Well its official!
 

Well its official, on wikipedia anyway. Theres a dry link to 'Long Way To Go' at the bottom of this page

Long Way Down - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Its in for 2010. Im quite looking forward to it. Beats most of the s***e on tv these days.

Charlie must be taking a bit of a back seat at the moment as he's doing a series of one man shows around the country. I'm seeing him in Aylesbury in the middle of March.

They must be into the planing bit at the moment. Perhaps we could make some suggestions about what kit they should be using - like dump the BM's, get a couple of (insert favorite bike here) or those of you with SA experience could suggest some routes they really must take.

We could probably end up a virtual LWTG scheme based on everyone collective wisdom that we can compare with what they actually do.

Still no cheap GS´s or KTM´s!! (Brand-swap theory)
Hurry up and bring it to the people Ewan and Charlie..

Get on a KLR, actually no, Kawasaki will make you pay for that (:

This is awesome and needs another bump

I've been watching LWR as I am recovering from hip surgery, so far in the extended version I'm up to episode 8. Enjoying it. As far as "hard core" goes its been mentioned 3 time thus far. Once with regards to the medica/kidnap training, once when euan was taking the piss and another time when Charlie found ice on his tent. He's a big jessie aint he, fancy not camping till they got to Krygistan and considering they are staying in Motels accross US/Canada just what the **** have they got those bikes loaded up wth?

sponsors kit :mchappy:. If sponsored they would have been under obligation to "be seen" using the gear. Of course in Siberia the sheer weight of it became a drag and they binned a lot of it.

I think it's true of any sponsored event where sponsorship comes by way of kit instead of money.

A couple of times you see the top box open, and it's full of coms and recording equipment, so I reckon that's why they look so loaded up.By LWD they're carrying less even though they're probably camping more. No doubt the support vehicles carried more, and the electronics have all got smaller.

I know im going to start an argument with this but i've never been much good at being diplomatic, so here goes...

Motorcycle traveller meetings pre LWR/LWD used to be small friendly events with interesting open minded people riding old trail bikes. Sitting around a camp fire talking of far away foreign lands, exciting wild places, sharing future dreams hidden gems on the road and so forth. Generally feeling comfortable in your own wierdness that you love to travel, feel adventure and never really fit into the normal 9-5 Joe bloggs lifestyle (if that makes sense)..

Can I blame E&C that the post LWR/LWD meetings have been full of (invaded maybe ?) middle aged stockbrokers on shiney £15,000 BMW's quoffing Marks & Spencers ready meals out of their £800 mobile home tents ??????

Converation around the campfires these days tends to be on "Whats the best overprices titanium electric toothbrush with built in GPS", " Who watched Topgear" or "What are the best excuses never to travel after spending a small fortune on all the gear because I got caught up in the DVD my wife got me for Christmas"

Ewan and Charlie piss me off... A lot. I feel they have commercialised and in some cases ruined what was a little club of like minded people. Seeing an overloaded bike used to make me excited at the thought that the person riding it was heading out on a grand adventure. Riding around these days, every second bike has £1000 panniers and titanium touratwat coffee warmer. Those boxes are empty !!! They just look "cool".

I don't hate E&C. I don't know them.. From their series, I don't think they're people I would want to share a pint with, but thats not my issue. I just wish they hadn't turned my passion into a media circus.

If one more person says "Oh you're doing that Ewan Mcgreggor thing", i'm gonna slap them.



Will you see me at Ripley this year ?? ... Naaaah !!! I havn't got an electric toothbrush, a shiney new bike and an offshore account. I won't fit in. :innocent:


Back in the day when the HUB was yellow (some of you will know what I mean), their was a great poem about swapping dreams for colour tv's or something. I wish I had copied it because it is very fitting for this thread.

