Mary Sievier round the World on a BSA Bantam 1967 – 76.

The paint is worn and chipped, there are a few dents and the canvas panniers have seen better days. Don’t be fooled by appearances though, because this little bike, one of many thousands of identical machines used on Britain’s roads in the 1950s and 60s, tells a remarkable travel story. Between 1967 and 1976 Mary Sievier rode the BSA over 50,000 miles from Britain to India, down through East and Southern Africa, around Australia (where the press christened her Mary Motorcycle), the length of New Zealand and through Thailand and Cambodia.

In 1976 she completed her journey by riding the Bantam from coast to coast across the USA, becoming the first British Woman to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle. Mary returned to the UK. The bike was stored in a shed and the World forgot about Mary Motorcycle, her story only coming to light again in 2021 when she presented at the Overland Event.