Yes lets hope he his sha**ed by a gorilla - Dave is really irritating.

Too right, a lardy GS on that kind of stuff is no fun. But at least we got a glimpse of Claudio this week.

Mechandising
 

I've noticed they've been wearing special T-shirts this time round, so I thought I'd suggest a couple more, that certain HUBB-ers might like.

I watched yesterdays Long Way Down and enjoyed it (fortunately we have BBC on the cable in the Netherlands)
Some HUBB posters take it much to seriously. It is just a TV show and I rather see a few bikes and 4x4's riding in Africa then some fools fighting in a "big brother house" or singing in "Idols".

Yes it makes me think that the new GS 800 might be the better bike here. Easier to pick up for a start.My @ would certainly be down a lot - I HATE MUD and Ive never experienced dust like that. It was horrible.

long way.. oups on my ass again.. charley come here and help me lift my bike up..
 

I watched Wrong (was it long?) Way Round series in 2004 and also watched the first 3 parts of Wrong Way Down..

*Good things.. In a way they are helping poor kids (Unicef and so on). I dont mean money. If you are making a poor kid in nowhere land smile by letting him sit on your bike and play with lights and so on thats good.
*They showed people "Riders for Health" in Kenya.
*I laugh so much.. Its entertaining.. They are the best moving circus I've seen..
*I like the soundtrack.

But there is than the REALITY..
If you are a REAL motorbike traveller;

*You dont have a huge office space to plan your trip, put your bike etc.
*You dont have secretaries to do your paperwork.
*You dont have "fixers" in every country you'll pass to deal with any problem you'll face.
*You dont take a "Survival Course" or a "Hostile Enviroment Training" course prior to your trip..
*You are not OBESE if you are a REAL motorbike rider. REALITY..
*You dont go on the trip with a bike that you fall every 50 mt. of off-road and you cant even pick it up yourself. You choose the bike that fits YOU and the ROAD.. NOT the one that BMW gave you for free..
*You DO NOT HAVE 2 "support vehicles" (free thanks to BMW) full of spare parts, other needed equipment and 100 litres of extra fuel.
*You ARE NOT GIVEN A FREE BIKE.. SAD SAD SAD SAD.. BUT TRUE..
*You dont have a private doctor to travel with you..
*You dont a security guy to travel with you.
*You will NOT have "police escort" through any country.
*You dont have top of the line repair tools or place to carry them all (did i mention 2 SUPPORT VEHICLES)
*You cant be sure that help will come whenever you are stuck in some far away deserted area because you are not Mr. KENOBI from the JEDI council..

There are like 50 more that i can write but i think you got what i mean..
Just a quick flashback.. Some scenes from Wrong Way Round and Down:

*L.W.R.(2004) Episode 1 - KTM sends a consultant to Fat Boy and OBI WAN (thats what i call them)They dont even write the guy's name, they write "KTM consultant" on the screen(could that be because KTM DID NOT give them free bikes..). Have some respect! The guy is there to tell you about what you are going to do and he has done it before(gone through Siberia)The guy says "So you have 14 days to cross this place" showing on the map, and they say yeah. He goes "what do you think if i tell you it take 6 weeks". Just look at their faces.. What happened at the end? THEY COULDNT MAKE IT.. They were stuck in Siberia and Support Team came down with these huge trucks and carried them accross rivers and all bad roads.. Still at the end when they get to NY they said "We made it!"..
NO.. I REALLY DONT THINK SO..:thumbdown:
*L.W.R.(2004) Episode 4 - Claudio-the cameraman's (or Inspector Clouseau as I call him because he never has any idea about what he is doing and always in trouble and always sorry..) bike breaks down(Again..). Its not smth. big really. Gearbox problem. They have every single repair tool that is needed. What they dont have is ANY IDEA on how to repair a simple 200 smth. cc bike. What happened? Some Mongolian guys (locals) came with a smiling face and REPAIRED their bike for them. PLS shoot me!
*L.W.R.(2004) Episode 6 - Almost all episode you watch Fat Boy and OBI WAN going through Siberia in a Jeep or on a huge truck but NOT on a motorbike..
*L.W.R.(2004) Episode 7 - OBI WAN says "I hope that this will INSPIRE people.. What we have done.." INSPIRE?? INSPIRE?? :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: :censored::censored::censored:... If you know what I mean..

With Wrong Way DOWN what we see is that they didn't change a bit..

*L.W.D.(2007) Episode 2 - They arrive Tunisia at night and they decide its too dark to camp so they stay in a hotel. Where? At the Sheraton Tunis of course.. Now thats what i call ADVENTURE !

Well the bottom line is I guess whatever you do with your life you are either REAL or NOT.

With respect to those fellow friends out there now in nomans land and riding around the world..

the real world
 

The more i get to see of this series, the more i come to realize that money and fame is more of an obstruction to do what they do (or what they would like to do but aren't really doing) than that it provides the means. You can't buy adventure, not for all the money in the world. I even think that the more money the less adventure!
I am really glad that for me its not an option to go at it as they do. Because they have the means, they probably don't even realize what they are really doing..... making asses of them selves. For them its perfectly normal how they are doing this trip. The lack of comprehension is not something to envy... poor sods.

cheers
Noel

Nice design - wouldn't mind one of those to wear to the NEC next week. Might raise a few eyebrows as you stroll around the BMW stand as Charlie's in the corner signing his latest masterpiece.:biggrin3::biggrin3:

It's called The Long Way Down, Dammit.

Now stop teasing us or we won't make any more of these nice Adventure Type movies, and without us you know your little ugly lives wouldn't be worth living as you never leave the safety of your sofas, unless it's a trip to the fridge.

There's me and my mate FATBOY taking all sorts of risks and putting our dear lives in danger and you just mock us, oh the shame of it all.

I've criticised the circus element of the trip. But hey, good for them if they can make millions out of doing this stuff. Maybe when they've done long way up the americas they can settle back a bit and do a trip together without the circus.

I've found that it's usually the opposite direction people take - a drug once taken, simpler (and real) is no longer of interest - a one way street.

the long way down......
 

currently only seen the first two... have to download it on internet as cant get BBC2 in Spain! all I can say is this........... Does that pillock Boorman bust his frame/suspension/engine cases wheelieing a laden GS? does he crash? oh I hope so! he is the most irritating pillock in the world. McGregor I could cope with, but if I had to RTW with Boorman I would probably spray WD40 on his brake disks on some steep alpine pass!:stormy:

I noticed when at 8k miles into the trip they had to fit a second new rear shock to Claudios bike, (one each for teh others) there seemed to be a lattice work of welding to teh subframe. Is this standard, or have they beefed up the bikes after the first series ?

Yes; not only the bikes but the backup vehicles as well.

On page 27 of the book they say: Elsewhere I seem to recall reading about the strengthened frame but can't find those references.

Quoted from John down under
On page 27 of the book they say: Quote:
We'd fitted sump guards and light guards; metal protection plates over the engine casing. We'd also switched the original BMW suspension for what was considered the more robust Ohlins. We changed the weightier exhausts for Akrapovic cans, which were not only lighter but added around four or five horsepower.

They didnt look all that robust to me! how come Ewan Knackered his then Claudio his shock within an hour or so of each other??? Im no expert on shockers (see my other posts..lol) but that really isnt a good advert for Ohlins.