Touratech and Charley Boorman Hit the Road
A long, long time ago in a land far, far away, Ewan McGregor and a little known actor, Charley Boorman, rode around the globe on a pair of BMW adventure bikes. A TV series, The Long Way Round followed. Both it and the book made Mr. Boorman a star, and not just in the motorcycle world.
Sexy Beasts
Most of the adventure bike story has its origins here in Europe. Bigger, slower bikes they may be, but they have a lot to offer in the real world. Luggage capacity, multi terrain use, easy to carry a pillion on and a huge amount of damage resilience have always made them something that a small amount of riders enjoyed. Add Charley and Ewans adventure to the mix and all of a sudden that changed with the R1200GS breaking all the sales records and opening up a whole new world to the two wheeled universe.
All the kit for the biggest of adventures
While all of the manufacturers made clothing and accessories to go with their bikes it was the lesser known companies who made specialised pieces who were the real heroes. Just one of these was, and still is, Touratech, a company who have gone from strength to strength over the years. Indeed, before our intrepid duo set off both of their bikes were dressed in Touratech kit, with the original BMW factory stuff being quietly left behind.
A pair of Live Wires on LiveWires!
Charley remembers getting the bikes ready; ‘When we started the preparations for Long Way Round, we contacted Touratech and explained what we had in mind. To our surprise, Touratech was immediately on board. I'll never forget when this box with all the Touratech material arrived at our office where we were setting up the bikes. It was like Christmas!’
Aging beautifully
After their initial adventure Charley, BMW and Touratech were all very much on everyone’s radar. The English actor then went on to take part in the Dakar Rally on a Touratech prepped F650GS. Then there was the Long Way Down through Africa, again on a pair of GS machines and the Long Way Up Livewire electric adventure through South America. “Thailand Unleashed” was another project that both he and the German firm were involved with and partnered on.
Last month Charley rode in the ‘O nosso Dakar’ rally in Portugal on the new BMW R 1300 GS. This was, once again, dressed by Touratech.
A pure ride
Touratech will be hosting their Travel Event from 30th of May until the 1st of June this summer. It’ll be their 20th year of doing so and will be held, once again Niedereschach In Germanys Black Forest. Guess who’ll be there to say hi!
In the meantime, see www.touratech.ie for all the goodies or just drop in to Overlanders in Gorey…