Tag Archives: Charley Boorman

Apple TV+ Reveals “The Long Way Up” Trailer Featuring Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman

Apple TV+ has announced a trailer for Long Way Up, starring Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. McGregor and Boorman have two other critically acclaimed motorcycle adventure series, entitled Long Way Round (2004) and Long Way Down (2007). The Long Way Up covers 13,000 miles and spans over 100 days as the two travel from the tip of South America to Los Angeles, California. In the past, the duo has relied on motorcycles featuring internal combustion engines. This time, McGregor and Boorman made the entire trek on Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles.

From Press Release:

The trailer for “Long Way Up,” the epic, new Apple Original series from stars Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman is now available. The first three episodes of the 11-part unscripted series will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on Friday, September 18. New episodes will roll out weekly, every Friday.

“Long Way Up” reunites McGregor and Boorman for the ultimate adventure in travel and friendship after more than a decade since their last motorbike adventure around the world. In their most challenging expedition to date, the two cover 13,000 miles over 100 days from Ushuaia at the tip of South America to Los Angeles.  In order to contribute to the sustainability of the planet, the duo travels on modified electric Harley-Davidson LiveWire® motorcycles.

Using cutting-edge technology, they travel through 16 border crossings and 13 countries along with their longtime collaborators, directors David Alexanian and Russ Malkin, who follow in the first two electric Rivian trucks ever made. 

“Long Way Up” was created and executive produced by Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman, David Alexanian and Russ Malkin.

Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung and LG smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices, as well as at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. The Apple TV app will be available on Sony and VIZIO smart TVs later this year. For a limited time, customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free. This special offer is good for three months after the first activation of the eligible device.*

The Long Way Up Starring Ewan McGregor and Charely Boorman Trailer Released

Source: RiderMagazine.com

Ewan McGregor keeps bikes in divorce

Bike fan, Hollywood actor and “Long Way” collaborator Ewan McGregor gets to keep most of his impressive collection of motorcycles in his divorce settlement with former wife Eve Mavrakis.

The pair were married for 22 years and even though Eve did not sign a prenuptial agreement, she gets to keep half of his assets up to 2017 when they split.

Eve joined Ewan for several days on his 2007 Long Way Down adventure in Africa with partner Charley Boorman.

Long Way Down photos Ewan divorce
Charley and Ewan work on a BMW in Long Way Down

While his marriage wth Eve soured, his friendship with Charley has persisted and last year they joined for their third Long Way instalment, Long Way Up.

It consists of riding electric Harley-Davidson LiveWire motorcycles from the bottom of South America to LA.

The Long Way Up TV series screens on Apple TV+ from 18 September 2020.

Charley and Ewan adventure on LiveWire
Ewan on a LiveWire in South America

Divorce split

In the divorce settlement, Ewan will get to keep 30 vehicles from his extensive collection which also includes some cars as well as bikes. Eve gets five vehicles.

It is not known which bikes he will keep.

However, among his collection are the BMW R 11250 GS he rode around the world in 2004 for Long Way Round, the R 1200 GS from Long Way Down and the LiveWire from last year’s trip.

Ewan has had a long affection for Moto Guzzi as his father owned one.

Ewan McGregor Moto Guzzi V85TT Long Way Up on Moto Guzzi and Triumph
Ewan McGregor with a Moto Guzzi V85TT

He is now an ambassador for the brand and owns a V7 Sport, a 2002 V11 Sport, a 1974 Eldorado Police Bike, a 2002 V11 Le Mans Tenni.

He also owns a Honda Gold Wing and a Ducati SuperSport.

Ewan must have known the marriage was ending because in early 2017, the Star Wars actor sold his 2012 “Indian Larry” Panhead Chopper at a Bonhams auction in Las Vegas for $US25,300 (about $A35,390).

Ewan McGregor selling Panhead at auction
Ewan on his Panhead chopper

According toTMZ, the couple will equally divide possessions and earnings up to 2017.

