Going Walkabout on an 800xc through Russia & Central Asia...and maybe beyond...

It is great to see you two back on the road. If you get back to this side of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Sokuluk, look us up. If you need anything on this side of of the mountains just let me know. Take your time and enjoy all God has created!

Mac

That is great you got the bike back together and continued your adventure. I have a new Tiger and was anxious to see how you got it working, great job and great attitudes from both you and Patty to make the best. I'm really enjoying your story, even with the accident.
Good luck on the rest of your travels and keep posting.
I do have a repair manual, if you need any additional advice the manual can provide, I will get it to you (in regards to coolant or anything else).

Jason

Hang on where is the blue cargo net I gave you?? :ddog I hope its not still at the bottom of that cliff of doom

Great report! I'm amazed you got the tiger back up and running. Glad you guys were strong enough to persevere! A real testament to what you can accomplish if you have a good attitude and the support of generous strangers!

I'd love to do this trip at some point, the views and scenery get better and better the further you go.

Cheers!

This is an awesome ride report and a real adventure ride.

Thanks to Danno I read the whole thread in one sitting - WOW on so many fronts. :eek1
As many have said, Patty is a gem - does she have an older sister?
I didn't see anyone make a reference to the guy giving you some quick steel at the accident site - surely you could have used that, some duct tape and cable ties to fix everything.
I am in for the Sydney slide night, just say when.
Smilies added for Patty.

We're making tracks again today to see what other mischief we can get ourselves into

I get like that when I gotta use the loo sometimes, you sure it's not that?

ha yea mate we left that in the Pamir. It was on its last legs anyway and the accident finished it off. We put that thing to good use.

We're minus a few straps now because as each truck moved the bike after the accident another strap would go missing. I've just got the Rok straps on it now which are doing a pretty rubbish job at keeping the load in one place. They're too narrow. Easy to use but too narrow. I'm used to using Andy Strapz which are a good couple of inches across.

I agree, not just because it gets hot. I was extra careful not to get air in it this time because of the bubbling last time, but maybe there still is some in there. I was giving the pipe a good hand pump to work the fluid through and while I did it I got Patty to check if there was any bubbles or anything coming out of the radiator then the reservoir but it was just swishing around.

Maybe it's the altitude as well and less oxygen. It does funny things. The fluid would boil at a lower temperature and the air in the reservoir would expand (I don't know if thats the right word to use or not - the chip packets here are all blown up from the altitude and ready to pop) so maybe it's a bit of everything. I'm probably talking shit, I'm no physicist.

I saw your photos from the Stella Alpina you took some awesome shots. I like the ones in the ruins. Did you have any problems with the radiator at that altitude, or is it not that high?

She's awesome isn't she, but sorry mate she's an only child. She has some good looking friends though
I thought the guy giving me the quiksteel was hilarious and summed up Central Asia perfectly. Here's a bike that's just been dragged up a cliff with bits hanging off it everywhere and his solution was some quiksteel. Just awesome.
We'll have to tee up a ride when I get back, and hopefully get Danno out if he's not too busy running the mines. He's an important man.

We took our time getting ready, we were in no rush. We were aiming for Karakol on Issyk Kul (a lake) but if we didn't make it no big deal.

The radiator fluid had dropped to the minimum level so I had to top up with some distilled water. As bit of a byproduct of the days I was riding the KLR I brought 1L of oil to top-up but have never needed it, and instead I should have brought a litre of the HOAT radiator fluid. It's only ever been at altitude the bike has needed it though.

The morning started with a short drive through some real nice alpine forest before the ascent really started. One of the great things about KG is the scenery changes every 5 minutes. Yesterday we were riding almost desert like scenery today we're in green alpine forest.







The we were into the switchbacks, climbing to 3069 metres. Nothing difficult, just lots of fun.





Approaching Issyk Kul we could see what looked like a large truck, which could only mean tourists. As we got closer we started to think it could be the french family that had been stuck in Osh for 5 weeks so we wandered over to say g'day.

It was the french family, and with them were two kiwi's Igor and Penny riding two-up and a German couple each with their own bike.



The french family



Igor and Penny.



I liked their setup, especially the 3L dromaderry's hanging from the tank for easy access to water.



Ze Germans



We spent a good while up there nattering away and could have easily spent the night but everyone was moving so we moved on too.

The ride along the high plain was a dream ride. Perfect roads, great views, great company and the bike was performing.



