Long Way Up! On HD Livewire's... | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Long Way Up! On HD Livewire's...

MacDoc said:
Now this is Adventure motorcycling. Can you imagine our TV personalities doing the Darien Gap

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That was a wonderful read. Thank you. I particularly liked this nonchalant part "We built a raft which sank when we put the bikes on it."

I love Panama and have wandered around some of the jungle and travelled on some of the rivers but I know the Darien is a step above most of that.
 
IIRC the original LWR made BMW a pretty penny afterwards in sales. I'm sure there was some angst at KTM for rejecting them.
 
KTM rejecting them was smart and they would do it again even knowing how well BMW did. KTM's slogan is Ready to Race, the trip wasn't about racing. KTM gets enough marketing for its demographic in Enduro, Dakar, and other Off-Road events and through people such as Lyndon Poskitt who actually fit with the brands paradigm.

Charlie has an adventure cafe now and does Tours, he had an accident a while back, serious one. They are both affiliated with other brands and the off-road adv world is full of people touring and documenting their ways. They dont want to do a whole Mondo Enduro style thing at their age and history. Using electric bikes and vehicles, taking it easy and making the adventure about the range, path. technology, etc... will all be new and interesting to watch :geek: (as much as I wish they went with something other than a Harley lol)
 
update

Long-Way-Up-Ewan-McGregor-Harley-Davidson-Livewire-4a.jpg

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Ewan and Charley Spotted Filming Long Way Up on Electric Harleys - ADV Pulse

Things are getting real in Patagonia for the Long Way Up cast and crew as photos posted to Instagram this weekend show Ewan McGregor leaving Ushuaia on an already muddied-up blue Harley-Davidson LiveWire. Two of the photos were taken alongside the Perito Francisco Moreno, the low road that...
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Really looking forward to our trip there in Feb/March
 
My guess is that the price of rejection was lower than the price of acceptance. In scripted reality shows of this type are largely infomertials -- the product is placed and the branding control left in the hands of the sponsor - in this case HD. Unicorns and rainbows for the product -- remember, it's scripted and staged, not 2 guys with a action cams beating their way from pole to equator.

KTM has nothing to gain. this type of journey is squarely in their market, all they could hope to gain a a smidge of market from BMW, they could also lose some cache as the riders are 10 years older and tackling a far less challenging route. Imagine if BMW did a Coke-Pepsi thing to KTM at the end of the ride.

HD has a lot to gain. They are launching a new bike in a new market, all they can reasonably expect is well heeled early adopters who will buy to be different or to make a statement. My guess is they want a lot of repeat coverage, a show of bike durability and utility, possibly all that Tesla got as the hard chargers in the Ecar market.
 
Harley has a lot to lose buying sugar coating this promo. When reality hits, it could be VERY different. Won't watch it. Didn't watch Die Hard 2,3,4,or5 either.
 
Could the LiveWires be a ruse? Maybe they are keeping eyes off secret filming of a knarly mucktour using real riders on their new AT.
 
. In scripted reality shows of this type are largely infomertials
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Less scripted than you imply. ....it's not Love Island. :rolleyes:

You think they scripted Ewan squirting gas in his eyes?.....the Way Around docus are a long way from 4 am info mercials. BMW didn't come out smelling roses with broken frames etc. tho the 800 the camera man was riding was solid.

There were some good lessons about overloading bikes and a marginally experienced off pavement rider ( Ewan ) taking on stuff above his pay grade....mind you mostly with good humour.
 
It don't look so pretty any more :|
 
As long as they don't blow up...or at least blow up and kill somebody, it's good PR for HD. It's all about exposure.
 
The thing I like about some docus is the unpredictable things that happen. It MIGHT be good PR for HD....we will soon know.

I thing the main beneficiary of the whole series was ADV in general and that a relative newbie could get through it.....mind you with a decent suport team. Still it was no walk in the park in some areas - especially Eastern Russia.
 
MacDoc said:
The thing I like about some docus is the unpredictable things that happen. It MIGHT be good PR for HD....we will soon know.

I thing the main beneficiary of the whole series was ADV in general and that a relative newbie could get through it.....mind you with a decent suport team. Still it was no walk in the park in some areas - especially Eastern Russia.
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I agree it's wasn't terribly tough -- but it was interesting. I'm sure with 10 support staff, 3 support vehicles, a year to plan and the financing cover the trip most of us could have done it. The acting... only a select few can pull that off.