So Eve gets a $6.62 million LA house, her jewellery, and $500,000 in cash.  They share custody of their nine-year-old daughter.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Screen date set for Long Way Up TV series

Long Way Up, featuring Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor riding electric Harley-Davidson LiveWire motorcycles, will screen on Apple TV+ from 18 September 2020, the same month the bike launches in Australia.

Apple TV+ has announced that the first three episodes will screen on the Friday with one episode every week after that.

However, they don’t say how long the series will be.

If you don’t have Apple TV+ you can wait until the whole series has been aired and then do as one-month free trial.

Otherwise, it costs $A7.99 per month.

Small screen adventure

In the third and probably final “Long Way” series, the Brits ride Harley-Davidson electric LiveWire motorcycles from the city of Ushuaia at the tip of South America to LA.

They cover 21,000km over 100 days through 16 border crossings and 13 countries: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and up through Colombia, Central America and Mexico.

Also joining them are their longtime collaborators, directors David Alexanian and Russ Malkin, driving in electric Rivian utility vehicles.

Unlike their previous adventures on BMW GS machines, this one was on Harley’s new electric LiveWire which will be available in Australia in September for a whopping $A49,995 ($NZ53,995).

That’s more than the feature-laden Ultra Limited tourer at $A41,495!

While the specially modified bikes did get the pair to their destination, Ewan admits he ran out of “juice” a couple of times and even had to hitch rides with cars by hanging on to the B pillar.

The admissions came in an interview on the American Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in February 2020.

In the interview, he explains that they chose electric motorcycles because they “wanted to be part of that new wave of transportation”.

“It proved to be amazing and quite tricky at the same time,” McGregor tells Fallon.

“Charging is the issue. There’s no real infrastructure for charging in Patagonia, for instance.

“We’d just knock on people’s doors and ask if we could plug them in.

“They usually do let us. We’d camp in their garden and we’d plug in.”

However, he said charging two bikes at the same time would sometimes blew the houses’s fuses, so they would charge one at a time.

“People were so generous and lovely about it,” he says.

“We’d ride all morning and then if we stopped to look around the town we’d find somewhere to plug in at a restaurant or a cafe or something.”

Out of juice

Charley and Ewan adventure on LiveWire
Ewan on a LiveWire in South America

According to Harley, LiveWire range is about 150km on the highway and about 235km in the city.

So, what did they do when they ran out of “juice”, Fallon asked?

“Hope for a hill,” McGregor replies.

“I got towed a couple of times. I was the only one that ran out.

“Charley never ran out of juice and he’ll tell you it’s ’cause he’s a better rider than me and it may well be the case.

“But I ran out a couple of times, so I’d just hold on to a car.”

Charley and Ewan adventure on LiveWire
Ewan and Charley pack their LiveWire electric bikes

He explains how this stunt was performed and we assume it was at slow speed and could have been using one of the back-up vehicles.

“If you open the back windows and the front of the car you could get your arm around a pillar and you just muscle along like that for a while,” he explains.

Ewan says the first time he saw this done was in New York when he was about 21 or 22 riding in a yellow cab.

“A Harley-Davidson guy — a Hells Angels guy — who’d run out of gas or his bike was broken down clattered into the side of the cab, grabbed hold of the pillar and he shouted the address of the Hells Angels clubhouse to the driver who just took him there and didn’t ask any questions; just drove there like that.

“I think the Hells Angels owe me $5.26.”

It’s been a long time between trips for Ewan and Charley.

From 14 April 2004 to 29 July 2004, they rode across Europe and the USA in Long Way Round and from 12 May to 4 August 2007 they rode from the top of Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa for Long Way Down.

With Ewan becoming increasingly busy with Hollywood movies, Charley squeezed in the 2006 Dakar rally for his series, Race to Dakar, and has produced several other travel shows.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Long Way Up coming to Apple TV+

The latest Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor adventure, the Long Way Up, will be shown on Apple TV+ in the next few months.

