Marisa, Pegasus (our KTM 1190), and I have been a trio of man, woman, and machine over the course of the last 4 years. We have struggled together, overcome hardships together, and each of us has pushed the others past their limits, urging them to continue on when things got tough.
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All of us have our roles as we navigate the world. I am generally the pilot, with my black chauffeur hat and gloves replaced with my motorcycle helmet and plastic knuckle gloves. My limo is our KTM, but Marisa is no ordinary passenger. Marisa is the true hero of our story. She is my cheerleader, my support crew, and my morale booster when both the bike and I are feeling grumpy and worn down. Between the three of us, Marisa is usually the one with the least amount of 'issues' as we bounce along gravel roads and across rivers.

After troubleshooting a malfunctioning kickstand sensor, we hoped that was the only damage we had done on our blissful ride through paradise. But a year later in Africa, our radiator had sprung a leak. The mechanic who took a look at the bike asked me, "Where have you been that could have caused this type of corrosion?"

I knew the answer, but kept it to myself.

But Pegasus pushed on, rarely complaining as we traveled down sandy corrugated tracks that often left her laying on her side while fluids leaked out of overflow hoses. I patched her wounds the best that I could, and Marisa was always right there behind me to say, "You are doing an amazing job."

Unknowingly, this would be the farewell tour to a member of our trio, one that had carried us nearly halfway across the globe. Our trusty steed was becoming less reliable as different failure codes flashed across my dash. After 85k of tough and overburdened miles, Peg was reflecting some of the abuse that I had put her through.

I had asked a lot of that motorcycle, and it had performed better than I could have ever expected. Some may say that 85k miles is not the full lifespan of an expensive adventure motorcycle, but my mind flashes to the way people age. There will be significant differences between Kim Kardashian when she reaches her 50's versus a blue-collar coal miner who had spent decades of their life through difficulties and hard manual labor.

Marisa and I knew that Peg had served her time. Fixing her up via a full rebuild would cost 6k dollars or more, and there still may be hidden gremlins lurking deep within her components that aren't diagnosable until they present themselves in some foreign land.

The good news is that Marisa and I still have the same wanderlust as we did so many years ago. The dream of riding through the plains of Mongolia are still alive and well. Our passion to explore the unknown has not faded in the slightest, and we have already chosen the next character of our story.
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We can't wait to mount the newest member of Notier's Frontiers, but this story is not about what is to come, it is about the successes and triumphs that our honorably discharged motorcycle has faithfully guided us through, all with the enthusiasm of a new puppy. I will always remember the sound of her engine as she eagerly burst into life, ready for whatever nasty roads we may traverse down that particular day.

Marisa and Pegasus are both mythical creatures that have been crafted by the gods and by some source of unbelievable luck and fate, are a part of this little chauffeur's life. Another machine that has been forged by Hephaestus himself will be put through the same tests, if not more than its predecessor (minus any future salt flats).

Ride alongside us via our YouTube Channel and check out my latest publications of two Adventure Motorcycle Journals to document your own epic quest!

With the weather warming up, we are getting unbearably excited for our launch date in just under a month and a half!

Our newest motorcycle is still in pieces, some of our new gear is yet to arrive, and I have only put about 20 miles on our newest member of Notier's Frontiers. The 1st real test ride will be 13k miles as we ride around the lower 48 before heading north to Alaska.

​This isn't our first launch date that seemed like we may not hit the target... Four years ago, I didn't even have my driver's license delivered to me in time for our departure date. But everything seemed to sew itself together into a fine silk tapestry that looked fragile at first, but presented a wonderful picture of what life on the road was like when everything ran 'smoothly'.

Just a quick introduction to our newest member of the family...
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Our mighty KTM 1190 had served us well over the past 85k miles, and has taken us across 3 continents and 25 counties. But, it is time to honorably discharge her from active duty.
Marisa and I wanted to stay with KTM, as I was familiar with the bike and how it handled. But we definitely wanted an upgradable suspension.

​So we got ourselves an 1190 R!!!!

It is pretty much the exact same motorcycle, but with larger wheels and a better suspension!
Plus, all of our farkles and racks will be able to be transplanted onto the new bike!

Things have definitely changed since the day we bought our 1190 way back in 2013 as we daydreamed about traveling the world.

As with most things, it was a learning process. Our original set up was... rather interesting to say the least. Our luggage, the way it was packed, as well as our gear, all failed the initial test as we roamed around the Rocky Mountains. But the three things that still seemed eager and willing to travel the world were Marisa, myself, and the mighty KTM 1190.

