So after watching all the episodes I came away fairly satisfied with the series.
I really like the electric aspect of the trip. The Pan American Highway to Ushuaia is probably the most traveled and documented run in overlanding. Trying to achieve it via electric power added an interesting spin to it. If they had set out on petrol motorcycles, it would have been another "me too" entry (just not in the Harvey Weinstein way). I found myself being very interested in the state of the technology today and the challenges that it faces. I think this documentary is going to stand the test of time as one of the first well-documented attempts at long-distance electric motorcycle or even overland travel.
I test-rode a Zero motorcycle a few years ago. I can honestly say that I am not a fan of electric motorcycles, but I know the direction the industry and the world in general is headed. There's no question in my mind that 20 years from now, there will be more electric vehicles on the road than ICEs, at least in the western world.
My initial impressions during the first couple of episodes was, "OMG, Charley got old!" Compared to the first two series, he was barely in this one from a presence standpoint. He wasn't joking around as much, in fact I don't think he even said that much. Ewan basically carried the entire series from an engagement and narration standpoint. I think more than old age, it was all the accidents and injuries that Charley had accumulated in all that time in between. The first couple of episodes were in the Argentinian winter, so I think he was also suffering from the cold as well. When he was riding dirt, I felt genuinely worried that he'll have a bad off and seriously f-up his leg.
I also got a sense that a lot of time had passed since the two of them spent time together. It felt like two strangers getting to know one another, they didn't have as much chemistry as the first two series, which was something that I really enjoyed - that buddy banter between the two of them, teasing and playing around with each.
In this era of binge-watching, it was a long weekly wait between episodes, so I went back and re-watched LWR and LWD. It's amazing the change that Charley underwent. Not sure you remember, but this was the guy that lit his fart on fire one episode...
Going back and forth between all the series, it is astounding how far the camera technology has come. Helmet cams were so much more clearer, but the game changer for LWU was the drone footage and how it transformed the documentary. However, it also paints an unrealistic picture of what the guys experience on the ground. When you're on a motorcycle, you do not see the same things a drone sees. It's nowhere near as dramatic.
They spent quite a bit of time with the Rivians and the rest of the crew along this journey. I think it influenced a lot of the transportation decisions. The big puzzling direction they took was when they were in Southern Colombia, and they hopped on a plane and then a boat along the coast. Strange why they didn't just head to Cartagena or Bogota and ship everything across the Darien Gap like all Pan American travelers do. And then that whole thing with the Chicken Bus in Mexico. If they didn't want to ride during the night, they could have checked into a hotel instead of spending what... three days retrofitting a Chicken Bus for maybe three nights of travel. Only to have to abandon it at the Mexican border. Another puzzling travel decision.
This was the first LW series that I had actually ridden most of the route before watching, and it struck me how much they sped through all the countries, missing much of the things that gives flavour to Latin America. I know three months is a very short time, but they knew doing that kind of mileage was going to be rushed from the previous two series. These trips are so hyper-focused on mileage and destination that for me, that kind of travel is very unappealing.
I didn't feel that way the first time I watched LWD, but after doing that Africa route and rewatching the series, I was much more critical about their pace and everything they missed. It's almost better watching these docus not having any prior experience, otherwise you just end up shaking your head a lot.
A lot less Claudio in this one. While HD retrofitted those Livewires with a lot of off-road parts, I'm positive that they only gave Claudio a stock Sportster. So he basically did the same route as the other guys on a street bike... He is truly the unspoken hero of the series, doing amazing work on the drone and ground-cam footage.
Charley failing on his wheelie attempts with the Livewire must mean those bikes are super-front-end heavy. Throughout the whole series, they were constantly being passed by other vehicles - due to having to save battery life. How fun is it, really, to be on a motorcycle and have to constantly baby the throttle...? Unless they fix the power density for those batteries, that's always going to be a dealbreaker for me.
I really like the continuity showing Ewan's adopted Mongolian daughter from the first series showing up in this one. Very touching and heartwarming. Also interesting from a gossip-rag perspective when Ewan is reunited with the home-wrecker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead!
More than anything, this was quite the commercial for the benefits of using sun-tan lotion. Was constantly trying to fix the colour balance on the TV...
