Report from the magazine “FN Sports” / October – November 1931
A 22-year-old girl, Miss Justine TIBESAR, arrives alone in Paris from Saigon and entrusts her fate to a 350 FN M70.
22,000 km through Burma, India, the Sin Desert, Belugistan, Persia, Turkey, Central Europe, alone on an FN motorcycle – that is the feat accomplished by one of our young members, 22-year-old Justine TIBESAR.
After completing her studies in Arlon, she left the country and set off for the United States. In Miami, she was welcomed by the International Club “Education through the World,” a group that has made it its mission to enable young people to travel the world. However, they must support themselves through physical or mental work.
She traveled to Japan via Canada, then to China and “discovered” Saigon. And here the miracle happens, says Louis JACQUEMAIN, and the adventure cast its shadow ahead: She was introduced to the owner of our great FN factory’s agency – an FN dealership in Indochina – she couldn’t believe it.
She realized that the owner had a single small motorcycle, and she thought – what an idea – she could return to Paris on the motorcycle! Why not?
She had saved some money during her trip. She had more than enough to buy the object of her desire.
The deal was quickly made, great! But how do you operate this unruly machine?
The technique was explained to her, and as she was a good cyclist, she quickly mastered driving with bravura.
Three days later, on March 16, 1931, she left Saigon for Bangkok, but it didn’t happen by itself — many difficulties had to be overcome. The motorcycle got stuck again and again in river courses in Siam, crashed on impossible roads, again and again, nights in the open air, in the desert, without knowing exactly where she was, drinking water supply used up, etc.
But let’s allow Miss TIBESAR to describe the most unforgettable incidents during her journey: Shortly after the start, the courageous adventurer fell so badly that she had to stay in Phnom-Penh for 10 days.
“I had my luggage behind my saddle, and on the rutted paths it was not easy to keep my balance.”
Barely back on the embankment, the steadfast motorcyclist takes off again. Alone in the steppe, the technology fails, but she manages to repair the machine.
Now she is in Cambodia and visits the ruins of the temple of Angkor. There is no road in the north of India, she has to follow the paths next to the railroad line.
“I saw Benares and continued north, from Kashmir to Srinagar, then Belugistan, a sandy desert. I bought a sidecar to transport the necessary gasoline and oil. A loaded sidecar was too heavy for my small 350 cc FN, but I was still able to cross the Sin Desert very slowly. Runways, sometimes hundred meters wide, criss-cross in all directions. Once I got lost and had to go back to the starting point. And then: the sun – a sun that hurts.”
“In DOUZHAB I got a fever and sunstroke. 10 days on a cot, a native doctor, thank God I had taken quinine with me – I cured myself.”
“Persia. Sandy tracks, a thousand kilometers straight ahead, two villages on this seemingly endless route. A thousand kilometers from Meched to Tehran, and then another thousand kilometers to Quermanshah.”
“I thought I was saved and could already see the road to Baghdad ahead of me – but far from it. I was hit by cholera. I wanted to leave for Syria, but I was advised not to, as I would be taking too great a risk alone in the desert.”
“I took the road to the north, via Mosul, Deriso and Alep. Europe was within my grasp, I greeted it joyfully – a few days later I was in Constantinople.”
“The rest of my journey was just a drive compared to crossing Asia. I came back the most direct way possible, Istanbul, Edirne, Plovdiev, Sofia, Belgrade, Zagreb, Trieste, Venice, Milan, Turin, Lyon, Paris.”
When she arrives at her destination, Miss TIBESAR thinks of the FN plant, to which she has given her forthcoming visit. She crosses the road from Paris to Liège, and is greeted by a group led by delegation led by M. DEBRUGE, including our friends Hanquet and Joseph WEERENS, to Olivier CHARBONNEL, the FN representative in HUY. M. DEBRUGE presents the brave motorcyclist with flowers and welcomes her on behalf of the FN factory.
The group then sets off for Liège and passes the MEUSE newspaper, which is published in the building of the Liège Automobile Club. New speech by M. RENSON to Miss TIBESAR, who visits the FN plant the next day. The enormous factory halls impress her enormously – a breakfast is served in her honor. Then the heroine is greeted by M. JOASSART, the general manager.
The magazine “L’Auto” from October 16th takes stock of the trip:
“When you honor this athlete, you also have to mention that this machine made a decisive contribution to her performance.”
“Trusting the FN machine, which is rightly regarded as one of the most robust machines of our time was the right decision and the Tour has confirmed this. This is not the first time that we have had to document achievements that distinguish a construction.”
The space was also used to emphasize the special and truly unfavorable conditions under which the small 350 FN had to fight.
This was done by our colleague Leon RENSON in the “MEUSE”:
“Miss TIBESAR has arrived in front of our office, escorted by some FN friends. The silence surrounding the arrival of the globetrotter at the heart of FN’s production is also a tribute to the FN factory, whose output increases in abundance every week. These are the proofs of performance that demonstrate both the value and the legitimacy of a great company. A fine example of female energy and of the services that the modern motorcycle can provide.”
PAUL DESTOC (1931)
(Translation Hermann Brüning 2013)
Credits for the Magazine Article:
Title: "A 22-year-old girl, Miss Justine TIBESAR, arrives alone in Paris from Saigon and entrusts her fate to a 350 FN M70"
Subject: Justine Tibesar
Publication: FN Sports
Issue: October-November 1931
Publication Date: 1931
Author: Paul Destoc
Language: French (Original), German (Translation by Hermann Brüning, 2013)
This article appeared in the magazine "FN Sports" in October-November 1931, chronicling the remarkable 22,000 km motorcycle journey of Justine Tibesar from Saigon to Europe in 1931. The German translation by Hermann Brüning was published in 2013 as part of the 11th International FN Meeting program, September 13-15, 2013, appearing on pages 19-22.
