Not only would I, I have already have 2 firsts:
Quote
“ The FIRST tripled-balled slaphead to drive with a Malawian Togolosh to the end of the World on 2 different bikes twice within 12 months. So there!!!!”

From http://www.thebrightstuff.com/ch27.htm

And

“The first man to ride an airhead into the ground... literally”

From http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=539228&page=2

:innocent:, Sorry off topic :(

So what you are saying is that no one can ever claim to be the first to do anything? Because they cannot prove that no one else has done it? Please explain how someone could prove that no one has ridden the BAM before? Are you suggesting that we might find decades of newspaper archives from the area with headlines such as: "NO ONE RIDES THROUGH HERE ON A MOTORCYCLE--AGAIN!".

Frankly I find your position rather odd.

gentlemen,
can i say a word?

as i worked for the only soviet motorcycling magazine and the editor of the travelling department of the mag who by some coincidence was the head of Soviet and then Russian Committee for motorcycle travelling worked at the desk in the next room
i believe the information on any foreign mototravellers between year 1991-2002 was available to me.
there was no story about riding BAM road
it should be clear for any one - it was a road of no significance leading nowhere. what's more - no foreign person could be let go along strategic railroad in that times. not possible. it was a forbidden route.

the main road was ( and is) THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY which was fully surfaced with tarmac only a year ago.
in soviet era it was the same hell as road to magadan now and the goal of any traveller was to do it.

if some still need some proof from history please contact Mr. Ivan Ksenofontov ksenofontov@zr.ru who is the very editor.

Very interesting, do you have any information about the attempt of driving around the polar circle in 1992?

Gentlemen

Clearly the claim to be the first stands until proven otherwise.

This is a common scientific procedure and the research works leading up to this claim does appears to have significant weight.

So until proven otherwise, colebatch and crew have the rights to this claim.

Just my 2c

kim

......

With all due respect, thats a ridiculous thing to say.

Neil Armstrong cannot prove there was no-one before him on the moon. He cant prove that an ethiopian empereor smoking weed didnt arrive there 40 years before him on a flying carpet.

No one can prove that someone hasnt run faster than 9 seconds for the 100 metres. Maybe someone has and it wasnt timed. Do you honestly think Usain Bolt has to prove to Guinness that its not possible for anyone to have done it faster than his 9.58 seconds?

How could Roald Amundsen prove that no-one had been to the South Pole before him? He couldn't, of course.

So of course Guinness do NOT require proof that no-one has done something before or faster. They require proof of what YOU HAVE done. If someone else puts their hand up and can verify they have done it earlier or faster, then the record is amended.

But to claim Guinness require you to prove no-one has been faster or earlier is frankly absurd, and shows that you are really just making this up as you go along.

You can't prove the negative. Either for the sake of science, for Guinness or for the sake of adventure motorcycling. I am afraid Guinness do NOT share your view.

You are pissing into the wind here ... and getting pretty wet boots ...

Doh you beat me to it and even used the same example

Similarly, everytime Kevin and Julia set a new record on their bikes ... they dont have to PROVE no one has done Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in less than their time. No-one can prove someone hadnt ridden it faster when they got into the Guinness book of records for their earlier rides. You cant prove some hippy in the 1960s didnt do it in 12 days, can you?

Simon and Lisa Thomas have a record, Simon and Monika Newbound also have one for the longest road trip by a couple. They can't prove no other couple has done it longer. Of course they cant.

These are just more examples ... if someone can prove otherwise, then do so, and the record will be amended. However, in the absence of contrary evidence, the claims are valid, and people like Kevin and Julia, Simon and Lisa, Simon and Monika and others, are entitled to their claims.

Out of curiosity Alibaba, what do you make of Helge Pedersen's claim to be the first to take a motorcycle through the Darien Gap? Obviously that is also impossible to prove. Correct?

Thanks, I've learned a lot today.

Now I know it's okay to say you are the first who did something, even if you can't back it up. I'm sure it will be helpful.

As far as I know he wasn't the first :innocent:

But first you have to actually get out of the armchair and go do it.

We can back up what we did (and when) attempting the entire BAM.
Can anyone else do the same - for themselves or others?

Let's be hearing you.....

Aaahh, so you have to get out of the chair, then it doesn't fit me.


This is a nice worldmap, sadly I love my chair to much.
http://www.globeriders.com/about_pag..._BannerMap.jpg

Ah yes, I knew you were going to try and pull that stunt ... the old Helge Pedersen map.

Let me guess, you are like the cheerleader for the Helge Pedersen fan club, right?

And you have trouble accepting what anyone else does, post Helge, as having any validity?

Do you even know what roads those lines (on Helge Pedersen's map) in Siberia represent? I think if you did, you would not have had this conversation. Let me help you ... as mentioned earlier in this post, they are the Western BAM, the Lena Highway and the Kolyma Highway. Even Helge Pedersen made no attempt on the Eastern BAM.

Everything you ever reference, from reasons you need a BMW boxer to travel round the world, or the reason you need metal boxes, and now even a map of Siberia ... you take straight from Helge Pedersen. (If Helge uses a BMW boxer and metal boxes, then its good enough for me ... why do I need to think, when I can just copy Helge, right?)

The key question is ... Are you capable of having a discussion about adventure motorcycling without reference to Helge Pedersen?

He does that.