INTERVIEW WITH
ROBERT NIGHTINGALE Malle London founder talks to us about The Great Malle Rally, 5 days, 1250 beautiful miles, stunning landscapes, breaking down, wild cooked hearty breakfasts, Tug of War – and much more!
Photographs | Amy Shore
F
OUNDER OF adventure accessories brand Malle London, Robert Nightingale has been on an epic journey, taking part himself in their annual motorcycle rally for the very first time (usually he’s in the background helping!) The Great Malle Rally is the longest motorcycle rally ever attempted in the UK 1250 beautiful miles from the very northern tip of Scotland to the southern tip of England. Now held over five stages/ days, the 1250 mile rally route carves a unique path across beautiful landscapes, mountains, coasts and valleys in Great Britain, mainly on tiny B-Roads. Pictured LeftRight: Robert Nightingale and Calum PryceTidd of deBolex Engineering and lead engineer of the rally.
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BritishTravelJournal.com
What are you riding in the rally? Against the advice of many, I decided to ride my late father’s 1957 custom Triumph Thunderbird, which I got working earlier this year, and it turned out to be the oldest motorcycle in the 2018 rally! Why is this the first time you’ve entered the rally? Over the last three years I’ve helped the Malle team research the rally route, normally from the back of a support vehicle, but as my first time riding in the rally with a team, it was a completely different experience. Tell us about your rally preparation The day before the rally, like most of the riders I was scrambling to complete the bike in time, finding last minute spare parts that might break or rattle off. On the forecourt of The Classic Car Club in London, bits of the Thunderbird were littered around the bike, more and more custom/classic rally bikes were being dropped off every hour, which only added more pressure to the impending deadline. I managed to fit a new oil-feed pipe, “new” custom California handlebars, bent the mud-guards out a bit to accommodate the larger offroad trials tyres, fitted race plates and gave it a fresh oil change. After a quick lap around the backstreets of Shoreditch past the BikeShed to test the brakes and the oil flow - the bike was pretty much ready to go. First thing the next morning we helped the professionals load the bikes into crates at The Classic Car Club and onto the à
