Hi Everyone, Charley is working with Bennetts Motorcycle Insurance at the TT in the Isle of Man this June and they’re running a competition where you can actually join them along with 3 mates! Fancy it? You’ll be treated like a right VIP and as well as meeting Charley you’ll go to all sorts of cool things – as well as a lap around the circuit in a high powered course car! You can get all the details from Bennetts Tweet here…

Fancy the chance to win a week at the Isle of Man TT with 3 friends & meet @charleyboorman? Enter now: bit.ly/ZM2Shr

— Bennetts (@bennetts_bike) May 2, 2013

This is what you’ll get if you win….
A seven night stay for you and 3 friends
- Four return flights
- Meet & greet with Charley Boorman on 7 June
- A lap of the IOM TT circuit in a course car for 4p on Wednesday 5 June
- Tickets to see Toseland support the Darkness the Villa Marina on 1st June, with backstage access and a meet & greet with Toseland, plus Toseland merchandise
- 1 day access to the VIP Hospitality Suite
- TT merchandise, official programmes and radios, plus signed rider gear, subject to rider availability

SORRY THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED – MANY THANKS -

We enjoyed the life on the road and stayed in some awesome lodges – sometimes way out in the desert or on the banks of the Zambezi river and some right in the swamps – surrounded by crocodile and hippo. 

The wildlife is always amazing.  We were chased last year for a whole evening by bull elephants so we were pretty excited to be back in that area – the Caprivi strip! Again we visited ‘Joe’ the Crocodile Dundee of Zambia – were we were given a great opportunity to hold some baby crocs and stroke a 15ft man-eater! Yes, I did say stroke!

Working with our partners “Moto Aventures“, a highly experienced motorcycle adventure company (Su and Jon) we all had an absolutely amazing time and now we are bringing you the chance to ride this epic adventure again.  Cape Town to Victoria Falls – or from Victoria Falls onward into East Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, before heading inland back into South Africa – or join us for both at a discount!

The trip starts in August and will cover around 5,000 kilometres and 3 countries,  in 16 days through Africa’s most amazing countryside.  Across open plains, through dense bush-land, rain forest and barren desert – this is a truly awesome journey, the first leg ending in Zambia in September.

The second leg starts just a few days after and heads across to the east coast of Africa covering, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and the Indian Ocean and then south back into South Africa.  The trip uses BMW bikes – a combination of GS 1200 Adventures, standard GS 1200′s and an option for the GS 650. Nobbly tyres by way of the awesome Mitas E10 and Garmin Zumo GPS’s and we’re off.  We will also have room for partners or family who would rather be in one of the support vehicles. This means that they can get ahead of the riders and laze at the pool till the riders get in.

If you want to come – dont worry if you think it’s too hard – it’s certainly not an enduro – it’s sometimes challenging, but well within the reach of most riders. As part of the price we also include a two day off road course prior to the trip with the famous Dakar legend himself Simon Pavey.  A great way to build your bike skills and meet other members of the trip – and Charley, Billy and Simon of course.

To find out more – straight from Charley, go to here. Or go right to Moto Aventures for the itinerary and booking here!

Another couple of riders created youtube bits – here are a few:

John and Val – Photo Montage http://youtu.be/ITJvz8dKh1w

Peter and Mick – clips http://youtu.be/dlcbOdrOoBM and more http://youtu.be/aFBzP2n-Fqc

Hope you like them guys. Thanks for doing them – I think we’ll all remember that trip for a long long time!

Charley xx

We sell this stuff all around the world, via this site. See below for some examples – just click on them to get a better view or go to the ‘Shop‘ on the top menu of my site and browse them all. Hope you like them – I’m not sure whey people dont see the ‘Shop‘ option – maybe it’s not clear enough? Either way, here ya go…

Rubber side Down…

Charley x

Thanks for watching – I hope you all like it!

Caloundra

There’s a few places left – so if you wanna come on a pretty cool adventure in Australia and hear some cool biker anecdotes from Chris Vermeulen – oh, and little old me! Then follow the links and get yaself signed up!

Sydney to the Outback

Tasmania and the High Country

Rubber side down…

Charley xx

Sydney to the Outback

Tasmania and the High Country

You can get all the details, itinerary, price and level of expertise – all that good stuff, at the site. Or you can email Billy – he’s full of it at the moment because he’s never been to Oz before!  Anyway, I need to go because we’ve got this ride in convoy in Cape Town to sort out. Love to see you in Australia – oh, and we’ll be announcing the Theatre tour soon – starting in Adelaide and finishing in Perth…November 2013

Charley x

If you want to get a way from the busy side of Livingstone, then come over to the Maramba and tell them Charley Boorman sent you! You never know, he may even give you a discount (or charge you more!).  All the best to you Russell and Pippa – looking forward to seeing you all very soon – in fact, September!