In the third and probably final “Long Way” series, the Brits ride Harley-Davidson electric LiveWire motorcycles from Tierra Del Fuego at the bottom of South Africa to LA.

Apple TV+

There is no date for the series to start, but when it does, you can get a free seven-day trial and binge-watch the series.

If you enjoy Apple TV+ you can then subscribe in Australia for $A7.99 a month.

Unlike their previous adventures on BMW GS machines, this one was on Harley’s new electric LiveWire which will be available in Australia in September for a whopping $A49,995 ($NZ53,995).

That’s more than the feature-laden Ultra Limited tourer at $A41,495!

While the specially modified bikes did get the pair to their destination, Ewan admits he ran out of “juice” a couple of times and even had to hitch rides with cars by hanging on to the B pillar.

The admissions came in an interview on the American Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in February 2020.

In the interview, he explains that they chose electric motorcycles because they “wanted to be part of that new wave of transportation”.

“It proved to be amazing and quite tricky at the same time,” McGregor tells Fallon.

“Charging is the issue. There’s no real infrastructure for charging in Patagonia, for instance.

“We’d just knock on people’s doors and ask if we could plug them in.

“They usually do let us. We’d camp in their garden and we’d plug in.”

However, he said charging two bikes at the same time would sometimes blew the houses’s fuses, so they would charge one at a time.

“People were so generous and lovely about it,” he says.

“We’d ride all morning and then if we stopped to look around the town we’d find somewhere to plug in at a restaurant or a cafe or something.”

Out of juice

Charley and Ewan adventure on LiveWire
Ewan on a LiveWire in South America

According to Harley, LiveWire range is about 150km on the highway and about 235km in the city.

So, what did they do when they ran out of “juice”, Fallon asked?

“Hope for a hill,” McGregor replies.

“I got towed a couple of times. I was the only one that ran out.

“Charley never ran out of juice and he’ll tell you it’s ’cause he’s a better rider than me and it may well be the case.”

(We suspect Charley did not do his usual frequent wheelies!)

“But I ran out a couple of times, so I’d just hold on to a car.”

Charley and Ewan adventure on LiveWire
Ewan and Charley pack their LiveWire electric bikes

He explains how this stunt was performed and we assume it was at slow speed and could have been using one of the back-up vehicles.

“If you open the back windows and the front of the car you could get your arm around a pillar and you just muscle along like that for a while,” he explains.

Ewan says the first time he saw this done was in New York when he was about 21 or 22 riding in a yellow cab.

“A Harley-Davidson guy — a Hells Angels guy — who’d run out of gas or his bike was broken down clattered into the side of the cab, grabbed hold of the pillar and he shouted the address of the Hells Angels clubhouse to the driver who just took him there and didn’t ask any questions; just drove there like that.

“I think the Hells Angels owe me $5.26.”

Not sure if we believe that, but it’s a great story.

And it sounds like Long Way Up on Apple TV+ will also be another great series.

It’s been a long time between trips for Ewan and Charley.

From 14 April 2004 to 29 July 2004, they rode across Europe and the USA in Long Way Round and from 12 May to 4 August 2007 they rode from the top of Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa for Long Way Down.

With Ewan becoming increasingly busy with Hollywood movies, Charley squeezed in the 2006 Dakar rally for his series, Race to Dakar, and has produced several other travel shows.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Free ferry fares to Tassie after pandemic?

Tasmania wants to encourage domestic tourism with free or discounted fares for all vehicles including motorcycles on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry when the state reopens its borders after the pandemic closure.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania CEO Luke Martin has called in the Federal Government to temporarily extend the Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme that covers the gap between the true cost of taking a vehicle on the ferry and the ticket price.

That would make fares attractively cheap or even free.

Ferry proposalFree ferry fares to Tassie Tasmania

The proposal has been supported by Premier Peter Gutwein and the Motorcycle Riders Association (MRA) in Victoria who asks riders to email the Premier to show their support.

Luke says tourists spend an average of $2400 in the local economy.

