Staged Ride Round The World (RTW)

My experience with motorbike travel has evolved over 20 years and began when the plan was always just to get my hands on whatever motorbike in country and see what happened … to riding >100,000 km a hard way round the world in one continuous slog over 2.5 years with my brother on DR650s. So much learning through so many mistakes … the vast majority rooted in rider error, but many mistakes rooted in poor riding conditions due to SEASON coupled with a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude. You can plan and schedule all you like for RTW in one slog but let me tell you SH^T HAPPENS. Regardless of all that wild and wonderful poo, it’s difficult to link up good routes that see you in all the cream places at optimal times UNLESS you take long pauses, air freight heaps or mow big highway kms with little time ‘head outta helmet’. I do not recommend riding round the world in one slog. The idea of it is novel and romantic … but you will get flogged.

I have no regrets and will treasure the memories of my rides forever. The RTW ride with my brother fundraised and increased awareness for the Mental Health Research Program at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) in memory of our brilliant sister, Heidi, who died by suicide in 2011 age 27. I do not recommend lumping external influences like fundraising etc onto your own bike odyssey unless it is truly close to your heart. The catch22 for my brother and I was that if it wasn’t for the commitment we made to QIMR, then likely we would never have completed the RTW ride … Laws would still be surfing Indonesia and I’d be on foot making friends with goats somewhere remote Himalaya.

Point is: I recommend a staged ride round the world and optimise your ride window for each stage. This is what Own Bike Odyssey does for its customers. OBO put your bike in the RIGHT PLACE at the RIGHT TIME. The same as there were trunk lines for ancient trade routes there are trunk lines for the modern-day overlander. OBO only ship full container load (FCL) to major trunk line convergence points at optimal times dictated by season. These strategic destinations not only provide gateways to the world’s epics for Aussie riders, but they also offer convenient consolidation points for non-AUS riders to deliver their bikes for shipping to Australia.

OBO is not here to make a quick buck from a rider’s one-off adventure. OBO is here to get the hook into the rider – and provide Aussies with a staged ride round the world service. Ballpark numbers for FIVE separate odysseys (one each continent) with two options:

• Round the World (RTW) over 24 to 30 months total (4 – 7 months each odyssey); and

• Cream Only over 6 to 15 months total (1 – 3 months each odyssey).

You will be given a window of time to ride (usually full season or back half of season) and you are free to collect and return your bike from the secure storage facility in your own time. You can even leave your bike abroad in the off season between stages. Return timings for intercontinental riders depends on the route, for example Europe to Asia, entry Milan end of April / start of May and exit Chandigarh early to mid-December seven months later … or of course return ride to Australia an option also. READ MORE ABOUT SEASON AND YOUR RIDE WINDOW HERE.