Charley xx

ps. here is the link to the Maramba lodge http://www.maramba-zambia.com/

When impact hit,  Ben was manning his gun, fixed in the lookout turret of the vehicle – open to the elements, the blast and the possibility of sniper fire. Only seconds earlier he’d been munching an energy bar below the turret, inside and in relative safety.  Lady luck always plays a part in these things.

His upper body sustained a myriad of blast injuries, much of which was minimised due to his body armour. Sadly, the majority of his left hand was blown off – later retrieved by a comrade on the scene, but too badly damaged to finish the story with a happier ending.”

Ben decided he wanted a challenge. So what better than to ride a GS 1200 across Africa with Charley Boorman! When we asked him how he’ll stay on the bike with the off road sections, he replied ‘…just gaffer tape me to the bike – I’ll manage!’.  This young man is hardcore, and he’ll finish this trip with some great stories to tell.

Ben has recently been to the Simon Pavey Off Road School and thanks to Kliktronic (www.kliktronic.co.uk) Simon and his mechanic Evan, fitted an amazing piece of kit. Kliktronic design and manufacture all sorts of bike bits – for racers – quick shifters and also for disabled riders. This particular bit of kit moves the clutch lever from the left hand side to the right, where you can then manage, with a bit of practice, both the clutch and the brake, with your right hand.

Ben did exceptionally well at the Off Road School. Si Pavey, 8 times Dakar legend said…’Ben is full of spirit, he fell off a few times – but then so did his mate, and he’s got two hands! He’ll be fine in Africa, there’s no keeping him down’. We’d like to thank BMW and Simon and of course Kliktronic who have been really helpful in getting this challenge off the ground.

Ben leaves in Sept and will fly into Zambia. He’ll then ride 5,000k’s from Zambia into Malawi and down through Mozambique, finishing in South Africa – Joburg.
He’s raising monies for the Royal Marines Association and you can help him and them by donating a few quid here:
http://www.justgiving.com/Ben-Baker-africa2012

Hence our connection with Ian at Bespoke Medical Training Ltd. We decided that we needed more than just the ‘St Johns Ambulance’ type office First Aider course. We met up with Ian Greenwood, the owner of Bespoke Medical Training – and a biker Paramedic (Big respect eh!) and we got Ian to develop a course specifically for us, for our team. Something that took all the different situations into context – something that got us into a ‘capable’ zone, where we could react professionally and competently to an incident.

Ian took us out to the woods… Yes! The course was actually ran out in a beautiful part of England, a country house was our back drop and woods, streams, muddy banks and tracks were our ‘scenes’ for the training. Having spent some time in the beautiful farmhouse – check it out here:

http://www.groomes.co.uk/

We then went outside to rehearse what we’d learnt. We’d already explained to Ian, in great detail, where we go and the likely type of incident or being direct, accident, that we’d encounter. Ian took this information and developed a spot on course that dealt with the kind of injuries, but also the ‘incident scene’ ie. what the scene would look like – bikes strewn all over the place, luggage, clothes etc. We went through role play to get everyone into ‘making safe’ the surrounding area of the incident. Dealing with this side of things is equally as important as the injured party, else you could have a second accident on your hands within minutes.

The role play was fun – and as you can imagine, a bit crazy, with our crew taking the micky and a fair bit of banter going on. But you know what, we really learnt stuff, and we all came away feeling more equipment to deal with potential disasters. From small injuries to broken legs and big open wounds, we covered them all in an enjoyable, practical way.

Ian was also a great consultant with us regarding our Africa medical kit. He went through all our requirements in great detail and set the wheels in motion for our new kit – both our bike carried kit (for me and Billy) and our car based main kit for the two 4×4 support vehicles. We all carried out some extra learning on his online teaching site and after some ‘testing’ online questions, we were all issued with a certificate.

In summary, we feel that all our motorcycle crew are probably the most experienced and professional set of people in the World! (Clarkson eh!) and from the medical perspective, they’re trained up and ready for action – but hope we get none! But on top of all that – remember, we have with us our own trained surgeon, as with all our trips, having your own doctor on board gives you that extra comfort blanket.

For more information about Bespoke Medical Training – contact Ian on 0330 333 4949 or info@bespoke-mt.co.uk and check out their website here http://www.bespoke-mt.co.uk/ – Tell Ian Charley sent you… and you might get an extra lump of sugar in your tea!

All for now – I better go back and get more filming done for Extreme Frontiers South Africa… got the ride in on Sunday… hope to see you there!
Charley and the crew!