Motorcycle tourists should be among the most desirable for local businesses, spending more than other motorists.

For example, Tourism Queensland estimates motorcycle tourists spend up to $160 a day in local communities on food, drink, accommodation, fuel and necessities, while caravaners are more self-contained and only spend about $40 a day.

A Spirit of Tasmania spokesperson says the current motorbike fare starts at $69 each way in the low tourist season.

It can rise to $99 in the high season or $109 for a flexi fare. Sidecars and trailers can lift the price to as much as $139 each way.

A discount or free fare would encourage more riders. Not that riders need much encouragement to head to Tassie. Charley Boorman rates it one of his favourite riding destinations.

Safe travels

The Tasmanian Government loves to welcome visiting motorcyclists, but also promotes important road safety messages about roads and riding conditions in Tasmania.

They have produced a Tasmanian Motorcycle Travel Guide video which is given to all motorcyclists when they board the Spirit of Tasmania.

It is one of many motorcycle-oriented tourism videos they have released.

In 2015, they produced a video featuring multi-Australian Superbike Champion Malcolm Campbell and interstate motorcycle club member Lester Knowles riding around the state and pointing out the features and dangers.

Each year the video is updated.

Road safety billboards and posters are also displayed on popular riding routes.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Lawn Way Round in the pandemic

We’ve been inspired to do our own own Long Way Round (my front lawn) video and we encourage you to do one, too, during the current pandemic lockdown.

Of course, the inspiration for our Lawn Way Round video comes from Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor’s 2004 Long Way Round adventure.

It has inspired many copycat adventurers and spawned their Long Way series which included Long Way Down and the recent Long Way Up on electric Harleys.

Charley and Ewan McGregorCharley and Ewan on electric Harleys

Now its has inspired former Top Gear host and motorcycle fan Richard Hammond to do a hilarious Long Way Round his yard on a 1929 BMW R 52.

Lawn Way Round

So I thought I would give it a go at home on my Ducati Scrambler 1100 Sport.

Only problem is, I live on a small suburban lot and it’s damned hard to get around the side of the house, so we stuck to the front lawn.

In a way, it’s an off-road adventure!Lawn Way Round

No problems with over-zealous police slapping me with a fine.

I also made sure I wore ATGATT!

And it was a great opportunity to give a free plug to the Brisbane designed, engineered and manufactured Dynamoto stands.

Just the thing if you are hibernating your bike for a long spell during the travel restrictions.

(Note that we get no kickbacks from any sales. It’s just an amazing Aussie product!)

Now it’s up to you to have a go riding around your yard.

If you do, please send us the video and we’ll add it to this article.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Ewan McGregor admits hitching rides with cars

Ewan McGregor admits he ran out of “juice” a couple of times on his Long Way Up trip on Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles and even hitched rides with cars by hanging on to the B pillar.

The admissions came in an interview on the American Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

McGregor and his “Long Way” partner, Charley Boorman, completed their trip from Tiera Del Fuego in September to LA in December on specially modified Harley LiveWires.

The LiveWire is now available in the US for $US29,799 (about $A44,500) and will be on sale in Australia late this year.

McGregor PR

The third instalment in their Long Way TV series is expected to be released some time in 2020. 

So McGregor is spruiking about it on TV and we expect to see more of the same in coming months.

In the interview, he explains that they chose electric motorcycles because they “wanted to be part of that new wave of transportation”.

“It proved to be amazing and quite tricky at the same time,” McGregor tells Fallon.

“Charging is the issue. There’s no real infrastructure for charging in Patagonia, for instance.

“We’d just knock on people’s doors and ask if we could plug them in.

“They usually do let us. We’d camp in their garden and we’d plug in.”

However, he said charging two bikes at the same time would sometimes blew the houses’s fuses, so they would charge one at a time.

“People were so generous and lovely about it,” he says.

“We’d ride all morning and then if we stopped to look around the town we’d find somewhere to plug in at a restaurant or a cafe or something.”

