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Long Way Round


motorman587

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Anybody got the video. I got it for X-mas and just finshed watching it. Very interesting trip. I like the begining were they were all set on KTMs put some guy from KTM did not think that they would make it so they did not give them any motorcycles. Second choice was BMWs. BMWs were trouble free except the broken frame for all the equipment they were carrying. Need to watch if you like that kind of motorcycling.

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Dibs! Saw the series on Bravo and wondered if the Video [don't you mean DVD? Welcome to '06] had some missing footage that they had to cut for broadcast.

 

When the started in Alaska at the dealer getting service, and 10 minutes they were in Monatana!

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Got it for Christmas. Unfortunately, I'm doubting I'll get a chance to sit down and watch much of it until after the first of the year (the week after Christmas is usually a b*** @ work since I'm covering for several of my team mates).

 

The preview looks very promising.

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I've got the dvd coming. Hadn't arrived in time for Christmas, but then I got to watch most of it the show when it was on the Fox reality channel a couple of weeks ago.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the couple of episodes I missed!

 

One definitely should read the book to get a better idea of whats happening to them along the way though. Fills in the gaps.

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Got the video a couple of weeks ago. Loved it(hadn't seen any of it before). I accually thought there would be more bonus footage but it is still a great watch. Already been through it twice. Makes me think hard about getting a GS! But I agree that the video doesn't cover near what the book does. It is really amazing what they did. I have some adventure rider friends that scoff because they are big and rich movie stars and they had the whole caravan following them and got some breaks through the trip that a regular person might not get along the way that might make the trip easier, but I think it was absolutely amazing what they did. Very inspirational! Very intertaining to watch!

Are there any other videos out there that are similar or documentaries on sport touring or adventure riding? All I have seen are custom bike shops making overpriced custom bikes that you can barely ride(although I love the customs)but it would be nice to see more of this kinda thing!

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For more bonus footage, get the 3-disc, 10-episode Special Edition through Amazon.ca. For some silly marketing reason, you can only get the 2-disc, 7-episode version in the USA. The 10-episode Special Edition makes the trip not only feel longer because of the extended episodes, it actually puts the trip into better perspective because, as someone pointed out above, they don't go from Alaska to Montana in 10 minutes.

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Received a Bootlegged copy,6 hrs long.

Ya know them "poor college" kids,if there's a will,there's a way!!! Kids + computers= Movies !!

Copy I have is from the original English TV broadcast.

Kids,ya gotta love 'em!

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I have a Yahoo Group where we discuss/review Biker Movies. While this primarily applies to Drive-In style stuff from the '60s and '70s, we also include chatter about any movie where motorcycles play a major role. So, we jabber about everthing from MotoGP year-in-review DVDs, to The Motorcycle Diaries. Anyway, I wrote a review of The Long Way Round. Here goes....

 

I just watched a two-disc set of "Long Way Round." For those that don't know, it was the video diary of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman as they rode BMW GS's around the world. It was on TV, but I missed it.

 

Before being released on DVD, it came out as a book. I tried to stumble through the book, but the format they used was so annoying I couldn't finish it. They would print Ewan's opinions about the events of a day or two, and then print Charlie's thoughts on the same events. It sort of took away from the linear nature of the story. I like the DVD much better.

 

I was initially a bit skeptical about these two guys riding around with camera crews and support vehicles. As it turns out, they spent very little time riding with the support vehicles (most of the time they only linked up with them around border crossings). They only had one cameraman with them during most of the journey, and he was riding a motorcycle as well.

 

When they were in the initial stages, they rented a large office building, and did all their planning from that location. It looks like it was a neat place to hang out, full of gear, motorcycles, maps, computers and stuff.

 

I'm not going to spoil any more details of the trip, but I will say that Mongolia and Siberia looked amazingly difficult. Ted Simon (author of my favorite book, "Jupiter's Travels") makes a cameo appearance at one point. The BMWs had a few failures, including several cracked frames and a failed ABS system. The big GS's looked a bit cumbersome in the rough bits, and there were lots of slow motion tip-overs. I think I would have selected something like a Suzuki DR650 for such a journey.

 

I give them credit for tackling Siberia, but I wish they had included Africa, Australia or South America.

