SFO-> FRA-> IST-> ISB

SFO-> FRA-> IST-> ISB

When adventure comes a-calling your name and asks you to travel half way around the world to hang out, will you? Our friend Ben Delman answered said call, got his ass on a plane, and made his way from SFO-> FRA-> IST-> ISB. After all those miles in the sky Ben took a mental note for future adventures to come. ‘More snacks. Definitely more snacks.’ Once the plane landed he took a truck to his guide Moin’s place in Islamabad, Pakistan. There he began what was to be three weeks and 2,706km of motorcycles, breathtaking scenery, local fare, aggressive monkeys, thrills and of course, spills.

His tool for the job was a Honda CG Dream 125;

His tool for the job was a Honda CG Dream 125;

A Pakistan special. He and the 6 other members of his posse were all rolling on the same model, making them look like a some sort of wayward adv team.

Seven days of checkpoints, pictures with the villagers, bumpy road finally led Ben into the Hunza Valley and surrounded by some of the largest peaks in the world. You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting something majestic, but there were no dead cats so there was no need to do any swinging. Still, it was beautiful none the less. Storefronts were still branded with camping equipment and stickers from travel agencies long gone. Ben pictured Hunza Pre 9/11 bustling with tourists and fellow explorers like he and his crew. 

They headed out to Lake Attabad which was formed in January of 2010 due to a massive landslide from an earthquake that then created a natural dam on the river. This beautiful disaster, which killed many people and displaced villages is a reminder that even though Mother Nature can take our breath away with her natural splendors, she can also be a real bitch.

The crew reached heights of 15k+ elevation with their bike’s carburetors fighting them the whole time. Ben and company about-faced and raced the sun back to Hunza to beat the night. It was there Ben hit an unexpected bed of sand sending him every which way before throwing him off his Honda. Thanks to the D3O amor we put in our gear Ben was able to brush himself off, make it to a party in town, and win some money in a friendly game of poker.

If something can go wrong, it usually will. That’s not a ‘glass half empty’ way of thinking, them are just the breaks. Ben’s way out of Hunza was slow going and riddled with mechanical failure leaving him exhausted and very few miles under his belt for the day. His guide, Moin, had an uncle named Sayeed nearby that would help fix his bike and get him back on that ol’ dusty trail.

Once back on the road, thanks to Sayeed, it was a tale as old as time; wrong turns coupled with empty gas tanks. The trip was well planned so help in the form of a support vehicle was never too far away. You may not always be totally prepared to get lost, but you sure as hell can prepare to crash and Ben, in Raiden Patrol and the Variant Contruct was just that; prepared. Cruising on a narrow rutted road heading out of Skardu, Ben’s gear was put to the test yet once again. Not seeing a pothole that was camouflaged by a shadow, his front wheel hit hard, and he quickly lost control of the bike. After fishtailing a few times, Ben went down on the right side and onto a jagged edge of pavement where he smacked the shit out of his head. As he struggled to regain his breath the sound of the glass shattering and the front fairing snap played over again in his mind. This not only would have been the end of his adventure, it could’ve been the end life as he knows it. Ben spent the next couple days riding in the SAG wagon while he recovered from his spill. Bruised ribs are a small price to pay for #bigtimeadventure. Eventually they’ll heal and the pain will be forgotten, but the stories live on.

Ben was able to rally and finish the last couple of the days on the bike and bringing his time in Pakistan to a close. If he could go back and do it all over again what would he do differently? Snacks, definitely more snacks.