“Australia has been so far the most incredible place I’ve seen. So many special moments during my trip around it! Nature is so beautiful and pristine over there. I just loved the fact that you can stop anywhere and be by yourself, enjoying a night full of stars or a day on a beautiful beach. In particular, I loved Tasmania, the Kimberly region, and Margaret River. In South America, I liked Bolivia and Patagonia. These two places gave me goosebumps while riding through it. Other than that Brazil also was incredible in terms of nature, but it was hard riding for me and the motorcycle, it took a bit out of me.” – Paolo Cattaneo
Paolo Cattaneo was born and raised in Milan, Italy, but has been living in Sydney since 2010. He started riding at the age of seven. “I started on small three wheelers and then little mopeds. My uncle’s family has been in the motorcycle industry for generations, so that’s how I’ve got introduced to motorcycles.” Paolo’s grand-father was the first Moto Guzzi dealer in northern Italy. Afterward, his uncle’s father continued the legacy keeping the business and the workshop alive. “My uncle was one of the official test riders for Moto Guzzi, other than an enduro and racetrack rider in his earlier years.” Later Paolo’s uncle kept just the workshop open and dedicated his life to being a mechanic and restoring the classics. “He is still one of the most renowned experts in Italy, for the historic brand.”
“My uncle was also a World Enduro Championship and Dakar Rally KTM mechanic for many years. Consequently, I couldn’t help but love motorcycles after hearing all his stories and adventures from around the world.” Paolo started riding seriously around age 14 when he got his very own 50cc enduro bike. The deal between him and his parents was that this “very nice birthday present” was in exchange for him taking good care of it. “So I had to start doing little jobs, in my spare time and weekends, to pay for fuel, insurance, and parts. That’s when I first got my hands on engines and bike parts, doing basic maintenance and playing around with it. Unfortunately, I also remember pushing my bikes a lot too.” With breakdowns, I remember calling my uncle to get help and then trying to repair the damage with his supervision. It was a great school.”
Paolo rides a KTM 1190 Adventure of which he speaks very highly. “I had an Aprilia Pegaso 660 before but, one fine day I rode a demo of the KTM 1190 and immediately fell in love with the machine. I spent the next eight months saving and looking for my perfect (used) match while trying to sell the Pegaso at a decent price. I ended up buying my “Bronte” from a woman that had only used it for few months.” The woman had unfortunately been diagnosed with brain cancer for which she needed major surgery. “As soon she came out of the hospital, she went down the road and bought the best motorcycle she could find. One of her life’s dreams was to ride a motorcycle so, when she faced her mortality, she decided to stop wasting time and buy a bike.”
“She’d never had motorcycles before, so she had to ask a friend of hers to take her for rides. But after a few weeks, she couldn’t stand the vibrations on her neck anymore and decided to sell it to move on to the next item on her bucket list. This story left me speechless. I was very doubtful when I had to take the final decision to quit my job, but this story made me take the step without hesitations. In its first seven months, my KTM had 435 miles / 700 kilometers on the odometer. After I bought it, and another seven months, the bike had 22990 miles / 37000 kilometers. Life is unpredictable. Even for motorcycles.”
“Let’s be frank; nobody buys a 1200cc with a 150 hp bike to go to have fun off-road. When I started my trip the only two plausible options for me was the 1190 KTM or the BMW R1200G/S. The reason why I chose the 1190 Adventure and not the 1190 Adventure R model is that I didn’t see myself riding around the world at that stage yet, so I preferred a bigger windshield, comfier seat, electronic suspension and tubeless tires.” Paolo opted to add crash bars, a skid plate, radiator guard and a luggage rack from KTM while the pannier racks are from Givi. He also fitted a Unifilter air filter to provide better air filtration and to make maintenance on the road easier. A set of aftermarket heated grips were also installed. “I couldn’t have gotten a BMW for my trip since it has been one of the major antagonists of Moto Guzzi for many years in the Italian market. I had to respect the family tradition and go with a Guzzi or a KTM.”
