⚙️ #25 Building Bridges - Testing, Community, Content 🇺🇸

From day one, Dust has maintained an open-door policy regarding its development, sharing progress through social media, and monthly member meetings. We have become deeply engaged with the community by traveling to events, meeting and riding with riders of all levels, and building partnerships with industry experts. Throughout this journey, we have captured content and collected valuable data to 1) build the best bike possible and 2) give you insight into the process, along with the opportunity to share your opinions about the Dust bike.

Instagram has always been our primary platform for grassroots content distribution; however, we recognize that not everyone uses Instagram. So, we’ve put together a little synopsis of content from our testing sessions over the last seven months. Sit back, grab a drink of your choice, and enjoy some videos of people ripping on the Model_1 Alpha Prototype bikes.

Youtube - HERE
Facebook - HERE
LinkedIn - HERE
Instagram - HERE

Multi Discipline - Oregon

This was one of the first test days we hosted after finishing the initial Alpha bike. With Dust team rider Carson Storch and a few others, we were able to test the bike on tight trails, wide-open power pulls, and a backyard track session. This was a meaningful test day, and helped us to recognize that we'd built something special.

Reed Boggs Test Day - Utah

Ripping ridge lines and testing high speeds on loose surfaces was the name of the game in the Utah desert this past February. During our week-long trip, we met with pro riders, potential investors and dealers, and put some serious hours on the prototype. This was the first time we had a rider on the bike for an extended period, going through multiple batteries, and the bike handled it beautifully.

Palmer Compound - Utah

After riding with Reed in Southern Utah, we visited the Palmer compound. Kayden and Kyson spent the day switching off riding the proto; starting on the pit bike track, and eventually sending an absolute booter. The unique size of the Model_1 shines in these environments, ripping around the pit track where other big bikes would really struggle and then being able to easily transition into 70 foot table tops.

Washougal Test Day - Washington

Washougal is famous for hosting outdoor nationals, but it's also a community-centric weekend hangout spot. With Rory Sullivan and Joey Lancaster on the bike, we tackle the field track, some trails in the hills, light enduro/trials, and even a couple pulls on horsepower hill.

April Ride Day - Oregon

Next, we met up with April Zastrow in Bend. She grew up riding Moto but has recently shifted her focus more to MTB, building a successful YouTube channel full of riding tips and awesome locations. Her video offers an in-depth look and riding review of the bike on a backyard Moto track, and some Bend single track, as well as some behind the scenes perspective from our team.

Desert Testing - Palm Springs

One of the more brutal test days we had on the bike. This started as a shoot session for the launch edition graphics but quickly turned into a learning lesson about heat management in extreme conditions (105 + degrees, and soft sand).

Backyard Fun - Michigan

While in Michigan meeting with Newlabs, we were able to make a day trip North to meet up with Brad HERE. This was a super fun day of testing trails, enduro, and just playing having some fun on the bike. At the end of the day that's what riding moto is all about right?

Prototype Updates

• We took two bikes down to Surfercross in southern California on Monday. The bike was raced by Chance Gaul (HERE). It's the first time the bike has been publicly raced, so we look forward to providing more updates and learnings soon! More info on the event HERE
• Sirris suspension is here! We will be doing a full suspension deep dive newsletter in the coming months, but we are super excited to have these installed on the bikes and start getting the bikes into riders hands for some long term testing. More info on Sirris HERE
• We are underway with Beta/ production design. Progress has picked up in regards to refining the frame and plastics with weight loss and design for manufacturing at the forefront. We are excited to complete this and build up our final test fleet before moving into production.

Dust Gold

• It's always fun watching the progression of technology, including Samsung introducing their new solid state battery with insanely quick charging times. It will be interesting to watch where this goes and see if they can bring it to a consumer price level. More info HERE
• Some speculation around Royal Enfield reviving a heritage bike, the Flying Flea, which was originally designed for usage by the military in WWII. It doesn't sound like anything is set in stone, but some cool design elements have been incorporated into this retro electric revival. Check it out HERE
• It looks like Taiwan is getting into the side by side and UTV game with their new electric offerings launching in the US. With roots in golf carts, Kandi Technologies are the latest company to make a move towards a more performance product approach. It will be very interesting to watch how they compete with the major players. Check it out HERE

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Done and DUSTED for this month. See you all on the next lap.