The man who drove a moped over 10,000 miles: one American’s record-breaking journey

The first real time that Jonathan Roberts (USA) drove a moped, he kept going for 10,209 mi (16,430 km). 

Outside of a brief stint behind the wheel during a holiday in Thailand, the Michigan-born entrepreneur had never handled a motorbike before. Yet after leaving a successful job in healthcare technology in 2021, he had a “real window of freedom” for the first time in years – and he wanted to do something memorable. 

With a bucket list dream of obtaining a Guinness World Records title, Jonathan stumbled across the record for the longest journey on a moped (male) while researching future adventures, and immediately knew that was his calling. So he purchased a 50cc Honda Ruckus in Seattle, Washington just a few days before he was set to depart, and worked on strapping his luggage on to the back with a bunch of duct tape and bungee cords.  

A few test rides later, he developed a basic familiarity with the vehicle, then planned a route that was basically just the direction south. And on 23 September 2021, the adventurous driver began his record-breaking journey across eight countries from Seattle to South America and back – with just two wheels, a handful of luggage, and one determined spirit. 

“I’m not the fastest person or the strongest person in the world, and I was never going to break a record by running the fastest mile,” said Jonathan to GWR, while reminiscing about his trip. “But I am pretty stubborn, and I’m good at continuing to put one foot in front of the other when something gets difficult.

“A 50cc Ruckus only goes around 30 mph (48 km/h), so this record really wasn’t about speed. It was about being willing to sit on that thing for eight, 10, sometimes 12-plus hours, wake up the next morning, and do it again.”

Jonathan’s adventure officially started in northwest America, before sloping downwards across the coast to Baja California. From there, he popped over to western Mexico before making his way down through Central America to Yavizá, Panama, where the road literally ended in the dense rainforest of the Darien Gap. 

“A lot of the trip was learning as I went,” said Jonathan. “By the end of 10,209 miles, I knew that little Ruckus extremely well. 

“I learned how to change the oil and spark plug, troubleshoot the carburetor, deal with flat tyres, broken exhausts, battery issues, a broken kickstand, and all sorts of other things I had absolutely no idea how to fix when I started.”

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COVID-era restrictions prohibited Jonathan from taking his moped through the Darien Gap and on to Colombia and Ecuador – so after stopping at a military checkpoint, he turned his bike around and made his way back up to America, eventually ending his journey in Miami, Florida.

Along the way, he had to deal with numerous challenges, including: unfamiliar traffic laws and speeding commuters, convoluted border crossings, and various breakdowns on the little vehicle.

“Once I got comfortable with the bike, the uncertainty became more about everything else: mountain roads, storms, animals in the road, breakdowns, military checkpoints, border crossings, language barriers, and occasionally finding myself somewhere extremely remote and realizing I was a very long way from any assistance if I needed it,” said Jonathan.

“When something went wrong, I tried not to think about the remaining thousands of miles. The question was usually just: ‘what’s the next problem, and how do I solve that?’”

Yet he also became exposed to the incredibly selfless and kind side of society – as strangers from all walks of life went out of their way to give him help, motivation, and even a sense of shared humanity. 

Motorcyclists would pass him on the highway and give him the “two-wheels down biker wave”, teenagers at a roadside shop in Nicaragua spent hours repairing his bike for little in return, and two Texans drove 30 minutes to find a replacement part for his moped and fixed it for free on the side of the road.

Jonathan even recounted one story on a remote highway in Nicaragua, when he noticed an SUV stopped in the middle of the street with its hazard lights on. Wary, he slowed his moped and tried to move around the vehicle, but they swerved into his way, immediately striking fear into his heart. Yet as soon as he pulled up next to the car, he realized what they were trying to warn him about – an enormous snake stretched across almost an entire lane of the road.

“It was probably the biggest snake I had ever seen in the wild and almost certainly would have knocked me off the bike if I hit it,” he said. 

“That story kind of summarizes the trip for me. There were plenty of moments that felt dramatic in real time, and were pretty funny five minutes later!”

Men working on Jonathan's moped

Finally, at 3:54 p.m. on 27 November 2021 – over a month after he first set out – Jonathan raced through a part of America to officially beat the previous record of 9,895.59 mi (15,925.41 km), set by Michael Reid (USA) and Yonatan Belik (Israel) in 2019. 

Yet with 400 mi (643 km) left until Miami, where he arranged for his moped to be picked up, there wasn’t much fanfare – “I basically thought, ‘That’s amazing... now I still need to keep riding,’” he said.

When he eventually pulled into Miami, Jonathan said that it felt good to be back home, but strange not to be concerned with the minutia of his moped or the worries about where he’d be sleeping that night. 

“For over two months, the trip had become normal life,” he recounted. “Every morning I woke up, strapped everything to the bike, looked at the map, and started moving. My world had gotten very simple: ride south or north, find gas, find food, find somewhere to sleep, fix whatever broke, and repeat…

“But there was definitely a part of me that missed it almost immediately.”

Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that this record-breaking trip won’t be the last of Jonathan’s adventures – as he continues to push his limits and “generally come up with ideas that sound slightly unreasonable, and then figure out if I can actually pull them off.”

“I think the biggest thing I learned [during this trip] is that you don’t have to be extraordinary at something to do something extraordinary,” he said. “I’m not an elite athlete, mechanic, motorcycle racer, or professional adventurer. I was just willing to keep going for a long time.”

He also added that his best piece of advice for future record-breakers is “don’t wait until you feel completely ready” – explaining that the planning stages, though important, can often paralyze people with fear because “starting is scary.”

“When I flew to Seattle, I didn’t have some master plan,” Jonathan said. “I had approval from Guinness World Records, a rough route, and a willingness to figure things out as I went. Three weeks later I had bought a scooter, learned how to ride and maintain it, crossed into Mexico, and covered thousands of miles.”

And above all else, he says that enjoying the ride is more important than focusing on getting into the record books.

“Some of my favourite memories from those 10,209 miles aren’t the famous places I saw,” said Jonathan. “They’re the random mechanics, gas station attendants, police officers, bikers, families, and strangers who helped me when they had absolutely no reason to.

“The record is what gave me an excuse to take the trip, but those experiences are what made the trip worth doing.”