The star of our ADV:Overland exhibition at the Petersen museum was Max Reisch’s very special overland-kitted 1932 Puch 250SL, on which he became the first person to travel over land from the Middle East to India by land using a motorized vehicle. The Puch was a star because it remained in exactly the condition Reisch left it after his journey, with all his packs and panniers, ropes and stickers and tools intact: it is truly an amazing artifact of global travel, when such journey were undertaken only by the brave. It’s estimated, in fact, that only 50 people went around the world in a motorcycle before 1980. Reisch was indeed a brave fellow, as you can read for yourself in one of his many books, especially India: the Shimmering Dream, which is one of the only of his very many books that only covers his motorcycle journeys, and has been translated into English.









Nice one PdO !!! Damn nice indeed ! Gonna have to track down a book or two by the good gentleman in question . Historic ADV’ers .. those folks…. male or female … had genuine cojones … in spades !
… and that museum !!! Damn !!!!… I’d need at least three days . One minimum to see all within … and another two to enjoy the view ( I’s a poet and don’t know it ???? ) Cause damn what a view that is .
😎
Paul, I loved your post on Max Reisch, but I’m curious about your statement that he was the first to travel overland from the Middle East to India. How does he fit in with Robert Edison Fulton who seemed to have traveled overland from Syria to India starting in 1932. You don’t state exactly when Reisch did it, but if he was on a 1932 Puch, it couldn’t have been before that. Was Fulton right in his draft? Were they aware of each other?
I see Wikipedia has Reisch doing the trip in 1933. Since Fulton started from London, it may have been ’33 by the time he got to the Middle East. They both being authors, they probably were aware of each other at least after their trips.
Dave Roper
Interesting question! The whole point of Reisch’s journey to India was the recent rediscovery by archaeologists of the ancient Silk Road to India. You’re right that he and Fulton were likely simultaneous, but did Fulton use this route? Fulton mentions nothing I can recall about pioneering his routes? Something I can dig in on – I’m not at home to check either at the moment but both include maps. Worth checking!
Looking at rough comparisons of Fulton’s vs Reisch’s routes, it appears Fulton went by sea from the Arabian peninsula to Bombay in 1933. He then circled the Himalayas after passing through India, but repeated a boat trip from Afghanistan(?) to Bombay, and does not appear to have crossed the Himalayas as Reisch did.
Everyone took a different route on overland trips back then, based on the information they had, or had gleaned en route. For example, the first RTW motorcycle trip by motorcycle (Carl Stearns Clancy), went up the same Burma ‘roads’ in 1913 that Reisch traveled in the 1930s in a car. Reisch would not have known of Clancy’s journey 20 years earlier, as Clancy never published a book on his journey (in his lifetime – his notes were later published). Clancy did earn money selling reports on his travels to newspapers, but again, that was 20 years before Reisch, and I doubt he had access to such materials.
Before WW2, most RTW and overland travelers had little or no knowledge of other journeys, and even when Elspeth Beard did her RTW trip in the early 1980s, she did not know another woman had made the journey ten years prior, Anne-France Dauthville. Anne-France had even written a book about it, but it was not published in English. Funny world…
Paul … if memory serves … me thinks some woman did it even earlier than the 70’s . Cant remember the name for the life of me .. and maybe I’m mistaken .. but if memory serves .. it was way earlier than the 70’s
Hmm … oh well
As for France’s book not being in English .. damn thats a problem I’ve been running into left and right of late … from M/C’s to philosophy to literature ..
FYI ; Most ( actually almost all of them ) of Herr Reisch’s books are German only …
.
Go figure !
I guess maybe the publishers think we in the English speaking world are too stupid to read them …. and err … looking around of late … they might … unfortunately … just be right …
Eeesh
Hello Dave, I checked:
The itinerary is drawn exactly in the book “One Man Caravan”: The ship trip to India began in Basra, via Bushir, Muscat, the ship went to Karachi.
(By the way, Foulton and Reisch studied in Vienna at the same time and were members of the EMT, Europa Motor Tourist Association)
An article suggestion ;
I&A just did an article on famous individuals who crashed and died on M/C’s and the lessons to be learned . Quite decent I might add !
So how about an article on famous people who crashed on a M/C .. survived major injury .. and lived to tell about it .. and the lessons to be learned ?
A few suggestions ;
Daniel Lanois
Bob Dylan
Franz Klammer
etc ..
Oooops …. Franz Klammer should be Herman Mair . Got my ski heroes mixed up .. go figure … . mea culpa
Guitar Slinger, maybe you’re thinking of Theresa Wallach (I’m thinking of her!) who went London to Cape Town in 1935, on a Panther motorcycle, but not actually around the world. I met her in Scottsdale AZ in the 1970’s where she lived then and was giving motorcycle lessons to new riders. “When you see a dog about to come after you, accelerate!” was among the good advice.in her series of riding lessons. “If you hit him, you’ll kill him no matter what speed your going, so you might as well stay upright yourself…”