Via : North West Honda Super Centre. In 1999 Ian Coates decided to go on a 4 month off-road biking trip, 14 years and 250.000 miles later he returned. “My Wife was fuming” He said. Ian Coates is a highly skilled vehicle mechanic and did all his own roadside repairs and had his wife either ship parts to him or met him in person with the parts. His XRV750 Africa Twin is still going strong with over 300.000 miles and Ian, aged 79 is planning to take this bike to The Isle of Man TT Races in May this year. We asked him what issues he had during his trip, he said his most frustrating part of the trip was in Sudan “The Sandstorms in Sudan were a pain as the air filter kept getting clogged so I fff’d it off!” Ian said the favourite part of his trip was New Zealand and that “When I get old I will retire there!” Sadly we couldn’t persuade Ian to upgrade his Africa Twin this time but we couldn’t not share his amazing story!
Here is his story from his own words : "I'm no good on the computer but very good at riding round the world by myself and getting lost in the wilderness and surviving. I left my home in Hebden Bridge Yorkshire, England in 1999 and flew to Johannesburg, South Africa, to be a mechanic and driver of a Land Rover that was going back to England. There was 2 other people that were organising the trip, the owner and his friend on the Land Rover, but after about 3 weeks they left the Land Rover so I had to be the driver and the mechanic. It was an old 101 ex British army land Rover with a trailer. there was also some passengers. When I got to Kenya, I could not get visas for Ethiopia and the Sudan they was having a war but not with each other they found someone else to fight with. So I had to turn round and drive back to Johannesburg, the passengers had to fly back to England. I phoned my wife up and asked her to send my 1991 Honda Africa Twin to me in Johannesburg and told her I will ride back to Hebden, England, which she did.
When I got my bike in Johannesburg, I road to the most southern point in South Africa then road back home to Hebden, England. It took me 1 year and these are the countries I road round on my way back home : 1) South Africa, 2) Swaziland, 3) Mozambique, 4) Botswana, 5) namibia, 6) Zimbabwe, 7) Zambia, 8) Malawi, 9) Tanzania and Zanzibar, 10) Kenya, 11) Uganda, 12) Ethiopia, 13) Sudan, 14) Egypt, 15) Cyprus, 16) Greece, 17) Italy, 18) France, then back home to Hebden bridge, Yorkshire.
That was & year then I shipped my bike to Australia to Melbourne and then I road my bike round the coast of Australia, I road down to Alice Springs and road about 9 weeks round the centre of Australia and then Tasmania. From Australia I shipped my bike to New Zealand and road round the North and the South Island. From there in 2003, I shipped my bike to Argentina and road the most southernness point Ushuaia. From there I road around : 1) Argentina, 2° Chile, 3) Uruguay, 4) Brazil, 5) Paraguay, 6) Bolivia, 7) Peru, 8) Ecuador, 9) Colombia, 10) Venezuela, 11) Trinidad and Tobago. From Trinidad and Tobago I put my bike on a tall sailing ship, 150 feet long and 450 tons, she was on her maiden voyage from Grimsby, England to New Zealand and she was at anchor at Trinidad with no engineer. I said I would be the engineer free if they take me and my bike through the Panama Canal, I would leave the ship at Panama Citry, but when we got through the Panama Canal, they asked me to stay on the ship as engineer to New Zealand, so I did, visiting these islands : 1) Dutch Antilles, 2) Galapagos, 3) Tahiti, 4) Bora Bora, 5) Hive Hot, 6) Tonga, 7) Most of the French Polynesian Islands, 8) Fiji, I can not remember them all. When we got to New Zealand, I shipped my bike back to Panama were I was going to leave the ship when I got on it in Trinidad. From there I road round to : 1) Panama, 2) Costa Rica, 3) Honduras, 4) El Salvador, 5) Guatemala, 6) Belize, 7) Mexico, 8) USA, 9) Canada and Vancouver Island, 10) Alaska. Got to Dead Horse at Prudo Bay, Alaska in 2009, only taken 6 years to ride from Ushuaia, from there I went to Vladivostok 11) Russia, 12) Ukraine, 13) Moldavia, 14) Romania, 15) Bulgaria, 16) Turkey, 17) Greece, 18) Albania, 19) Montenegro, 2à) Macedonia, 21) Kosovo, 22) Serbia, 23) Bosnia, 24) Croatia, 25) Hungary, 26) Slovenia, 27) Slovakia, 28) Czech republic and Poland, 29) Austria, 30) Italy, 31) Spain, 32) Portugal, 33) France, 34) Switzerland, 35) Germany, 36) Luxemburg, 37) Holland, 38) Belgium and back home to England.
There is more countries but I have forgotten them, I need a map to remember all of them. I travel alone with no GPS in ll kind of weather. I was 70 in June 2013, now been riding round the world for 14 years and 400.000 km. I still enjoy every day just as much as I did 14 years ago when I set off for a ride.
North West Honda Super Centre is part of North West Motorcycles, one of the biggest motor dealer groups in the North West. They are a family run business with over 20 years’ experience providing quality new and used Honda motorcycles. Their used motorcycle department includes an impressive range of popular motorcycle makes and models
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