In my experience you rarely ever meet these people outside of bigger cities. I see them all the time riding up and down the local strip. And while I admit that a certain inflation in wannabe adventurer is noticeable it doesn't mean that everybody riding an expensive bike is a wannabe adventurer. I bought a new bike last November, way too expensive for my taste and only because it's the most comfortable bike for two-up riding (basically, it was my wife's decision, I only had to agree...). Coming from an '89 XT600Z Tenere, which was an awesome motorcycle and which I know I'll miss a lot, it's big step forward, and you'd have a hard time pegging me as wannabe adventurer ;)

What I'm trying to say is that I do understand what you're trying to say and I partly agree. I would not, however, judge people based on their bike or the price of their equipment but based on their attitude and behavior. Money should not be an issue, and you'll notice that real adventurers usually stay away from the wannabe specimen.

Trust me on this one: like every single fad it'll blow over. It's just a matter of time until the wannabes find something new.

+1

I did my first out of europe trip to Morocco in 1986 on a Honda CD200 Benly.

I did not have a clue what to expect,and all my kit was from the army and navy store's

I only meet 2 other biker's on that trip both from Holland ,none of us on so called Adventure Bike's :D

We had a fantastic time and the Honda never missed a beat even in the heat of june :oops2:


Now if you try riding around the Yorkshire Dales on any weekend in summer it's full of Adventure bike's with alloy panniers on ,even though they are just having a sunday ride out :confused1::cool4:

each to their own and live and let live,and all that.

Buy when you get these wanttobe's taking the pi55 out of your bike because you have all sorts of home made usefull shit on it .:sleeping:

Sadly the overland image is now like that of Harley Davidson Rider's :blushing: you can buy and look the part of a world rider.


So for me.........Does anyone have a 1980 Honda cd200 benly for sale :innocent:

Hi Dazzer & Ted,

I know what you mean. It's as though whatever interest you've had for years now appears to be overtaken by the wannabes.

Three subjects that I'm passionate about have all, repeat all gone in this direction.

Firstly we have 'Adventure Riding' which has been invaded by those with much deeper pockets than myself. As I trundle along on my Serow, I still acknowledge the riders (apart from those who choose ignore the rider of such a basic machine) but I'm happy to continue along in my own little World.

Secondly we have 'Gliding'. I used to fly a lot and we mainly used very basic construction and cheap airframes to get our jolleys, however the deeper pocket brigade came along and invaded our hobby with Carbon Fibre and GRP (or Tuppawear as we called it) aircraft, with costs that made us cringe and they've had a massive effect on the sport. Many of the traditionalists have now left the sport due to the effects that this evolution's had.

Lastly we have photography. I must admit that the digital revolution's affected the whole market. Anyone who can afford a high spec digital camera and a couple of lens reckon they're photographers! Again the deep pocket brigade's invaded the market. Not long ago you could save up, buy a good camera, use it for a couple of years then part ex it against a better camera, whilst still retaining a good residual value. These days you buy a digital SLR and within 2 years it's worth bugger all.

I don't blame the individuals themselves, it's the bloody marketing people that do their utmost in getting the public to spend, spend, spend, promising them that their lives will change! In the real World it's not the toys that change the World, it's the people themselves.

I reckon that E & C have been good ambassadors to the motorcycle industry, on the whole, and have transformed the image of bikers to the Joe Public but this is at the expense of those of us who've been riding for years.

It's a sign of the times!

That's exactly my point... I have almost bitten my lower lip clean off from the amount of times that these "wannabee knownothings" tell me that my little DRZ is the wrong bike for the job..

"oooo you wanna get yourself a real bike son" Look at my GS1200 Adventure covered in Touratwat, thats what you need.. I'm doing a trip to Yorkshire next weekend once I've got my metal mules powder coated" - Actual quote from Ripley 2009

Hi Ted,

if it keeps 'em happy and leaves the ferry places open for us then we should be happy they're sticking to Yorkshire. Afterall the powder coating of the panniers is essential before heading to Yorkshire!

Thoughts from a wanna be.

