Over the years several rough and ready riders have done amazing things with their GS.’ All involve riding harder, longer and with an insatiable desire to explore and discover their world. Some of the more noteworthy GS riders are featured here.
In 1981 Helge bought an R 80 G/S he named “Olga” and rode it for two years across Africa. Then he went home and realized home was the road, and did three years crossing South America. He made it across the infamous Darien Gap in Panama, then did North America, Asia, and Australia, too. All the while he snapped photos of National Geographic quality. In the end Helge did 250,000 miles in 77 countries over ten years. The book “Ten Years on Two Wheels” chronicles his travels. Today he runs Globeriders Tours and Olga is in the BMW Museum in Munich, decorated with scars from his travels and unique modifications like a plastic jug strapped to the back of the bike that he would fill with dirty clothes and detergent. The rocking of the bike made the jug function as a washing machine. Now that’s ingenuity.
Yeah, they’re celebrities on a dream ride. But they’re also hardcore bike guys. And on their two global odysseys, “The Long Way Round” and “The Long Way Down,” they rode from the U.K. across Europe, Asia, and Africa, eating some tough stuff. So don’t be jealous. They’re imitating you, really, and just doing what GS riders have done for years. It’s just fuel for your own dream -- which you can make happen if you really want to.
Who says nomads have to ride camels? Lisa and Simon Thomas of England prefer to do their wandering on GS’ (R 1100 GS and F 650 GS). In 2003, this intrepid pair sold everything and set out to see the world. Turning what was once a weekend hobby into an unforgettable adventure, they left the safety of a normal planned life for a ride that took them from Norway to Russia, across Europe, down through Africa, South America, and North America. Lisa and Thomas, who are happily married—you’d be too if you spent 100% of your time riding and exploring the planet instead of paying bills and worrying—have no plans to stop their travels and settle down anytime soon. “When the day ends and you are dirty, sweaty, tired and camped on the periphery of a Massai village in Tanzania, the full scope of life comes crashing home, and you understand the broader meaning of living,” they say. You only go around once. And these two are going around the planet. Here’s hoping their ride continues in all its glory.
“I left the US with a sincere determination to meet the inhabitants of earth face to face, look them in the eye and shake their hand,” said Glen Heggstad, an F 650 GS Dakar rider and Southern California native. Well, he certainly got to meet some strange people and look them in the eye – but he never bargained for getting kidnapped by Columbian rebels and held prisoner. That’s what happened to him on his solo journey from Siberia through the Gobi Desert, Middle East, India and Southeast Asia and Africa and then back to California a few years ago. After selling all his earthly possessions and hitting the road—or no road, actually—it took him two years to complete the trip, and he did a grand total of 50,000 miles. Glenn’s incredible adventures are detailed in his book “Two Wheels Through Terror,” which was made into a National Geographic special. And you thought you were a tough guy for riding in the rain all day on I-95.
A few years ago Denmark native Annette Birkmann decided she’d waited long enough to learn to ride a motorcycle. She quit her job as an attorney in Denmark and moved to Buenos Aires in Argentina where she found work in a motorcycle repair shop. She did not speak a word of Spanish before she arrived; she credits working in the repair shop with providing her an extraordinary cursing vocabulary. While in Buenos Aires she bought her first motorcycle - a 6 year old BMW F650GS Dakar. Eight months later she began a one year solo adventure ride through Latin America (without a GPS). The trip was not without its challenges, and after many of them, Annette now has a presentation called "Adventure riding in Latin America, The Top 10 List of How Not to Do It,” which consists of self-deprecating rules about what not to do on a long ride. Learning the hard way is what GS riders are all about. Because anyone can go the easy way.
In 1997 the BMW adventure rider Tiffany Coates set off on her very first bike trip from the UK, heading to India with her best friend with just two months of bike riding experience between them. "It proved to be a baptism of fire," says Tiffany. "As we wobbled our way out of the UK and across Europe, negotiating with the various bureaucratically obsessed border crossings as we meandered and muddled our way through Asia to India. That first journey was supposed to last nine months but I ended up crossing four continents and spending two and a half years on the road. I was truly bitten by the bike travelling bug."
Tiffany has covered several continents and a hundred thousand miles since then. Her strong spirit and love of adventure has endured her through some real tough times, including in her own words: “being pursued by angry mafia in Nicaragua, chased by elephants in Zambia, threatened by the military with guns in Iran and being mugged in Caracas.”
Tiffany's next adventure is called the Mongolian Mayhem. She documents all her journeys on her web site.
