David Beckham Rides Custom Triumph Bonneville Into Amazon Rainforest
After 22 years on the soccer field, David Beckham took on a new challenge in the form of the Amazon rainforest. To accomplish this task, he needed three things: some friends, a documentary film crew, and a custom-built Triumph Bonneville.
Since this is a motorcycle website, we’ll focus on the motorcycle. Look to the BBC or Showtime to learn more about the documentary, Beckham into the Unknown, and its subjects.
Beckham’s ride started as a Bonneville T100, but that didn’t last long. Knowing that the bike would spend many miles on dirt – often muddy – roads, would be loaded into canoes, and generally harsh, jungle circumstances, a somewhat Scrambler-ish approach was planned. The signature high pipe was perfect for the job, but the fenders had to go. Streetable knobbies were mounted to the spoked rims.
A joint effort between the riders and Triumph, customization took place both in the UK and Brazil. The “hand-tooled leather seat covers” came from “one of Sao Paulo’s leading custom shops” as did the paint. Not even the tank badge escaped unchanged. The result is a bike with classic wide Bonneville bars and an upright riding position to attack conditions from cramped Brazilian urban roads to remote trails.
The documentary has begun its time on the TV-machine while Beckham’s Brazilian Bonneville has returned to the UK with wear and tear that was earned the hard way.
[Source: Triumph]
Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.
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