Gordon May's new trip: 1952 Royal Enfield, 15,000 miles

He'll ride this 1952 Royal Enfield twin across two continents.

Gordon May is back on the road on a vintage Royal Enfield motorcycle. This time the author, historian and adventurer is riding from the UK to far northern Europe, then on to South Africa.

His planned route takes him through at least 34 nations, some of them probably in today's news feed for all the wrong reasons.

This on a 67-year-old Enfield 500 twin, extensively modified and now displacing 600cc, but still a museum piece.

Gordon is the veteran of other long rides, including his 2008, 8,400-mile ride from England to Chennai, India, where Royal Enfields are made today. He did that trip on a 1953 Royal Enfield Bullet, a single-cylinder, 350cc plodder.

Then it was overland from England to Egypt in 2010 on an underpowered 1952 BSA Bantam.

England to Vietnam followed in 2015, on a 1941 Matchless G3L, a military motorcycle of World War II.

Each trip has resulted in a book. His "Overland to India" is in a second edition, with a How To Guide for anyone wishing to make the ride themselves.

The UK-to-Norway-to-South Africa trip will be his longest adventure so far, at more than 15,000 miles.

His 1952 Royal Enfield 500 twin was considered advanced in its day but remains "a simple 1950s British push-rod twin that's happy to cruise all day long — at 50 miles per hour."

There's an excellent website for the trip, containing information on Gordon, the Royal Enfield motorcycle he will use, its preparation and the special equipment he will carry.

According to the site, the Royal Enfield twin has been modified with a heavy duty rear subframe to tote luggage, a 21-inch front wheel to surmount obstacles, LED spot lights to light the way, and a saddle gel pad to — well, you understand.

Among the items packed on the motorcycle: tent, sleeping bag, tools, fuel and oil containers, and a Garmin satellite device that can send text messages without cellular service and, if necessary, broadcast an SOS.

One item that surprised me: a bike cover such as you might use at home.

"When covered, a motorcycle effectively disappears from sight and is no longer an attractive traveler's machine to be played with or stolen from," Gordon writes.

You'll want to read Gordon's lists of essential gear and the rationale behind them if you're planning a motorcycle adventure of your own.

Gordon is best known to readers of this blog as a historian of Royal Enfields through history. He has helped Royal Enfield introduce its newest motorcycles — and their distinct ties to the past — as the company continues to offer new products with retro appeal.

His website even includes an excellent "Royal Enfield Twin Timeline" that details Royal Enfield's postwar twin-cylinder motorcycles, from Gordon's 500 twin all the way to the brand new Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and Continental GT 650 now appearing at dealerships around the world.

It's a proud history of accomplished motorcycles, and Gordon is on his way to adding yet another proud accomplishment to the history of Royal Enfield.

You're invited to follow Gordon along on Instagram at GordonGMay.

Gordon May to ride UK to Cape Town on 1953 Bullet

Gordon May's 1953 Bullet as it looked for his Overland to India ride.

Royal Enfield author and adventurer Gordon May's next long distance ride on his vintage Bullet will be Overland to Africa.

"The 1953 Bullet I rode to India has been heavily modified for off-road riding and will be used to carry me from the UK to Cape Town," Gordon announces in the recent edition of his Royal Enfield Books newsletter.

It's a challenging new adventure for Gordon, whose 8,000-mile journey from the UK to India on the Bullet made him the world's most famous living Royal Enfield traveler.

His Royal Enfield books, including the reference book "By Miles The Best," established him as the leading authority on the brand.

"By Miles the Best" covers every Royal Enfield model, year by year, from 1930 to 1970. The recent newsletter announced that he's now assisting another author in research for a book covering the brand from 1900 to 1929.

Gordon is such an authority that Royal Enfield chose him as master of ceremonies for the worldwide launch of the new Continental GT cafe racer in September.

According to the newsletter, he ran off with the boss's motorcycle and nearly missed the official debut ride from the London's Ace Cafe to Brighton.

"Early in the morning, an hour ahead of the official flag off, I nabbed a new GT in order to familiarise myself with it. But whose bike was it that I purloined? The one reserved for Royal Enfield CEO Siddhartha Lal!

"What’s more, I missed the turn-off for our meeting point at the Ace Cafe, which meant I sped for many miles further around London’s North Circular. My phone was vibrating constantly as I jostled with heavy rush hour traffic trying to find my way back.

"What a relief it was when I made it to the Ace Cafe just before the official send off without having dropped his bike.

"The crazy ride did reveal something to me, though: this is a cafe racer that can make it through busy city streets without turning the rider’s hands, wrists and neck numb. That’s good design."

Gordon will also serve as master of ceremonies for the Continental GT launch in India.

One note: Because Gordon's book covered Royal Enfield so completely from 1930 on, blogger Jorge Pullin built a Royal Enfield Virtual Museum  covering the years 1898 to 1929. It's my go-to source for those years.

Gasoline gypsy Peggy Iris Thomas took A Ride in the Sun

Her hair wild from riding without a cap, Peggy Iris Thomas
is featured in The Calgary Herald of Aug. 7, 1951.

