Wouldn't it be more interesting if "Long Way Up" was filmed from and featured the point of view of the South/Central/North American people that stars Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman rideby/meet along the way?

It matters little to me which bikes they ride, unless they decided to switch sponsors and ride bikes manufactured in Brazil.

It matters even less to me that they afford themselves the best gear, hotels, an expensive crew and equipment, and expensive contingency plans.

WHAT DOES MATTER TO ME IS THAT THESE TWO MEN, THEIR SPONSORS AND THEIR CREWS HAVE PROMOTED MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE TOURING TO MILLIONS, and it matters even more that because of their efforts, "hardcore or not" many, many more international motorcycle adventurers will be riding internationally.

I believe communication can resolve all conflict, and that the communication/understanding between international motorcycle adventurers and the peoples of the world contributes to world peace.

Ride on Ewan and Charley and ride free.

xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com

i dont really understand why people complain about the pair.
i had not even got a bike licence before i watched lwr, now i am saving for my trip from alaska to argentina next year with a friend who was equally inspired by the program. yes they moan alot but who cares, personally i think most of us moan when we are doing something difficult, and its the most difficult moments that we look back on with so much satisfaction that we did it.
the guys are not hardcore endurance riders that have been on the road for years they are bloody actors! you dont get much further from your comfort zone than that?!

chris

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www.mainlyduesouth.com in support of the Colin McRae Vision

Just remember, they are filming a TV show. I would say that a lot of it is scripted or at least edited so to give entertaining conflict, man vs. environment, man vs. man, and man vs. himself, and the odd comic relief bit to keep people interested.
'Let's get the jeeps stuck in the mud and get the bikes out first. That'll keep the rider's the cheering and the cagers thinking about geting a bike.'
'Let's grab the wrong passport and piss off customs.'
'Let's tell C&E that there are bandits in the area and let them sweat."
'Hey Ewan, Charley, talk about your wives and kids and cry a little to rile up the macho guys and keep their wives watching...'
'Hey Charley, do a wheelie in front of that elephant to keep the macho street guys watching.'
"Let's make fun of the next guy's name and piss him off (BAM - Farty episode) and make 'some' people laugh at how rude and ignorant we foreigners can be...'

It's just entertainment, and it is entertaining(most of the time).

I do applaud them for trying to get local people into the picture. The unicef stuff is great. Having dinner with a local person is the best most of us can ever hope for seeing real people's lives without actually living there.

RE their bike of choice... they learned their lesson about sponsorship in Race to Dakar, we haven't seen a BMW 4x4 since. Those BMW bikes are up to the task, even if not all of us like them.

I wish I was a cameraman and could go along for the ride and get paid for it...

go to youtube and type in: ewan and thingy
9 different video clips that sum up C&E's death defying challenge

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"Life is too short to drink cheap wine!"

Seen them.... Brilliant !

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I viewed bits and pieces of the suggested YouTube productions and could not help but laugh. Those who wrote and produced the series of 9 shorts now being presented on YouTube must be Ewan and Charlie's greatest fans.... proving once again that ancient adage "Imitation is the fondest form of flattery."

It brings to mind the shadows the men and women represented here who are more than likely the very people Ewan and Charlie are trying to imitate. They might be doing a better job of imitation than we can now know.

I will reserve further comment on Ewan and Charlie's adventures until the shows are over and I see how it all ends. There might well be a very surprising and endearing ending.

xfiltrate

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com

You can bet if they do ever make a "long way up", it will be the same crew, they'll be riding BMWs, and the format will be pretty much the same... it's a successful entertainment franchise (as others have said) and they will not mess with the format.

If you don't think you'll enjoy it, don't watch it - simple.

Goodness only four pages this time, and already this subject is almost as tedious as the "how much should I get paid for an article" thread...

Toot toot!

xxx

I'l give you the €1.17 I've got in my pocket, will that do you?

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Hee hee - wrong thread - I think... It can be difficult to tell these days x

That won't get him much synthetic oil for his BMW (Runs and hides)

Andy

Just wanted to say, I'm not a biker, but I loved Ewan and Charlies shows. I am definately going to get my bike license, once I've got my car license (still on my Learner's). I thought their trip was just fantastic. Sure it wouldn't be the same if you're not a Movie Star, but who cares? They really did not take themselves that seriously either.