Out of juice

Charley and Ewan McGregorCharley and Ewan on electric Harleys

According to Harley, LiveWire range is about 150km on the highway and about 235km in the city.

So, what did they do when they ran out of “juice”, Fallon asked?

“Hope for a hill,” McGregor replies.

“I got towed a couple of times. I was the only one that ran out.

“Charley never ran out of juice and he’ll tell you it’s ’cause he’s a better rider than me and it may well be the case.

“But I ran out a couple of times, so I’d just hold on to a car.”

Charley and Ewan adventure on LiveWireEwan and Charley pack their LiveWire electric bikes

He explains how this stunt was performed and we assume it was at slow speed and could have been using one of the back-up vehicles.

“If you open the back windows and the front of the car you could get your arm around a pillar and you just muscle along like that for a while,” he explains.

Ewan says the first time he saw this done was in New York when he was about 21 or 22 riding in a yellow cab.

“A Harley-Davidson guy — a Hells Angels guy — who’d run out of gas or his bike was broken down clattered into the side of the cab, grabbed hold of the pillar and he shouted the address of the Hells Angels clubhouse to the driver who just took him there and didn’t ask any questions; just drove there like that.

“I think the Hells Angels owe me $5.26.”

Not sure if we believe that, but it’s a great story.

And it sounds like Long Way Up will also be another great series.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Your top 10 motorcycle stories of 2019

Stories about helmet safety and legalities, Arlen Ness and Charley Boorman, road rules, crashes, lane filtering and a big-bore kit attracted the most interest from our readers in 2019.

With more than 300,000 readers a month, we have a pretty fair idea of what subjects are of interest to our readers.

So we have compiled a list of the most read stories from our website in 2019.

Top stories of 2019

1 Sticker fine

Our readers love stories about riders winning over an injustice.

So the top story of the year went to our article about Queensland Police waiving a Bribie Island rider’s $400/3point infringement for having a void helmet sticker.

Ian Joice told us the external certification sticker had the word “VOID” across it from age and sun damage while the internal label was faded due to wear. 

We reckon it proves that riders can legally remove the external sticker so long as the internal label is still there, no matter what condition it’s in.

2 Lane filtering

menace ACT police are seeking to charge this driver with road rage on legally filtering riders https://motorbikewriter.com/lane-filtering-road-rage-charge-stalled/ mencaing appeal rejected
ACT police finally nabbed this driver for road rage

Speaking of injustice stories, you were greatly relieved when ACT Police finally nabbed a driver seven months after he swerved his car at two legally lane filtering riders. 

However, four months later first-time offender Jake Searle, 28, got off with a light penalty of a one-year good behaviour order and three-month disqualification with no fine. That means he’s out there legally driving again, so watch out!

3 Arlen Ness

Arlen Ness - one cool dude
Arlen Ness – one cool dude

Sadly, iconic American motorcycle customiser and cool dude Arlen Ness died, aged 79, in March.

There must be a lot of riders out there who admire his work, ride bikes with paintwork designed or inspired by him, own some of his accessories, or wear some of his riding gear.

In November we also lost Luigi Termignoni, aged 75, the founder of eponymous motorcycle exhaust company. Our glowing obituary was also one of our most popular stories, although not in the top 10. 

4 Helmet safetyCrush helmet

Anything to do with helmet safety usually rates high.

Our report on the latest testing for safety and comfort by the NSW Consumer Rating and Assessment of Safety Helmets (CRASH) revealed that only seven out of 30 helmets rated four out of five stars. 

5 Emergency rule

Cop injured under new speed rule crash police emergency 40km/h charged
Cop injured under new speed rule crash police emergency 40km/h

Most riders seem to believe they are in danger of being rear-ended under the rule in some states that requires motorists to slow to 40km/h when passing emergency vehicles (25km/h in South Australia).

So there was a lot of interest in our article about a NSW police motorcyclist being hit in that exact scenario in January under a 12-month trial of the rule.

In September, NSW made the rule permanent but with some changes. Click her for more info. 

