EWAN'S CHOPPER EMBARRASSMENT

Movie star EWAN McGREGOR's round-the-world motorbike trek was almost a costly affair when the actor backed a $70,000 (GBP38,900) chopper into a wall.

The actor and pal CHARLEY BOORMAN were concluding their three-month adventure in New York in July (04) when the stars of American reality show AMERICAN CHOPPER urged them to go for a ride on two custom-made bikes.

But Ewan quickly went from hero to villain when he reversed the 3.6-metre (12-foot) long chopper into a wall.

He recalls, "Not realising it had a big mudguard at the back, I dinged it into the wall... I was mortified.

"Fortunately, I hadn't taken a little chip out of the beautiful paint job."