Chasing Che
In 1951/52 Che Guevara (yes, him) and his friend and fellow doctor Alberto Grenado rode the latter’s Norton 16H two-up through South America, aiming to reach Venezuela. They never made it, after the Norton was irreparably bent in the last of many crashes. This was years before Che became a revolutionary icon, but the story was turned into a superb film, The Motorcycle Diaries. Guevara was no stranger to overland bike trips, having ridden a cyclemotor (38cc Garelli) 4000 miles through northern Argentina in 1950.
Fifty-five years later my friend Pete Sandford and I hit on the idea of recreating the ride on Nortons and this time finishing it, starting in Buenos Aires from Che’s family home and riding 8000 miles north through Argentina, Chile, Peru, Columbia and Venezuela.
We placed an ad in the NOC magazine and bought a pair of ES2s – one was restored (nicknamed Cacafuego), one original (Kate) but both mechanically sound. I also bought a 1937 16H at auction, which turned out to be a non-runner with a seriously leaky fuel tank, though it did donate its girder forks to the 1950 ES2.
After a few familiarisation rides (I hadn’t ridden an old machine before), lots of preparation, paperwork and jabs, the bikes
