Freedom On 2 Wheels

This is the Tenere that world renowned actor Ewan McGregor (seen in Star Wars, Miss Potter, Down With Love, Big Fish, Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge and many more) was riding for a week in Australia. He came to see what it’s like to ride side by side with his friend Charley Boorman before they set off together for one of their motorcycle adventures called “Long Way Round” (2004).

An here it is in the hands of Ewan:

I bought this bike from a bike rental in Sydney not long after they finished their trip on two Teneres here ‘Down Under’. I had it freshly resprayed and because I prefer bikes without stickers I didn’t put any back on.

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman followed the success of their adventures in Long Way Round with another  TV series called “Long Way Down” (2007), supporting charity projects worldwide (UNICEF) on their way. Thank you guys and keep inspiring.

While I was recording all video for this post I found out that it is possible to change gears on Tenere without using the clutch. Surprisingly it was very smooth and quiet. Well, one has to know what he’s doing in order to keep the gears in good condition. It requires sufficient experience and sensitive foot to find the right revs and right timing to change the gears either up or down. It worked as well as semi automatic clutch.

It reminded me of a spectacular design of Jawa semi automatic clutch system that has been used in Jawa 350 Perak and other JAWA motorcycles since it was developed during WWII in 1944.

NOTE: Did you know that the first fully automatic gearbox of a motorcycle was developed by JAWA company and was used in the model of Jawa 250 Panel 559/05 Automatic?

For  JAWA Prototypes click here: JAWA Prototypes

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