Ricky Carmichael's New Adventure

Jesse Ziegler | January 5, 2023

We chat with Supercross and Motocross legend Ricky Carmichael about his new passion for adventure motorcycle riding and how his “RC Summer Adventure” ride came to be.

Photos by Stephen Clark

Ricky Carmichael needs no introduction to regular Cycle News readers. Recently, the multi-time motocross and Supercross champion and lifetime factory racer has found a new passion for riding big miles on big bikes. Having developed a professional partnership with Triumph Motorcycles, as the company goes big into the competitive off-road market, RC has more than one reason to be fired up about his annual summer adventure tour. His latest ride started in Spokane, Washington, and wrapped up in Colorado.

The “RC Summer Adventure Ride” isn’t an official, commercial tour, mind you. It’s just a group of friends riding cool roads in awesome country on big adventure bikes, but when the G.O.A.T. is involved, it’s not just any ride. Born from a cross-country on-road tour to Sturgis that RC attended years back, Carmichael’s own annual trip is now focused on adventure riding.

Why would someone who’s spent more hours than most on the seat of a motorcycle want to jump back on for big days in the saddle? We thought we’d ask him.

VIDEO | Talking Adventure Bikes With Ricky Carmichael

Ricky, give us just a quick intro about your history with adventure bikes and how you got into it.

I was looking just online one day looking at the Triumphs. I’m like, “Man, these things are really nice.” Come to find out, my old boss at Suzuki [Rod Lopusnak] is now the main man in charge of Triumph here in the U.S. One thing led to another, I got on a Tiger 900, and here we are today. I have been bitten by the adventure-riding bug. No doubt about it.

So, did that start before your current relationship with Triumph officially started? Were you just interested in it?

Yeah. There was interest before any relationship with Triumph. It just looked fun to me. What I like about it, to make it super simple for everyone, is I love the road aspect of it, but I also like to have that option to take a killer route off-road. There are so many routes to take, whether it’s a dirt trail or fire trails, whatever it might be. You can’t do that on road bikes. That’s the cool thing about adventure bikes.

Ricky Carmichael and 2023 Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Pro

The balance and capability of the new adventure bikes, including all the new Triumph models obviously, to tackle both ends of that spectrum is spectacular.

It is. They are so much fun. Another thing too, it’s just the riders that we have that tag along on our rides, that makes it fun as well, as you know. It’s about the camaraderie. That’s a huge aspect for us, as well.

This year you guys went from Spokane, Washington, all the way across Idaho, through Montana and into Colorado. They’re some of the biggest states in the country, covering big miles.

Yeah. We had an epic time on our RC Summer Adventure ride this past year. How it originated was five to six years ago we rode from Loretta’s to Sturgis, and it was all roads. Then that kind of morphed to where we are today. JH [Leale] and Ray Butts sit down and look at possible routes, and I put some input in. I just really love that area of Idaho, Montana, etc. You talk about Darby, Montana. Love going there. It’s a staple in our ride.

I know these small towns are happy to see five or 10 guys come in and buy dinner, get some drinks at a bar, and buy some groceries. It really supports their economy in the summer, and Darby, Montana’s summer is short.

That’s right. Darby is like a staple in our ride. We stay at Rye Creek Lodge, and they are just so hospitable. To your point, when we’re there it’s 10 to 13 people, renting little cabins. We can make a little impact on the economy for that one night, and it’s cool to be able to go there.

You’re going to have to book your stuff early now because everybody in the adventure bike world is going to be going to Darby, Montana now.

Yeah. I know, right? The thing that blows my mind about adventure riding, there are so many roads and so many options… it’s endless. And it’s been kind of tough, from a media and people perspective.

Tough like there’s a waitlist for riders that want in, or busy from a sponsor/media perspective?

I don’t want it to feel like work. There’s time and a place for that. It’s growing so much, it’s hard to find that balance. But still, I feel like if we can keep it mellow and it’s still a fun trip with the boys, and capture raw, organic content, that’s what it’s going to be all about. I don’t want it to be forced.

I think you’re doing a good job of that. It’s not a full-on sponsorship plug, but can you tell me about some of your favorite stuff you use on the rides?

Let’s just talk about Fox right off the bat. They’ve done a massive push into the adventure category. So, that has been a lot of fun, and they’ve got great style. This isn’t a knock towards other adventure gear and apparel, but I feel like Fox has the upper hand and they made some stylish adventure wear.

I don’t think anybody is going to argue that Fox is bad at style.

