Hello and welcome to ADVrider’s Photos of the Week. We kickstart this issue with a shot of a woman, “The Missis,” on a Kawasaki Versys 300 taking part in an “Obese MX Day,” the “obese” referring to the “big fat MX bike,” not the svelte and well-dressed rider. The shot was submitted by @Erwin P, who was riding a KTM 990 Adventure that day. He says the Kawasaki “is a great Obese MX bike, just doesn’t like to jump and land, which is forgiven with the minimal suspension travel it has.” Photo taken in the Netherlands a few days ago.

And below, @Erwin P on his KTM. “This day was a very muddy occasion but still got the chance to do some jumping and well … landing.” When you jump, it’s always a good idea to follow it up with a landing.

Rocketing across Romania

Here’s a shot  from @philipmat, who was riding the 2021 Honda NC750X DCT a few days ago. He says the Honda “does a great jot on forest” roads. Shot taken in Romania, a “well-known off-road haven,” and “you don’t need a dual-sport to explore a great deal of it.”

Below, same country, same Honda, same inmate, on gravel roads.

And below, again in Romania, something unusual. “What I wanted to highlight was that after a few forest roads, we took a rather anonymous paved road, and then, in the middle of literally nowhere, with no one around, not a vehicle for at least half an hour before and after – boom – there we found a rocket testing facility. Some of the equipment had ESA logos (European Space Agency), some didn’t, and there was even a life-sized mock-up of an Ariadne rocket laying on its side in a fenced-in, of course, field.

“Then we were off to more paved and unpaved roads for as long as we had light.”

New Zealand

Here are six images taken from an Edelweiss tour of New Zealand that yours truly (@stevethornton) enjoyed a few years ago. First up, a member of the tour shoots a pic of his lovely wife standing before a lovely road.

The South Island is filled with great roads. Any road-capable bike would do well here (I was riding a GS, which was just about perfect for every bit of terrain we encountered, though it was mostly paved). Curves are abundant, and my experience was that traffic didn’t get in the way, and if it did, we passed it.

Lots of stopping to see the views, which were often spectacular.

Below, a road up to an observatory. While the place was meant for looking up, the view down the road was pretty good, too.

The Flat Rock Cafe attracted a lot of bikers and was near some very nice roads.

V-Strom launch in Croatia

Suzuki launched the 2012 V-Strom 650 in Croatia, a place with great roads and beautiful views. Below, a photographer crouches in the back of a car, shooting a bike from a position in front of it. With this kind of setup, the motorcycle rider can get very close to the photographer while making highway speeds, which produces some wonderful photos for the magazine story.

Here, the riders (journalists from several countries) take a break at a scenic viewpoint and compare notes. The V-Strom performed as expected: really well.

Clouds overhead

Here’s a Suzuki SV650X that @Mark.F bought a few weeks ago as a winter bargain and had planned on having it run-in by now “but the incessant rain has delayed the running in process. Even when the sun’s shone the black clouds have returned.” The photo was shot in Lancashire a few days ago. “I should have the bike run in this weekend & it’s booked on the ferry to (Sunny) France in 4 weeks time.” We’ll wish him good luck and good weather!

Season-opener

Here are some shots from editor @Kawazacky, who had a “fun season-opener ride’ in Cape Breton a while back on his Suzuki. “Things started off very soggy, and while I dried out overnight at The Cove Motel in Port Hastings (which is considerate enough to have kickstand pads for riders in their parking lot), I actually melted the in-room hair dryer while trying to dry out my moto boots. I expected to get pretty wet and actually brought spare boots along for that reason, and ended up bungeeing the other ones down to the rack.

“Things improved a lot after that first morning, after I passed through some flurries in the eastern sections of the Cabot Trail. There was a very heavy sea at the Bay St. Lawrence wharf when I was there, because of the northerly wind.”

“Things warmed up gradually and I spent that first night at the Dancing Moose camp cabins, which are very nicely suited to riders, especially if you want pannenkoeken in the morning, which is sort of like Dutch breakfast pizza.”

“Next day, ran the Cabot Trail again, but note that this motorcycle road isn’t all in good repair; it seems the DOT is only able to keep ahead of the potholes one stretch at a time.”

“That night ended at Mabou River Inn, which was a lot more civilized than the cabins the night before, with excellent pizza on-sight and home-cooked breakfast including homemade bread the next morning. A fella could get used to this!”

“Lots to see in Mabou; the Red Shoe Pub was just opening for the year, and the locals were shifting lobster traps to the wharves for spring fishing.”

“Ended the trip with a stop at the motorcycle shop in Middle River, when I discovered I’d burnt my tire off prematurely with a bit-too-spirited approach to the Cabot Trail. Not the first time that shop has helped me out of a jam, and likely not the last! He’s got some rubber for just about any bike, and even if he’s busy, he will generally be able to help. I had to take the tire off myself, as he was booked up for the morning, but he had the air compressor to make setting the bead a much easier job.”

And that’s it for now. We’ve run a little short on photos recently, so again we call out for help. Submit your pictures to ADVrider by clicking the link below, and remember, we love to see what you’ve been doing. Please note that last week’s entry included a dud link, which shouldn’t happen again, and we appreciated the comment made by a reader notifying us. Yes, we should spot these things ourselves without assistance, and no, we don’t, so thanks to those who give us a nudge. And just in case any of you would like to contact the editor of POTW, that’s me, and you can reach me by email at steve.t@advrider.com. Any and all comments welcome. See you next week!