ATTN: LD'ers! Around the world . . . ON A WHAT?!?!

[messenger13]

Saw this guy interviewed on last week's 'Two Wheel Tuesday'...I couldn't believe my eyes! This guy is nothing short of amazing! He rode all the way around the world on a (GET THIS!) . . . a Yamaha R1!!! That's the same bike (basically) that Valentino Rossi rides guys. This ain't no dual-sport bike. It's a sportbike for crying out loud. And here this guy goes and rides one across the Sahara!!!

Read all about Sjaak's adventures HERE (http://www.r1goesextreme.com/).

His bike, "Iron Lady":

http://www.r1goesextreme.com/sjaaklucassen/images/content/1029146204_yzfR1.gif

He has a list of all the road-side repairs he had to do along the way. And, he has a list of all of his equipment. Pretty interesting read. Enjoy!

[dshealey]

Too bad there is little to no english available. Would like to read the whole story.

[messenger13]

If I can find time this week, I'll pull the interview off my DVR and post a link. It's amazing to watch him cross a muddy stream at least 3 feet deep, and then keep going. He also states that he had to learn how to ride across sand. 100mph worked very well but going slow was bad, he stated.

[DavidTaylor]

I've head about this guy; a very impressive feat. You have to appreciate a guy that will take that kind of challenge on.

Now, to be honest, this bike is nowhere near what Rossi rides, other than Yamaha makes them both and the both have fairings. Rossi's machine is much more extreme than a stock R1 in all aspects. Also I don't think Rossi has that big custom pannier/trunk combo box thing on the back. He'd have a hard time turning 200+ MPH with that thing! ;)

[messenger13]

...Now, to be honest, this bike is nowhere near what Rossi rides...
Jeez-o-Pete! There's one in every crowd, isn't there?! :D I should hope that Rossi's $1 million R1 can't be bought for $10,999 down at the Yamaha shop. But I here that new 'LE' version of the R1 for about $18900 is a whole heck of a lot closer. :p

[Gino]

Not to take anything away from Sjaak's accomplishments, but I was surfing around trying to find more stuff on his ride and found this link (http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/davebarr/) to someone that did it on a 1972 Harley - and is a double amputee... (Websitre home page (http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/)).


There sure are a lot of people attempting 'round the world rides... I don't see anyone doing it on a LT... YET! :D :bmw:

[DavidTaylor]

Jeez-o-Pete! There's one in every crowd, isn't there?! :D

It was too easy, and I hadn't poked anyone with a stick in along time. :D And you're right about the R1 LE; that's one helluva machine! That's probably as close to Rossi's steed as any of us mere mortals will get for quite some time. And the paint job is nice, too. That was one of the coolest things at MotoGP at Laguna Seca; seeing all the Yamaha factory bikes (AMA and MotoGP) in the bumblebee livery. I'm glad they are putting it out on this bike.

[mintaka]

Met Sjaak one early morning at Sturgis Yamaha/BMW/Suzuki (my local dealer) and watched him change his rear brake pads in UNDER 5 minutes, whist waiting for Dick to open up the store.

A charming fellow who speaks English fairly well, sells postcards out of that "backbox" as a funding device. Packet image follows. He even (!) autographed it for me.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Gandolf/Sjaan0001a.gif

Here's one of him "showing off" in the Sahara…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v607/Gandolf/Sjaan-1a-1.gif

Of course when I saw him and his R-1, neither looked like they do in the web pictures, but that was to be expected, no ?

[messenger13]

Met Sjaak one early morning at Sturgis Yamaha/BMW/Suzuki (my local dealer) and watched him change his rear brake pads in UNDER 5 minutes, whist waiting for Dick to open up the store.

A charming fellow who speaks English fairly well, sells postcards out of that "backbox" as a funding device. Packet image follows. He even (!) autographed it for me.

Of course when I saw him and his R-1, neither looked like they do in the web pictures, but that was to be expected, no ?Well, HOW COOL IS THAT?! http://www.bigbikeworld.com/forum/smileys/smiley20.gif

Tom (tmgs) and myself met an English couple that sold every thing they owned to tour North and South America for two years. We met them at T.W.O. in North Georgia. I bought them both lunch as a way of extending their journey for one more meal. We had an amazing time, laughing and joking for a couple of hours, as if we knew each other for years. You can read about their trip HERE (http://www.yamaroundtheworld.com/). Below is a pic I took of their modded Yamaha's at T.W.O..

http://home.alltel.net/paulsey_dsl/messenger13/yamaroundtheworld.jpg

[meese]

Uh, you do know that TWT is doing several "Best of" shows lately (can you say repeats).

I saw that piece the first time around, and also saw mention of it in Glen Heggstad's writings (http://www.strikingviking.net/).

Apparently, these guys understand the concept of "Just Ride It" better than many of us. :)

[messenger13]

Nope, didn't know. My bad.

[tmgs]

Saw this guy interviewed on last week's 'Two Wheel Tuesday'...I couldn't believe my eyes! This guy is nothing short of amazing! He rode all the way around the world on a (GET THIS!) . . . a Yamaha R1!!! That's the same bike (basically) that Valentino Rossi rides guys. This ain't no dual-sport bike. It's a sportbike for crying out loud. And here this guy goes and rides one across the Sahara!!!

Read all about Sjaak's adventures HERE (http://www.r1goesextreme.com/).

His bike, "Iron Lady":

http://www.r1goesextreme.com/sjaaklucassen/images/content/1029146204_yzfR1.gif

He has a list of all the road-side repairs he had to do along the way. And, he has a list of all of his equipment. Pretty interesting read. Enjoy!



We met him at the IBR dinner last year, Lavona fggfot a postcard signed from him

he was pretty neat.