6 Multiple fatality

Pick-Up crash with US riders accident
Image: Associated Press

Horrific news emerged from the US in June of a pick-up truck driver ploughing into a group of former US Marines riding to their annual meeting, killing seven and injuring three others. 

Driver Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, is alleged to have been under the influence of drugs at the time and had previous similar convictions.

volodoymyr zhukovskyy Rider killer faces long jail term carnage
Zhukovskyy in court

He remains in jail facing multiple charges and up to 105 years behind bars! 

Meanwhile, the transport department that failed to disqualify his and other drivers’ licences for similar offences has been overhauled and the boss sacked. 

Car ploughed into riders month
Kyogle crash (Image: Seven News)

There was a similar incident in Kyogle, NSW, in October when a Kia Rio ploughed into four motorcycles from the Sons Of The Southern Cross motorcycle club, killing one rider.

NSW Police are yet to charge the driver. 

7 Parking damage

stories
Parking incident

Another injustice article: Toowoomba Regional Council said it was not liable for damage to a motorcycle that fell over while parked in an area where the bitumen surface had deteriorated.

Rider trainer Tony Gallagher says he watched as his 2001 Kawasaki ZRX1200R sank into thin bitumen and fall over in a Crows Nest main street parking bay.

It wasn’t a hot day, either, just faulty bitumen. It’s since been fixed, but Tony is still out of pocket for damage. 

8 Charley’s back

Charley and Ewan McGregor
Charley and Ewan on electric Harleys

In September it was confirmed that Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor would ride from the bottom of South America to LA for the third Long Way TV series.

But this time they would be riding Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles! 

Two weeks ago the pair completed the journey. From your interest in our articles about the trip, you will be keen to find out when the TV series airs. Stay tuned and we will to keep you updated! 

9 T-boner

Lane filtering has made commuting safer and more enjoyable. Any articles we publish about the lane filtering rules is always well received.

But when one stupid rider was caught on video (above) weaving erratically through traffic and t-boning another lane-filtering rider, it certainly caught your attention.

10 Royal bore

S&S Cycles big bore kit for Royal Enfield 650 camshaft-kit-royal-enfield-650
S&S Cycles big bore kit for Royal Enfield 650 camshaft-kit-royal-enfield-650

There has been a lot of interest in the Royal Enfield 650cc parallel twins.

So when American engine giant S&S announced a big-bore kit, the article shot into our top 10, although that could be because there are millions of Indians who love the brand! 

5 perennial favourite stories

As well as the news articles that emerged this year, there are older articles that continually rate among our readers.

Most have to do with riding tips.

Surprisingly the top riding tip of this year was our tongue-in-cheek article on how and when to do the motorcycle wave motorcycle wave

It only narrowly beat another article that continues to score well which shows that tall bikes may be putting off short riders.

It’s our guide to the seat heights of all motorcycles. Click here to find out how high the seat is on your next bike. 

Other advice articles that scored well with our readers were how to deal with a tank slapper or speed wobble; what are the correct tyre pressures; and how to wash your motorcycle.

Ride safely and we will see you in 2020!  

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Charley and Ewan conclude electric adventure

Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor (pictured above) have concluded their electric adventure riding Harley-Davidson LiveWire motorcycles from Tiera Del Fuego in September.

Their Long Way Up adventure has ended at the Los Angeles Harley dealership.

It was thought that they would continue on to Alaska, but the pair did that in their first adventure, the Long Way Round in 2005.

Range question

The biggest question everyone wants answered about their electric adventure is how did they go on the LiveWire with just 250km of city range and about 150 of highway range?

We might have to wait until the TV series is released some time in 2020.

Meanwhile, Charley gave a little away at the LA wrap-up party saying that as soon as they entered the US there were a lot of fast-charging stations and they were able to do almost 500km a day.

It must have been slow going through Latin and Central America, although they did have back-up from as many as five pick-up trucks.

Two were electric Rivian R1T pick-up trucks with 650km of range.

