From The NEC show 2007...
Interview with Charley Boorman-Adventurer extraordinaire Charley Boorman spoke with Tor Sagen in an exclusive interview at the NEC bike show in Birmingham. Introduction:  Charley Boorman (41) is an actor and adventurer and son of Director John Boorman (Deliverance, Excalibur, and The General) Charley lives with his wife and two children in London using either his Ducati 748 or BMW R 1200 GS for transport. After the Long Way round (London-New York) and The Long Way Down (John O’Groats-Cape Town) with Ewan McGregor, Boorman have a busy schedule. This time as an NEC show ambassador promoting the Long Way down BBC TV series, book and DVD.
TS: With the Long Ways and the Race to Dakar done, are you content? Is there any adventure left?  CB: There is plenty of adventure left, this is just the beginning. I think that there’s a whole ton of things that we can still do. I think that Ewan and I, you know when you come up with a trip you start talking about other trips. We always spoke about The Long way up-From South-America to North-America. Maybe in a couple of year’s time we might well do that.
TS: Will you do something else in the meantime, like last time (Race to Dakar)? CB: Yes, I am working on a project right now that will allow me to do that. TS: Would you do something with another manufacturer than BMW? CB: Yes, I think it very much depends on what sort of project. I am not stuck with anyone really. TS: Can you ever sit on a BMW R 1200 GS Adventure again after all those miles?  CB: Yes, I ride one every day in London. I ride all year round on my GS. I just bought a Beta 400, I have a dirt bike, I’ve got my own Dakar bike, sportsbike, I am having a custom built for me at the moment, push bike-I’ll ride anything that’s got two wheels.
TS: What are your main strength and weakness as an adventurer? CB: I suppose the strength is that I have a real desire to travel and see new people and ride in new places. I love travelling. As for weakness I am a little bit inpatient and feel the need to hurry a lot. TS: Did your impatience eat in a bit on your relationship with Ewan on the Long way down? CB: Absolutely, I think that when you are with someone at a longer period of time and every day, you are going to have periods of time when a person is going on your nerve and it’s natural. You have good days and you have bad days and you can’t be perfect all the time. It’s a bit like a marriage; you have to take time to talk to each other. There is no point in harbouring something and talk about it 4-5 days later. That’s not fair, it doesn’t work like that. Overall it’s all good. TS: Does it affect you when people comment that you and Ewan are just two privileged and spoilt movie stars? CB: I think that they are probably just jealous. I think that the whole point of doing things like this, I mean it takes a year and a half of planning. -It’s not all fun and easy, it’s also a year and a half of work. We are still working on the editing of the programme now. We edit specially for America and the shear application…, I’ll be working on the project for another year and a half to 2 years still. The reason people feel like that is because we make it look easy. TS: Can the Long Ways compare to the Race to Dakar as a personal experience? Which will you remember the longest? CB: I think that sustained, I will remember the Race to Dakar. I think they (the journeys Ed) are all different. I think that The Long Way Down was just as hard as the Race to Dakar, but in a different way so you can’t really compare. The Race to Dakar was really hard and tough (Charley broke both hands on stage 5 of the Dakar race. Ed). TS: Was the Dakar race more of a physical thing? CB: Yeah, absolutely both physically and mentally it’s one of the hardest things in the world to do. But then you know, to sit on a bike for 85 days through Africa is pretty tough as well. TS: Testicle and eyeball soup, margarita pizza or a gourmet meal at a restaurant in the Michelin guide? CB: I think all three depending on the circumstances will be perfect. Starving hungry in Africa and someone offers you a very basic meal; you would be just as happy eating that as having a gourmet meal. *Note: Charley and Ewan raised £300.000 for Unicef after the Long Way Down trip. TS: What are the best moment never captured on film of you and Ewan? CB: there is obviously moments that you can’t capture on film. I think a lot of the best moments are on film, but there are moments when you pull up in front of an amazing view. You sit there and think “Ahh brilliant”, because you realize that you have ridden that. You share a moment that maybe no one else can have. TS: When did you last wear a suit and tie? CB: I wore one the other day actually. I bought my first 3-piece suit a month ago-The first proper suit that I owned. TS: Which is your favourite new bike that you have seen at the NEC show? CB: I very much like the new Suzuki GSX-R750, the new Triumph Street Triple just brought out and the Hypermotard Ducati. I rode with Pierre Terblanche and Peter Fonda last year and the Hypermotard is a nice bike. It was a pretty good experience riding with Peter Fonda. TS: Why are motorcycles better than cars for adventure? CB: I think to me, you chose to ride a motorbike and there are all sorts of stuff going on. I think that when you put your helmet on you sort of go up your own road a little bit. It’s about the corners for me. Sources: http://www.longwaydown.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Boorman http://www.unicef.org.uk/celebrity/celebrity_biography.asp?celeb_id=25 http://www.bbc.co.uk/longwaydown/   
| 
