Motorcycles to Mountain Bikes and everything Continental
If you’ve spent any time reading motorcycle publications or watching motorcycle television shows no doubt you’ve heard of Neale Bayly. If you haven’t heard of him, then it’s time you met the man with the “world’s coolest job”. Born in England and currently residing in Charlotte, NC, Neale has made a career of motorcycle adventure and journalism that has enabled him to travel to over 80 countries, 50 of them on a motorcycle. Neale was co-host of the popular show, Trippin on Two Wheels that ran on the Speed Channel and also produced and hosted his own show called “Neale Bayly Rides” on the same network, where he turned an unlikely group of riders from off-road novices to full-fledged Adventure riders as they rode to his favorite charity, the Hogar Belen orphanage in Peru.
Neale became interested in the orphanage when he met Father Giovanni, the founder, while riding through Peru in 1995. Neale went on to establish Wellspring International Outreach to raise money for the children of the orphanage.
Like many motorcyclists today there is more than one bike in the Neale Bayly garage but one in particular stands out as his favorite: a 1997 Triumph Daytona. The Daytona is far from showroom stock having been tuned to Speed Triple specs, fitted with full-race spec suspension, upgraded levers, lowered gearing and other special attention by Nate at 2Topia Cycles in Charlotte. Neale says “it’s the strongest running bike you can imagine” and of course it’s fitted with one of his favorite tires, the ContiSportAttack 2. Another of Neale’s favorite bikes is his track-only Yamaha R6, currently shod with the new ContiSportAttack 4. When asked about his most memorable riding experince, Neale relates a track day at Roebling Road on the R6 when “the weather was fantastic, the R6 was fully warmed up, with freshly tuned Cogent Dynamics suspension and ContiSportAttack 2 tires, the grip was perfect! It was one of the most memorable days of riding ever.” Other bikes in Neale’s stable include a 2015 BMW R 1200 GS on Continental TKC70 tires and a Yamaha FZR400 set-up for vintage racing and soon to be fitted with ContiRoadAttack 3 CR tires before its next outing.
When asked if there is a motorcycle adventure still on his “to-do list”, Neale replies “At this moment I don’t have any new motorcycle adventures in my mind, but I do have a bicycling adventure that will require Continental Mountain Bike ProTection Tires – Black Chili, Tubeless, Folding Handmade MTB Performance Tires. I want to ride across the Himalayas from Lhasa to Katmandu and cycle to base camp Everest along the way. I’ve ridden the Himalaya along the Tibet/China border on a motorcycle. Hiked the highest mountains in Africa, and Peru and done a few other silly things so this needs to be next”. That adventure may sound impossible to most of us but it’s just another day for Neale Bayly.
Check out some of Neale’s latest work on his YouTube channel, NealeBaylyRides or on Instagram @nealebaylyrides.
