308,000 kilometres on one bike.
Željan Rakela, a 36-year-old Croatian, enjoys every day and above all every single mile of his life. And he loves motorcycles. Especially his BMW R 1200 GS Adventure. He even has the numbers to prove his love: He bought his bike in 2006. And it's been non-stop passion ever since: the Croatian has racked up a total of 308,000 kilometres in the past 8 years. Impressive numbers. But they're even more impressive when you consider that Željan spends only two months on his bike a year, his entire annual holiday.
One man, one bike, one goal.
One man, one bike, one goal.
The average motorcyclist would trade in his or her bike after only a fraction of the miles that Željan has ridden. But he's anything but average. “My ambition,” says Željan, “is to ride all the different continents on one bike. “My dream began in 2006, the first time I spent my two months of holiday riding to different countries. Now my wife comes with me sometimes. We've already explored the US, Canada, Mexico, Syria, Jordan and Israel together.”
An Australian adventure.
An Australian adventure.
He actually rode solo on his biggest trip to date in 2013. He considered riding the deserts and outback of Australia as too big of a challenge for two people: “It's a big, sparsely populated country. A small problem could very quickly turn into a big problem.” His fear would actually come true.
During his 20,000 kilometre trip around northern Australia, Željan took a spill. “I dislocated my left ankle and had to set it back in place myself. I was lying there in the middle of nowhere when a huge black bird landed next to me. And then another and another. I didn't have any mobile phone reception. I didn't have a satellite phone or CB radio. Things didn't look good. I knew I had to fix my ankle quickly before I started feeling the pain after the initial adrenaline rush.”
And on and on.
And on and on.
Željan rode the remaining 8,000 kilometres by changing gears with his heel. Believe it or not, the dangers of riding far away from civilisation have never really worried Željan. He describes himself as an ‘adventurer with a motorcycle’ and thrives on the challenges and pleasures that come with riding. He's not at all worried by the 100,000 kilometres on his odometer. As Željan puts it: "As every BMW rider knows, that's not very much at all."
Željan Rakela