The others were reportedly two Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4WD vans and a Ford F350 pickup truck.

Electric adventure

Rather than being a PR boost for Harley and electric vehicles, we suspected their electric adventure could backfire if they ran out juice along the way.

However, Charley manager, Bill Ward, told us the epic electric adventure would “shock” everyone!

Here is what he had to say:

Billy Ward - Charley Boorman Electric adventure
Billy Ward

Long Way Round – more or less changed my life. I was so blown away by it that by 2005 I’d started ‘Biketruck’ – moving motorbikes to Africa in a truck – giving up a highly paid corporate career and looking for any opportunity to get work in and around the adventure motorcycle world. I did the Hero’s Legend Dakar Rally with Hubert Auriol (Dakar winner on bike and car) and got deeper and deeper into long distance travel, some enduro and bike rallies. Long Way Down – was more feed for the adventure in me, not as fresh or as raw as LWR but still highly entertaining. Bizarrely, I subsequently went on to work with Charley Boorman across numerous projects – all over the world. I’ve just returned from 10,000k’s across southern Africa and over the last two years I’ve done about 60,000k’s – including Australia, South America, Europe and the Middle East – all primarily off road.

The boys get a fair bit of stick here and there – ‘rich kids’, ‘support crew’, ‘sell outs’, ‘security’, ‘money’, ‘helicopters’, ‘spare bikes’, ‘hotels’, ‘actors’, ‘plastic adventurers’ – you get the point – I could go on. Just remember, from the beginning, they’ve never tried to pretend they were exceptional riders or expert adventure riders – they filmed all the fuckups (there were many) and the bike drops (mainly Ewan) and even the arguments. They’re making a TV show – they need camera people and some sort of crew – that’s why LWR won world acclaim and was sold to over 70 countries. The book – again – won international awards and sold and sold. They managed this because they had a professional approach to the documentary and a team to help capture everything. They also had some luck and I think crested a wave that was already gaining momentum from people like Mondo Enduro, Chris Scott and of course many others less well known.

Now here they are again – this time, right out there on a limb. Doing something that can’t really be done. Going against the grain. Creating a fair bit of controversy. Picking a brand probably nobody would have picked – yet when they had many options to choose from. Attracting the critics – ‘it’s a PR disaster’ – ‘must be getting paid big time’ – ‘where are the helicopters’ and on and on.

I think it’s fantastic. I love the gamble. I love the way they’ve turned it all upside down and shocked everyone (no pun there Mark). I love them being ‘different’. I wish them all the best because to top LWR, they had to do something really really different. Time will tell – but I’m optimistic.

PR disaster? I doubt it – how many PR disasters has BMW had? or KTM? How are they doing? We are living in an age were ‘e’ just about fits in front of everything we do and this new documentary may not be what the majority was all waiting for, maybe hoping for – but – it could well be the very next wave to be crested and by doing so, Charley and Ewan may just be part of that momentum, part of that new ‘e’ world that is slowly but surely creeping over us all. Warts n’all, this will be talked about analysed, criticized and probably enjoyed by thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.|

Meanwhile, you can join Charley when he returns to Australia in February for a tour of Tasmania with Compass Expeditions.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

Charley and Ewan spotted in Ecuador

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman have been spotted riding their specially equipped Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycles in Ecuador on their Long Way Up adventure.

Photographer and tour guide Raphael Erhard (pictured with Ewan and Charley above) says he ran into them while leading a tour for Ecuador Freedom Bike Rental last month.

“They were really friendly and curious about what we were doing, especially Charley,” he says.

Charley and Ewan spotted in Ecuador
Charley and Ewan with the tour group

Ecuador tour

“They seemed to be enjoying South America a lot, they told me they’d just stayed at a small coastal lodge the night before and were heading to Quito the day we met. They seemed just really chilled out and open.”

Since the pair started in Tierra del Fuego in September and were last month in Ecuador, they are now expected to be somewhere in Guatemala or Mexico.

