Long before the days of YouTube, GoPros and budget travel…
A raw, adrenaline-fuelled memoir that chronicles one man’s audacious journey through Southeast Asia in 1994
Armed with nothing but grit and a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, he rides over 5,000 kilometres through lands where carrying a camera meant navigating a quagmire of bureaucracy, corruption, suspicion, and real danger.
From the lush jungles of Sumatra to the neon-lit chaos of Bangkok, he faces mechanical breakdowns, corrupt officials, and unforgiving elements. Yet amid the madness, he discovers unexpected camaraderie in the global brotherhood of motorcycle riders—kindred spirits whose generosity and sense of adventure light the way through even the darkest moments.
For UK, EU and Asia purchasers, please scroll down to bottom
422 pages with 117 full colour images in the print versions
50 full colour images in the Ebook
Table of contents
Thirty eighty days.
Chapters
14
SYNOPSIS
17
TRAVEL CREW
18
SATURDAY 4 JUNE – We Leave from Gatwick; The Costs and the Challenges; The Visa Debacle; Money and the Dream; Making It Happen; The Launch; The Final Push; A Wing and a Prayer
28
SUNDAY 5 JUNE – Arriving in Jakarta with the Wrong Visa; Trauma at the Custom; The Texas Bar
35
MONDAY 6 JUNE – Back to Ron’s; Rain and Ron’s Reality Check; Garden Suburbs and Sombrero Phone Boxes; Dave’s House and Black Currency; Servants and a Different Way of Life; Dinner and Family Life; Phil´s Staff House; The Mansion; A Ghostly Welcome
45
TUESDAY 7 JUNE -All Harleys Are Banned; Ron Drives Me Mad; Why Am I So Important?
About the author
Michael Lindsay Orr
After a lifetime of creating, inventing, and wandering, Michael Lindsay Orr has finally put pen to paper. A retired Chartered Designer, he now resides in rural Andalucía, where he shares a sun-soaked life with his Spanish wife and two bossy Yorkshire terriers.
His career has been an eclectic mix of engineering, design, and globe-trotting—a man equally at home designing the million-selling HAWS watering can way back in 1987, inventing The Incredible Lightweight Artic for Volkswagen, creating the first bilingual audio visual board game in Irish Gaelic and English and somehow bagging a Gold Disc for Rick Astley’s album “FREE.” One can only assume he’s never going to give up… making cool things.
Educated in the glorious pre-university era of polytechnics, he studied engineering, plastics technology, and design, back when such things were hands-on and wonderfully unpredictable. Now, in a well-earned retirement, he spends his time writing about adventures, reliving past journeys, and designing something new just for the fun of it.
What readers said
★★★★★
An amazing adventure – a real page turner – Josephine Quintero (travel writer, Lonely Planet).
★★★★★
No money, no back-up, but lots of determination – I take my hat (helmet) off to him – Pete Townsend.
★★★★★
Humour, trauma, excitement …this adventure has it all – Sentinella magazine
Where True Stories Roam Free
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The Art of Telling a Damn Good Story
In a world bursting with noise, honest storytelling still cuts through. From dusty roads in Asia to chance encounters with train robbers, Rebel Road Press delivers true tales with grit, wit, and a bit of mischief.
STEEL SUNSHINE is just the beginning — the first in a series of raw, real, and ridiculously good stories from Michael Lindsay Orr.
Steel Sunshine – The Journey Behind the Pages
Steel Sunshine is a 422-page, full-colour motorcycle travel memoir packed with 117 striking images. It chronicles Michael Lindsay Orr’s audacious solo ride across Southeast Asia in 1994—before the age of YouTube, GoPros, or budget travel hacks.
Riding over 5,000 kilometres on a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy, Orr travels from Bali to Bangkok, navigating jungles, border checkpoints, mechanical breakdowns, and the kind of red-tape absurdity that could make a monk curse. His journey takes him from the holiday paradise of Bali, through volcanic Java, the lush, unpredictable heart of Sumatra, through the haze of Malaysian backroads, and into the neon-lit mayhem of Bangkok.
But this isn’t just a story about motorbikes and maps.
It’s about:
- Rock ‘n’ roll nights and unexpected betrayals
- Deep cultural immersion and soul-searching revelations
- The global motorcycle brotherhood — kindred spirits who offer help, hope, and the occasional spare part in the middle of nowhere
Whether you’re a Harley enthusiast, an adventure memoir fan, or just someone craving the raw, unfiltered truth of the road, Steel Sunshine delivers. It’s a gripping reminder that the road less travelled isn’t just more scenic — it’s where the story actually begins.
RebelRoadBooks.com 