The Longest Motorcycle Ride

Pop quiz: The longest single journey on a motorcycle was accomplished on what bike?

Answer: A 1980 Honda Gold Wing GL1100.

It's true! I mean, are you really surprised?

In 1985, Emilio Scotto - Argentinian motorcyclist, photojournalist and writer - quit his job working for Pfizer and embarked on an epic adventure most of us only dream of. Reminiscent of a Tolkien novel, his expedition took him to 280+ countries, covering 500,000+ miles (800,000+ km). Imagine the maintenance required for such an undertaking! How many gallons of oil? Or how many tires? Or batteries? Or seats?

Fancy a guess? I'll wait.

Still calculating? I understand. It's no trip to the market and back.

Ok, ready? Good. Let's see how close you got.

300+ gallons of oil. 86 tires. 12 batteries. 9 seats.

Not to mention one replaced engine and 12,500 gallons of gas consumed.

And 10 years of riding! That's right, a 10 year road trip!

Can you imagine? Crazy!

His trek started quietly enough. He didn't make it a whole thing. He simply got on his Wing and left. Well, there was plenty of planning beforehand, I'm sure, but he didn't take out an ad in the paper or call his local news station. His GL1100, affectionately dubbed "Black Princess," carried him from his home country through much of South America, North America, Africa, Asia and beyond.

As he continued his adventure, his notoriety grew and he received donations or sponsorships from friends, unknown benefactors, corporations and dictators alike. He met with the Pope at the Vatican and even met his eventual wife along the way.

But it wasn't all sunshine and smiles. He rode through Nicaragua during its civil war in 1985. He was arrested multiple times in Africa as a suspected spy and once because they thought his passport was a fake. He even had to hide in a diplomatic compound in one country until he could find safe passage. Along the way, Scotto was robbed, shot at, and caught in the middle of an earthquake, 2 tornados and 4 hurricanes.

(Checks notes..."Yep, 7 natural disasters...hard to believe but okay. Terribly bad luck I guess.").

And he nearly died of Malaria.

In the end, however, he took his childhood dream and made it his reality. What began as a nine-year-old declaring, "Tomorrow, I'll go around the world," developed into a young man discovering an alluring motorcycle and taking its motto to heart: "The world is yours, on two wheels." If only we could be so lucky!