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The Long Way Round...

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Method
World Chat Champion



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PostPosted: 02:16 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: The Long Way Round... Reply with quote

Just finished watching that film (if you can call it a film :S )...

Untill now my dream had been to get off my GS500 and get me a new, flashy, sports bike to show off to all my mates on... watching that film just made me realise what its all about! brought me back down to earth again and made me realise why i got into this in the first place, and why i took my full test. Was a realy inspiring dvd and made me smile constantly!

Its just brought me right back down and made me appreciate the bike i have, and the freedom it gives me... truely amazing! Thumbs Up

anyone else seen it? and had a kind of sureal spiritual uplifting because of it? Very HappyVery HappyVery Happy
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Method
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PostPosted: 02:16 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

or for that matter, has anyone been on a trip like that themselves? Very Happy
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natv4
Brolly Dolly



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PostPosted: 04:41 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

I spent nearly a month last year travelling around europe by bike with a tent. 5000 miles of fun and friends.

Difficult times for sure, but those are the ones you remember the most (I REALLY HATE automatic french toilettes, REALLY!).

You also meet loads of interesting people; probably the best part of the trip ... you realise that people are not all that different.

You will notice things about places that people fail to describe; in Venice you are nearly deafened by footsteps.

You have adventures; I passed a police car in Italy whilst on the wrong side of the road, double the speed limit (i was filtering and trying to make camp before night, my bad)...so instead of stopping when they put lights on and followed, I sprinted, darted through a break in traffic, took a side road, then another, full throttle all the way. Hid bike on a pedestrian area, behind a bin. I have never been so scared. Got away with it, such a buzz. Would probably leave that one next time. Didn't leave town for 2 hours, then changed clothes and rode very very sensibly.

You see things that make you sad; prostitutes in windows in Czech Republic.

And things that amaze you; any of the many mountain ranges, alps, pyrenes, massif ... lakes, rivers etc.

Worth every penny, every second. I'm off to see eastern Europe this year. Then America, the world etc.....

Do It! You will only regret not trying. (sorry for such a long post, I feel very passionate about this topic) BTW - despite what people say, good on Charlie and Ewan, Hope they film their next one, its fun to dream. Smile
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kaillum
Nova Slayer



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PostPosted: 11:40 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

sat and watched it with the wife.. she decided that she didnt want a short break in April and a holiday in the sun in July.. She's taking her DAS test in April (instead of going to Amsterday Sad) and we've just booked the ferrrys for July for 2 bike and 2 people to Ireland..

Got the route planned, anti-clockwise round the coast, just under 2000 miles...

and if that goes well we're gonna do Milan in November for the Bike Show....

All because of that bloody DVD!! Very Happy
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Method
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PostPosted: 11:41 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

that post was great Very Happy it just so happens im thinking of doing some kind of trip soon and your post has just made me even more determined! Very Happy
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CBT Aug '03 ... Gilera GSM 50 ... Honda NSR 125 Aug '04 ...
Full Test Dec 04... Suzuki GS500 Jan 05... Suzuki SV650 Mar 07... Gixxer 6 K5 May 08... Oh and my 'Rado Wink
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ratcliffe
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PostPosted: 12:03 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got a weeks holiday at the end of July, and I am planning on booking one of the speedferries 50 quid crossings, and just heading on out into Europe and seeing how far I get before I have to come back... 9 days in total. Not all that long, but a good first trip.
Inspired by LWR really, although I had been wanting to do it for years, but never had the courage.
Rosie wants to get her wheels onto some foreign climes Very Happy
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Gti
Bendy Groupie



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PostPosted: 12:18 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

natv4 wrote:
You see things that make you sad; prostitutes in windows in Czech Republic.


Cheered up when you found out the prices though didn't you. Wink
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G
The Voice of Reason



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PostPosted: 12:44 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have a look at what some of the people that have done this on a lower budget hgave done. Much more impressive, in my opinion.


My parents had travelled accross Afrika on various bikes before I was born. Including the Kalahari deserst and various mountains.

Wouldn't mind repeating their last trip to Botswana (where I was born) at some point.
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Keith
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PostPosted: 13:22 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought the adventure was also pretty influential and plan to do some european riding this year. Nothing major, just out and about for a while.

I read an article about Long Way Round in the local paper a few weeks back. It said that the GS adventure has never sold so well before Ewan and Charley's adventure, said the main reason why they were bought was to travel.

