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- Hits: 1025
- Description: Shigeru Yoshida was a Japanese motorcycle adventurer and engineer. At the age of 24, having completed his studies in motor engineering, he proposed to Yamaha a solo round-the-world journey as a field test of the company's machines. Yamaha agreed, providing a 246 cc two-stroke Yamaha YDS-3 with Autolube automatic lubrication system and arranging technical support through its worldwide importers; in return Yoshida was required to report on the motorcycle's behaviour throughout the journey. Between 1965 and 1968 he covered 136,000 km (85,000 miles) through 60 countries across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. His route began with a sea crossing from Japan to Vancouver, then north America, Mexico and Central America to Panama, south through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, then by ship to Portugal and across Europe including seven communist countries - Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia - continuing through North Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia and Singapore, and finally by ship to Perth, riding across Australia to Sydney before returning to Japan
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Japan, Giappone, Japon
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
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- Hits: 1045
- Description: Yanko Gluscevic was a Chilean cattle rancher, aviator and karate instructor. In 1972, during the agrarian reform of Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular government, he lost his ranch and left Chile, becoming, in his own words, "a globetrotter who travelled, lived and worked in more than forty countries over five years." Between 1969 and 1989 he travelled the world by motorcycle through more than 40 countries, including a journey through Africa during the Rhodesian Bush War. In the 1980s he returned to Chile and founded Rancho Río Sol, described as the first adventure tourism complex in Chile, running fifteen-day horse expeditions into the Andes. In the 1990s he founded Yanko Moto Tours (YMT), organising enduro motorcycle tours through the Bolivian Amazon, the Atacama Desert and Patagonia. He recounted his travels in the English-language Yanko, published by Trafford Publishing, Canada, in 2004, and later translated into Spanish as Yanko: Una lucha por sobrevivir
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Chile, Cile, Chili
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Gluscevic, Yanko. Yanko. Trafford Publishing, Canada, 2004. Gluscevic, Yanko. Yanko: Una lucha por sobrevivir. 2023.
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- Hits: 1102
- Description: Paul Pratt was a British long-distance motorcyclist. Between 1966 and 1979, over twelve and a half years, he travelled through 48 countries across five continents on a 650 cc Triumph Thunderbird, covering 185,000 km (115,000 miles) - a world record for continuous motorcycle travel at the time. During the journey he was shot and contracted various tropical diseases. He self-published his account in 1976 as World Understanding on Two Wheels: An Introduction to Overland Travel, investing his own money to print and distribute the book. He was still riding his Triumph Thunderbird shortly before his death in 2010, aged 84
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: UK, Inglese, Anglais
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Pratt, Paul R. World Understanding on Two Wheels: An Introduction to Overland Travel. Alemar-Phoenix Publishing, 1976.
- Details
- Hits: 1094
- Description: In 1964, aged 24 and with little money, Caggiani departed Montevideo on a 1947 Indian Chief motorcycle with Capelo as pillion, riding north through Bolivia - where they were shot at during a revolutionary conflict - Colombia, where they suffered near-starvation, and Panama, where a serious mechanical failure left Caggiani hospitalised for 17 days. They continued to San Francisco and then east to New York, where they separated after Capelo was pursued by the FBI. Caggiani continued alone through Western Europe, where the motorcycle was stolen in Rome. In mid-1966, following a further accident, he shipped home from Lisbon. The journey covered 26 countries
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: -
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Various, Diversi, Différents
- Internet: https://tracksandhorizons.tumblr.com
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Caggiani, Carlos A. Huellas y Horizontes. 2009. Caggiani, Carlos A.; Caggiani, Ed (trad.). Tracks and Horizons: 26 Countries on a Motorcycle. 2010.