Gordon May is a motorcyclist and author known for his Overland to India trip on his 1953 Royal Enfield Bullet. Now he deserves the thanks of motorcyclists everywhere for preserving the story of Peggy Iris Thomas.

Thomas, a 26-year-old English girl, rode a tiny BSA Bantam motorcycle across Canada, the United States and Mexico in 1951-'52. She wrote a book describing the trip. Variously titled "A Ride in the Sun" or "Gasoline Gypsy," it had gone out of print. Thomas died in an automobile accident in 1982.

Gordon May knew the story and, when he decided to ride his own BSA Bantam in an Overland to Egypt journey, he nicknamed his little machine "Peggy" in her honor.

Eventually he tracked down her family and got permission to return "A Ride in the Sun or Gasoline Gypsy" to print.

I've just finished reading it. It's too bad Peggy Iris Thomas did not write any other books. This one is funny, breezy, brave, heartwarming and enjoyable.

Peggy's little BSA was loaded to three times its weight, and not only with camping gear and food. She brought a typewriter and, most remarkably, a very large dog.

The dog's size she saw as an advantage, since she considered him her one means of protection on the road.

Peggy's service in the Royal Navy WRNS during the war probably helped steel her to the problems of traveling alone. She was annoyed by the whistles and wisecracks but accepted them as the price to be paid. Applying lipstick in the rear-view mirror of a motorcycle by the side of the road was bound to invite attention; she chose to feel appreciated rather than insulted.

A constant problem was how to get out of her pajamas in the morning when camped only a few feet from the road. It was difficult to manage in her tiny pup tent but doing it while standing outside the tent required careful timing. She had to accept risks — showering in a man's room at a hotel — if she was going to succeed.

Peggy had the courage to do it. Nearly penniless in Miami she spent a night as a "car hop," forced to stand near the street in shorts to attract customers. She gave that up for a job at a soda fountain, knowing full well that she wouldn't be around in two weeks to collect her first paycheck — all she would get out of the job was the  nickel-and-dime tips.

She counted on the kindness of people she met but was always pleasantly surprised when, after telling her story, strangers fed her and housed her for a night.

Through it all she is an intrepid motorcyclist. She rides barefoot in a storm rather than get her shoes wet, removes grease from her skin with cold cream and pushes the BSA into the rain to rinse it after a wash.

The 226-page book is available in soft cover at a reasonable price from Rixon Groove Publishing. The new book includes pictures of Peggy, her motorcycle and dog not included in the original.

But let's say you want one of the originals. There is one for sale right now on Amazon.com

The price asked is $1,150.

Gordon May's back on the Bullet for his next trip

Gordon May's 1953 Bullet carried him overland to India in 2008.

BULLETIN: Author Gordon May is getting back on his Royal Enfield Bullet.

"My next overland journey, you will be pleased to hear, will be back on the 1953 500cc Bullet I rode to India," he wrote in an email to fans of his books on the brand.

"But more on that another time..."

The email was packed with other news of interest to Royal Enfield riders. May's Royal Enfield Books is introducing reprints of maintenance and repair books  from the 1920s and 1930s. Also on the website  are instruction books for War Department Models D, C and RE plus a workshop manual for civilian postwar Models G, J and J2. More manuals are coming soon, Gordon wrote.

His books on Royal Enfield history and his own history making 8,000-mile journey from the UK to India on a 1953 Royal Enfield Bullet established author Gordon May as the world's most famous living Royal Enfield traveler.

So it may seem strange that the big news in his recent email bulletin relates to a BSA Bantam he named "Peggy."

Gordon's most recent trek was a terrifically challenging ride from the UK to Egypt aboard this terrifically overloaded 1952 BSA Bantam. Following his live account of that ride repeatedly raised the question: just how bad do things have to get before Gordon May gives up? He never did.

Somewhere under there is a little two-stroke BSA Bantam.

Now his full account is out in hardcover or paperback. You can purchase Overland to Egypt  with your credit card.

"Publication of the manuscript was delayed for two reasons," Gordon wrote in the email.

"Firstly, I had grave concerns for the safety of people I met in Libya, particularly my wonderful guide, Essa. I didn’t want to publish a book that included them before the war was over and I had been able to reestablish contact. That finally happened late last year and I’m glad to report that Essa is safe."

If possible, the second reason for the delay is even more touching:

"The second delay was due to my ongoing search for Peggy Iris Thomas, the intrepid lady who, accompanied by her Airedale terrier, Matelot, rode a BSA Bantam 14,000 miles across Canada, the U.S.A. and Mexico between 1951 and 1952. Her story, printed in the books ‘A Ride In The Sun’ and ‘Gasoline Gypsy,’ was so inspiring that I named my Bantam after her.

"After almost three years of searching, I finally discovered what had happened to her... As a consequence, with the kind permission of her family and the help of her friends, I have been able to republish her book under a combined title of ‘A Ride In The Sun — Gasoline Gypsy.’"

Copies of that book can be ordered from Gordon's Ride in the Sun website.

Go to Gordon's Overland to India website to purchase his original travel book, the story of how he rode his museum-piece Bullet from Manchester, UK to Chennai, birthplace of modern day Bullets.