At the end of their documentary, I like the way he says that anything can be done if you put your mind to it, riding a bike around the world can be done and they only hope they have influenced people to do something similar. I planned to travel before I seen the programme, but that just made me want to even more! Roll on 18th birthday! Very Happy
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mr.z
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PostPosted: 14:32 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Before even wanting a bike i wanted to travel... this i'd mentioned several time to my girlfriend much to her annoyance/upseting, suggestions she came with me werent popular either Laughing

Though since siting on my girlfriend and makeing her watch (after the first episode she was intregued enough to watch it all the way through) she has now decided that she wants to go with! allthough on one bike..

The GS DID sell very big in the usa, but now it sells more, quite a big following in the states, very big, very comfy, heated seats???...

Bmws are more or less the standard adventure touring bike, https://www.ultimatejourney.com/motorcycles.html (have a look at the photos as well!)

But then a couple went arround the world TWICE on a 1981 cx500.. personaly i'd do a full rebuild first but it wold do it all quite happly for £2000 of work no problem...
Two guys brought second hand transalp 400s and went 20/30 thousand miles on them...

I suppose its hard to drop everything and just bugger off, especially if you have a house/job/kids/dog/cat to worry about... i'm just dieing to go before theres that to worry about...


https://www.ultimatejourney.com/T.RTWbikes3.JPG
Round the world on a bike? there bloody loads of em!
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G
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PostPosted: 14:46 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

The last bike my parents had used (which my mum still has) was a BMW R60 (normal road bike style).

However this was got for it's simplicity.
It's an air cooled twin with the horizontally opposed cylinders sticking out. Less fluids to piss out and go wrong. Easy access to cylinders, a spare one if one goes down, but not lots of cylinders to go wrong.
Also had a kickstart fitted.

The new GS's seemed a bit too complex, was suitably amused when their power brakes failed.

Personally I would be looking at a leccy start enduro with a kickstart.
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mr.z
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PostPosted: 14:57 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

G wrote:
The new GS's seemed a bit too complex, was suitably amused when their power brakes failed.
Personally I would be looking at a leccy start enduro with a kickstart.


Agreed, in the unlikely event of something major going wrong they would have been royaly fooked! well they had to leave the bike anyways and that wasn't really all that major a problem...

Even when chooseing between the ktms they wanted the bigger one, dispite them pointing out the harder to work on, more complicated (and less relyable) nature of the larger one...

As well illustrated by the little russian shat box a smaller bike would have been a good idea there...
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 15:14 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

zero wrote:

As well illustrated by the little russian shat box a smaller bike would have been a good idea there...


Saw one earlier this month:

https://www.bikechatforums.com/download.php?id=12058

They even have little covers that bolt over the transfer ports which allow you to decoke the engine and inspect the rings without taking the heads off.
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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Villers
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PostPosted: 15:39 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

...or just make a shed load of money making films (enough so that you think you are better than everyone else and no longer have to buy things) then piss and moan to the likes of KTM and BMW for a free bike (then chuck your toy out of the pram when KTM wont give you one). Do same with other useful companies like Snap-on etc. Get a god knows how many man support crew with two four by fours. And then at the end of it all say something really ridiculous like 'I hope this encourages other people to do the same'. Thinking

Apart from the first and last episode it was brilliant, an excellent insight into all the places they passed through and a testament to their will to continue. I was a little dissapointed that america only lasted 1 episode though.

I think Ewan shone through as a great character, whereas that charlie guy seemed a little strange to me.

If you have their money, their fame and more front than blackpool. Get a free bike, a load of free gear, a free support crew and some cars for them and set off! you'll enjoy it!

Sorry for the bitter post but all that begging pissed me off!

Wink
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Bendy
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PostPosted: 15:43 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why pay yourself when you can get someone else to?

Modern capitilism, my good buddy. Wink
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mr.z
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PostPosted: 15:53 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not only that, you simply can't buy advertising like that, 4 bikes is absolutely bugger all compared to how much business it got bmw, or would have got ktm... not to mention sonic, snap on, touratech e.t.c.

