5 to go on world bike trip

PUTRAJAYA: A group of five local motorcycle enthusiasts from the Perdana Global Foundation is set to travel around the globe to deliver a message of world peace on the 1Malaysia Endurance Ride beginning next month.

The riders, who are scheduled to leave on June, 16, will travel 50,000km across three continents, covering at least 40 countries during their six-month-long journey.

 Convoy leader Datuk Zamri Mohamed said it took three years to plan the journey, which would be undertaken on BMW F800 endurance motorbikes that have been modified to withstand long journeys on harsh terrain.

The bikes were similar to the ones used during the annual Dakar Rally and have the capacity to travel almost 700km on a full tank.

 "It usually takes a few years to complete the (round the world) ride, but we are aiming to do it in roughly half a year," he said after the official flag-off for the expedition was held here yesterday.

He said the trip was also intended to inspire youth to dream of similar achievements in globe-trotting.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin yesterday flagged off the initiative, which was officiated during the last day of the Putrajaya Youth Festival 2013 yesterday.

The group, which has received several sponsorships, especially from Bank Rakyat and BMW Malaysia, will begin the journey from Kuala Lumpur before making the way across East Asia into Europe and on to the Americas. Zamri said the journey would cost at least RM500,000 per person for the entire trip.

Accompanying him are businessman Datuk Azhari Jemaon, school teacher Rosmadi Saad, police officer Mohd Ariffin Idris and workshop owner Mohd Faizal Sukree.

Faizal, 36, who is the youngest in the group, is tasked with the overall mapping of the expedition. As the owner of a motorbike workshop, he will also be in charge of maintaining the vehicles.

"We are anticipating a lot of unexpected situations to arise during our trip. "This is why I had to make careful preparations for the vehicles, because we may never fully know what obstacles lie ahead of us on our journey." Faizal said due to this, he would be bringing along equipment that would enable him to diagnose and rectify any problems swiftly so that they would not fall behind schedule.

Source : NST on-line Monday, May 27, 2013, 8:30 AM