The reason why Ewan and Charley rode classic bikes in Long Way Home

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are back together for another motorcycle adventure, this time piloting classic bikes around Europe. 

Long Way Home premieres May 9 on Apple TV+ and sees the pair travel from McGregor’s house in Scotland to Boorman’s house in England, of course taking the ‘long way’ via Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the Alps. 

But whereas their last adventure featured cutting-edge electric bikes, this new expedition involves a pair of classic cruisers. 

McGregor, of Star Wars and Trainspotting fame, opted for a 1974 Moto Guzzi 850 El Dorado police bike, while Boorman chose a 1972 BMW R75/5. 

The El Dorado is one from McGregor’s collection, with the Hollywood star being a long-time Guzzi devotee, while Boorman bought the R75/5 specifically for this trip, with his buying journey depicted in the first episode.

Speaking to bikesales via a digital press conference, McGregor and Boorman explained in more detail why they opted for classic bikes over newer models. 

“Partly it’s because when we did Long Way Up, it was electric bikes and it was the cutting edge of technology,” said Boorman. “And that had all sorts of fantastic difficulties and people were not sure if we were going to make it.”

Boorman explained that the idea to ride electric bikes was born during a particulary challenging section during the filming of Long Way Up. 

“When we were in Bolivia, when it was really bumpy and difficult, that’s when you start to laugh a lot, and we spoke about doing a trip on old bikes for the next one. Ewan has always loved Moto Guzzi, and it just seemed like the right thing to do.” 

And while riding electric bikes over long distances was trying, Boorman says that classic bikes present their own set of challenges. 

“You have just as many issues. Old bikes you have an 80 per cent chance of getting to where you want to go,” he explained. “You know, you have potential breakdowns, and those breakdowns lead to some of the best parts of the trip because you’re meeting people to help.”

McGregor agreed, joking that they deliberately sought out extra difficulty. 

“I think it’s true,” he said. “In a way, this trip was easier than some of the trips we’ve done in terms of terrain. We didn’t have weeks of gravel roads in like northern Kenya, or the mountains of Ethiopia. It was Europe. So, we had to make it harder for ourselves!”

Boorman added that they both carried a tow rope just in case. 

“Yeah, we did,” replied McGregor. “We never used it.” 

McGregor and Boorman’s first globe-trotting series, Long Way Round, premiered in 2003, and the pair rode the BMW 1150 GS. They followed up with a trip through Africa in 2007 on the BMW R 1200 GS for Long Way Down and then chose the Harley-Davidson LiveWire for Long Way Up. 

The Long Way Home trip included visits to 17 countries across Europe including Netherlands, Germany, Demark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithiuania, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France, and, of course, the UK. 

Long Way Home premieres tomorrow, Friday May 9, on Apple TV+.