# Long Way Up motorcycle trip



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Has anyone watched any of the Long Way Round/Down/Up series? I saw the Up episodes get recently released and thought I'd watch it all from the beginning. Incredible. Dream motorcycle trip that most of us just couldn't between the bikes, gear, support crew and vehicles. Not to mention the staff to deal with the paperwork or the celebrity status to help you get by. 

This season is especially cool because they go to South America and do it mostly on electric bikes and vehicles, a change from the BMW's to the Harley's. Pretty wild. Between the wife and I, we've been to a lot of places but South America is still on the list, especially the Argentina, Chile and Peru portions. Great watch in my opinion, shows some culture and reminds me of sleeping in a ditch when I used to ride the bike all over.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Seen the first two. I personally would have done it on a KLR 650 just because. Great shows - Ewan and Charlie seem mostly like normal guys.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

Yup, saw the first two, looking forward to this one.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

vadsy said:


> Has anyone watched any of the Long Way Round/Down/Up series? I saw the Up episodes get recently released and thought I'd watch it all from the beginning. Incredible. Dream motorcycle trip that most of us just couldn't between the bikes, gear, support crew and vehicles. Not to mention the staff to deal with the paperwork or the celebrity status to help you get by.
> 
> This season is especially cool because they go to South America and do it mostly on electric bikes and vehicles, a change from the BMW's to the Harley's. Pretty wild. Between the wife and I, we've been to a lot of places but South America is still on the list, especially the Argentina, Chile and Peru portions. Great watch in my opinion, shows some culture and reminds me of sleeping in a ditch when I used to ride the bike all over.


Why would you choose a ditch to sleep in? They could be full of snakes, garbage, broken glass etc. Plus if it rains the water fills the ditch, so you will be washed into a storm drain.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

I've watched part of long way round ep. 7. I'd prefer no chase crew or things like that but it is what it is. 


player99 said:


> Why would you choose a ditch to sleep in? They could be full of snakes, garbage, broken glass etc. Plus if it rains the water fills the ditch, so you will be washed into a storm drain.


I'm guessing you've not ridden too many back road/off road trips or where that was part of your trip. For one, no storm drains. A lot of times they have culverts and they're the only game on town. Saves money on hotel bills too, if there are any hotels and those hotels cater to bikers.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Electraglide said:


> I've watched part of long way round ep. 7. I'd prefer no chase crew or things like that but it is what it is.
> 
> I'm guessing you've not ridden too many back road/off road trips or where that was part of your trip. For one, no storm drains. A lot of times they have culverts and they're the only game on town. Saves money on hotel bills too, if there are any hotels and those hotels cater to bikers.


What sort of "catering" does a biker need?


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

player99 said:


> What sort of "catering" does a biker need?


Means when you pull in the Vacancy sign gets turned to no vacancy and the lights get turned out....like at 5 in the afternoon. Happens a lot. Doesn't matter what you ride. As far as other "catering" goes, a burger and a beer or two would be ok. Maybe a hooker if you're own your own.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

Electraglide said:


> Means when you pull in the Vacancy sign gets turned to no vacancy and the lights get turned out....like at 5 in the afternoon. Happens a lot. Doesn't matter what you ride. As far as other "catering" goes, a burger and a beer or two would be ok. Maybe a hooker if you're own your own.


Hmm, methinks a hooker in a ditch is a way for any story to take an interesting turn.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

1SweetRide said:


> Hmm, methinks a hooker in a ditch is a way for any story to take an interesting turn.


Nah.....they want at least a tarp in the bushes. Had a canvas one that wrapped around an old army down sleeping bag. Didn't have a tent for years. If you were on a run there was always the chase truck. It would be nice to have the coin and back-up to do a world wide trip like this tho. Might see if I can find all the episodes on youtube or check the library to see if there is anything on dvd.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

The trip through Europe was pretty cool but seeing the barren emptiness of Mongolia and eastern Russia was insane. The people seemed amazing all over, then they get to Calgary and immediately get run off the road by locals.

The Africa trip was even cooler, from desert to lush green landscapes, such phenomenal diversity in terrain. The people too, from tribes living off the land to densely populated centres.

The South America trip is mind-blowing just for the mountains and elevation changes. Travelling from sea level to 15000 feet for a while would certainly get to some folks but the scenery seems to be out of this world. The people seem to be incredible but again, having some support crews and celebrity status probably helps.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

I'd go to Mongolia to ride with these guys, no problem.