​This post is our way of saying goodbye to the third member of Notier's Frontiers, and consists of some of our favorite memories as we meandered around 3 continents, over 4 years, while raking up over 85k hard miles that the motorcycle (mostly) took with stride.

Our Sunday (Saturday) Scoop

I love New Years, because I love the idea that maybe this year I could become a better version of myself. I love thinking that maybe this year all those hopes I have will come true. And maybe this year I'll work harder to achieve my dreams.

But it also gives me the chance to look back at the past year, and realize that I actually have achieved a lot, and honestly, I am already living my dreams.

The pandemic put a lot of our lives on hold, and for Tim and I, our travel plans were no different. But somehow we still got plenty of motorcycle traveling in, and had incredible adventures throughout the riding months of 2021. In the spring, we flew back home to the US from Africa, and we hit the road in the States, venturing all the way to Key West in Florida, and out west to Idaho. We saw the fall colors of the Northeast, and we successfully went to all three Overland Expos all across the country!

Merry Christmas everyone (or Hannukah, and all the other incredible celebrations out there)! We just wanted to make a fun post to celebrate the holiday season by showing you a recap of all the cool places we've been for Christmas over that past four years.

That's right, this is our first Christmas that we'll be celebrating back in the States, at home with friends and family (and that is a great feeling). For the past four winters we've been in faraway lands, and have been welcomed into other peoples' traditions and customs.

Here's a quick glance at the past four Christmases going back in time -

Last year we were celebrating in our rental home in Kenya. I made comfort food - a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese. A little strange, but it worked. We also had a little tree decorated. And even though we were somewhat locked down due to the pandemic, we had great company (Marco and Dora, the kittens).

Our Sunday Scoop

It had been a tough choice, but Tim and I finally decided that it was time to go home. We hadn't had a winter in Chicago in four years, and the truth was, we hadn't had a winter at all during that time. We'd been chasing summer throughout our travels, first wintering in Mexico, then in Peru and Bolivia, and finally we spent two winters in Africa - in Tanzania and Kenya. But now that our travel funds were coming to an end, and our bike was in desperate need of repair, plus it was getting a bit too cold for traveling in the northern US, we knew it was time to start heading home.

Now we just had to hope that we could get there without too much mishap.

The previous day had been rough. It was so bad, that we figured there was no way things could get any worse. We'd been having the time of our lives riding the Northeast BDR backroad through the Catskill Mountains of New York state, when we hit a particularly nasty section of loose rocks hidden under fallen leaves. And we fell.

Our Sunday Scoop

In our last blog post, we were stuck near the top of a mountain in New York state, and the bike was dead. The road had gotten pretty rough, and after a few too many falls, the motorcycle would simply not start again. It was the old gremlins resurfacing once more, but this time we were in a particularly bad spot.

To make matters worse, the skies were getting darker and darker, not just with the approaching evening, but the deep rumblings of a thunderstorm could be heard brewing not too faraway.

"This is bad," I just kept repeating over and over again to Tim as he tried repeatedly to get the bike going again. I didn't know what to do, as my brain was fresh out of ideas. I felt helpless, and a part of me just wanted to plop down on the ground and wallow in misery for our situation, but that wouldn't have done any good.

"We'll get through this," Tim reassured me. "We always do."

Our Sunday Scoop

The previous day, things couldn't have gone better for us. We'd been riding along the Northeast Backcountry Discovery Route in New York state, and had zigzagged across the Delaware River, and were now headed towards the Catskill Mountains. We were enjoying ourselves so much, I even told Tim, "I think we should do the whole thing - the whole Northeast BDR."

And he agreed. "And if anything, we should try to get to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Hopefully it won't be too cold by then," he said.

But the weather was already changing on us. Plenty of leaves had fallen off the trees, and autumn had set in with full force. We passed lovely orange pumpkin patches while the skies sometimes clouded over into a gray haze. Exposed bare branches of trees turned the world around us from green to brown.

Our Sunday Scoop

We had just finished our final Overland Expo with a bang, and were simply loving our time on the East Coast. Having never been there before on the motorcycle, we figured this was our chance to explore and ride through a region of the country that was new to us - the Northeast.

We kept hearing about the new BDR out there, which stands for Backcountry Discover Route. It's a road that has been carefully mapped and plotted out, and, as you guessed, it goes through the backcountry of the state. It hits up a lot of off-road, but mostly weaves its way along the most pleasant and scenic roads through the rural areas, places which people normally would never get to see.