- Details
- Hits: 1056
- Description: Dr. August Jentsch and Wolfram Hannig were Austrian long-distance motorcyclists. Between 1953 and 1956 they completed a journey of approximately 120,000 km (75,000 miles) from Munich on a World War II BMW R75 sidecar outfit - a former Afrika Korps vehicle. Their route went south through western Africa - possibly the first motorcycle crossing of that route - and continued through South America, Central America and North America. The companion's name is sometimes rendered in English as "Tungsten Hannig", Tungsten being the English translation of the German name Wolfram. Jentsch recounted the journey in a self-published trilogy: Sterne über sieben Höllen (1957, reprinted 2001), Im Lande des Silberdollars (1958) and Nach Tausend Tagen (1959)
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Austria
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Various, Diversi, Différents
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Jentsch, August. Sterne über sieben Höllen. Autopubblicato, 1957. Jentsch, August. Im Lande des Silberdollars. 1958. Jentsch, August. Nach Tausend Tagen. 1959.
- Details
- Hits: 1131
- Description: Ding Peterboro and Val Teddington were British long-distance motorcyclists. In 1954-55 they undertook a round-the-world motorcycle journey on a Norton, departing from the United Kingdom and riding overland to Sri Lanka, then continuing through Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji before reaching California, USA, where they were mentioned in a local Pacific Palisades newspaper. The remainder of their route is unknown
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: UK, Inglese, Anglais
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: https://overlandmag.com/resources/history-2/history-1950s/
- Details
- Hits: 1037
- Description: Diether H. Ebeler was a German long-distance motorcyclist. Between 1952 and 1956 he completed a journey through 42 countries across four continents on a Hoffmann-Vespa scooter with a trailer, accompanied by an unnamed companion described as a Countess. His route covered Europe, North Africa, the Arabian Gulf, Pakistan and India, and North America. He recounted the journey in Randnotizen eines Weltenbummlers ("Marginal Notes of a Globetrotter"), the publication details of which are not fully documented in available sources
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Germany, Germania, Allemagne
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Vespa
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Ebeler, Diether H. Randnotizen eines Weltenbummlers.
- Details
- Hits: 1053
- Description: Joan and Keith McDonald were New Zealand newlyweds who, in 1952, set off from New Zealand on a three-year round-the-world motorcycle journey through 40 countries on two Jawa CZ 125 cc motorcycles. Their route began with a sea crossing to Australia and Tasmania, then continued by ship to Ceylon, and overland through India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Persia (Iran), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, before crossing by sea to Spain. They then rode through Gibraltar, France, Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Portugal. They subsequently crossed to South America, riding overland through Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, before reaching Cuba, the United States and Canada, completing the journey around 1955
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: New Zealand, Nuova Zelanda, Nouvelle-Zélande
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: https://www.berndtesch.de/English/Continents/WorldAround/WorldAroundMotorcycle1951-1970.html
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: The Daily News, May 10, 1952.
- Details
- Hits: 1155
- Description: Eitel Lange was a German photographer who had served as official photographer to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring during World War II. Between 1952 and 1954, he and his son Rolf Lange completed a round-the-world journey on a 597 cc, 28 hp Zündapp KS 601 flat-twin with a Steib sidecar, nicknamed "Taksy" - a name derived, according to Bernd Tesch, from "take it easy". Their route covered Europe (Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey), Asia (Iran, Pakistan, India, Ceylon, then by ship to Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, riding overland in Japan), and the Americas (by ship to Hawaii, then North America, returning by ship to Europe). During the journey they interviewed film star Errol Flynn and met Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran. The "Taksy" sidecar outfit is on permanent display at the German Motorcycle Museum in Neckarsulm. The journey contributed significantly to the legendary status of the Zündapp KS 601, known as the "Green Elephant". In 1956-57, Eitel Lange and his wife Ilse completed a further one-year round-the-world journey, this time in a Goggomobil T 300 microcar
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Germany, Germania, Allemagne
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Lange, Eitel. Weltfahrt: Mit Motorrad und Kamera. 1954. Trad. inglese: Around the World with Motorcycle and Camera. Los Angeles: Floyd Clymer Publications, 1957.