Russia,Mongolia,Ukraine.....Netherlands on a KLR

Hang in there Doogle. I'm cheering for you all the way from Arizona! You can do it!

Good read Doogle. Hang in there with the stomach thing.

Hope you feel better tomorrow.
Thanks for your efforts posting the updates.

Hey Doogle, Diann and I hope you get well soon! Loving the trip so far, can't believe how nice the people are over there! Safe travels.

Hey Doogle! How're you going? Penny and I made it to Chita today, but I guess you're probably still a day ahead of us.

Sorry to hear that your digestive system is still working as well as your tablet.

Saw that same roadkill you talked about, and I'm pretty sure I know the place you stayed. "24 hour Guest House" - written in Latin?

We got caught in a pretty decent thunderstorm today. Hopefully you've avoided the rain. The temperature sure plummeted!

We'll probably try for Ulan-Ude tomorrow.

6-14-13 527 miles

I left the hostel room at 830.The bike wouldn't start. Spark plug looked very weak.This is a dumb Doug story. I found I had the choke on all the time since I left home. I guess it fouled the plug. I took off the panniers, tail bag, tank bag, and my over pants. Pushed the bike 500 feet up a hill to bump start it.I had run the battery down. It started easily.

This is a typical Russian country town.


I passed some cows that were waiting for a bus.


After about 450 miles I came to a cafe on a bend in the road. I saw 4 loaded bikes.


It was Bruce and Mike from England with 2 Russian guys returning from university in Vladivostok. I e-mailed with Bruce before the trip. I knew he was going about the same time I was.


Since they were going to Ulan Ude for the night I rode with them. 500 feet after we pull on the road, the police pull us over. We exited where there was a solid line. A guy we talked with at the cafe came over and talked to the cop for a minute. Then he told us to go.

When we got in the city, the Russian guy calls a biker club. Soon a BMW pulls up and leads us to their "Opposite Motorcycle Clubhouse."




We slept there after many bikers came to see us.


Some of them stayed after having too much vodka.

I am going to see one of their mechanics before leaving. Too much noise coming from my engine to think about going through Mongolia.

6-15-13
We loaded up and were getting ready to head to Irkutsk and Lake Baikal when I decided I definitely had a problem.


I'm going to be here awhile. A club mechanic came with a stethoscope and listed to my bike and thinks something in my clutch is bad. I'm at his house I think till he fixes it.They are taking it apart now. Time depends on parts availability. 2 days if in Irkutsk? Could be 10 days if parts come from farther. And depends what parts are bad.

I wasn't going to cross Mongolia with the noise I have been hearing the last couple days. Stuck in Russia 200 miles from a city is one thing. In Mongolia, who knows when help may come by.


I talked with Igor this morning. He will probably be in Ulan
Ude tonight. Something I forgot to mention yesterday. I followed a car that swerved to miss something in the middle of the road. He didn't stop. I went back. It was a man holding on to the reins of a horse drawn wagon. He wasn't moving while in the middle of the road. He didn't say anything. Then a young couple stopped to see what was going on. I think they thought I may have hit him.Finally the young guy picked up the old man and set him on the wagon. He said he's drunk from vodka. Then the horse just started down the road. I guess he's done it before.
6-14-13 The drunk that was laying in the road

5 minutes later, I'm following a van that goes 4 feet into the gravel, then 3 feet over the center line. After seeing that process repeated several times, I passed him.Didn't want to see how that ended.

Ho! man, I hope you'll get the bike sorted out quickly. My Tenere broke down so much in South America than I can totally relate to what you are going trough.

Good luck Doug!

Mechanical problems are tolerable when I'm healthy. Carrying 2 rolls of toilet paper all the time is wearing me down. I think I'm spending more on toilet paper than I am on gas lately. I'm laying on the couch,sleeping, while my bike is being worked on.I'm worn down.When I wake up and go out to the garage.....



That's not a site that cheers you up when you're half way around the world. Or even at home.

Are you about ready to leaving Kazakhstan? Or is it going to be your new home?

Doug. Hope things get better for you.
Not sure how , but if I can be of help,
Let me know
Marvin

Well, I've been here 15 months, maybe it is time to move on to the next destination, I'll spend the summer as I really enjoy the mountain biking around here (wish I had a motorcycle though, couple plans just didn't work out for that!) but I'll be looking to move in the fall for sure, still too many places I haven't been to to hang on too long anywhere...

Get well soon Doug... we are all with you (in a figurative way I mean)

Just found your RR and enjoying the read.

So the crank-rods .ok?

I feel for ya, I hated their toilet paper, get well.

Is this Marvin from over the hill gang?

If it is, send me a crankshaft. That would be good ole buddy.

The bottom end of the rod is loose. I don't know if I could replace that bearing. But the mechanic doesn't want to.It's a 3 piece crank. He is concerned about alignment and correct side clearance. I've done them before. But I don't want to go against my mechanic and current landlord.

So, yes the rod is okay. The bearing is bad.

I'm going out in a while to get some more. I may upgrade and get the type with smaller wood chips in it.

I think I may feel better today. But I have been fooled before.

I can try to find you one and ship it if you want me to.

Give me information.

Yes it is I one of the old guys.

Marvin

Here is a thread on stomach ailments from the riders in asia,
www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycl...medicine-or-remedy-do-you-use-for-dehli-belly

I noticed a reference to Cipro in one of the posts on that link. Be very careful, Cipro is a nuclear bomb when something not so powerful might do. It has screwed me up (Google Cipro problems), I just had a tendon on my pinky finger break, there is also THIS THREAD here in ADV.

To the OP, enjoying the RR. Here's hoping you start feeling better.