From Wikipedia:

> He was stranded twenty miles from the nearest settlement, with only enough food and water to last ten days. To survive, Leray used parts of his broken-down car to build a motorcycle, and twelve days after the accident was able to drive it to a village 20 miles away.

I admire his ingenuity, but I would have probably just walked.

I enjoy the backstory[1], though, about how he ended up that way:

> He was told the area was restricted and he couldn’t go through. Ignoring the request, he instead drove off at top speed into the rocky terrain of the restricted area, making sure the military officials weren’t following him, according to the site.

> Leray told the UK’s Sunday Times that he had travelled around Africa about 10 times so knew the region well. But before long, his he crashed the car into a rock, rendering it unable to drive.

[1] https://www.nydailynews.com/2012/07/03/photos-man-escapes-af...

Only if you think his story is true. I'm pretty sure it is more of an art project though. Mostly because from a survival perspective the story makes no sense.

That’s not a cool motorcycle picture. You can argue that it’s a picture of a cool motorcycle but that’s really not the same thing.

I knew the submission would be a photo of Rollie Free on his Black Shadow before clicking the link. It is the motorcycle picture.

I have never heard of this mad max looking bike and frankly it doesn’t strike a chord with me.

More desert Mad Max shenanigans in just underwear!

For some reason this reminds me of Breaking Bad.

That needs the help of AI to remove the background, and then maybe it'll be a cool picture.

Anyone that has stepped on a scooter brake in their bare feet is wincing at the thought of the supports crumpling.

Fastest roasted nuts ever.

welp that did not occur to me, he probably had it fortified in a way.

Is it weird I thought about this other sort of adjacent iconic photo:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fb/Blown_Away_Gu...

Hunter S. Thompson loved it, too, and it shows up in his work:

https://www.vincent-hrd.co.uk/hst.html

> Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1970) > [At the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills, planning to cover the Mint 400 Desert Race in Las Vegas]

---

"Well," he said, "as your attorney I advise you to buy a motorcycle. How else can you cover a thing like this righteously?"

"No way," I said. "Where can we get hold of a Vincent Black Shadow?"

"Whats that?"

"A fantastic bike," I said. "The new model is something like two thousand cubic inches, developing two hundred brake-horsepower at four thousand revolutions per minute on a magnesium frame with two styrofoam seats and a total curb weight of exactly two hundred pounds."

...

"It is," I assured him. "The fucker's not much for turning, but it's pure hell on the straightaway. It'll outrun the F-111 until takeoff."

---

Never ever thought I'd see the great Richard Thompson on HN. Thank you!

Humans are notoriously bad at risk based decision making. This applies equally to being cautious or daring.

Marvin Musquin won that one too, didn't he?

This technique is still in common use here in the Dominican Republic, among honda cub street racers. It’s interesting that the most vibrant motorcycle racing scene is with motorcycles that were never meant to go fast and lack the frame stiffness or suspension to safely go above 50mph. I think the challenge of overcoming these limitations is what makes it compelling to the young riders and would-be-engineers that typically make up the illegal racing scene.

I'm trying to imagine how he slowed down.

Just keeping his legs clear of that 150 MPH tire is its own feat.

Imagine the gravel rash if all goes pear shaped.

Thank You! :)