Plenty of people witter away their waking hours seeking fame, but what if it came to you unbidden and you neither wanted nor needed its financial rewards?
That’s the story of Royal Jordanian, a man with no real name and no face – just a helmet – who accidentally became a “motovlogging” superstar after posting videos of his two-wheeled exploits on YouTube for his mother to watch.
Known by his fans as RJ, he has turned down the fortunes of fame, refusing all offers of sponsorship, and a perspex veil of Stig-like secrecy has protected his identity for almost a decade.
He has also rejected every request for an interview, until his personal idol, five-time motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan, came calling on Zoom as part of an Arab Showcase for The National.
RJ’s renowned passion for riding was what piqued the interest of the Australian racing legend and led to the video chat with Doohan sitting in his trophy room in Queensland and RJ in his home office in London wearing his trademark helmet and a wild grin underneath.
“It was the most surreal thing that has happened to me,” RJ said of the conversation. “It was just incredible. I'm in a job where I meet a lot of famous people and celebrities and so on, and nothing fazes me, but with Mick, I mean, he's something special.”
For his part, Doohan was most amused “to be talking to a guy in a helmet looking like Darth Vader” but declared it “an honour to have a general chit-chat to somebody who just loves motorcycles”.
RJ was at great pains, however, to explain that keeping his face covered was not a sign of disrespect for his hero.
“If I take off this helmet and I start speaking to the camera, like 99.9 per cent of social-media people out there, then it becomes about the person, and I want to avoid that. I don't want it to be about me. I want it to be about the love of motorcycles, and how that can actually affect your life,” he told Doohan.
“You know, more than other people, that if you put this helmet on, everything else disappears. You know, it's you and that motorcycle and the connection between the two.
“So I find it therapeutic. I mean, I call it my relief, my medicine in this crazy world. And this is what I’ve tried to portray.”
The two went on to talk animatedly about motorcycles, Doohan relating a story of how he and Formula One legend Michael Schumacher used to go for rides on Harley-Davidsons together (they were great friends, with Schumacher even calling his son “Mick” after Doohan).
They also discussed their favourite riding destinations, RJ advising Doohan that “if you can ride in Cairo, in Egypt, you can ride anywhere”, but that overall, for him, it had to be Oman.
Doohan ended the most surreal conversation of RJ’s life by suggesting that the two of them meet one day to go motorcycling, possibly through the mountains of Nepal. RJ, who almost always rides alone, even on enduro adventures, quickly decided that he would break that rule for Doohan.
“I would cut off my right leg to do that trip,” RJ insisted afterwards. Asked whether he wouldn’t need it to ride the bike, he gives a firm shake of the helmet.
“No problem,” is his answer, “I would just put a prosthetic one on.”
* The full Zoom conversation between RJ and Mick Doohan can be viewed on The National's YouTube channel here
