“Long Way Up” [Electric Harleys]

[kiltman]

My criticisms aside... I'm jealous. I would love to be doing a trip like this. It would be nice to be able to afford the support, and be on the cutting edge of technology. I have to remember these are prototypes...someone has to go out in the field and test them. If you were the owners of the companies that supplied the product, you would do everything you can to support the development of the product. There's a lot at stake for them for when the product goes into production you want the best real world credentials for them.
The amount of money involved in producing a series like this, the producers,I think are going the tried and true method of "Reality" TV. Would the basic vlog concept that Noraly is using attract as many viewers and yield the return that Apple is seeking on their investment? I don't know.

I'll remain jealous... take out the Vespa and try and get some action shots on a country road using my tripod, selfie stick and drone.... and maybe come across a rogue cow that will hamper my journey so I can do a cliffhanger for the next episode.....yup I'm jealous! Now to put together a support team.... volunteers?

 

[Sadlsor]

I would agree there's probably much to criticize, IF that's your mindset.
Firstly, I don't have Apple TV, and feel like I already pay too much for entertainment. (For example - My ST1300.)
Secondly, it's about *riding*, and mostly in places most of us will never get to see.
Thirdly, the Long Way Down and Long Way Down series were entertaining, for the scenery and the bikes as much as anything else. Sure, there's drama - it's made for television.
Fourthly - at some point, it will become available to venues outside of Apple. I'll watch it then. And probably mostly like it.

 

[ST Gui]

I would agree there's probably much to criticize, IF that's your mindset.

+1. It's not like meeting those guys these at the country club in full on

mode and they start telling how they were surround by a pride of lions on the Serengeti barely escaped with their lives but had to out run a flash flood and made a cobra snake for a necktie.

Yes Noraly didn't have support vehicles. But but she carries a couple of jerry cans on Dahnno. She doesn't need a broker because she's not part of a documentary team which requires a lot of logistics that didn't really happen.

TBH Noraly isn't doing anything unique. There are a lot of solo riders out there doing the same thing including the blogging. So to me her adventure isn't all that awesome. But she is and that's what makes me want to watch her travels. Put her on a LiveWire. She's still be awesome but without any hardship where's the adventure. I'm not at all interested in other travelers.

Except McGregor and Boorman now. These guys are engaging. We knew what this trip was about before it started. Not somebody's cup of tea - not a problem. But it's not posing as something is isn't and that's all I care about. I like apples and oranges but don't need to compare the two.

 

[kiltman]

Problem solvers and Trojan horse..... what to do when travelling through rough communities? Convert a school bus to a roving hotel with a garage for your bikes. You’ve got 64 hours to complete the task....oh and repair the clutch, brakes and turbo....
Well beyond my comfort zone. I await the next episode to see the progress.

 

[ST Gui]

I just watched the Ecuador episode where they were ambushed... for celebrity selfies. WOW! Social media must have really been buzzin'. Plus his célérité got paperwork pushed through and some the crew on the ship. I liked that ep.

 

[Coop]

Yeah, it's a good show but they aren't really facing any "hardships". Plus, they only travel 150 or so miles a day. How hard can that be with a whole team of trucks, Dr, translator and somewhat unlimited finances behind you?

What do their hookers look like?

 

[Coop]

I'm waiting for an electric BSA. Just to see if they can built something that doesn't vibrate.

 

[tjhiggin]

I'm waiting for an electric BSA.

The "Lucas electrics" jokes practically write themselves!

 

[st11ray]

What do their hookers look like?

Not bad.

Redirect Notice

images.app.goo.gl

 

[Tor]

Enjoying it but it does seem a little contrived as an entertainment show rather than an adventure.

After all that preparation, Charlie does not know how to use the Satellite phone? No heated gear?

Why did they not use the Zero Dual Sport bikes? They have a 200 mile range and were available last year?

It will be interesting to see how they get through the Darien Gap.

It's like watching a "slow-motion midlife crisis"

 

[Tor]

Electric boat?

Lee!! Great idea . Or maybe ask Sikorsky to lend them a SkyCrane. It'll lift the entire entourage, bikes, trucks, crew, batteries and all.

 

[Scarce]

For those without TV+, but have Amazon Prime Video, I can recommend Charley Boorman’s excellent series available there. I’m 7 episodes into his ‘Extreme Frontiers: Canada’ series. He’s traveling by bike most of the time, but the heart of it is all the very interesting off-the-bike adventures he seeks out... cold-water shipwreck dive, lobster fishing, rodeo, RCMP boot camp, coal mine electric train driving, Bay of Fundy tide riding, Bloodvein River canoeing, dinosaur bone hunting... and on and on! Fascinating!

