Motorcycle Journeys

When I undertook my first long-distance trip to East and Southern Africa by motorcycle in 1991, I could not have imagined how strongly this vehicle would influence my life of travel, my photography, and my presentations for more than 30 years. On this first journey, I discovered what I have experienced again and again ever since: compared with a car, the motorcycle offers a whole range of advantages. It not only brings you closer to the land and its people, it also builds a cultural bridge. I owe the motorcycle many wonderful hours, but also many moments when I asked myself: Why am I sitting on a motorcycle in this heat/this icy wind/these terrible road conditions?! In the end, however, the positive experiences always outweighed the negative ones.

Michael Martin mit Motorrad vor einem pinkfarbeneren Road House in Südaustralien

For me, the motorcycle was the perfect vehicle for the desert: as capable and undemanding off-road as a camel, and as fast and reliable as an off-road vehicle. For my extensive desert project Planet Desert, I therefore travelled extensively around the world on a BMW 1200 GS Adventure. I rode through the Atacama from Peru via Chile to Bolivia and then followed the Altiplano to the south of Argentina, to Tierra del Fuego. In Iceland, I crossed deep fords in the volcanic highlands; in Australia, I followed the Oodnadatta Track into the Simpson Desert; in southern Africa, I explored the Namib Desert; and in the southwest of the USA, I enjoyed the dreamlike landscapes of the Colorado Plateau. The toughest desert journey by motorcycle took place in Mongolia. At temperatures below -40 degrees, I crossed the Gobi Desert and gained unique experiences with snow-covered dunes.

Motorrad auf einem 5000 m Pass in den peruanischen Anden

For TERRA as well, the motorcycle carried me to the highest Andean passes. In Africa, I followed the East African Rift Valley from Djibouti to Tanzania. I also travelled through the steppes of Mongolia and the rainforests of the Amazon Basin.

The motorcycles were exclusively machines from BMW, because I was fortunate that this company supported me as a sponsor from my very first motorcycle journey, and I have always ridden well with the various GS models, from the R 100 to the R 1300. It is no coincidence that GS stands for “Gelände/Straße” (off-road/road), and indeed the machines were ideally suited to the challenges encountered around the globe—whether gravel, sand, grass, ice, or snow tracks, cross-country rides through deserts and over lava fields, river crossings, or endless paved roads. In more than 30 years, I have never broken down. Some terrain pushed both me and my passenger to our limits, but the machines were indestructible.