Like the Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials, the Guinness World Records people seem to have a class for everyone—there are over 53,000 records. That’s okay, as we all enjoy hearing about world records—especially when it involves motorcycles. The latest Guinness World Record holders are Ollie Gamblin and Lavi Scholl. They earned their record by being the youngest pair to circumnavigate the world two-up on a motorcycle—in this case, a Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT from Motorcycle World. They took 589 days to complete the 46,705-mile ride through 39 countries on five continents, finishing at the ages of 32 and 34 years old.
“The idea for a Guinness World Record came after a friend of ours attempted to become the Youngest Male to Circumnavigate the Globe by Motorcycle—an already established record,” Scholl explained. “We sent an email asking if we could create a team record under the same criteria. They accepted it under the title Youngest Pair to Circumnavigate the Globe by Motorcycle (Riding Pillion).”
The ride began at the iconic Ace Cafe London, and headed east. With Gamblin at the controls and Scholl holding down the pillion, they rode through France and Spain, before crossing into Morrocco. They traveled Africa’s west coast to Senegal, where the Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT was put in a container for a journey to Brazil.
“We had to wait in Rio de Janeiro for eight weeks because the bike was lost for a while whilst being shipped from Senegal,” Gamblin tells us, “and we certainly toppled off many times! I didn’t have a great deal of riding experience before we set off, especially on big bikes, so it was a real learning curve and a pretty steep one—especially two-up with all of our luggage. We also had a few hairy weather situations in places like the high-altitude mountains of the Andes where the passes took us up to nearly 5000 meters.”
The couple rode south to Ushuaia on Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost city on the planet. It’s all north from there as they traversed Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Avoiding the Darien Gap, they flew the Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT to Panama. They passed through Central America and into the United States, where they got married at The Little Vegas Chapel in Sin City. More riding took them to Canada, where they packaged the 1050XT up again, this time for a flight to Seoul.
Continuing west, Gamblin and Scholl entered Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
“We saw a lot of places, a lot of people, and had a lot of experiences,” Gamblin says. “If I had to pick one country that stood out, Mongolia really surprised us. The landscapes are vast and incredible, and there are herds of animals just running around everywhere, and locals living in gers. It was absolutely beautiful. Another highlight was seeing wild orca hunt for penguins on the remote Argentinian coast. It was like a scene out of a documentary right in front of our eyes.”
A trip across the Caspian Sea landed them in Azerbaijan. Next up was Georgia and Turkey before re-entering Europe, with Belgium the last stop before completing the round trip to the Ace Cafe London.
“We had the freedom to plan our own route, as long as Guinness’ circumnavigation boxes were ticked,” according to Scholl. “So, the route was mostly planned using non-carnet countries and countries with easier visas. But, honestly, we didn’t really think we would make it all the way around the world when we started. The aim was just to get as far as possible, but we always imagined there would be something to stop us, a visa or shipping issue—something like that. Our mindset was just, as long as we can continue, we will, and that just so happened to be all the way until the end.”
“But, throughout all of it, the V-Strom was absolutely solid,” Gamblin added. “Its reliability was its main virtue. Considering the terrain it tackled, how long it went between services, it was pretty much unbreakable. Over nearly 47,000 miles, we only had minor issues with some bearings finally giving up in hostile conditions, and the rear shock took a bit of abuse and needed replacing. But, I think that’s absolutely incredible given everything it went through.”
We tested the Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT in Spain a few years ago.
Record-Setting Around-the-World Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT Ride Photo Gallery