As far as getting run off the road by locals, Calgary or Edmonton......no difference. Same with downtown Vancouver and Saskatoon. One nice thing about Canada and the rest of N. America there's not a lot of animals that will try to eat you or even poison you and going by what friends have said about riding or driving in Central and South America there's not a lot of palms to grease either. I went looking to see what footage they have for Canada but haven't found any yet.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

A bit about the H-D electric bikes and trailer for the latest series here:








The Secrets Behind Ewan McGregor's Custom Electric Harley in "Long Way Up"


Harley-Davidson gives us the scoop on a special, overland-ready edition of the LiveWire




www.insidehook.com


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

jb welder said:


> A bit about the H-D electric bikes and trailer for the latest series here:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did they go thru mud and swamps like they did in the one episode I saw? The two guys were motorhiking the Beemers in a few spots. Can't see an electric taking that amount of water and mud even if it was a Harley. I know a lot of it was off road in the beginning but in the trailer did he say "150 miles a day" (I saw in another article that they did the 13,000 miles in 100 days). Sounds like they took some of the route Che Quiverra took on his trip. Took Che and his friend a lot loonger to do his trip but they were two up on an old Norton and I believe there were less roads. Would have been interesting if they could have filmed that. 
I've been looking around the net and all there seems to be is bits and pieces of the first too. Nothing at the library here.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

so far it has been easy going on the bikes, the batteries had a tough time in the cold but after that theyve been great. no mud or swamps yet but theyre only in Ecuador I think and next episode is Friday. Harleys wouldn't have cut it in Russia and Mongolia, so far South America looks easy in comparison and is perfect for the HD's


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

vadsy said:


> so far it has been easy going on the bikes, the batteries had a tough time in the cold but after that theyve been great. no mud or swamps yet but theyre only in Ecuador I think and next episode is Friday. Harleys wouldn't have cut it in Russia and Mongolia, so far South America looks easy in comparison and is perfect for the HD's


Gas Harley's do cut it in Russia and Mexico but not the electric ones. There one scene in episode 7 I think where it looks like the fuel truck almost floats away and some where they're drowning the bikes.




around 15 minutes or so. Not too sure what Central America and Mexico are going to be like, depending on their route. Do any of the chase vehicles have generators? That would help when they plug the bikes in and overload the system. Biggest problem I'd have with some of that route is would I be able to breathe at that altitude but it would be a gas to find out. I'd do it on a gas Harley tho. A quick check shows there's a two disc set, Round and Down on amazon for $400+. I can wait.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

that was actually the episode that came to mind and left me impressed. bike engines filled with water, then simply drained those opposing twins by pulling the plugs, fired them up to spit some water out the exhaust and went on their way. cool

I wonder if the electrics would fair better in the water with having less places to draw it in. they would be sealed most likely.

don't spend the 400, just get Netflix or whatever it's streaming on for a month or trial and binge them all. it would be a good idea to see the terrain before taking a Road King through Kazakhstan or Siberia


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

vadsy said:


> that was actually the episode that came to mind and left me impressed. bike engines filled with water, then simply drained those opposing twins by pulling the plugs, fired them up to spit some water out the exhaust and went on their way. cool
> 
> I wonder if the electrics would fair better in the water with having less places to draw it in. they would be sealed most likely.
> 
> don't spend the 400, just get Netflix or whatever it's streaming on for a month or trial and binge them all. it would be a good idea to see the terrain before taking a Road King through Kazakhstan or Siberia


Pulling the pug or plugs would work an any engine but one of the things that got me is they didn't check the oil or any other fluid for water. Maybe they did just didn't show it. To some extent there's less of a chance getting water in the cylinders of a vertical engine.....everything is higher off the ground but I'm not too sure how much difference that would make in the river they showed. Trying to start the engine when there's water in the cylinders could cause problems. The electric bikes are sealed but you have to figure that an electric in those situations, water depth, pressure and time, could possibly have something short out and then it's load it in the back of a chase truck. Not a big fan of Road Kings but properly set up along the lines of the Beemers there shouldn't be too much of a problem especially with a crew behind you tho I'd take a carburated bike, pre 1990 and chain drive myself. Either way, if it doesn't need it to run it's off the bike except for head light and brake/tail lights and I'd check out conditions a bit better. Seems they didn't check on how high or how much water there would be for one thing and without a crew you'd be more limited as to where you go. Follow railway tracks, roads etc.. 
As far as netflix goes, I've heard there's no longer any free trial in Canada and netflix doesn't have a lot that I'd be interested in, especially for how ever long it takes for the 3rd one to air. I'll just keep looking for free episodes that people have downloaded. DailyMotion seems to have quite a few episodes and they are free.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

From a quick check it seems that the cameraman possibly had the best bike after his beemer broke and was sent back.








