Call us sceptics, but we wonder whether a stunt rider did some of the riding for Ewan McGregor in this Moto Guzzi promotional video for the new V85 TT.
It was filmed in southern Sardinia to promote the launch of the bike and Ewan as the bike’s ambassador.
Ambassador McGregor
Ewan has been a brand ambassador for Moto Guzzi for a few years now.
He says his father had a Moto Guzzi and he has several old California cruisers in his motorcycle collection.
In a previous Moto Guzzi promo video, Ewan rides a cruiser.
Ewan isn’t as skilful off-road as Charley who competed in the 2006 Dakar Rally, which makes us wonder about the riding in the V85 TT video.
His ambassador role is also one of the reasons preventing him from doing a proposed Long Way Up tour of South and North America with longtime friend Charley Boorman.
While the pair rode BMWs in their 2004 Long Way Round and 2007 Long Way Down, they are now ambassadors for different companies.
Charley has been brand ambassador for Triumph for several years.
Now Moto Guzzi has replaced it with the V85 TT, so there is at least a suitable adventure bike for Ewan to ride.
If Triumph and Moto Guzzi could come to an understanding, the pair could team up together again and ride different bikes.
Both companies have much to win from such a joint effort and a lot to lose — remember Charley’s tantrum when KTM pulled their support for Long Way Round!
However, Charley told us last year that Ewan’s relationship with Moto Guzzi would not necessarily foil their plans:
We’ve been talking about it a long time and if the stars align we will do something like a Long Way up from Tierra Del Fuego to Alaska in the next couple of years. It really is close now. Ewan’s always had a loose relationship with Moto Guzzi so there’s no conflict there.
MBW with Charley Boorman
Long Way Back
It’s been a long time between trips for Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.
From 14 April 2004 to 29 July 2004, they rode across Europe and the USA in Long Way Round and from 12 May to 4 August 2007 they rode from the top of Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa for Long Way Down.
With Ewan becoming increasingly busy with Hollywood movies, Charley squeezed in the 2006 Dakar rally for his series, Race to Dakar, and has produced several other travel shows.
MBW with Charley Boorman