Why carry all the water supply? Looking at the map he seems to have been a 1-2 day walk to Tan Tan probably less going back to the military outpost were he was turned back.
I don't have an opinion on what really happened. But there are things that sound off about the story. Also it doesn't help that seemingly only a handful of media outlets and blogs copying from each other have picked up on the story 10 years after the fact without asking critical questions.
I could even imagine that he did get stranded out there and knew worst case he could just walk back, so why not try to build a motorcycle for the fun of it and then dramatize the story years later.
The car managed the terrain, so it couldn't have been that difficult. It strikes me as bizarre that someone stuck in the desert with supplies would engage in experimental engineering rather than a two day hike.
I've known some people who don't have a calibrated idea of what the human body is capable of.
Is a marathon a huge athletic feat, that the fittest people you know spend months in preparation for, and even then may only do once in their lifetime? Or is it the distance a person of average fitness can walk in a day?
Edit: This article says: "The nearest village was 20 miles away and Leray didn't want to risk making the trek on foot." http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/photos-man-escapes-african-...