It's a made for TV adventure. Sure there are going to be goofy events -- gas in the eyes, bee stings while riding, projectile vomiting thanks to tainted water... the scenery, weather, trips down marginal roads are the adventure parts, things that might happen to any of us when we travel on bikes. The bikes will survive and probably be portrayed like Marines or Seals -- that's the sponsorship stuff.
 
meh - two rich guys with support vehicles
 
Anyone that has ever tried to accomplish something out of the ordinary has had to face their share of haters trying to minimize their accomplishments and tear them down for something or another; for not being "hardcore" or "authentic" enough.

"$30K Harleys? Try doing it on a 30-year old 50cc Chinese-made bike. *THAT* is *REAL* adventure motorcycling."
"You stayed on the PanAmerican Highway the whole way? Try finding the least direct route through 56 states, 17 Central American countries, riding though snow and quicksand the ENTIRE way etc. *THAT* is *REAL* adventure motorcycling."
"You slept in a tent every night? Try sleeping on the ground with only mud and leaves covering you to keep you warm. *THAT* is *REAL* adventure motorcycling."

The fact is they spent months away from family and friends, they were in the saddle for all of those miles *AND* spent the time to document the trip.

They've accomplished a lot more than the armchair critics sitting behind their computers at home.

They've got my respect.
 
Lightcycle said:
Anyone that has ever tried to accomplish something out of the ordinary has had to face their share of haters trying to minimize their accomplishments and tear them down for something or another; for not being "hardcore" or "authentic" enough.

"$30K Harleys? Try doing it on a 30-year old 50cc Chinese-made bike. *THAT* is *REAL* adventure motorcycling."
"You stayed on the PanAmerican Highway the whole way? Try finding the least direct route through 56 states, 17 Central American countries, riding though snow and quicksand the ENTIRE way etc. *THAT* is *REAL* adventure motorcycling."
"You slept in a tent every night? Try sleeping on the ground with only mud and leaves covering you to keep you warm. *THAT* is *REAL* adventure motorcycling."

The fact is they spent months away from family and friends, they were in the saddle for all of those miles *AND* spent the time to document the trip.

They've accomplished a lot more than the armchair critics sitting behind their computers at home.

They've got my respect.
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True, but I'm guessing more than a few riders on this forum would voluntarily take their place in this fully supported adventure. I'd certainly tackle it with a new bike and 10 support staff to keep my stuff running, me and my gear safe, my meals and accommodations catered -- all expenses paid of course!
 
Mad Mike said:
True, but I'm guessing more than a few riders on this forum would voluntarily take their place in this fully supported adventure. I'd certainly tackle it with a new bike and 10 support staff to keep my stuff running, me and my gear safe, my meals and accommodations catered -- all expenses paid of course!
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Opportunities don't appear in a vacuum.

These aren't two random dudes who BMW (and Harley) decided to drop a whole bunch of cash for them to go on a motorcycle adventure. Obviously they had enough cachet (or least Ewan does) that these companies saw a quid pro quo in having them represent their brand.

It's easy to say, "yeah, if I had the cash", but they don't acknowledge that these guys worked to get to a point where they were marketable enough.

Better to say, "yeah, I just need to go to acting school, do bit parts in commercials and theater, be an extra on low budget movies, go to countless auditions and battle tens of thousands of other Hollywood Hopefuls, to finally land a juicy role and be noticed by the industry. Then I can capitalize on this fame and leverage my contacts in the film industry to build an Adventure Travel entertainment brand from scratch".

But no, people think it's as easy as, "just give me the money and I would totally do that ride."
 
do they get to keep the bikes?
 
Lightcycle said:
Opportunities don't appear in a vacuum.

These aren't two random dudes who BMW (and Harley) decided to drop a whole bunch of cash for them to go on a motorcycle adventure. Obviously they had enough cachet (or least Ewan does) that these companies saw a quid pro quo in having them represent their brand.

It's easy to say, "yeah, if I had the cash", but they don't acknowledge that these guys worked to get to a point where they were marketable enough.

Better to say, "yeah, I just need to go to acting school, do bit parts in commercials and theater, be an extra on low budget movies, go to countless auditions and battle tens of thousands of other Hollywood Hopefuls, to finally land a juicy role and be noticed by the industry. Then I can capitalize on this fame and leverage my contacts in the film industry to build an Adventure Travel entertainment brand from scratch".

But no, people think it's as easy as, "just give me the money and I would totally do that ride."
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Hats off to these guys -- I take nothing away from them -- they make these trips happen and I enjoy watching the finished product.

But realize they are in the entertainment business. While these are epic trips, they are not documentaries -- they are reality TV.
 
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