“Technically you can set your bike up as you want. The bike will perform regardless of all these accessories you install. The most important asset of your bike is the rider.” Paolo wears the Dainese Goretex D-Explorer gear and uses an AGV AX-8 helmet. When it comes to navigation, he uses TomTom. “I use GPS. But mostly I use common sense to navigate. You cannot rely on GPS only and neither can you use maps nowadays, since they may be outdated. I often use satellite pictures and maps from Google, and Maps.me for offline navigation.” With so many miles on the clock, he’s also tried a variety of tires. “I’ve ridden with Continental, Shinko, Metzeler, Mitas, Heidenau, and Pirelli. So far my preferred ones are the Karoo 3 by Metzeler which is great for solo riding. A close second is the Shinko 705. A great tire overall at an exceptional price.” Paolo also tends to service his bike while out on the road. “I’ve had bad experiences with mechanics in general. Sometimes due to a lack of attention and other times due to a lack of professionalism or knowledge.”
Paolo is an ambassador for Giant Loop and has tested their gear over many a mile. “I’ve been riding with GL for more than a 62130 miles / 100000 km now, and I believe their products are simply perfect for me. I was riding with hard panniers before, and their bulkiness and weight are not for me or my style of adventure riding.” He uses an entire set of GL products. Tank bag, handlebar bag, fender pouch, duffle bag, gas bag, saddle bag and now the big RTW panniers. “The materials they use are super strong and durable, all their bags are waterproof and keep my stuff dry at all times.” Even with constant use, Paolo reports that they still have not let him down. “I abuse their products a lot. I’ve had several falls, and the bags have taken the impacts better than me or the bike. I even once had a dog chewing on my panniers!” He also now employs the new rack mounts which makes taking the panniers on and off faster and easier. “The great advantage of GL products is that they are extremely efficient and simple; not many things that can fail, no zip locks, dry pouches inside, everything is washable, light and adventure proof.”
“I haven’t gotten very sick, injured, robbed or kidnapped so far, so I can’t say that I had a difficult time. But there have been some tough days from time to time.” One such day happened while riding the famous Ruta 40 in Argentina. “I came off the bike at 43 miles per hour / 70 kilometers per hour on frozen mud, slamming my head backward and landing on my back very hard. Two hours later I came off again on a downhill road, made of freshly poured gravel. Half an hour later I realized that my rear shock had started leaking and losing pressure.” At this stage, the bike became almost unrideable, but Paolo had no choice but to continue riding. After filling up with fuel, he realized that he now also had a flat tire. “At that point, I decided to stop for the night and let this misfortunate day pass by.”
“Once at the posada (hotel), I started to clean the bike up to see if there was anything else wrong before continuing the trip.” Fortunately, the rear shock was the only major issue that he had to tolerate for the next 745 miles / 1200 kilometers. Along with some small cracks in the plastics and a bent pannier rack from an earlier tumble. “The next day I woke up and had to smile. I had a small breakfast and decided to ride carefully to the next town to see if the bike displayed any other problems. I was optimistic and positive that there weren’t going to be any other issues. You need to keep your mindset clean and positive at all times. Otherwise, you will have very long days.”
Initially, he’d planned to just travel around Australia. “But then I realized that life was too short to go back to my old job and the same old routine. So I decided to go around the world instead.” So far he’s ridden 68350 miles / 110000 kilometers and covered 16 countries in the process.“ And what more inspiration can one need than the open road? “I remember going with my uncle to the airport or to the KTM dealer in Milan, where all the riders, support vehicles, and staff members would gather before going to the Dakar or the Pharaons Rally… Always looking at all these great riders with eyes full of dreams and admiration. Having my uncle as my main source of inspiration for my life on two wheels, meeting these great champions has inspired me to push and go further in what I do. It’s always important to inspire. As far as it helps us become a better person or to go beyond our limits.”
Paolo is now staying with us for a few days in Southern Oregon. It’s been a great time, sharing stories, cooking & eating good food, bike maintenance time and just hanging…decompressing. He has many more miles to go. We wish him the best of luck and will keep in touch.