And then you go to QuadLock, the phone mounts on the bikes, which, as you know, is super important for easy GPS. And with Cardo, we’re chatting it up. Most of the time when we’re on the Cardo’s it’s at someone else’s expense. We like to make fun of JH a lot. He takes the brunt of the conversation most of the time. It could be anything from his style to some silly comment he made.

Tell me about some highlights of the trip. The photographer, Stephen Clark, told me a couple things about this landslide you guys ran into and some epic passes.

We’re going down this pass and mind you it’s like 38 degrees. We were miserable at this point. All these cars are going back the other way, lights are flashing. I’m like, “Man, what are these people flashing their lights at? There must be some elk in the road.” We get there and there’s a massive mudslide completely covering the road. So, we had to turn around, go back and around the long way back over the pass. Made for a long night.

Going up Engineer Pass in Colorado and the breathtaking views was great. It was super rocky. There were some slippery areas as well, so you really had to be paying attention. You’re in elevation. So, it was like a workout. I certainly underestimated it. There’s no doubt about that. That was a great one.

Ricky Carmichael adventure motorcycle riding

Talk about the bikes. You guys rode the new Triumph Tiger 1200s, right?

We had a few of the new Triumph Tiger 1200s. What an incredible bike. It felt nimble. Very similar to the 900, but you had that power from the 1200.

Big and stable.

And with all the features. The cruise control, and the heated grips. It was nice. I’ve always kind of drifted more towards the 900, but I will tell you, for our next year’s ride, most likely I’m going to be on the 1200 just because it has that extra power. It has so much low-end torque.

People get a little intimidated by the 1200cc adventure bikes.

I was doing an interview a couple weeks ago, and they’re like, “What was your first initial thought of an adventure bike?” And straight up, I’m a smaller dude. I’m 5’6 ½”, 5’7” on a good day. They can look intimidating. They really can. Don’t be fooled by the looks. You look at the thing and it looks like a tank, but you get on it and you’re like, “Holy crap!” It’s not tiny, but it’s not as overwhelming as it looks.

I’ve ridden them enough now that they inspire confidence more than fear, most of the time. And when you get on the road, and you have those creature comforts, and those are the add-ons that a lot of people might think are unnecessary.

You’re exactly right. This year I used the grip warmers when we got caught up by that mudslide. It was cold. It was rainy. Then I used the seat heater numerous times in the early mornings. Do you always need it? Of course not. Is it nice to have that option, so long as you’re not losing any performance? Why wouldn’t you have it?

Let’s talk about Triumph and its competitive off-road dirt bike program and how that’s progressing. Spill the beans. Tell us everything.

I’m sworn to secrecy on some things, but I will tell you, the engineering and R&D department have done a fabulous job on these motorcycles. I was pleasantly surprised from the onset. They’re extremely receptive of what we need to have from a production standpoint and from a factory racing standpoint. They have brought their A game. Everything is made by Triumph.

When did you get involved with it, drawings on paper and sketches?

It had already been designed, for the most part, when I stepped in. I did my first initial test with them right before Covid hit. So, that kind of slowed everything down, but we also know—and this is super important for everyone to understand—we only have one chance at a first impression. I am huge on the side of [that] it must be right, from a production level. It’s got to be right.

Any idea when it should come out?

I’m just as excited as everyone else to see it. It’ll be here before too long.

No hard dates, though?

Not yet. It’s like a moving target. But what I can tell you is it’s going to be very soon.

Is it going to be just one model, or is it going to be spread across the board?

250s… a wide variety of displacements.

Ricky Carmichael riding 2023 Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Pro

Cool. And different categories?

Yup. Absolutely. It’s going to be good.

I knew I’d get some information out of you.

Nah. A wide variety of displacements. People are going to love it.

So, your RC Summer Adventure is a monster you created. You’re going to have to keep going. How are you going to keep building these routes and keep being creative?

Between our group, we’ve been thinking maybe we need to do an East Coast ride this year. So, we are heavily thinking about switching it over to the East Coast. I’ve never really spent a lot of time on the East Coast riding. So, it’s looking that way. The last three years we’ve done it out here [West Coast].

I really appreciate you talking to us and being part of the Adventure Guide for Cycle News. We’re looking forward to more adventures with you.

I go back to my early years, and I remember when I was 11 years old, all I wanted to do was be on the cover of Cycle News. It’s great to see what you’re doing with Cycle News. I’m excited for you and everyone else having an outlet to do what we’re doing here today.

Next time you’re out here in California, come on down. We’ve got all the covers of you in our archives room, so it worked out. You made it. Your goal turned out okay.

It did. I’m very lucky.CN