How Meeting YouTube’s Bike Guy Dave in Georgetown, Penang Restored our Can-do Spirit

A chance encounter with YouTuber Bike Guy Dave in a Georgetown bar turned our defeated two-month motorcycle Thailand trip into four. Here’s what he said that changed everything.

It all started with the rubber chicken. Its 17cm squeaky body, dangling at the handlebar of the big adventure bike parked outside a bar in Georgetown. Its red lips calling out to us. Totally out-of-place, totally irresistible. Mr A was already walking towards it before I could say anything. 

We were on our 59th day into our motorbike trip from Singapore to Thailand via Malaysia. Earlier, we were ogling at this bike parked at our hotel lobby. At that time, we were already making our way home to Singapore. Meeting Dave changed everything for us.  

“Are you the owner of the bike?” pointing to the gigantic and intimidating big blue bike along the road. 

“Yes, it’s mine.”

“Do you mind if we sit down and chat with you?” Mr A, abandoning his usual social mores, shamelessly requested for a chat. The audacity.

The big Western guy with a trimmed salt and pepper beard, took off his specs and closed the laptop in front of him. And that’s how we found ourselves seated across him at the bar in Penang, chatting about his bike, Tank, and world travel. I don’t know where that boldness came from but I thought he must have a sense of humour. Anyone travelling with a squeaky rubber chicken inevitably does. 

Ask yourself what you want. Don’t let others dictate your life. 

– Bike Guy Dave

Battered but not broken

We had bid adieu to Thailand two days before our visa expired. I’d injured my ribs at a swimming pool in Mae Chaem – one day into our Mae Hong Son Loop. This incident brought massive changes to our original itinerary. A few weeks later, Mr A also hurt his ribs badly sliding off his bike at a slushy construction trail. I remember seeing him face ashen, barely able to speak. Similarly, talking, laughing and coughing hurt. 

The sliding door encounter

When we met Dave, we weren’t the same riders, brimming with confidence, when we left Singapore. Home was less than 700km away and it felt like the right idea. We were spending a few touristy days in Malaysia when we met Dave. 

If not for the rubber chicken, we would probably be celebrating the festive season with our friends and family. This sliding door moment was what extended our Thailand trip from two months to four. 

Youtuber Bike Guy Dave

Little did we know that this tall and burly Westerner is a Youtuber who goes by the moniker Bike Guy Dave. We fired a barrage of questions on world travel – something we were new to. 

Retired four and half years ago, he’s covered more than 45,000km from the UK to Malaysia and has been riding solo on Tank, his 700cc Yamaha Tenere World Raid, for over 500 days when we met. 

To be so carefree and to travel for such long periods, one would think that he’s a bachelor with no family commitments. But no, he’s married with four kids! 

Interestingly, his wife also rides big bikes and joins him at different junctures of his adventures. With his eldest in his early 20s and the youngest close to adulthood, he’s free to live the life of his dreams at this stage of his life. 

Halfway through our chat, his youngest daughter called him and asked about his whereabouts and upcoming plans. 

“I report to my family what I eat everyday. They don’t want me to put on too much weight!” laughed Dave.

As we downed a pint of Guinness to quell Penang’s afternoon heat, Dave put down the phone. He shared that he is fulfilling his dream of world travel on motorbike that is 35 years in the making. A dream that started as young as 18. 

He had read a book by Ted Simone who motorcycled his way around the world and wanted to do just that. Along the way, as with most responsible grown-ups, he worked hard at his career, temporarily hibernating his dreams. 

His dreams were rekindled thanks to Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s Long Way Home and Long Way Round. Comfortably retired 4.5 years ago, with his kids grown up and taken care of, the stars were aligned. At only 53, Dave attributes the three golden rules of Health, Time and Money which allow him to sustain his motorbike adventures. 

“I’m still young and healthy. And now that I’m retired, I can afford my biking adventures.”

Sharing with him our reservations, especially with our falls, injuries and bike drops, Dave was generous to reveal that he had a few bike drops himself and not to be too bothered by it. 

“I have dropped my bike a number of times myself. Everybody drops bikes. It’s not a big deal.” 

He probably doesn’t know it, but hearing this restored that dent in our confidence. Dave has been riding since he was a teenager. From small bikes to dirt bikes to his current collection of big bikes (he owns at least 6 or 7), he has also ridden on dirt tracks and deserts. He cited going at 148 km/h (gasp!) as a norm during those rides in the vast nothingness. Amateur riders like us listened to his tales wide-eyed. 

Don’t listen to those who have not trodden your path – their advice is usually based on fear, not experience.

– Bike Guy Dave

Dave’s words of wisdom from personal experience

As we chatted with Dave, we realised that our fears and worries were largely self-imposed. As a solo motorist who navigated land border crossings with armed soldiers, someone who dirt bikes for fun, Dave has never let self-doubt mar his dreams.

“I pretty much do whatever I want to do. If you want something, just do it.” When it comes to dreams, Dave has been a go-getter, relentlessly pursuing them. So much so, his children have complained that they are living in his shadow because others tend to use their dad’s achievements as a form of comparison. Talk about having big shoes to fill! 

Our conversation shifted from the bar to the kopitiam across the road – Penang’s Michelin Bib Gourmand Chicken rice. Over chicken rice, Dave distilled forty years of living on his own terms into four wise statements:

1. Don’t listen to those who have not trodden your path – their advice is usually based on fear, not experience.
2. Ask yourself what you want. Don’t let others dictate your life. 
3. Never say no to an invitation. 
4. If you don’t try, you will never know. You just need to get started and chances are, you won’t look back. 

Dave’s philosophy has served him extraordinarily well. It is not surprising the guy is planning to set a world record as the first person to ride non-tarmac around the world. He’s also consolidating his biking adventures into a book. 

If you don’t try, you will never know.

– Bike Guy Dave

Powered by Dave’s can-do attitude, we returned to our hotel with his question “What is stopping you from going back to Thailand right now?” in our minds. 

Waking up, we found ourselves with a totally different mindset. Thanks to Dave, we recovered that initial “can-do, let’s go!” mentality before our setbacks. 

Mr A looked at me. “So. Thailand?”

“Thailand.” I replied with conviction.

And so begins Round 2 of our Singapore to Thailand motorcycle trip. Follow Bike Guy Dave’s long-term motorcycle travel in Asia and beyond on YouTube.