I first thought about doing a motorbike trip when i was in Chile and i met an american chap that was doing Alaska to TDF. I thought that the trip he was on was amazing.

It was always going to be a long term project because I didn't know anything about bikes and i had never even sat on one. The thought about taking a long trip on a bike was much more intimidating than pottering around with a rucksack.

A couple of years ago i bought my bike and i have been riding every day (bar snow) since then.

In the time between having the idea and getting the bike LWR happened and it did spur me on - i hadn't heard of mondo then. LWR looked like a huge amount of fun and i wanted some of it.

Last year i went to Ripley - I thought that it was inspiring - the trips that people had been on were fantastic.

Since then I have taken my bike on a 2 week jaunt though europe. It was a huge adventure for me - i had never ridden abroad, never riden on a long journey with a loaded bike, never ridden in mountains, never done customs, etc - from my point of view an adventure is doing something outside of your comfort zone - my 2 weeks in europe with my bike was more of an adventure than 2 weeks in bolivia with my back pack.

I am going back to Ripley this year (booked) and hopefully the year after i won't be able to go because i will be somewhere in Mexico - according to my theory this will be a Huge adventure.

The point about LWD is that when i say to people about wanting to do a moto trip they say "wow, that will be amazing" rather than "don't do it" (except for my mum) and i don't think that is a bad thing.

Ripley from my point of view is partly about taking to the guys and gals that have done it - that have done the things that i want to do - that i am going to do - and it would be a shame if people didn't go because of people with "limited adventures".

It does upset me though when people say it was so much better in the old days - for one things change, new people get involved in and technologies move on but two and more importantly - I wasn't there in the old days, I am doing my adventure and i am doing it in my time - and it will still be an adventure because i am going into the unknown.

Just a few thoughts

Which, again, doesn't mean the 1200GSA is the wrong bike for the job. For some it's the perfect bike for doing extensive trips around Europe/Africa/America/Asia/Australia/the World. Others make sure to clean, wash, ans polish it every time they've taken it out of the garage and exposed it to sunlight and, god forbid, dirt or dust. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to defend anyone here. I'm just curious: where do you draw the line? Is it adventurous to do an extensive one or two month trip through Eastern Europe, two-up on an '89 Yamaha XT600Z Tenere with full camping gear? Certainly so. But is it also adventurous to do the same, two-up on a brand-new 1200GSA with full camping gear?

But maybe I'm just misunderstanding something here. Maybe this is a specifically British phenomenon because I can tell you one thing for sure: over here in Germany the wannabes stick to their city and the local strip, because god forbid they could get their brand-new motorcycle and equipment dirty or, even worse, noone would see them prancing around showing off what they can afford. I have yet to see a wannabe adventurer outside the city, on a campsite or wild camping somewhere off the beaten track. What I have seen are 1150GSAs, several years old with less than 10,000kms. However, I have also seen plently BMWs off the beaten track and, until recently, despised them myself when I still had my Tenere. Now that I have one myself I have learned to differentiate because there is a small portion of BMW riders who actually are not like all the others. I despise the ones that try to solve everything with money - I'm registered on a big BMW forum and whatever question I ask there, the solution is almost always "go to TT/Wunderlich/BMW and buy abcdefg, then have your mechanic do the job for you". There's way too many wannabes out there, I give you that. But there's also a solid core of those who have chosen the bike according to the purpose and not vice versa.

Again, maybe I'm just not getting this. Maybe it's a British phenomenon that outsiders cannot understand. Maybe it has to do with the fact that neither LWR nor LWD were shown in TV over here, and that adventure motorcycling is not the fad in certain circles. I think it's still SUVs right now, with mud in cans and pseudo offroad capabilities. Because you never know when the jungle might hit you. Downtown of course.

:censored:My first post!
I cant stand those guys and it's because with all their money they're not prepared to really do it themselves, they try to tell you it was a struggle and I for one wasnt convinced.

And if you were daft enough to make them more money by buying their DVD's then I'm almost lost for words