CFMoto 650TK Riders Set Record with 21,222-Mile Tour of China

A couple of adventurers have claimed a new world record for longest journey by motorcycle in a single country after completing a 21,222-mile trek around China. Buck Perley and Amy Mathieson completed their trek, traveling all 33 of China’s provinces in 147 days on a CF Moto 650TK sport-tourer. Guinness World Records still needs to ratify the couple’s journey, but if it stands, they will have surpassed the previous record of 18,041 miles set by Steven H. Siler earlier this year, after he completed his 26-day trip around the U.S. on his BMW R1150GS Adventure.

Pearley and Mathieson started and completed their trip in Beijing, documenting the journey for the China Travel Channel and on their blog at http://www.thegreatrideofchina.com. The two set out on their adventure to raise money for Free Lunch for Children, a charity that feeds students from 200 schools in rural areas across China. The journey raised $11,248 for the charity, though it fell short of the target of $19,695 which would have fed two schools for a full school year.

The couple’s journey took them across various terrain including grasslands, deserts and mountains. They rode north east from Beijing towards the North Korean border before turning west through Inner Mongolia and across the Taklamakan Desert in northeast China. From their, they rode south into Tibet, visiting the Everest Base Camp at an elevation of 17,598 ft. Pearley and Mathieson then snaked their way across China’s southern provinces before turning up the east coast back to Beijing.

They averaged about 145.4 miles per day, getting about 58.8 mpg. The CF Moto 650TK fell once during the trip, but met all challenges, needing just a change of tires during the journey.

For more information about their trip, visit http://www.thegreatrideofchina.com/. Visit their Flickr page to see photos of the countryside, architecture and yes, baby pandas.

[Source: CFMoto, Great Ride of China; Photo by Buck Perley]

By Dennis Chung