Ewan's bikes at Coventry Transport Museum - pics

[khale]

Originally Posted by lhendrik

Like it or not, BMW should realize that those 2 guys probably sold more GS's than any other advertising. I know I got mine after seeing the videos and then rode all over Europe and into Republic of Georgia and back and I'm 63 and though I had no support vehicles or camera crews, if I had the $$$ I would have :)

Same here. I don't know how sales for KTM are doing compared to the GS, but I'm sure they are shaking their heads they turned down Charlie. I bought my GS because of those 2 incredible series. Probably the best advertising BMW could have done was to donate 4 GS bikes + parts to Charlie and Ewan. Talk about a good ROI...

[Gregster]

Nice pictures
I never met Ewan but I did get to hang out and go dirt biking with Charlie for a day last summer. He's a cool guy with a good sense of humor and he really can ride! I tried to keep up following him around a gnarly harescrambles track but he quickly dropped me. Stand up wheelies going down the road on a borrowed KTM450 Six Days - impressive skills. Only a wanker would accuse Charlie or Ewan of being anything less than a fellow enthusiast.

[vagueout]

Originally Posted by khale

Same here. I don't know how sales for KTM are doing compared to the GS, but I'm sure they are shaking their heads they turned down Charlie. I bought my GS because of those 2 incredible series. Probably the best advertising BMW could have done was to donate 4 GS bikes + parts to Charlie and Ewan. Talk about a good ROI...

I reckon the actual bloke at KTM who said "no" to ewan and charlie today feels like the record company bloke that rejected a four piece band from liverpool u.k. back in 62.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by vagueout

I reckon the actual bloke at KTM who said "no" to ewan and charlie today feels like the record company bloke that rejected a four piece band from liverpool u.k. back in 62.

The guy was probably sacked!!

I am sure they are giving it the ole Homer Simpson, Dooooooow

[Lensgrinder]

Originally Posted by WindSailor

I do too. Most people are envious, including me. I simply can not afford to do that, and love watching videos of other people who can and do. Hats off to those guys who accomplished something that KTM said couldn't be done.

It's all about the adventure; the people, the scenery and the ride getting there and back.

And Ewan had shown the bikes can be fairly resistant to crashes. One of these days he's going to kick my ass if I don't leave that alone. It just goes to show that even celebrities can have bad riding days - or two - or three - or... Damn... got to leave that alone. Would have loved to see the unedited version.

I agree, the people you meet make the trip.

I met a couple of guys from Germany in the Yukon while riding to Alaska, I still keep in touch with one of them.
They had shipped their bikes to Chile and rode up to Alaska, they were on their way to Vancouver to ship their bikes back home.

I thought Ewan and Charlie did pretty well, the camera guy,Claudio, on the other hand is another story altogether.

[Pete O Static]

I thought that Ewan's bike was auctioned off for charity and only Boorman's bike was put in the museum?

No matter really, I really enjoyed LWR. LWD was ok but not nearly as interesting as their first in my opinion.

They really did bring adventure riding to the masses with or without support, nobody can argue that. In fact, I had no idea who Ewan McGregor was until I watched LWR. Don't watch TV much.

[airhawk1]

John, I love the shot of the ratty Airhawk as well! Thanks for posting it. I certainly agree with the previous posters who have given Charlie and Ewen kudos for what they have done for the industry. Pictures of well worn Airhawks always brings a smile to my face! BTW, I was working in my booth at the Intermot show in Germany a few years ago and Charlie just popped in and chatted for about 45 minutes -- what a great guy. We didn't pay them anything to use our product, but he had to come by and say thanks for making it!

[LoneStar]

Originally Posted by Gregster

Nice pictures
I never met Ewan but I did get to hang out and go dirt biking with Charlie for a day last summer. He's a cool guy with a good sense of humor and he really can ride! I tried to keep up following him around a gnarly harescrambles track but he quickly dropped me. Stand up wheelies going down the road on a borrowed KTM450 Six Days - impressive skills. Only a wanker would accuse Charlie or Ewan of being anything less than a fellow enthusiast.

A friend rode with Charlie some in Central America and said the same. Really nice and friendly guy who can really ride.

[luxlogs]

Evans wife, can you say "Long Day"

[wbrisett]

Originally Posted by WindSailor

I do too. Most people are envious, including me. I simply can not afford to do that, and love watching videos of other people who can and do. Hats off to those guys who accomplished something that KTM said couldn't be done.

It does make you wonder if KTM isn't kicking itself for what could have been. ;)

Wayne

[Farmer Palmer]

Claudio the LWD cameramans 1200ADV was on sale on ebay here in the UK last year...............It had a new beak and headlight but everything else looked much the same.........Even the blue tape on the Touratech crash bar bags was still there.

The seller( a car dealer) was asking around £11,000 for the bike but i reckon it was worth no more than £6500 as it was beat to shit and not really any different than any other 1200GSA that'd had a hard life.

Ewans 1150GSA was originally sold at a charity auction in the UK for around £80,000 You could make an identical replica of that bike with the same mileage, dents and all the Touratech/ohlins accessories for around £7000 at the time.

Even the faded red 'twat suit' is a sought after item and if you have one of the original Rallye 2's in grey or red it shows that you're an 'old timer' as far as ADV riding goes.

The grubbier the 'twat suit' the better!

FP.

[GB]

Originally Posted by wbrisett

It does make you wonder if KTM isn't kicking itself for what could have been. ;)

Wayne

You know what they say about hindsight.. at any rate, it could have gone badly for KTM if they had a major mechanical breakdown and were unable to complete their adventure on the bikes they started on. (Look at the trans-siberian adventure ride report in the RR forum, the KTM rider's bike keeps breaking down when it gets hot, bad PR especially on a celebrity ride and DVD production).

What I don't get is why they were looking to get complimentary bikes when they had to buy several vehicles for the support team and film crew, why not buy the bikes Charlie wanted in the first place.. money couldn't have been that tight

[some call me...tim]

Originally Posted by GB

What I don't get is why they were looking to get complimentary bikes when they had to buy several vehicles for the support team and film crew, why not buy the bikes Charlie wanted in the first place.. money couldn't have been that tight

That bothered me at first too--the guys both could easily afford to get whatever bike they wanted, yet they got their panties in a twist when they didn't get the bikes for free. Funny how those with the most money expect to pay the least. [insert incendiary comment about the current US tax situation]

Anyway, I got over that annoyance soon enough once the guys were out on the road. Loved LWR and it was definitely inspirational for me. Hoping for a LWU now (and will cross my fingers that it's better than LWD).

[Motorfiets]

Charley and Ewan got me into adventure riding

[LaurelPerryOnLand]

Originally Posted by Motorfiets

Charley and Ewan got me into adventure riding

Huh...I don't think Ewan's 'vehicle' was quite that large.

Does that thing have 'pegs'.

BTW...me too!
BTW...Lloyd Bridges (Sea Hunt) got me into scuba diving.