Ewan McGregor and motorbikes
McGregor has been in love with motorbikes ever since. But it has often been a fiery relationship. On a tour of the Highlands with his father, he lost control of his bike on the A9. His leathers may have saved him from serious injury (he came away with only minor abrasions), but that crash made a statement not just about his riding, but its importance to Ewan even above acting. After all, he was on the A9 the same day the rest of Hollywood was at The Oscars.
His crash resulted in a ban – not enforced by the police but the producers of Star Wars. Lured by the freedom of the open road and the warm Aussie sunshine, he regularly rode his bike to work on the set. "It seems the insurance bods at the Fox Studios in Australia aren’t too happy that I’ve been taking this unconventional form of transport," he said at the time. "I was told they would much prefer me to be like any other star and take the chauffeured limo instead, but it’s very difficult."
McGregor had dreams of becoming a racer. His heroes are riders like world champion Valentino Rossi and the late Barry Sheene. McGregor had his own race team but never had the time to commit to becoming a professional rider. "I know in my heart I’m not good enough, " Ewan says accompanied by his best biker mate Charley Boorman, his partner in their recent Long Way Round bike expedition from London to New York. "So as much as I’d love to race, I’d be kidding myself. Maybe I could race vintage bikes or something like that. We both like watching the racing – motocross, Grand Prix and Dakar. Dakar is crazy. I’d love to do that."