Charley and Ewan have both previously said they would like to ride the Baja Peninsula, so that could be a detour as they head north to Alaska on their adventure.

While Charley and Ewan are riding LiveWire electric motorcycles, their videographer, Claudio Von Planta is on a petrol bike.

“They told me they were really happy with their bikes, the range being somewhere between 250 and 350km, I don’t remember which,” he says.

According to Harley, range is about 150km on the highway and about 235km in the city.

Charley and Ewan spotted in Ecuador
Raphael with Charley and Ewan

“Charley said they wanted to focus on electric motorcycles on this journey and after trying out a Zero and a few other brands, they chose the LiveWires as they felt best.

“They’ve made it so far, so it seems to be working. And no, I haven’t seen any generator-laden back up trucks anywhere.”

Tech and crew

Charley and Ewan adventure on LiveWire
Charley, Ewan and Claudio packing on the first day of their trip

The adventure started in September when some of the crew posted the Instagram images on this page.

There have been a few modifications to the bikes for this adventure and there is quite an extensive back-up crew involved.

Apart from new wheels, other bike modifications include: windscreens, engine guards, highway pegs, bash plates, auxiliary lights, saddlebags and fender bags.

They also seem to have removed the rear guard and plate holder.

The crew consists of two electric Rivian R1T pick-up trucks which have 650km of range.

They are also supported by two Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4WD vans and a Ford F350 pickup truck.

So we suspect they are carrying DC fast chargers with them. 

Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle
Mobile DC fast chargers at work

Harley claims their Fast Charge (DCFC) technology will recharge a flat battery to 80% in 40 minutes and full in 60 minutes.

Maybe the trip won’t benefit Harley’s LiveWire or electric motorcycles in general, like Long Way Round and Long Way Down did for adventure riding and the BMW GS range.

However, it should be hugely entertaining!

Harley disaster

Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle
MBW rides the LIveWire

Harley certainly doesn’t need another PR disaster with the LiveWire.

It has so far experienced one disaster after another.

Firstly the bike was delayed a month going into North America dealerships.

Then several dealerships refused to pay big money to instal DC fast chargers in order to sell them.

Sales have also been a disaster as customers have baulked at the $US29,950 (about $A44,000) ticket price.

Harley then had the PR disaster of having to temporarily pull the plug on production to fix a problem with one charger.

Long time coming

disaster
Ewan heads off on his latest adventure

The long-awaited third Ewan and Charley travel documentary has been a long time coming.

Charley has been telling us they have been planning their Long Way Up America trip for about 10 years.

The problem has been that Ewan has been so busy with Hollywood movies he could not afford a few months off.

There was also the fact that Ewan is ambassador for Moto Guzzi and Charley is ambassador for Triumph.

The pair rode BMWs in their 2004 Long Way Round and 2007 Long Way Down.

In 2015, Ewan said he may ride from California to the tip of South America on a Moto Guzzi Stelvio. That never happened and the Stelvio was retired a year later.

Charley told us last year that Ewan’s relationship with Moto Guzzi would not necessarily foil their plans:

We’ve been talking about it a long time and if the stars align we will do something like a Long Way up from Tierra Del Fuego to Alaska in the next couple of years. It really is close now. Ewan’s always had a loose relationship with Moto Guzzi so there’s no conflict there.

But rather than Moto Guzzi and Triumph, the pair have opted for the new Harley-Davidson LiveWire.

While it was thought they would go all the way to Alaska, Charley recently said the ride would go from Argentina to LA.

Maybe they don’t want to cover the same territory through Canada and Alaska that they did in the Long Way Round.

Long Way Back

It’s been a long time between trips for Ewan and Charley.

From 14 April 2004 to 29 July 2004, they rode across Europe and the USA in Long Way Round and from 12 May to 4 August 2007 they rode from the top of Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa for Long Way Down.

With Ewan becoming increasingly busy with Hollywood movies, Charley squeezed in the 2006 Dakar rally for his series, Race to Dakar, and has produced several other travel shows.

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com