By Royal Appointment
By TMX Archives on 23rd Oct 08
THE off-road world is being handed the PR chance of a lifetime with the news that the royal princes, William and Harry, are currently taking part in an eight-day off-road charity motorcycle ride in what is described as the South African wilderness' and which will be roughly 1,000 miles in length, included in which is dangerous' mountain terrain. William (26) and Harry (24) are both keen motorcyclists having passed their tests and William actually rides a Honda Blackbird.
For their great adventure, the pair have donated a minimum £1500 to take part in Enduro Africa '08 which has been organised in aid of Sentibale, a charity set-up by Harry to help disadvantaged children in Lesotho.
Some 80 motorcyclists will make the trip and William and Harry will travel in a party of ten, before rejoining the larger group at night, maybe to sleep rough in the wild. Organiser of the event, Simon Smith, stated: "This is not a race, it's an endurance test, it's all about finishing the route.”
The event has been hugely publicised in the national media with lots of pictures and references to off-road motorcycling. Some national papers, including the ‘The Mail on Sunday', have afforded the trip two-page colour spreads. The bikes that the daring duo will ride in the marathon trek from Port Edward, near Durban, on the east coast, to Port Elizabeth, are Honda CRF230F models – and ‘The Mail' even printed a full specs panel of the little air-cooled Honda.
And this is only the start of the media frenzy, no doubt the papers and colour supplements will be full of stories of the trip and its conclusion. There will be dozens of pics of the princes on their little Honda off-roaders – and suddenly motorcycles will become acceptable to people who thought that they were only ridden by Hell's Angels.
This is all free publicity beyond the wildest dreams of PR gurus and wide-open for the industry to make hay with – off-road motorcycling by Royal Appointment!