An 04 IZH Planeta 5. A Russian 350.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Electraglide said:


> From a quick check it seems that the cameraman possibly had the best bike after his beemer broke and was sent back.
> View attachment 333744
> 
> An 04 IZH Planeta 5. A Russian 350.


unfortunately I don’t think it lasted very long


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

vadsy said:


> unfortunately I don’t think it lasted very long


From what I understand it lasted across Mongolia until the end of the journey which was I think New York. And the frame didn't break. Seems it had some trouble with the transmission but a couple of Mongolian sheep herders fixed that rather quickly. That being said there's not a lot out there about von Planta's bikes....he was taking the pictures...and so far I haven't seen anything about their getting to New York. You would figure there'd be pictures of them and the bikes in Time's Square or something like that. I'm taking it that this, "All of the motorcycles also suffered bumps, scrapes and cracks although, except for von Planta's BMW, they survived the journey." from wikipedia means the Russian bike made it. Nothing is said about him getting another bike. I guess mosquitoes were a problem too. 
Might just see if they have the DVDs at Blackfoot Motors. Have to go there to get a set of saddle bags for my son's bike. It is possible that at least one of the BMW guys there would know what bikes were ridden where.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

vadsy said:


> Harleys wouldn't have cut it in Russia and Mongolia, so far South America looks easy in comparison and is perfect for the HD's





Electraglide said:


> I'd do it on a gas Harley tho.


H-D Pan America, their (gas) adventure tourer, will be out next year:








2022 Adventure Motorcycles | Harley-Davidson USA


Adventure Touring motorcycles at Harley-Davidson will add excitement to your life. Explore your favorite trails or hit the roads on our off-road motorcycles.




www.harley-davidson.com


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

jb welder said:


> H-D Pan America, their (gas) adventure tourer, will be out next year:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


True but I don't think that a modified Road King would be any worse than the modified R1150GS's they rode. Possibly better because the points where water would get into the cylinders is higher up than on the beemers and I'm not too sure if the belt final drive would be better than shaft. The first thing I'd do to the Pan Am would be to invest in one heavy duty rad gaurd and then one heavy duty skid plate. And then I'd use it as a back up bike and rig up a say modified '76 Ironhead. Lighter, a one piece frame instead of what looks like a bolt together frame using the engine to tie the bottom part of the frame together and the Ironhead is not water/liquid cooled. If I went newer it would probably be a 1997 Dyna Glide but the '76 sits higher off the ground and is still lighter so you can put a much bigger gas tank on it. Another + for the Ironhead is that anyone with some basic tools and a bit of knowledge can work on them. One thing I would do would be to change the ignition over to electronic. Oh and put tubes in the tires. I'd also leave the kick start on but depending where I was I'd put the arm and pedal in a saddle bag.


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## Gimper (Jan 14, 2016)

Cool. I'm going to have to watch this series. Sounds very interesting. 
A few years ago I did a motorcycle trip from southern Ontario out to Newfoundland. 15 days round trip. It was awesome. A cross continent trip would be epic!


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Gimper said:


> Cool. I'm going to have to watch this series. Sounds very interesting.
> A few years ago I did a motorcycle trip from southern Ontario out to Newfoundland. 15 days round trip. It was awesome. A cross continent trip would be epic!


I40 across the states wasn't too bad but going across Canada would be a hell of a lot better. Hopefully next year.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

From what I read on ADVRider, the plan was to go all the way to Alaska originally, but they cut it off at California. Perhaps there were concerns of battery life in cold weather???

I'd love to do that trip on my Africa Twin ;-)


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

b-nads said:


> From what I read on ADVRider, the plan was to go all the way to Alaska originally, but they cut it off at California. Perhaps there were concerns of battery life in cold weather???
> 
> I'd love to do that trip on my Africa Twin ;-)


the cold was certainly a factor when they set off. October start at the South Pole, kinda, and the massive elevations certainly wasn't warm. they arrived and started in the snow for the first few days, had to wait for the ice to melt off the roads. batteries suffered but powered through as soon as the temps improved. overall the bikes are great, only thing is parts rattling off in typical Harley fashion, which is weird because they're not v-twins

but the've already done Alaska, and North America was boring in the first series. heck, they were warned about all of the terrible things that could happen to them in Europe, Asia, Africa and then they almost get killed twice in Calgary of all places, just hours apart each of them get run off the road by idiots. that was the most excitement besides the scenery in Alaska

I think in terms of watchability the North American market wants to see the world not places they can do their own riding through. I noticed how they just condensed that part of it in the series.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

vadsy said:


> overall the bikes are great, only thing is parts rattling off in typical Harley fashion, which is weird because they're not v-twins
> 
> but the've already done Alaska, and North America was boring in the first series. heck, they were warned about all of the terrible things that could happen to them in Europe, Asia, Africa and then they almost get killed twice in Calgary of all places, just hours apart each of them get run off the road by idiots. that was the most excitement besides the scenery in Alaska


If it falls off and the bike is still ride able leave it on the ground. Not too sure what parts fell off but if the Harley's were like the beemers there were a lot of bolt ons that might not have been needed. I think falling over might have been a issue too. Goes for any bike and at least the frames didn't break like in the first one. Not only were they run off the road but at one hot springs one of the guys had his wallet stolen. Seems in one place after they got rid of their police/security escort they had hand guns and rifles pointed at them.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

From youtube.


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