Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by ERU

Why do you carry 15 W 50 ? Did you shifh form the standard 10 W 40 to 15W50 ? If yes why ?

Your report is awesome like always.

Cause it was hot

[Tracks1]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Cause it was hot

Since the subject of oil is at hand...How did the Oil Cooler work?

[TRadventure]

Originally Posted by macblach

"The OSCO has a special oil ... but cause Prutser and Beemster arrived with just hand luggage, they couldnt bring any ... I shopped around for some chainsaw oil but couldnt find any in Astana (its the steppe .. what would anyone need a chainsaw for there), so ended up using what I had on me .... Motul glow in the dark 300V 15w50 engine oil"



Well, I use ATF as well. Any concerns what negative effect engine oil or in fact ATF might possibly have on O-rings?

Gearbox OIL 90W

[sion]

Originally Posted by macblach

what sort of lube were you using?

"...
Any kind
Of lube will do
Maybe from another
Part of you
From the north
From the south
Take a little slobber
From the side of
Your mouth

Roll it over
Grease it down
Here come that crazy
Screamin' sound..."

Frank Zappa, Keep It Greasy

[Old Kiwi#99]

Originally Posted by macblach

"The OSCO has a special oil ... but cause Prutser and Beemster arrived with just hand luggage, they couldnt bring any ... I shopped around for some chainsaw oil but couldnt find any in Astana (its the steppe .. what would anyone need a chainsaw for there), so ended up using what I had on me .... Motul glow in the dark 300V 15w50 engine oil"



Well, I use ATF as well. Any concerns what negative effect engine oil or in fact ATF might possibly have on O-rings?

Auto transmissions are full of O ring seals and they get on just fine. Transmissions run a lot hotter than chains, too.
There have been auto trans that ran engine oil, such as the original BMC Mini Auto frinstance, (not the VW based things) and they worked ok too.

[Old Kiwi#99]

Originally Posted by TRadventure

Gearbox OIL 90W

you ever tried getting 90w through a small tube?

[VFR]

Originally Posted by Old Kiwi#99

you ever tried getting 90w through a small tube?

Actually it works fine. That's what I use.

Now back to the ride report.....

[gunnerbuck]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Also unloaded from the van were Terry and my new tyres for stage 2 of the ride. While the others spent the afternoon finalising the bike packing and getting their bikes ready for the steppes of Kazakhstan, Terry and I scooted down the road to fit our new tyres.

I was going with Michelin Desert (classic) at the back and was going to run with a less grippy but more asphalt friendly T63 front and Terry again had his Mitas E09s. The front E09 and T63 were very similar in tread pattern. Come to think of it, the Desert rear and E09 rear were also very similar.

Terry's Tyres:


My Tyres:


I was definitely giving up grip with the T63 on the front compared to the more aggressive Desert front I used in the first third of the trip. I thought it wouldnt matter on the hard pack steppe ground ... but actually I did miss the extra grip of the Desert.

It was a really hot day and by the time we returned to the hotel, it was time for evening meal and drinks with the gang of 5 ... now all ready to head off bright and early tomorrow morning.

Likely the reason for the similarities between the Michelin and Mitas is that they are made in the same factory...

I'm a big fan of the EO 9 rear, especially now that I can get them in a 140/80 x 18 size...

I've got to agree with your observation of lack of aggression on the T 63/EO- 9 front tire: I also found the tread depth too shallow for my liking and the low profile of the tire give a higher risk of pinch flats and dented rims... I won't run these up front anymore ...

This thread is top shelf, keep it coming...

[tee bee]

How did the Oil Cooler work?[/QUOTE]

The oil cooler worked very well, giving us extra oil capacity whilst helping to keep the oil cool as well.

Stephen shefellmeire is in the process of fine tuning them for the market.

[Tracks1]

Originally Posted by tee bee

How did the Oil Cooler work?

The oil cooler worked very well, giving us extra oil capacity whilst helping to keep the oil cool as well.[/QUOTE]

Was it instrumented for performance understanding?

[Pate]

Originally Posted by gunnerbuck

Likely the reason for the similarities between the Michelin and Mitas is that they are made in the same factory...

I'm a big fan of the EO 9 rear, especially now that I can get them in a 140/80 x 18 size...

I've got to agree with your observation of lack of aggression on the T 63/EO- 9 front tire: I also found the tread depth too shallow for my liking and the low profile of the tire give a higher risk of pinch flats and dented rims... I won't run these up front anymore ...

This thread is top shelf, keep it coming...

For such roads we now use Mitas C02 and C05. For heavy motorcycles of anything more aggressive doesn't exist. BMW GS800 has about 10000 km with them.

[legasea]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Mine went down to 6 volts after an 'incident'

So did mine.
Charged with a common electronic tender, came to a steady 13.35v meaning about 90% capacity.
Started a K12 very easily several times. Hope she might come back from a possible dead situation and be ready for a few years service.







In the growing process of migration to the new technology, might serve someone the way I adapted mine.
In this photo is missing another plus. On the front pannel was fitted a "loudspeaker box pressure connector" for GPS and other fused low amp's aplications. There's plenty of room.



Colebatch,
Your rides and reports are most appreciated. A great source of information, entertainment and dream feeding, they are.
Many thanks to you and the gang.

[ROD CURRIE]

After we got the bikes off and I had collected all the various bits -panniers etc -Sambors guys had taken off so they could get all the bikes on the trailer I remembered I didn't have much gas left in the bike after the trip from London to Bas' shop near Amsterdam, where they were trucked from.
The gas station was just a couple of hundred yards from the hotel, so I hopped on and scooted off to fuel up. Just as I was pulling up to the pumps the bike gave a cough and died. My initial thought was "some bugger's siphoned the bike when the trailers been unattended", so I let it roll to the pump and filled up. I then restarted and nipped back to the hotel without further incident. Why am I telling you something so boring? you'll see.

[tee bee]

Originally Posted by Pate

For such roads we now use Mitas C02 and C05. For heavy motorcycles of anything more aggressive doesn't exist. BMW GS800 has about 10000 km with them.

They look like a very good tyre pate,i ought to try them next time.

[Putts]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

I then restarted and nipped back to the hotel without further incident. Why am I telling you something so boring? you'll see.

^^^Plot thickening.