Zainal Baharudin and his wife Celeste have already travelled half-way across the planet on their bike, and they are not showing any signs of slowing down. 
More often than not, the first thing that would come to someone’s mind when the term “overland motorcycle expedition” is mentioned is probably a someone riding one of the big, bulky, 1200cc adventure bikes such as the BMW R 1200 GS or a KTM Adventure. This is due to the perception that only big, powerful and technologically advanced bikes such as the ones mentioned earlier are capable of doing things like overlanding and what not. However, that is not always the case. 
A couple of months ago, we had the opportunity to meet avid motorcyclists and ‘travel junkies’ Zainal Baharudin, 53, and his wife Celeste Theunissen, 51 who had just rode across 33 countries from Nepal to South Africa over a year, and their weapon of choice was nothing more than the good-old 2011 Kawasaki Versys 650. Driven by their childhood dream to travel around the world once in this lifetime, Zainal and Celeste began their epic journey in April 2014 in Nepal, before crossing 70-odd borders and reaching South Africa in June this year. “It was always my dream to travel the world, which explains why the first thing I did after retiring from the corporate world in 2014 was pack my bags, got Celeste to hop on and rode off into the sunset on a memorable journey.”
“Besides that, I wanted to fulfil my dream while we were still in good health. With the average lifespan of a Malaysian male being 75 years of age, there was not much time left. That said, we didn’t want to waste any more time and just wanted to live while we can,” said Zainal Speaking on his choice of motorcycle, Zainal said that he was super confident in the Versys which he rode on the expedition, which was his daily ride prior to the trip. He went on to say that he had no doubts with the capabilities and the reliability of the bike, and was sure that the bike would be able to pull it off. Speaking on why he didn’t bother going for bigger, more capable bikes, Zainal said that his ultimate priority was comfort and reliability compared to power and sophistication. 
“Since my average speed throughout the expedition was about 100km/h and below, the Kawasaki Versys 650 had more than enough power for me. Besides that, its size was also manageable. In total, the bike dropped eight times during the trip and every time it did, I could pick it up without struggling. Now, imagine picking up a GS eight times,” said Zainal jokingly. “Besides that, the fact that the Versys 650 is technically pretty straight forward meant that more people across the world were capable of repairing it. Regardless of whether we were in India, or even in Africa, finding technical assistance whenever the bike had minor glitches was not an issue at all, and speaking of glitches, all the Versys 650 faced was wear-and-tear problems and only small problems. Never once did it experience a major breakdown.” 
Speaking of memorable moments, Zainal and Celeste said that there were too many to recall. “To be honest, the whole journey itself was unforgettable. However, a few magical moments which we can think of now include having police escorts in the Middle East with armoured vehicles and guns, being stuck in a desert in Mali, riding on Karakoram, the highest paved highway in the world from Islamabad to Attabad, Pakistan, getting caught in a sandstorm, seeing the bullet holes on the walls in cities of Mostar and Sarajevo, and last but not least, witnessing all the animals that were roaming around freely in Africa,” said Celeste. Speaking of what’s next, Zainal said that the ride from Nepal to Africa was the first phase of their journey around the world, and the next phase will see him and Celeste explore South America and North America. 
“In all, our journey was so exciting that we would not trade the experience and the memories for anything in the world. Not only did we learn about ourselves, but also about the world, other cultures, different people, and many more. Although it was very challenging, it was fun.” “Now that we are experienced, we hope that our upcoming rides will be even more thrilling and fun,” said Zainal and Celeste. Stats Bike: 2011 Kawasaki Versys 650 Modifications: Engine guard, handle guards, headlight guard, panniers, semi-off-road tyres Distance covered: 60,000km Countries: 33 Average speed: 90 – 100km/h per hour Average distance travelled per day: 350 – 450km Total amount of falls: 11 times Sets of tyres: 5 Current journey: From Argentina to the United States
