July 1, 2022

This time last year, we completely ran out of bag inventory and we were scrambling to get more. We placed a bunch of production orders thinking it would be 10-12+ months before they arrived. Now they’re showing up way before we expected them, so instead of running out of inventory we’re actually overstocked. What a trip!

To move through some of the surplus we’re running a mid-season sale, with 10% off the entire line, 20% off on a few select items, and free shipping. We don’t do sales very often so it has been really neat to see the response. We’ll keep the sale live at least through July 4th weekend, and then we’ll reevaluate then.

At 10% plus free shipping (15-20% total discount), the sale reverses the price increases from last fall, when shipping costs ballooned and we were bringing everything in by air. We originally hoped to permanently reverse the price increase this year, but now all our other costs have gone up too. The sale is a way to temporarily reverse those price increases while we wait, watch, and see what the economy is going to do.

That’s what’s up with bag inventory. Apparel is a whole different story. We’ve been sold out of most apparel for most of 2022 so far, and the inventory we expected to receive this Spring has pushed out into Fall. The main culprit is the leather on the legs of the Woodsman and Basilisk. Only a few items use leather, but the entire order is delayed.

As of right now, leather is coming, sewing has started, and the first styles – Workhorse Jerseys, Jackalofts, a new soft-shell jacket called the “Surveyor” – will be on a boat next week. More items will ship in July and August, and the entire line should arrive by Black Friday. It’s not a great time to get moto apparel but at this point, we’ll take what we can get. Instead of viewing it as ‘late’ for 2022, we’ll just call it ‘early’ for 2023.

Until everything is back in stock, we’re going to lay low, travel less, cut spending, and scale back events. We’ll use this temporary pause in the calendar to test a new event format we’ve been thinking about, that’s more riding & camping than shopping. We’re going to do the first one the weekend of August 13/14 at our HQ in White Salmon. If you’re interested in that, stay tuned! Or reach out to Ryan directly at ryant (at) moskomoto (dot) com.

In the meantime, we’re seeing all the news headlines about inflation, rising interest rates, shifts in consumer spending, a bearish stock market, and the possibility/probability of a recession. Now feels like as good a time as any to lay low, regroup, focus on new products, and see where this wild ride goes next.

New Apparel

Pre-production samples are trickling in. Here’s a few pics of what we’ve received so far.

Rak Jacket: Rak v1.0 grew from a design experiment into a sleeper hit. Now it’s back in v2.0 with a bunch of improvements and some badass new colors. We added a big kangaroo pocket, a removable hood, a snapback collar, a front zipper flap, and side wind-flap control. After 3 years of riding with the Rak myself and collecting input from lots of other riders, this new version has everything I wished it had. I love this kit.

Surveyor Pant: We love the Woodsman, but sometimes it’s hot. On the Surveyor, we lightened the main body fabric, removed the waterproof/breathable membrane, added micro-mesh venting to the knees and butt, and added a sportier waist closure and pockets. The Surveyor is designed for three-season athletic trail riding and offroad touring in hot weather.

Kiger Mesh Pant: The Kiger Mesh takes Schoeller micro-mesh concept to it’s natural extreme: all-mesh-everywhere. It’s a super abrasion-resistant – even for pavement – super-stretch, in-boot pant for touring and trail. This is a pant you could easily wear on a longer ADV or dualsport trip in summer, and use for trail riding as well. You can’t see much detail in this pic since it’s all black, but it looks really cool in person.

Surveyor Soft-Shell Jacket: This is a stretchy soft-shell jacket for trail riding and enduro-touring, with an over-armor fit that works off the bike and around town as well. It’s like a tough, windproof jersey you can remove with a front zip, which also doubles as a thin mid-layer under a shell.

Jackaloft: The Jackaloft is getting a few small pattern revisions, and a color update.

Workhorse Jersey: the Workhorse Jersey stays pretty much the same, with color updates.

Graph Base Layer: Just color updates here. This is an awesome little shirt, I’ve been wearing it for everything from riding to mountain biking to kayaking.

Mesh Jerseys: These mesh jerseys are already in the line, but we’re suddenly wearing them a lot because it’s warm out!

