Long Way Up is in the works!

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https://advrider.com/ewan-and-charl...utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=12_13_2019

You may or may not be familiar with the "Long Way" series by Ewan McGregor (star wars, trainspotting, big fish etc) and Charlie Boorman (bunch of Euro stuff I have no idea), but they've created two tv shows and books that followed their motorcycle journeys.

It started with Long Way Round, a journey from London to NYC, through Europe, Asia, then Alaska to NYC. They filmed a tv show, which is on Amazon Prime, and put out a book. Really awesome read!

Then they did Long Way Down, from Ireland, if I remember right, to Cape Town South Africa.

Well that's been a long time, Id say close to a decade, and now the long-awaited Long Way Up is underway.
They're going from South America to San Fransisco on a couple of electric Harleys

I loved the first two books. I loved reading about the people they met, the 'adventures' they were on (dealing with border crossings that sometimes took a dozen hours, riding on The Road of Bones out in the far east of Asia, trying new foods that arent common to us westerners etc), and the friendship they continued.
It's just them and a cameraman. Yes, there is a support vehicle that they link up with every week or so, but they're pretty much on their own to repair bikes and find lodging etc out in some third world countries.
 
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I've seen both of the first two docs and really enjoyed both of them. Charlie is a funny dude and loves wheelies! Looking forward to this one.
 
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Im jealous of their money and time to be able to do these!
 
South America to San Fran?

gonna be riding through some seriously sketchy areas...I wouldn’t be surprised if the “support vehicle” is a van full of mercs.
 
Not sure I'd want to ride an electric motor cycle up the length of Mexico these days...
 
South America to San Fran?

gonna be riding through some seriously sketchy areas...I wouldn’t be surprised if the “support vehicle” is a van full of mercs.

None of their trips have them going, necessarily, through 'safe' areas
But, what they show is that most people, everywhere/around the world, are good folks who are willing to assist and be kind.

But I agree on the electric part, range isnt great and not as easy to 'fill up' as the BMW GS bikes they used the first two trips

But IM sure it's still a hoot!
 
None of their trips have them going, necessarily, through 'safe' areas
But, what they show is that most people, everywhere/around the world, are good folks who are willing to assist and be kind.

But I agree on the electric part, range isnt great and not as easy to 'fill up' as the BMW GS bikes they used the first two trips

But IM sure it's still a hoot!
It's been a while since I've seen the first one but weren't they initially going to ride KTM's?
 
I really joyed the previous documentaries. Really made me want to make the same kind of trip in a 4x4
 
It's been a while since I've seen the first one but weren't they initially going to ride KTM's?
If I remember right, one of them REALLY wanted the KTM, but after testing everything, and then seeing who was going to offer what, they went BMW.
BMW offered free bikes for the trip, KTM would not offer anything close to that.
 
If I remember right, one of them REALLY wanted the KTM, but after testing everything, and then seeing who was going to offer what, they went BMW.
BMW offered free bikes for the trip, KTM would not offer anything close to that.


That trip turned into some of the best marketing BMW could have had. They absolutely punished those motorcycles but they got them through the trip with relatively little needed in the way of repairs. Most was the result of abuse. I gotta believe someone at KTM had to answer a few questions from upper management.

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That trip turned into some of the best marketing BMW could have had. They absolutely punished those motorcycles but they got them through the trip with relatively little needed in the way of repairs. Most was the result of abuse. I gotta believe someone at KTM had to answer a few questions from upper management.

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I agree
Give away two motorcycles to popular folks for a documentary, reap the rewards afterwards.
Ive got to think that HD execs had the same idea this time around
 
I agree
Give away two motorcycles to popular folks for a documentary, reap the rewards afterwards.
Ive got to think that HD execs had the same idea this time around

I'm a HD fan and this makes me nervous. The way things ave been going for the MOCO lately, having problems on this trip with a new model could be bad.

Bu if all goes well, wow........................................

( I really want to test ride a Live Wire )

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I'm not a geographist... but how many days did they spend driving through the US? did they go way out of their way through san antonio, or did they come over in west texas/arizona/california? I can't see them doing much more than 1.5 days unless they took the scenic route.
"Charley also said that charging stations were far more plentiful and faster once they crossed into the US. This enabled them to pick up their pace. With better-charging capability, the pair were able to up their pace to about 300 miles per day. This against an average of 120 – 180 miles per day while south of the US border."


also, I laughed a bit at "During the trip, the pair also had assistance from other gas-powered crew support vehicles. A Mercedes Sprinter van, as well as a Ford F350, transported additional battery banks to allow electric top-offs of the LiveWires."
 
If I remember right, one of them REALLY wanted the KTM, but after testing everything, and then seeing who was going to offer what, they went BMW.
BMW offered free bikes for the trip, KTM would not offer anything close to that.

After testing, they picked the KTM. They went to KTM and asked for their support, and KTM dragged their feet. At the last second they said "no, because we think you're going to fail. Now get out of here."

So in a panic they went to BMW and BMW said "hell yeah! Here's three bikes and a bunch of support equipment. See you in New York!"

Charlie was not crazy about riding the BMWs in the beginning but they won him over over the course of the trip.
 
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I'm not a geographist... but how many days did they spend driving through the US? did they go way out of their way through san antonio, or did they come over in west texas/arizona/california? I can't see them doing much more than 1.5 days unless they took the scenic route.
"Charley also said that charging stations were far more plentiful and faster once they crossed into the US. This enabled them to pick up their pace. With better-charging capability, the pair were able to up their pace to about 300 miles per day. This against an average of 120 – 180 miles per day while south of the US border."


also, I laughed a bit at "During the trip, the pair also had assistance from other gas-powered crew support vehicles. A Mercedes Sprinter van, as well as a Ford F350, transported additional battery banks to allow electric top-offs of the LiveWires."


From the Ewan McGregor fan page-


Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale
December 12 at 8:01 PM ·

"Help me Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale, you're my only hope!"

We had a surprise visit from Star Wars actor and motorcycle rider, Ewan McGregor yesterday - he made a pit stop to charge his Harley-Davidson LiveWire. Thanks for stopping by!

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