On the same pass as Son Kul and still climbing to 3431m we came across a french family who had flown their bikes into KG. Dad was towing the youngest, there was a 7 year old or something on his own bike but could attach to mum if he got tired and an older boy on his own bike. Just awesome







We descended at a relatively fast pace and wanted to stress the bike a bit to see if it would hold up, and we were confident it would because we'd been through a fair share of corrugations.





We went along the southern shores of Issyk Kul where the Russians used to spend their holidays. Not so much anymore, there are loads of closed down resorts. We did see a few lady runners with their bums hanging out their undies so we knew they weren't locals.



Going through the photos that's the only photo of Issyk Kul I have, that's a bit shit of me.

We were stopped again by police for speeding and they just checked the passport and let us go. I don't know if it is speeding they are stopping people or whether it's just to check on people.

In Karakol we had lunch with an aussie from Brizzy named Graham who's been living in KG for the past 8 years as a development worker. When we were in Osh we'd been introduced on the phone by Peter at MuzToo so we figured we'd better check on him to see he still has his accent.

The closest thing to Thai food in KG, was delicious.



We were in no hurry to leave Karakol and got away late afternoon after lunch with Graham and his family. A new border between Kazakhstan and KG had opened up which involved some gravel so we figured it was logical to go that way - less people at the border and gravel roads who wouldn't?

We turned off the main road and ended up in some rutted out hill climbs with pretty loose gravel that had me concentrating a bit more than usual. Beats the main road any day.



There were bee hives all the way along the main stretch and I had to cover the open face helmet to stop them getting in. One of them slipped up Patty's jacket and stung her on the wrist. It was her first ever bee sting (:huh city kids) so she wasn't sure if she was allergic or not. "What are the symptoms?" she says - "tell me how you feel and I'll tell you if that's a symptom"



We wanted to camp the night on the KG side but we couldn't really find anywhere out of the way to stay so we just went for the border. We were the first aussies the border guy had ever met. We really didn't want to leave KG, it's been an amazing place and somewhere I will come definitely come back to...maybe to start a pushy trip through China

On the Kazakh side it was late afternoon and the opportunity to find a camping spot with running water was looking pretty dire. It was back to desert again.



But shortly before dusk we found a spot beside a disused bridge





On dusk a dozen or so wild horses showed up and had a party around our tent during the night. I was worried about them using the bike as a back scratch and knock the bike over so when I heard hooves outside I'd give the tent a shake so they'd move on.

Next morning we again we had a slow start, our only objective for the day was to cover the 200km to Almaty with a detour via Charyn Gorge.

Kazakh roads are notoriously bad but the main one to Almaty was fantastic. To get to Charyn Gorge we had veer off the main road for 10km's...on the funnest road of the trip yet! The road had a fine layer of sand and pebbles on the surface so the back end could come out and corners just sharp enough where only a slight brush off the speed was needed. You can see some corrugations in this photo.









There's a road in the gorge so I asked the military guy if he would unlock the gate and let me go down, but he would only let me go if I went in his jeep. pfft



A lady wanted a photo at a roadside food place. I gave the kid what leftover KG money I had, maybe $5 or something worth, I had no use for it.



We're now in the very westernised Almaty and Patty came down with some sort of bug but she's now on the mend. We've heard people talk about some isolated cases of the Black Death pop up in Mongolia so we've bought some antibiotics just in case. That shit's nasty.

The Mongolia visa took 15 minutes. The weld has held up so I'm not going to touch it for now. Today we start heading north to Russia and the roads are supposed to be bad so if the frame cracks I can fix it in Semey or Barnaul.

Hi Mac, welcome to ADV You offered to find me a welder on the HUBB. Unfortunately we've left KG now, would have been great to catch up.

Thanks for the offer mate. Before I left I ordered a copy of the manual on CD off ebay for $5 so I've been flicking through that

if the crack reappears it will look like a graphite pencil line.

If one day u r coming to Russia let me know

Have you registered with immigration in Kaz? You only get 5 days then you start totting up fines.

Mikecbrxx on the move.....

Haha funny man. I'm being transferred to Brisbane at the end of the year, so will certainly have some time for riding! Looking forward to having a ride on the world-travelled Franken-Tiger!!

Cheers
Dan

Just wanted to add my thanks for the fantastic ride report, and kudos to you & your lady for soldiering on despite what might be unsumountable odds to others!

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the trip holds in store for you two.

Glad to see you finally both on the road. You know, it won't be long before Touratech offers a new twin light/grill setup like yours.

Wow! What a great journey - and a great read, especially getting the bike so badly smashed up and putting it back on the road. I'm subscribed for the long haul!

Go tiger, go.