Extreme Frontiers: Canada

He also has separate USA and South Africa travel/adventures series available on Prime. I’m just now reading his post-accident book, “Long Way Back.” Geeze, he got busted up pretty bad. Ewan commented in today’s episode that he was worried about the abuse Charley was taking on the rough roads.

Anyway, if you get a chance, check out Charley’s stuff. I really like the guy.

John

Thanks. I wasn't aware of that series at all, making my way through the Long Way Round, Up...Down series, as well as Boorman's excellent Race To Dakar and By Any Means series.

Charley's great. I actually like his stuff better than with McGregor, which as some have said here gets a bit too contrived. I did enjoy the hairy stuff in Mongolia in their first series though.

 

[Uncle Phil]

The "Lucas electrics" jokes practically write themselves!

Ah, Lucas Electrics, the Prince Of Darkness (I owned a BSA and a Triumph).
A wiring diagram from one of their owner's manuals -

 

[Coop]

Ah, Lucas Electrics, the Prince Of Darkness (I owned a BSA and a Triumph).
A wiring diagram from one of their owner's manuals -

That is almost as informative as the owners manual for my first Yamaha. A 1966 Twin Jet 100 and the book was written in English and Japanese. Not English or Japanese, it would stop mid sentence and change languages.

 

[ST Gui]

they aren't really facing any "hardships"

That doesn't seem like a goal or metric of any kind whereas planning to overcome any possible pitfalls such as providing power for 4 electric prototypes would be.

The initial episode laid all that out. "We'er going to ride electric bikes from Here to There sometimes on roads they weren't designed for. There's no charging infrastructure so we're going to have to provide our own." Pretty plain that. No oranges disguised as apples. Nobody involved in the production was or is pretending it's more than it is.

So if Noraly never had a flat tire never burned up her clutch never fallen off her bike she wouldn't have had "adventure" just a "tour"? The idea of having to have "hardships" as a metric to make a trip an adventure is just bragging rights or a "measuring" contest. So far neither production shows any sign of that nonsense.

I'd take part that eBike ride in a heartbeat but like Noraly I wouldn't ride in the rain or at night or on a rainy night unless I had to. I'll grant she might be more comfortable in rain than I.

 

[st11ray]

Harley went ahead of them and put charging stations in where the could. Harley sent a team down to fix Ewan's bike. They have an entire team to help them get across borders and such. Plus a pretty much endless budget. It's a good show but it's far from two guys getting together and riding from the tip of South America to LA on their own.

 

[STFlips]

That is almost as informative as the owners manual for my first Yamaha. A 1966 Twin Jet 100 and the book was written in English and Japanese. Not English or Japanese, it would stop mid sentence and change languages.

Yep I had one too, I also work with Japanese industrial equipment and the manuals were hilarious, even used little cartoons.
When they didn't have an English word, throw in a Japanese one!

 

[Uncle Phil]

Yep I had one too, I also work with Japanese industrial equipment and the manuals were hilarious, even used little cartoons.
When they didn't have an English word, throw in a Japanese one!

The proper name for that language is Jinglish.
I once worked on a computer system that was designed in France and all the manuals were written in Fringlish.

 

[ST Gui]

It's a good show but it's far from two guys getting together and riding from the tip of South America to LA on their own.

It's a good thing they didn't represent it as such though a lot of people want to think they did.

Installing the few charging stations were they could was still in no way an infrastructure. Calling even Musk's stations an infrastructure is a stretch. People still plan trips around their locations though and usually manage. But it's not the same as using an ICE machine is it.

Again all this was made very clear from the very first episode yet people continue to act like they uncovered shenanigans and recount what we already knew. There were no surprises.

"That's not an apple! That's an orange!"
"Uh yeah it says ORANGE right on the front".

Watch it or don't. Macht nichts. I like it for what it is.

The proper name for that language is Jinglish.

I'm familiar with another dialect – Engrish. Though I'd probably not use either term in polite company.

 

[kiltman]

Watched the final episode this morning. Not much to comment. Only to say, I despise “Reality TV”. I can just imagine the quality video that is hanging out in a cloud that is stunning that we don’t get to see.....bummer. Choices were made for whatever reason.... ya