If you read the book the ktm consultant sounds like an absolute twunt, i'm not supprised they were angry...

stinkwheel wrote:
Saw one earlier this month:


They do have a certain charm dont they Razz
Who actually makes them?
I know a company called 5 stars still make circa 1950s bmw engined sidecar outfits in china... they look... entertaining Razz
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Last edited by mr.z on 15:57 - 26 Feb 2005; edited 3 times in total
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Toady
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PostPosted: 15:55 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
natv4 wrote:
You see things that make you sad; prostitutes in windows in Czech Republic.


Cheered up when you found out the prices though didn't you.




LMAO Laughing Damn right
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DustBuster
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PostPosted: 16:43 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good series, actually inspired me to get back to the bikes. Got 2 now. . Brought back memories of me doing Lands End to John O`Groats when i was 17 on my Honda VT250. Was supposed to be going with a bunch of mates but they all got back with there birds and i didn`t so i went on my todd.

Heres a great link for anybody interested in travelling RTW or just reading about other peoples travels. Lots of info on there regarding equipment, routes, paperwork etc. Have a look.

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/
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mr.z
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PostPosted: 16:45 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Theres also a meeting this year in derbyshire, literally a 15minute pootle arround the corner to me, should be interesting, gong to help out with a rideout possibly, should be good Smile
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Scotsman37
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PostPosted: 16:53 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, I remember that programme and it was good too. It was funny seeing them saying out loud what they thought of KTM in turning them down and their rep talking bull shit when he only did part of the journey which they were about to embark on.

Thank goodness former Russian military goods vehicles that got them across deep rivers and the ingenuity of the people of Mongolia knowing how to strip & rebuild bike engines to get them going again !

Oh yes, the problem with BMW bike's frame breaking was due to the overloading of the bike as confirmed by the guy at MCS, Renfrew. At least the trio realised this later on and dumped loads of stuff at one stage to lighten the load....!
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Major_Grooves
The Doctor



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PostPosted: 17:59 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

I loved the book, and have watched most of the series but haven't got around to watching that last one.

Got Charlie's autograph at Ally Pally. He looked quite bored. Laughing

Oh look there's a link to buy the Long Way Round in my signature! Whistle
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 18:09 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

zero wrote:

They do have a certain charm dont they Razz
Who actually makes them?
I know a company called 5 stars still make circa 1950s bmw engined sidecar outfits in china... they look... entertaining Razz


There are various places that make the same bike. I think they were marketed as a 'jupiter' in this country but I am pretty certain that almost identical 250 and 350 2-stroke twins were made by or marketed as Cossack, Ural, Voskhod, Minsk, IZH, Planeta and Kalashnikov. They bear a great many similarities to CZ and Jawa too.

An interesting feature is that they all smoke more out of the left exhaust than the right. There is no immediatley apparent good reason for this as many of them have a single carb and a wasted spark. My theory is that the original machine design had a slight design error on it which has been replicated on every subsequent one for the last 45 years, many of the parts are used over and over in subsequent models. My 1989 Jawa has 1968 gearbox clusters in it which fitted on the modern layshaft with no modifications whatsoever. Rolling Eyes
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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-Ali-
Trackday Trickster



Joined: 22 Feb 2005
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PostPosted: 18:10 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

any of you seen easy riders the series on discovery channel, thats great was planning to go somewhere this summer, but dunno whether the 50 would get a bit annoying, b ut definately doing one when i get my 250
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 18:15 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

I once saw a couple of Dutch kids on those mad wee pedal and pop mopeds they ride over there. They both had tents on the back and were up near Inverness Shocked
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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natv4
Brolly Dolly



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PostPosted: 20:04 - 26 Feb 2005    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scotsman37 wrote:
Thank goodness former Russian military goods vehicles that got them across deep rivers and the ingenuity of the people of Mongolia knowing how to strip & rebuild bike engines to get them going again !

I may be on my own here, but part of the fun of a journey like that is the fact that you can't do it all on your own. The best bits are when you meet a situation you can't rescue yourself from, and someone comes to your aid. A lot of the time the people helping them did not know who they were. Its a tribute to human nature that most people are quite happy to help each other without payback.

I've been helped when I'm stuck before and it doesn't detract from what you are doing. Thats my 2 cents anyhows.
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Travelling around the world...a bit at a time. Where am I now? / Visit my BLOG
Bike: Blue Honda VFR800fi (*NEW*) Mileage: 22k Countries visited: GB/F/D/CZ/PL/E/I/B/A/HR/H/Rus/E/MA
West Europe...2004, East Europe...2005, Russia/France...2006, Morocco...2007
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