James told to take hike over Ewan's bike

Jul 13 2008 The Judge

EWAN McGREGOR may have travelled the world on his BMW motorbike for TV series Long Way Round but biker James Millward struggled to cover 72 miles.

Lifeguard James paid £7395 for the four-year-old R1150 Adventure. It came with 12 months' warranty but packed in nine months later.

James, 36, of Stranraer, called me in after being left with a £3000 repair bill.

He said: "It's identical to the bike used by Ewan on his 20,000 mile trip yet it can't get me home. It's a disgrace."

I got on to BMW, who had blamed a lack of oil on the failure and refused to fix it. They stuck to their guns, saying: "The failure cannot be attributed to a manufacturing defect."

James, who insists he kept the oil topped up, may pursue a small claims action.

It's just a shame he has to take the long way round.