mongolia in June

This vast sparsely populated country the size of Western Europe has just a few asphalt roads, but is connected by a constantly changing network of rough tracks with occasional bridges over the biggest rivers.

A little hint here of what RUST is up to today. Be nice if the sun did shine…

On #TravelTuesday… Australia does some amazing ‘big empty’ landscapes, like Lake Eyre here. Stunning. Loved that Husqvarna TR650 Terra too…

Its going to be one amazing MXGP season with Tony Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings both on form. In Argentina this weekend they opened the season 1-2 and 2-1 – level-pegging. With 18 rounds to follow, expect clashes… Pic: KTM / Ray Archer

We loved the old Honda XR650. We loved that it was so big. We loved it was kickstart only. We loved that it was just one big dog. A cool, useful big dog. We should get another…

These Svartpilen things from Husky sure challenge our ideas on styling, but we can’t argue with the photographer’s composition here. Urban. Coffee. Window. Husqvarna. Nicely done Mr Schedl.

With 93 days to the start of the BMW GS Trophy 2018, here’s remembering that moment when you see ‘your’ GS for the first time, brand new, with custom graphics and your name on it (and blood group – hmmm)

It’s TBT today, so here’s our Tom Sagar back in 2010 looking like a road racer, on the grass. Special skills, for sure

It’s not all about bikes in Inspiration. We love this amazing mural we spotted in Folkestone, UK

This Triumph Scrambler, spotted at the Overland Event 2017 in the UK, has the spirit of Ted Simon running through it. Let’s go ride…!

…is a happy day on the bike. Just a glimpse of winter sun, a fun bike, comfortable kit, a small moment in time