There are two things that have prevented Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman completing their proposed Long Way Up tour of South and North America.
There is the fact that Ewan is so busy with Hollywood movies he can’t afford a few months off and there is also the fact that Ewan is ambassador for Moto Guzzi and Charley is ambassador for Triumph.
The pair rode BMWs in their 2004 Long Way Round and 2007 Long Way Down.
Now Moto Guzzi has replaced it with the V85TT which Ewan recently rode in Southern Sardinia.
Watch the video and tell us if you believe he did all the riding or whether it was just clever editing!
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
However, in a recent video, Charley says the ride will go from Argentina to LA.
Maybe they don’t want to cover the same territory through Canada and Alaska that they did in the Long Way Round.
Long Way Back
It’s been a long time between trips for Ewan and Charley.
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