RTW with Noah on a KTM 690

Hi all. I'm 28. I have No wife. No kids. No house. My RTW trip started April 5th 2012 in Mojave CA and it will end in a few years in Tofte Mn (my home town). I'm on a modified 2010 KTM 690 enduro R. For the past 5 years I have been building windfarms all over the US working as an electrical engineer. I saved up some money and now I'm off. The fly rod is joining me on the whole trip and I'll be shipping my snowboard to choice locations to ski bum it for a bit also. .

The Job I left behind.




The route.


The (first) bike. 2010 KTM 690 Enduro R.




The Bike. 2008 KTM 690 Enduro R.


Edit May 7. 2014 from a beach on an island in Thailand
Index:

Alaska Page 15
Dublin and the bike stolen Page 29
New (2008 KTM) Page 45
Belgium, France and Switzerland page 54
Morocco Page 67
Croatia Page 76
Georgia (snowboarding for 4 months) Page 81
Starting into the "stans" Page 99
Pamir Highway, Tajikistan Page 109
North Route Mongolia, Page 124
Altai Russia, Page 132
Bam Road Part 1, Russia Page 140
Japan part 1 Page 158
Vietnam part 1 Page 186Cambodia Start Page 201
Laos part 1 Page 212


Since I've been getting so many questions about the reliability of the bike, here is the on going list of problems I have had. Updated Oct. 2, 2013

1st 690 (2010 690R)... 0 to 25,000 km.
tipped over.. radiator leak 4,000 km. California
broken chain. 20,000km. Yukon
touratech shit broke. (all the time)

2nd 690 (bought with 25,000km) 2008 enduro E
35k km. Ignition coil low voltage lead came loose. Morocco
48k km. Auto decompress/cam contacting exhaust roller taking off hardening. Exhaust and Intake rockers replaced. Istanbul.
50k km. Cam, auto decompress replaced to fix previous problem (also cam chian, bearings, and guides. just because i was in there) Georgia
51k km. Ignition coil low voltage lead broke. Azerbaijan.
60k km. Regulator Rectifier failed. Tajikistan.
63k km. Ignition coil low voltage lead came loose. Kyrgyzstan.
65k km. Leaking fork seals from dried mud on fork tubes. Cleaned them under them... and it fixed them.
66k km. Ignition coil low voltage lead broke. Russia.
69k km. Cracked front rim. I hit hard. I mean HARD. Mongolia
70k km. Auto decompress weight screw came loose. This allowed the weight to pull on the auto decomp shaft and over time the clip came out of the shaft groove. The shaft slid out of the cam slightly and the bike wouldn't start because there is to much compression. I didn't have the right clips so we fabricated one. Russia
73k km. Leaking fork seal.Dried mud. Fixed by cleaning under seal. Mongolia
75k km. Bike wouldn't start in Irkutsk. (cant turn over). The clip had come off again. The auto decomp weight is now fooked because the screw had come loose and "oblonged" the hole. It has to much play and can pull on the decomp shaft making the simple clip fail. I made a Bushing/washer that tightened the slop in the weight.
79k km. Low voltage lead to coil broke again. Near Tynda on the BAM. Siberia. Russia.
83k km. New decompress weight and clip to replace the warn ones. Sakhalin Russia.
86k km. Leaking counter shaft seal. Japan
86k km. Rubber bushings in cush hub are getting sloppy so they are getting replaced. Japan.
89k km. Radiator replace. Fan rubbed holes on the back of the radiator causing leak. Japan.
91k km. Leaking clutch slave oring, leaking gear selector switch oring. Japan
92k km. Shorted stator. Not charging bike. Thailand
92k km. Motor mount/skid plate mount broke where skid plate mounts.
98k km. Broken footpeg mount where luggage rack mounts. (riding 2 up for 4,000 km prior)
101k km. Decompression weight sloppy. Replaced Decomp shaft, weight, screws and spring. Also replaced exhaust and intake rockers. (Thailand)
101k km. Lower bearing on shock wore out. Replaced whole shock with Tractive shock (testing for RallyRaid UK)

As of right now I am 1700 miles in. Currently in Bend Oregon. The past 4 days it has been raining on me but it is still beautiful. Here are some pictures coming up the coast on Hwy 1. Big Sur, Lost coast, and the Oregon coast. Big Sur is always awesome.. except it was easter Sunday so the trafic was horrible. The past 4 days it has rained on me since leaving San Fran. All I can say right now is the Klim Badlands and the heated grips are worth thier wieght in gold!





