Trip through Turkey, Iran, Stans, Russia, Mongolia

This is an AWESOME thread!! Thank you for sharing!! Pictures are fantastic!!

Out of curiosity, what .gpx file, if any, do you have for traveling through Mongolia? I'm planning a solo ride from Europe to Asia this summer and would appreciate information concerning navigation through Mongolia's "roads". Thank you!

Great stuff, thank you for sharing! I'm looking forward to the next update!

What happened here?

Next post tomorrow. I'm sorry. Birthday party of one of my travel companions. You will get to know him in Barnaul. I'm gonna have some beers now.

here.... lemme buy you one!.....

kanpai

Prost

I/we had a map of Mongolia, of course. It was 1:1 600 000, world mapping project, Reise Know How. It's rip&waterproof, it says. It gives you a good idea of distances and sights.
And I had downloaded the OpenStreetMap 'tiles' of Mongolia and all the other countries I had travelled through. This source is incredible. It worked perfect on my Garmin. Navigation was no problem at all.

Have a nice and safe trip and enjoy it.

Thanks, very kind.

I think it is his fingernails. Got some dust under them lifting up the Beemer.

Party is over, on to Barnaul.

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I found a motorcycle dealer in Barnaul. The motorcycle was running great, but I had the oil and oil filter changed, and since they had an air filter, I had it changed as well, but I took the old one with me, just in case.
Very helpful people, very clean place and fun. They wouldn't let me pay for the work.

About my Honda:

It's a Transalp 600, as I mentioned above. I got it second hand two years before I left on the trip. I sold my BMW R100GS, which I didn't want to take for this trip.

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Beautiful BMW.

Pros: big tank, drive shaft, tubeless tires, easy maintenance (valve checks, carburetors ...), looks, sound,easy to put on centre stand and more.

Cons: range, heavier, drive shaft, tubeless tires, it needs maintenance, noisier engine, reliability!!! awkward side-stand!!! fuel economy, burns oil (mine did), and some more I guess.

Transalp
pros: reliability!!! - it's a Honda, very easy to ride on bad roads or in busy towns, no overheating, very smooth engine, good fuel economy, maintenance? doesn't need much on a trip of this distance, doesn't burn oil

Cons: I can't put mine on the centre stand alone, it's a 'small' bike, enginewise, soft suspension, small tank and others, I guess. Most important: It's not an orange bike!!! and I should have one. Think global - buy local. But you don't need more bike if you want to travel leisurely.

I had one minor problem with the Transalp. This was easily fixed in Ulaan Baatar. You will read about that.

Bike preparation:

Nothing special. I had it checked thoroughly before leaving: valves, fork oil, brake fluid, oil and filter change, new airfilter, new chain and sprockets, new brake pads, new plugs, checked bearings, head bearing greased abundantly. Anything else? I can't remember.

Modifications:

I copied the loobman chain oiling idea and slightly modified it. I can stop the flow of oil to the rear sprocket. I had this idea when I visited a friend in hospital.

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sorry for the bad quality of the photo

I didn't carry an extra chain so I made sure throughout the trip that the chain was always nicely oiled. I used gear-box oil which is excellent if you don't mind a dirty rim.

spares:
inner tubes (the old ones)
clutch cable attached to the other one (it's still there)
a used and repaired CDI unit
the old plugs, the old brake pads, an oil filter(changed in Barnaul), a chain link, wheel and main bearings, some bulbs, some fuses. I think this was it.

I was carrying some tools and bolts and small stuff. Nothing special. Tire levers and tire repair set, small bicycle pump.

At first I wanted to carry extra tires, but then I decided against. I left on Mitas E07 front and rear with thicker inner tubes, but not moto-cross. I never had a flat tire on the trip and I came home after 25 000 kilometers on the same tires. The rear tire was still 'legal'. The front tire was not.

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Jan doesn't look so happy. He has problems with the rear shock of his F800GS. But he found people in Barnaul who fixed it. We (the rest of us) were loading our bikes to continue on to Biysk and Gorno-Altaysk in the Respublika Altay. We spent 3 nights in Barnaul. The hotel was the Park Hotel Lesnye Dali. It's located in a pine forest, some kilometers out of town on the A-349. They did the registration for us and were very helpful.
New motorcycle in the group.

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New biker in the group. It was his birthday yesterday.

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Someone who would like to be on a Transalp.

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Could be Austria.

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Could be Austria.

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but it's not.

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Beautiful Altay.

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And a friendly Austrian biker.

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On the M52 leading towards the Mongolian border at Tsagaannuur.

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Our first camp after Barnaul. We were five.

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Almost ready to leave the next morning. We had excellent espresso for breakfast.

Hey Eustachius.
Really loving the thread, the gentle, economic writing and the pics.
I think this thread will be a grower, and pick up more and more inmates.

Thanks for taking us along.

Really enjoying your RR!

Very useful RR...

Yep, late to the party as usual...I think Rod pretty much summed it up....Fantastic !

Cheers
Potski

Awesome report! Thanks for taking your time to share this with us.

I am curious, what language did you speak to the Iranians either the border guards, or the general population that you interacted with?

Thanks.

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Nice intel on the Transalp now aka Transural.

A serious endorsement for Mitas tires and your riding.

Your hospital visit paid off with a nice find. Simple, effective. Love it.