When Charlie and Ewan rode on stage at the Newport Folk festival riding electric Harley’s and backed by a full electric band, it was a pivotal point in the history of riding around. Previously known as a folk artists, this was Charlie and Ewan rejecting their BMWs used for Long Way Round and Long Way Down and opting for the amped up thrills of the Harley LiveWire for their forthcoming trip up the length of the New World on The Long Way Up.
The first time Ewan dropped his bike it was met with a confused response from the audience. By the time they’d characteristically got lost and then became adopted by some random local, the grumblings of the online audience had turned into booing.
Petrol legend D Trump (who was watching from the sidelines) is said to have been so appalled that he tried to authorise a nuclear attack on Patagonia, though he later claimed this was because the sound was so bad. After the first half of the show, Charlie and Ewan conceded and went back to using an (electric) BMW to rapturous applause. From this point onward the motorcycle community became bitterly divided, while Charlie and Ewan got lost somewhere around Seattle.
All power to Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor (and Claudio!) on for turning unmissable travel tv into historic tv.
Other than for sound, planet saving reasons, this blog in no way endorses the use of Harley Davidson
