‘You have an 80% chance of getting there': Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on the joy of riding old motorcycles

Independent

25-05-2025

When the riding gets hard, we usually have the best time,' says , talking fondly about his latest big motorcycle journey with good friend Charley Boorman, forming the fourth series in their Long Way bike travel programmes, Long Way Home.
'That's when you start to laugh a lot. The harder it is, the more bizarrely funny it becomes,' adds Boorman. Returning to our screens this month, the familiar format sees the motorbike enthusiasts get back in the saddle for the 2025 instalment, which starts at McGregor 's house in Scotland and ends at Boorman's house in England. 'Obviously it's just the long way…round,' jokes McGregor, which sees them cover 17 countries. A trip that Boorman calls 'just a short detour'.
'We were on the trickiest terrain in Bolivia, it was probably our most challenging bit of riding,' explains McGregor, which is when the duo seem to have their best ideas, communicating via the mics in their helmets. 'While we're shaking through these rocks and trying to get through this sand and dirt, we started talking about Scandinavia and that would be an amazing part of the world to explore,' he adds.
It seems to be a recurring theme. 'We start daydreaming about another trip because it makes it easier to stop the one you're on,' says McGregor, acknowledging there's part of them that 'never wants to stop being on the road. It's such an escape and an adventure'.
In the latest series, which started on 9 May and its 10 episodes are drip-fed weekly, they cross 17 countries and rack up almost 10,000 miles. It sees them travel the Netherlands, the Baltic coast, Scandinavia, the Arctic circle, central Europe and back to the UK. Some of the highlights include the famous Lysevegen road with 17 hairpin bends that needs to be seen from above to be properly appreciated, visiting Charley's German family from his mother's side, meeting Vikings, crossing Norwegian fjords and experiencing the Arctic Circle's lack of sunset.
Though, what's most impressive is that they're even able to continue the series, considering Boorman's two horrific bike accidents. It's only been since the start 2024 that he says he's 'felt normal and been able to walk again' after many operations and trauma that comes with such crashes and long recovery.
In 2016, a crash badly broke both his legs, and he almost lost one. Thankfully, he didn't, but he did lose an inch from one leg. It resulted in 20 surgeries and almost two years to recover. Then, in 2018, after a far worse crash in South Africa, his only memory is waking up in hospital 24 hours later. He suffered a snapped forearm, a broken pelvis, he broke the entire left side of his ribs, a collapsed lung and a serious head injury, all of which took his operations total to 35.
For many, that would be the end of their motorbiking career, yet it was the thought of getting back on a bike that kept Boorman going. Despite not being able to walk, he knew he'd be able to ride. For him, it helps improve his mental health too. With long periods of time on the road to think with few distractions, he says it allows him to really live in the present.
It's their almost addiction to riding that keeps them returning to the saddle and to the series. Though it has plenty of positives for them both, this time, they've limited the journey to 10 weeks, setting off in June with a week in the middle where they're joined by the families in Helsinki. It's a stark contrast to the 4.5-month-long trips they used to do, when both had young children. 'The older you get, the less you want to be away,' says McGregor, unable to think how they managed to be away for so long for Long Way Round. 'I can't imagine that now,' he adds.
As well as shortening the trip length, their bike choice changes with every trip. With a nod to nostalgia, they both opt for classic bikes. Ewan rides a 1974 Moto Guzzi Eldorado, a former US police patrol bike which still has the police siren which he likes to use perhaps a little too often. And Boorman finds a 1974 BMW R75/5 which when delivered to his home, is a little more rusty than he first thought, resulting in weeks of repair work done in just a few days to get it road-ready.
The bike choice was also a chance for more freedom compared to Long Way Up, where they rather over ambitiously (considering how early it was for the technology) chose to ride electric bikes. It meant they were confined by unreliable charging, a lack of faster chargers and 'all sorts of fantastic difficulties,' says Boorman, including being unable to fix problems as easily themselves, though he says it 'made it interesting'.
Following on from that journey, Long Way Home is more of a back-to-basics trip, more in line with the earlier series. They knew the roads would be far better than what they've been used to, such as the weeks of gravel roads in Northern Kenya or the crater-like potholes in Kazakhstan. So riding on smooth roads in Europe meant 'we had to make it harder for ourselves,' McGregor says, laughing.
Admitting old bikes come with their problems too, Boorman says: 'You only have an 80 per cent chance of getting to where you want to'. But with breakdowns and small accidents, 'come the best parts of the trip,' thanks to the people you meet, which is one of the true joys of travelling. It's the unpredictability that you can't plan for that makes for the best experiences – and stories.
Though they made it home without too many dings in the bikes (or themselves), the word 'home' in the title could be read as a nod to a finale of their travel programmes. Yet it sounds like there might be plenty more fuel in the proverbial tank for whichever road they choose next. 'I wouldn't say it's the end of the line,' says McGregor, with a slightly knowing smirk.