I think it maybe seems a lot more "commercial" than it probably actually was. Most of the time it was just 3 guys on bikes, with Claudio filming on a handheld camera. It wasn't like they had a huge film crew and directors following them around everywhere. The cars were mostly just with them at the borders, usually it was just the 3 bikes on their own, and the two cars on their own, on seperate routes.

They had a support crew and fixers and stuff to keep them on time to meet their deadlines. They were making a TV show after all. I am sure they would have done it without the TV show and support crew, and they probably will in the future.

Motorcycle adventuring has been brought into the mainstream by Ewan and Charlie and I think some people are just a bit bitter that they aren't as "cool" or "rebelious" anymore because of it. But there is nothing wrong with being mainstream. If you like it, do it, don't do it just to "be cool". Whatever anyone else says shouldn't actually matter. I'm really enthusiastic about getting into motorbiking now, because of Ewan and Charlie, I don't care if other bikers think that I'm "uncool" because of that.

And the BMW 4x4 on Dakar. The problem was just that the company that was modifying it to get it up to race standards didn't have enough time to complete it. And gave it to them with heaps of things unfinished and unconnected. It wasn't BMW that really had the problem, it was a seperate modifying company called... "Sceptre?" or something like that. They were basically just crap and the guy kept making lots of excuses as to why they were over budget and hadn't met the deadline. BMW comes off really well in all 3 shows I think. Simon was sort of from BMW, he was good, and John the Mechanic that royally saved their butts was from BMW as well I think. And the bikes seemed to do the job well.

The reason they had Nissans (or whatever) on LWD instead of the BMW from the Dakar was probably because of an existing deal with Nissan (or whoever) from LWR where they used the same vehicles. Dakar was a bit of a seperate franchise.

And that's just my little rant.

It was Scorpion racing, and they were probably busy with the amount of professional teams who needed their cars modding.

I believe Simon Pavey runs the BMW off road training centre in South Wales.

Ive read C+E have done plenty of overland trips on their tods. Ewan went from east to west coast USA on some cruiser with a lighter and ash tray installed. Apparently he "smoked all the way". In the same article he goes on to say that "he likes the idead of LWU, but would probably do it on his own due to busy schedule".

KeithL Thanks for your rant...... Here is my rant...
And, thanks tommysmithfromleeds, thanks to your both for confirming what I suspected about Ewan and Charlie's motorcycle adventures. Your brief descriptions of their adventures feels right to me. I believe you got it right.

Mostly I post only on HU and have a well read thread in HUBB's South and Central America and Mexico region, so my comments are limited by the actual number of posts I've read.

Here comes the rant part....

It is my opinion that 2 kinds of motorcyclists post here:

#1 Capable independent thinkers who are surviving the rigors of overland motorcycling, enjoying themselves and are willing to lend a hand to help others survive whenever they can. They are open to new ideas and applaud those who are surviving better than they are.

#2 Somewhat capable independent thinkers who are barely surviving the rigors of overland motorcycling, and are chronically antagonistic even angry and become enraged whenever they believe someone might be doing better than they are. They are threatened by anything new and different from the way they do things...... They attack anyone, who, in their opinion is better off than they are. They are very threatened by the success of others.

Fortunately, as I have discovered is also true in the real world, the vast majority of people posting here, are best characterized by #1. Only a very, very few could be characterized by #2.

I attribute the unreasonable attacks with the extremely negative comments about Ewan and Charlie's "Long Way Round" and "Long way Down," to the very few described by #2.

KeithL I hope you do get your bike license and a bike and when you ride it to Buenos Aires, I hope we can meet. WELCOME!

xfiltrate,

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Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com

xfiltrate; nail on head!

your thoughts on two groups (1+2 thinkers) is spot on.

nuff said, lets move on lol!

Hi Guys,
For those of you that enjoy Charley and Ewan's programs I thought I would post this up just in case any of you are based around Cairns, Australia.

We have just making a second series of By Any Means in which Charley is traveling from Australia to Japan. The journey kicked off on Monday in Sydney and he is currently working his way up the coast.

Last year Charley met some bikers near Mossman, Queensland and went off for an amazing days riding around the Daintree, he was planning to ride with them again in this series but sadly it is not happening.

We would like to get in contact with any bikers that live in the area and know the area well.
Ideally he is looking at riding from Cairns to Cooktown via Mossman, hopefully along dirt tracks through the Daintree forest. We hope to do this at the end of the month.

If you think you could help out or would like to get involved. Please get in touch. you can email me at ollie 'AT' longwaydown 'DOT' com

thank you
O