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long way round

so my real question is how deep can the water be for our Beemer's to ride through? It also made me feel better at how many times the bikes fell over, especially at the start when Charley was losing it and needed help before it went down.
 
rms000 said:
so my real question is how deep can the water be for our Beemer's to ride through? It also made me feel better at how many times the bikes fell over, especially at the start when Charley was losing it and needed help before it went down.
Click to expand...

You've got to keep the water out of the air intake. On my GS the "bow wave" from even a shallow crossing puts the water at the intake if going at any but the slowest of speeds. :eek

My rule of thumb is to keep the water below the cylinder heads if at all possible. If I knew in advance that I had to go deeper I'd rig up some kind of snorkel.
 
I bought both movies in DVD format, and loved both of them. Ewan and Charlie were great in both movies. Even Ewan's wife got in on the fun during their second trip. I would sure like to see them do another trip... how about from Alaska to the southern tip of South America?
 
the gap!

Darien's Gap.. no road existes between Panama and Columbia.. just boat and planes and drug dealers, bandidos, and freedom fighters..

risky stuff.. "Amigo, I like your bike! (now get off and....)

I though of doing it.. but put that away...

Jim
 
Over on the ADV Riders forum, apparently one of the posters went by the LWR headquarters and it appears as though they are getting ready for another trip. Long Way Up maybe in the works.
 
Stole the title already...

...and while it all sounded good, a run of bad luck made the dream ride completion have to come int he future...okay so it was only Hamilton to Inuvik/Prudhoe Bay but I was unsupported and solo!
 

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In Long Way Round, the three bikes spent most of their time traveling without the support vehicles. They met up mostly for the boarder crossings. I don't remember the traveling arrangements for Long Way Down. I think the boys deserve more credit than some want to give. I'll add another thumbs-up for the work Claudio did.

Another book well worth reading is Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. I think it was in Long Way Down Ewan and company met Ted and credited him with inspiring them to take the first trip. Ted spent Four years going around the world on a Triumph Tiger 100. (Can I mention Triumph on this forum? :whistle)

Jeff
 
AKBeemer said:
Yes they held up well except for breaking in half............... Amazing that they carried such large loads when they had a support team available. Compare their loads to Helge Pedersen's little ole R80G/S. Still I enjoyed both DVDs Ewan and Charlie made.
Click to expand...

fixed. :)

(and i think helge's load correlated pretty closely with ewan & charlie's....)

ZbgZvU


MrGfyG


ian
 
Visian said:
fixed. :)

(and i think helge's load correlated pretty closely with ewan & charlie's....)

ZbgZvU


MrGfyG


ian
Click to expand...

Point is that Helge had no support team waiting normally less than 24 hours away, and his load looks lighter to me than the Long Way guys. But hey, if I had the resources that they had available to them I probably would have had a support helicopter with a wet bar.
 
rms000 said:
Just watched the series "long way round" and was just amazed at the punishment that the bmw bikes took and kept on running. I couldn't believe they could run in such deep water. Are they that reliable?
Click to expand...

They would not have been my choice for that tour; certainly not the GS Adventure. But they were "free". I rolled my eyes as those actors whined for not getting their free motorcycles of choice, especially when I as an electronics tech had two GS Adventures sitting in my garage.

You most likely did not see the amount of maintenance that they required...or the show would have been 12 episodes instead of 10.

I met Charlie Boorman, the more clued in of the two, tech-wise. He didn't have a clue when I asked him if they used the low-octane coding plug or if they changed the transmission and final drive gear lubes after being submerged in water to the bottom of the gas tank.
 
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed Long Way Round. Their caravan of vehicles helped make a polished film that introduced a lot of people to our little obsession.

But, I read an interesting opinion recently in this tremendous Ride Report on ADVrider:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=602168

It was done by a guy named Walter Colebatch, who has done numerous long Siberian rides. He didn't cut down the Long Way Round effort like so many sourpusses. But he did have some very interesting comments based on his experience. Here's what he said in post #374 of that thread:

Adding my 2 euro cents (about 2.5 US cents, or 1.7p, or about 70 kopeks) worth:

Yes they went too early in the season - June is not the time to be in that part of the world ... but thats not the reason they didnt make it. They were smart enough to hook up with Rayil Zalyalov (the then head of the 4WD club in Yakutsk) who famously told them in the video when they asked if they can make it unaided at that time of year "I think no" ... which proved to be a spot on assessment. So the LWR team countered the wrong time of year factor by getting Rayil to accompany them all the way to Magadan, and getting Rayil to arrange several trucks to accompany them on the Old Summer Road section. That way water levels were not really a factor ... anything too deep saw them put the bikes on Rayil's trucks.

Clearly the bikes were too big and too heavy. This obviously became a factor. Ostensibly Charlie hurt his back halfway along the road and so they put the bikes on the trucks for the hardest part ... the eastern end of the Old Summer Road.

Personally, I dont buy it. I suspect the road was getting tougher and tougher and with the heavy bikes became a real chore. The tendency when you have an easy way out (trucks with you) and the going is tough is that you mentally crack and say 'fu@k it, stick them on the trucks.'

Charlie's back was suddenly better exactly when the hard road finished and they unloaded the bikes to ride the main highway into Magadan.

The advantage we had, (apart from more suitable bikes) was that there was no support trucks, so there was no easy way out. Mentally there is only one option ... to go on.

I certainly dont think it was better riding talent. Charlie is by all accounts a very capable rider, and Ewan had a lot more training than Sherri Jo, not to mention thousands of miles of dirtroad experience by that stage.

I often advise peoplу that the number one piece of prep you need for a tough ride, is mental ... forget riding talent, even experience you can discount. As for bikes, you can go round the world on any bike. But there is no substitute for a 'no quit' mentality. You have to be determined that nothing will stop you for the end goal, and focus only on defeating the obstacle ahead of you. If you start to think of easy ways out, then inevitably, you will use them. They needed the trucks with them because they were there too early in the year, but having the trucks with them made it too tempting ... they got tempted!
Click to expand...
 
mistercindy said:
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed Long Way Round. Their caravan of vehicles helped make a polished film that introduced a lot of people to our little obsession.
Click to expand...

good post... and what's amazed me is that most everyone who sees LWR, especially non-riders, likes it a lot.

That guy Colebatch is awesome, eh? :thumb

ian
 
GlobalRider said:
I met Charlie Boorman, the more clued in of the two, tech-wise. He didn't have a clue when I asked him if they used the low-octane coding plug or if they changed the transmission and final drive gear lubes after being submerged in water to the bottom of the gas tank.
Click to expand...

We watch LWR every Winter.
I've always wondered how they got the bikes to run on crap gas. I bet BMW fixed them up for that without them knowing.
As far as changing gear oil goes - who cares? Those bikes were junk when they got back. Where are they now?

One last thing. I wouldn't want Claudio on my trip. Love to have a coffee with him but...
 
Walt ( Colebatch )is a great man, he was spoken highly by Oison......Back2broke when he was passing through. He is a logistical guru for the part of the world and used his time and money to help fellow riders in need. When he talks of riding and individuals on the road he is spot on. :thumb

I too, admire both the Long Way riders, they still do the ride and if you wish to get technical everyone rides supported because one has to rely on local food, fuel and interaction. :thumb
 
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