Dinner in Bodega Bay. Salmon BLT.








Usal Road. Unfortunately all roads north of Usal beach were closed so I had to back track.


Usal Beach


Had to do it.. haha


Sad to see the end of HWY 1.


Breakfast in Shelter Cove




Overlooking Petrolia in the Lost Coast.




Very cool natural bridge on the Oregon coast.


Finally today I got some sunshine when I was going from Eugene OR to Bend.


Found some snow...

you are going to need klim and party if you head too far north too soon.
Best of luck on your journey.

YK

Enjoy the ride.

This is so cool. I'm subscribed.

Noah, If you need a couch to crash on before the border I'm up in Marysville, WA.

FYI if you haven't seen the Pacific NW isn't like the rest of the country. We are still in winter. It still gets down into the high 30's in the lowlands at night and any dirt options are more than likely covered in 10 to 20 feet of snow.

Ambitious. Subscribed.

Good luck on your trip, we will be with you all the way (if only on here). Total envy.....

Good luck to you, safe travels and send lots of pics.
Subscribed.

Oh yeah, I'm in like Flynn

So in!

Ride safe.

Subscribed!

Subscribed as well

I'd love to hear about the bike... why you made the choice you did... anything you'd change as the trip progresses as well.

From your map I see you're doing the east coast of AUS... see if you can get inland away from the coast. There are more dirt roads and less of the 'tourist traps' and more 'real' Australians in their natural environment.

Looking forward to your write up! So keep it coming...

Thanks. I am trying to get to Anchorage by the end of may so I can snowboard some.

Love the PNW. I will be staying by the coast for most of it. So i am getting used to the rain. I plan on snowboarding Baker and Whistler before heading north. I have to ride Vancouver Island also. Thanks for the offer. I will keep that in mind. As it sits right now, I have a few offers for couches.

The bike. I recently sold a KTM 640. It had 10k miles and i loved it but the vibration was making my hands and feet numb. So i bought the 690. It needed work but i am happy with it now. Here is the list of mods.