The New Basilisk:The new & improved Basilisk is delayed till October, which is a bummer. In the good news department though, I’m very stoked on it. We added zipper flaps – something we waffled on for a while and then finally adopted. There’s a new collar that’s less likely to rub your adam’s apple (inspired by the Rak collar, which we all like), and the pant gets new j-shaped vents that allow a ton of airflow. I rode with the jacket a few weeks ago and loved it.

The Barfly: This kit is now slated for Fall 2024. I rode with it a bunch this spring and loved it. It’s an emergency rain layer with a removable hood, that works great both on and off the bike, packs tiny, lives on your handlebars, and doesn’t flap in the wind.

New Bags

Backcountry Brush Guard: these are looking great. I’ve been using them the last few months and they really work. The brush guards accomplish three things 1) they put a disposable/removable surface between your pannier and the sagebrush, 2) they protect the leading edge/corner from crash abrasion, and 3) they close the gap between the beavertail and the bag, making it less likely to catch on things. Anybody riding narrow tracks on a wide bike with a rack system, should consider these. We don’t have final pricing yet but we’ll make them as affordable as possible to encourage adoption. As a bonus, they look super cool too.

Wildcat Backpacks: Packs are on the way, preorders start next week. This tan is a future colorway, not what’s on the way, but it’s super cool!!!

Gnome & Nomini: Tank bags are on the same boat as the packs, finally!!

Gnat Handlebar Bag: These are finished and about to be ordered for delivery this winter.

Backcountry Pannier: Andrew and DT have been working on some new design concepts for the front of the BC panniers.

First Aid Kit: This is looking good, almost done.

New Rackless Concepts: We’re still playing with different ways to use composite materials in our Reckless bags. It’s a way to mix hard and soft components. We have a bunch of things ready to test in the months ahead.

We’re also adding a helmet hook to the Reckless 80 beavertail.

New MOLLE Layout: Andrew came up with some cool ways to make MOLLE panels work both horizontally as well as vertically.

Mosko Mule Gear Hauler: This bag is progressing fast despite the size and complexity. The biggest problem now, is that it costs too much to ship because of the size. We’re looking at some foldable designs as a possible solution.

Laptop Cases: The composite laptop cases look great!

Shows & Events

In 2022, the IMS tour – a traveling circuit of US motorcycle shows – was canceled, never to return. It has been struggling for years, but COVID was the final straw. That opened up a lot of weekends in our 2022 event calendar, which we immediately filled with other outdoor events and meetups.

Desert 100

This year, instead of setting up a vendor booth, we built a lounge with couches and fire pits, and invited anyone who wanted to camp with us to join. The weather was great and it was a total blast. If you’re interested in the D100, come camp with us next year!

We’ve been to a bunch of other events this spring, including the BMW MOA, Overland Expo, Revzilla GetOn @ Rawhyde, March Moto Madness, the 49er Rally, the One Show, and a bunch of other smaller shows and meetups, mostly around the Western states. We’ve racked up a ton of miles in trucks and airplanes. Taking a little break, will be nice.

Asia Trip

Andrew & DT traveled to Vietnam for the first time since 2020. It’s so nice to connect with people in person again. Here are some pics from their trip.

Assorted Pics

Trailside swim break.

New website on the way.

The Bates Mototel (our free backyard campground for travelers) is open for the season.

Ryan & Donzi’s son Roland, napping in the Mosko show trailer.

Jenn broke her arm at a race in Bend. She’s healing fast, after surgery and lots of metal.

The guys from True North Motos stopped by for a visit.

Ash got a new 501!

Our buddy Pedro made 9 of these awesome light-up Mosko signs, which we’re going to put up for sale on the website.

Wade learned to ‘pong’ (i.e. measure the volume of) a bag.

Fernando joined the staff meeting from his bike.

Reels & Shorts

I’m spending any spare time I can find, learning to shoot and edit videos. Here are a few of my reels/shorts from the last few months. There are many more of these on my personal Instagram (@moskopete).

Mosko Videos

I’ve also been making some longer-format Youtube-style videos for Mosko. Here are a few from the last few months. There are more on the Mosko Youtube channel.

Hope everyone’s summer is off to a great start with lots of riding!! It has taken forever for the weather to dry out and warm up here in the Pacific Northwest but now the snow is melting, the trails are open, and the season’s happening!