 

I think one of the most interesting aspects of watching all the episodes back-to-back is that you get to see how progressively worn out they became. Obviously, I've never done any inter-continental trips, but I have done several long rides across the United States, and a separate one in Europe. I've done a few of them with my best friend, and it's always interesting to see the dynamics of your relationship change over the trip. No matter how much you like the person you're traveling with, you find yourself

fluctuating between getting along with them, and wanting to murder them. I think it's a combination of not being able to communicate with them, having too much time to think about niggling stuff, and the beating you take from the road. Afterwards it's all very entertaining... but during the trip you eventually get to a point where you want to bludgeon your friend for not stopping at that exit you saw with the Mexican restaurant. Anyway... Ewan and Charley talked about this phenomenon in the extras on the DVD.

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I agree that the book provided more detail than the DVD. Things like their two possible encounters with Russian mafia were much more compelling in the book than they were on the DVD.

 

My beef was with the way the story was told in the book. You would read about a couple days of adventure from the Ewan perspective.... then have to rewind and read Charley's thoughts. To me, a motorcycle trip is a quest to get from one point to the next. The way the book was designed was extremely disruptive to that flow. At least, that was my opinion. wink.gif

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I know I know I love BMWs however the GS had failures due to human error. Over loaded and crashes. The ABS failed due to the cameraman hitting a rock which he also took out a frame which was welded later.

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For more bonus footage, get the 3-disc, 10-episode Special Edition through Amazon.ca.

 

Thanks for the heads-up!

 

I just ordered it, along with the special edition of Faster.

 

We'll see what I get!

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I also got the DVD & book for X-Mas! I saw most of it when it aired on Bravo last year! I enjoyed seeing the parts I had missed! For those who have kids & haven't seen it! Be advised of the frequent dropping of the F-Bomb on the DVD grin.gif

 

Charlie is running the Dakar on a 650 & taping it and will release a 6 hr DVD! I talked to him at the Toronto bike show thumbsup.gifhttp://www.racetodakar.com/

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Over loaded and crashes. The ABS failed due to the cameraman hitting a rock

 

They were probably way overloaded.

 

While I've managed to make cross-country trips with just what I could fit in a tank and a tail bag, obviously I didn't need to take as much stuff as they did. Less clothes, no spare parts, and no film equipment. I did have camping gear, but no cooking stuff or food (hello Subway!). Also, I am famous for under-packing. I know there are huge limits to my credibility on this. However, I still think something like a Suzuki DR650SE would have been much better suited for their needs. There is something like a 220 pound difference between the GS and the DR. If they were determined to stick with BMW, why not a F 650 GS? It's about 150 pounds lighter. I thought it was odd that they didn't consider trying to make the trip on Triumph Tigers (after all, they are both UK fellers). The Tiger would have probably been a good compromise between the GS and the DR (and weighs in at about 70 pounds less than the big BMW).

 

I'm not trying to impugn the R 1150 GS. I've had a few miles on them, and they're great bikes. But, the failures that they experienced in The Long Way Round were surprising to me. Thirty years ago Ted Simon rode an overloaded Triumph Tiger around the world for four years. I could be wrong, but I don't remember him having the frame snap in half! I think he might have buggered up a piston, but this was no adventure touring machine... and he did log 78,000 miles! Ewan and Charley rode 20,000 miles over four months... and (I'm about to say something very controversial here) their route was easier.

 

ps... honest, I'm not trying to start a debate.... the views expressed here are mine... and I'm often wrong grin.gif

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For more bonus footage, get the 3-disc, 10-episode Special Edition through Amazon.ca.

 

Thanks for the heads-up!

 

I just ordered it, along with the special edition of Faster.

 

We'll see what I get!

 

 

Hey Tasker...save your money. Come up to Chi-Town,check out my 'scooter lift and take the DVD's home. When done with the flicks just mail'em back!

 

cccccccccccc-YA Rich

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On the DVD they did some testing on the 650GS, I know the were probabaly looking for a sponser too. They were or Charlie was all sent on the KTM when KTM thought they could not do it and pulled the plug.

 

I thought the GSs did very well under the condition, but then who am I. My "long way around" is going to the Georiga mountains.

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