-RR Tanks (+2,5 gallons bringing my range to 250 miles easy. I have been averaging about 45mpg easily. 52 mpg through the lost coast)
-RR faring. Wind protection & lights
-RR Radiator guard and protector. KTM made a shitty radiator. It needed to be protected
-Uni foam filter. Reusable.
-FMF Q4 Ti. Get rid of the oven + good sound.
-Dirt Trick ironman sprocket. +1 up front. light, steel, 1 year warrentee.
-Scotts Stainless oil filters. reusable so i don't have to find one in BFE
-duel element grip heaters 44w and 24w. Make my hands toasty. Haven't needed to switch over to the Klim cold weather gloves too often this trip.
-Clean speed break pedal. Didn't want to break the pedal.
-KTM bash guard. Get rid of the plastic. I think i am going to switch it out for the RR with the tank so i can carry an oil change.
-Scotts dampener and 1" riser on the bars. No brainer. I can stand up all day comfortable.
-Baja Design Double stryker LED 2x 10w light. 1800 lumins. about 1.8 amps. 25000 hour life on the bulbs. Plus great for flashing that car that is about to pull out in front of you. I mounted a toggle on the bottom of my left control so i can get it with my thumb.
-Superplush springs and re-valve front and rear lowered 1". Adjusted for the wieght.
-TT panniers (29L and 35L) Frame and rack. Good deal on Ebay for the Panniers. Got the insides and top "lineX'd" to get rid of the Aluminum dust. And my awesome mom sewed me some duffle bags that fit in them perfect. I definitely need to ride standing in soft to keep my from planting a foot.
-TT rear break guard and sharks fin.
-TT front sprocket cover.
-Seat concept seat foam and cover. Makes my bum happy.
-Mefo explorers. Apparently these tires have some longevity. I have 1700 miles and there is starting to be some cupping but not bad. I will be curious to see if i can get the 7500 miles out of them that some people do. The rear is amazing. the front is a little sketch in soft sand and soft mud. Great on gravel, rocks, pavement wet and dry.
-I used deutsch connectors for all electrical connections. Waterproof and serviceable. Even the "Powerlet" for the GPS and possibly a heated vest later. (If i install a headlight switch to free up 55w)
-I have a 20 L roll bag for my tent (Sierra designs lightning lt 2), sleeping bag (western mountaineering down 30 degree), and pad ( Thermorest Neoair or something like that. don't remember the name.)
-I keep all my street cloths a 25 L rollbag waterproof backpack. This comes with me into hotels and such.
-MSR dragonfly. Burns any gas or fuel. I run unleaded. I can carry 3.5L of fuel on the panniers. this is good for close to 40 miles if i need it in a pinch.
-MSR 4L water bladder.
-MSR water filter. need to look which kind it is.
-Steripen UV light. I figure this will come in handy to drink tap water without filtering it.
-Spare fuel pump. CA cycleworks fuel pump installed. I am going to get a spare fuel injector also.
-Tool. Along with the essentials. JB weld, superglue/gripglue, zipties, hose clamps, bolts, connectors ect. wire, safety wire, electrical tape etc.
-Klim badlands jacket and pants. Love them. Ive ridden 25 degree weather and 95 degree weather. all how you later and use vents.
-Shoei hornet DS. Works pretty good. I love a moto helmet and goggles on a sunny day. But i just cant do goggles in the rain. hurts to bad. The DS has been pretty good and doesn't fog up to much. it great to be able to open it and get the air on your face at a stop light or something. Kinda hot in warm weather. Will probably run goggles w/o the shield in dry dusty places.
-Fox bomber gloves for warm. comfortable, knuckle protection, durable and relatively cheap. ($50)
-Klim snowmobile gloves for cold. I had them and they work. they even have a squeegie.
-Sidi adventure boots. They are pretty comfortable and they keep my feet dry. On long days of offroad standing, i feel the pegs through the bottom. Not quite as rigid as they could be. But my feet are dry and warm.
-Redington 4 piece 5 weight fly rod.
-Sony NEX 5 camera.
-Lenovo x220 computer. solid state hard drive. but no cd drive. I'm kicking my self for that because Rosetta stone (russian and spanish) is on a CD. so i have to carry a CD drive separate now.
-Contour HD helmet cam. In case i get the urge to do some film edits or something.
-Garmin GPS map 62st. Im using openstreetmap.org for most of my maps. I'll let you know once i am in canada if its better the the Garmin USA map. No topo when i leave the US unfortunately. So.. I'm still searching for an opensource topo. Google earth is awesome. Nuff said.
-I know I'm forgetting stuff. but it is late and I need to go snowboard at Bachelor tomorrow.

Thanks for all the interest so far. I look forward to meeting as many of you crazies out there as I can. I welcome all tips and suggestions. Best twisties, scenery, restaurants, towns, cities, fishing holes, ski towns, woman, bars, beers, wine, coffee, etc. etc. etc. Chears

Once I get to MN in July I will be at my house for about 3 weeks. Any changes, additions, subtractions, to the bike and gear i will let you know. that will be abou 9k miles into the trip and 11k on the bike.

Thanks for the details!

I will be watching VERY closely how the bike performs for you during the trip as the 690R is at the top of my list... mind you I won't be in a position to buy a bike for 12-24mths, so in the mean time I'm doing 'research' (that's what I tell my wife when she asks "Are you on that stupid motorbike web site again?" )

Noah, for the Cd's that you carry with you, I would recommend that you just copy the entire CD onto your hard drive then install the program from there. It's a little faster running, and more importantly, you don't have to carry the CD and external drive around the world with you.

Looking forward to following your progress. Have fun and don't forget to stop and smell the flowers.

Around what date will you be to Vancouver Island? Some of the off pavement sections on the top half of the Island are still snowed in as of last weekend... The temps have finally warmed up a bit so I expect the lower lands will be open in a week or so.. If you get to the Northern part of the Island give me a heads up and I'll join you for a coffee...