A robust crash helmet saved the life of biker Robbie Marshall when he came under fire from a South American bandit.

The close escape was just one of many thrilling incidents during a gruelling 51-week round-the-world ride.

Now 45-year-old Robbie, of Sussex Square, Brighton, has written a book about the 36,000-mile adventure which took him across six continents and seven deserts, and over the equator four times.

Robbie's brush with death in Ecuador came a few weeks after he decided to quit his job as an advertising executive and ride across the world on a Triumph Trophy 1200, with only a compass to guide him.

Robbie's travels began when he set off from Brighton to New York after the breakdown of his marriage.

He said: "It's a sure sign of the male menopause when a man leaves his wife and buys a motorbike.

"Once I had got it, I wanted to do something with it, so a long trip seemed to be the ultimate challenge for an unsuitable piece of British heritage.

"A compass was my only means of navigation, which meant I missed most of the tourist attractions but it was fun to experience an alternative world. Getting wet each night sleeping next to the bike without a tent was a lot less fun but space was at a premium."

He first headed for Las Vegas through torrential rain for 3,000 miles. When he arrived, he asked a Navajo Indian the way to The Strip.

Robbie said: "He gave me one of those looks reserved for stupid white travellers and told me: 'You want Las Vegas, Nevada. This is Las Vegas, New Mexico.'

"Without a map, how was I to know there were two of them?"

Heading south through Guatemala, unaware the country had been fighting a 32-year civil war, he found a tourist office where he tried to obtain a map but was told: "Guatemala does not have maps."

He said: "I wasn't looking for anything flash with roads marked, just something to let me know which country to expect next."

In El Salvador, he was horrified by the sight of a fresh body on top of a heap of rubbish.

He said: "People hardly gave the corpse a second glance."

Leaving the country, Robbie was arrested after refusing to bribe an official but escaped by riding past a military checkpoint to Honduras, then through the rainforests of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and into South America.

After an accident in Colombia, he was looked after by a gang of drug dealers and witnessed a brutal murder.

He said: "Those young eyes showed a terror that still puts a chill down my spine. He knew he was going to die."

Then came Ecuador, where his journey almost came to an abrupt end at the hands of the bandit.

He recalled: "The first bullet must have narrowly missed my shoulder as I realised it was a gun pointing at me and not a finger. Then I had the sensation of being kicked in the back of the head very hard as the second bullet found its target.

"A crash helmet saved my life."

In Peru and Chile, he rode day after day through the driest deserts in the world, constantly short of water and fuel on the Pan American Highway to Santiago.

He flew to Australia where he spent nights camping among deadly snakes and crocodiles.

He cut through the continent from Alice Springs to Darwin for a boat to Singapore.

In Thailand, he met up with his girlfriend after six months' separation.

He said: "The notice above our bed said we should not have narcotics, prostitutes or candles in the room. This was Bangkok, after all."

He was turned back by the Thailand/Burma war on the road to Mandalay and had to take a 2,000-mile detour to get to India via Sri Lanka, only to have his bike and nearly his life wiped out in a crash.

He said: "Ethiopia proved to be a tough challenge. Lush mountains were not what I was expecting. Nor was I expecting to nearly drown in a flood."

Robbie returned across Greece to his starting point - the Le Mans 24-hour race.

The book, Triumph Around The World, is available from bookshops or from Traveller's Eye, Colemore Farm, Colemore Green, Bridgnorth, Shropshire. Call 01746 766447.