It's no secret by now that BMW skipped having any qualifier rounds for the GS Trophy in the United States. We still haven't gotten a solid explanation of why, but a few folks were invited to attend the international qualifiers in Germany ahead of the competition in Bulgaria.
So when the ADV competition you expect to happen doesn’t, you can either cry about it or start up your own version. Lana Tsurikova and Chip McMann chose the latter and thus, the inaugural Adventure Crown kicks off in August 2026. The news features a longer segment on what’s going on with Harley and Indian and some short EV snippets.
Indian Motorcycle is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a new Signature Series of extremely expensive touring bikes, but they preceded that with a politics-style attack campaign aimed at Harley-Davidson. Harley, meanwhile, has seen its stock continue to rise despite Indian’s attacks, even as the company misses revenue targets and wrestles with serious financial challenges. However, Harley’s new Deadwood lowers the price of an existing platform, while the company’s expanding partnership with Hero MotoCorp and its planned $6,000 Sprint suggest a serious return to affordability and entry-level riders.
The electric news is shorter this time: Yamaha has launched the GEAREV commercial scooter with a swappable battery and has also patented another electric scooter design; Bajaj has confirmed development of its first electric motorcycle; and Honda is preparing to build the UC3 electric scooter in Vietnam, another sign that major Asian manufacturers are steadily expanding electric two-wheeler production.
Since we don’t have a Patreon page for you to visit, the easiest way to support Chasing the Horizon is by joining the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. Get yourself a Traditional Membership or even a Digital Memberships (for $10 less); each come with a wide range of member benefits, including access (digital or in your mailbox) to BMW Owners News, the MOA's monthly magazine. You also get access to one of the best roadside assistance programs for motorcycles available (sorry, only applies to the US), become eligible for a $200 motorcycle training scholarship every year, periodic discounts on a new BMW motorcycles, discount tickets to great events and much, much more!
