February 15, 201115 yr it appears that they fall down alot. Those big heavy BMW's really enjoy being on their side. Just don't get the point of having something that big being a dual sport/offroad bike. Think they would have been better off on the KTM's that they originally planned, or even a D-Tracker would have been better due to the light weight. OK, what is the point of these BMW GS bikes? Really too heavy for offroading.
February 15, 201115 yr all a matter of skill, isn't it? but yeah big beastly BWMs that weigh 250kg+ don't lend themselves to actual offroading very much. BMW F800GS would probably have been better. I had a D-Tracker in the past and while it's a very nice motard you really don't want to sit on it continuously for more than an hour or so - and you definitely wouldn't want to go around the world on one!
February 15, 201115 yr I seem to remeber Charlie Boorman originally wanted to use KTM's but they got a sponsership deal with BMW
February 15, 201115 yr all a matter of skill, isn't it? but yeah big beastly BWMs that weigh 250kg+ don't lend themselves to actual offroading very much. BMW F800GS would probably have been better. I had a D-Tracker in the past and while it's a very nice motard you really don't want to sit on it continuously for more than an hour or so - and you definitely wouldn't want to go around the world on one! Charley Boorman is a fairly seasoned rider. Well in fact Charley and Ewan McGregor both are to a point, considering they've done the Long Way Round as well. My hat is off to them handling such heavy bikes and the trials & tribulations. I only had one main gripe with the whole event and that was when Charley being a dick and caused an accident with one of the chase bikes in South Africa. Anyone remember the team medic getting right royally pissed off with Charley for doing wheelies. This was mainly due to some of the inhospitable places that he was doing it. If he were to screw up, then he could have been a long way from advanced professional medical help for a serious accident. Though the medic had a lot of medical equipment and was a pro.
February 15, 201115 yr It's all the crap they load onto the bikes that makes them so heavy. Reminds me of a mate I used to go up the Victorian high country with in our 4WDs. He'd take so much gear with him his vehicle looked like the Grapes Of Wrath truck. All that was missing was granny in her rocking chair.
February 15, 201115 yr all a matter of skill, isn't it? but yeah big beastly BWMs that weigh 250kg+ don't lend themselves to actual offroading very much. BMW F800GS would probably have been better. I had a D-Tracker in the past and while it's a very nice motard you really don't want to sit on it continuously for more than an hour or so - and you definitely wouldn't want to go around the world on one! Charley Boorman is a fairly seasoned rider. Well in fact Charley and Ewan McGregor both are to a point, considering they've done the Long Way Round as well. My hat is off to them handling such heavy bikes and the trials & tribulations. I only had one main gripe with the whole event and that was when Charley being a dick and caused an accident with one of the chase bikes in South Africa. Anyone remember the team medic getting right royally pissed off with Charley for doing wheelies. This was mainly due to some of the inhospitable places that he was doing it. If he were to screw up, then he could have been a long way from advanced professional medical help for a serious accident. Though the medic had a lot of medical equipment and was a pro. A lot of guys are sensible and reasonable when sat in a chair discussing the issue. Put a hunk of throbbing metal between their legs and their brain shuts down and common sense goes out the window. I too found Charley a dick at times and agreed with Ewan that they shouldn’t race from point A to point B and never get to stop and experience anything but the ride. But what can you do, different people have different styles and needs. Charley surely didn’t listen to anyone.
February 15, 201115 yr Charley Boorman is a fairly seasoned rider. Well in fact Charley and Ewan McGregor both are to a point, considering they've done the Long Way Round as well. Sub is talking about The Long Way Round, which came before The Long Way Down. I remember on the show Ewen talked about how lot of fans criticized the decision to use such big bikes, and also that he got a lot of shit for crashing so much. He said Charley has a lot more experience, and that he was a relatively new rider. On a related note, I few friends of mine are extras in the tsunami movie Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts just completed in Phuket and Phangna. I was curious if he would interested in doing a charity ride for Tsunami orphans or something similar with Ghostriders while he was here, but was only able to contact the extra casting director. I think that would have been fun and good press for the movie.
February 15, 201115 yr Charley Boorman is a fairly seasoned rider. Well in fact Charley and Ewan McGregor both are to a point, considering they've done the Long Way Round as well. Sub is talking about The Long Way Round, which came before The Long Way Down. I do know what the OP stated. I was bringing up both trips and relating to the Long Way Down adventure along with the Long Way Round which I do know is their first big trip together. My point overall was about the guys being seasoned enough riders after many miles on varying road surfaces, conditions and different continents, apart from the odd brain fart on their rides.
February 15, 201115 yr Back to the original question, I think the BMW GS wasn't necessarily the best choice, but not much different to riding a Versys instead of a er6n/650r when 95% of your riding is on road or dusty dirt tracks. Or buying a Fortuner/pickup just because there are a few potholes on Thai roads. I enjoyed the show, nice change from the usual rubbish.
February 16, 201115 yr I seem to remeber Charlie Boorman originally wanted to use KTM's but they got a sponsership deal with BMW Charlie's first choice was the KTMs but, at least according to the clip in the documentary, KTM decided not to sponsor them because KTM was afraid that they would fail and, I assume, make KTM look bad. BMW was the fallback position. I am just wondering why the carried so much extra weight on the bikes since the whole thing was essentially a fully supported ride. I want to say they had at least 4 support vehicles (maybe more) going with them. I think they could have offloaded a good bit of it and made the riding easier, especially in the sandy areas of Mongolia or the boggy areas in eastern Russia. David
February 16, 201115 yr I thought they often took alternate routes to the support vehicles and perhaps needed to be able to make minor repairs and camp out until they met at a designated location. Continually traveling in a caravan of trucks and bikes would not be much fun. I also seem to remember they had a hard time fitting everything in at the beginning and perhaps needed the bikes to carry part of the load. I for one would not want to ride that many miles on a bike any smaller than the BMW, but would not want to carry such a heavy load.
February 17, 201115 yr I'd have like to see them do it on sportsbikes. Impractical I know but that would have been half the fun. More of a challenge and a bit more interesting for the viewers as at times this series was a snoozefest. Was surprised at the quality of the roads in Africa (yes, Long Way DOWN, I know Eric!) compared to LOS.
February 17, 201115 yr Author I'd have like to see them do it on sportsbikes. Impractical I know but that would have been half the fun. I was thinking the same thing. There was someone who did do a world tour on a Yammie R1. I mean, given how those big heavy BMW's did, might as well. At least on the sportbike you could really zip along when you hit pavement. More of a challenge and a bit more interesting for the viewers as at times this series was a snoozefest. The interesting part of the show was waiting for the bikes to tip on the side (because you KNOW they were going to do it), and seeing how they managed to get it right side up (donkeys, camels, mules).
February 18, 201115 yr I am willing to pay if anyone is able to get me the two series- could anyone help me?
February 18, 201115 yr I am willing to pay if anyone is able to get me the two series- could anyone help me? I have both downloaded onto my computer. Tell me how to send them to you and it's done.
February 18, 201115 yr I'd have like to see them do it on sportsbikes. Impractical I know but that would have been half the fun. Nick Sanders Parallel world. Journey beyond reason. Around the world in 19 days on an R1 !! http://www.nicksanders.com/movies.htm
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