The BAM Road - ultimate test of man and machine

[Wolffy]

Now that is a serious off road rig quite the trailer

Originally Posted by GiorgioXT

Found this in Youtube



I think that show well the real extreme difficulties of such terrain - even a Tracked ammo carrier bigger than the GAZ tankette is stuck !
Since I think that only mining company had tracked vehicles - DT30 Vityaz maybe was taken not far away from where you been...

[OUtback UFO]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Mirny is the main town in western Yakutia and is the prosperous centre of the Russian diamond business. There are about 40,000 people there, and about 6-7 bikers.

Like Udachny, it has a whopping big hole in the ground.

The interesting thing about the big hole in Mirny is that there is a no fly zone over it since they have had aircraft get sucked down into it. It is due to the size of the hole, and wind currents passing over it... Just crazy to think about the mass of earth moved.

[Colebatch]

9am in Mirny and Arnaud woke me up in my freezing unheated room with news that he had just been told there was a boat leaving Lensk at 12:00. We had been worried about when we might get the next boat so this was a boat we needed to try and take. They would hold the boat until 12:30 for us. It was a 3 hour ride. We had 30 minutes to wake up, pack and leave Mirny.

I didnt so much pack as throw all my gear into my bags. I still had stuff at Andrei's garage and Andrei doesnt usually start until 10am, but I called him and asked him to rush down and open his garage for me. He did.

Arnaud and I sped full throttle down to Lensk, slowing only for the mud created by recent rain, and roadworks. We headed directly for where the boat had dropped me off 5 days earlier, and the same boat was waiting. Luggage was stripped off and our bikes shoved up the nose of the boat to rest on the front deck.

From here it was a 5 day boat ride upstream to Ust Kut.

- - -

Arnaud was the French guy who had stopped Tony in the streets of Vladivostok after recognising him as one of the Sibirsky Extreme guys. He had been after road condition information on the Road of Bones, as he was about to board a boat to Magadan. I had kept in touch with Arnaud, and a few weeks later (when he was relaxing in Yakutsk) we chatted about the BAM road and Vilyuisky Trakt, and which would be better to get him back to Irkutsk. As my experience of the BAM road unfolded, and with Arnaud travelling solo, it became clear that the only choice was the Vilyuisky Trakt.

Arnaud took the recommended road and was greeted at every ferry,and almost every cafe and fuel stop with "Guess what?! We had two English guys come thru here a few months ago also on motorcycles".

Arnaud is fluent in Russian and reported to me when we met in Mirny that not only were the "two English guys" famous on the Vilyuisky Trakt, but Tony and I had made a positive impression everywhere when we had ridden there 2 months ago (thread to come later). That is something that money cant buy, an inner satisfaction. These people had been very good to us (apart from one river crossing truck driver) and it was satisfying to hear we had left a positive impression with the Yakuts of the Vilyui valley, as indeed they had with us.

Here are some pictures from the boat ride upstream from Lensk back south to Ust Kut:

Pulling a "dock" at Vitim village:


Bikes on the front of the docked boat:


Another village "mooring" ... at Peledui:


In the shop at Peledui ... 50% of the shelf space was vodka. Not just any vodka, but assorted nostalgic brands:


Arnaud, doing his daily calesthenics on the boat:


The boat's engineer:

[didzhej]

WOW,
just checked maps.google to see how big is that earth-holl...hollymolly

[Gooch]

I'm struck by how much that river resembles my memory of the Yukon. The landscape to my memory, has a very raw, unfinished or young feel to it, like the geologic and alluvial forces are far from finished with their work. Love the use of barges for docks; perfectly sensible and evocative of the feeling of a permanent frontier.

Many thanks, and keep it coming.

[tylerjwhite]

Originally Posted by Gooch

I'm struck by how much that river resembles my memory of the Yukon. The landscape to my memory, has a very raw, unfinished or young feel to it, like the geologic and alluvial forces are far from finished with their work. Love the use of barges for docks; perfectly sensible and evocative of the feeling of a permanent frontier.

Many thanks, and keep it coming.

I agree. I couldn't get over how open everything was and how huge the mountains were and deep and wide and the rivers were with so many lakes, and the space in between them with all the massive amounts of snow on top of the mountains, when I was in the Yukon and how much it looks like your pictures. Also every time I see Russian stuff it reminds me of the shops in Kyrgyzstan and the people there that were so nice and how much I wanted to get off the base I was on and just ride horses or anything up into those mountains. I want very badly to save up some good amounts of cash and find a way to go back there on two wheels. I haven't posted really much of anything until now but I have been following along religiously. I am going to make a trip like this happen some day even if it is only on good roads I want to visit these areas and so I will make it happen. Thanks for the inspiration.

[tylerjwhite]

There is a mine similar to that in the US if you ever go through Salt Lake City Utah. It is called the Kennicot mine and can give those of you in the US that won't ever be able to see that part of Russia a basis for comparison.


View Larger Map

[DRONE]

The Yukon SHOULD look similar to Siberia. If you look at this map, it's easy to see how the continental drift that caused South America to split off from Africa, and created the Atlantic Ocean (a process that continues to this day), also divided North America and Asia, creating the Arctic Ocean.



Oh, and guess what? There are diamond mines in northern Canada!

Diavik Mine - Northwest Territories


Sorry for the interruption. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.

[tmotten]

Kalgoorlie Super Pit

[AdamAbel]

Great report. Makes my efforts look pitiful. One day I hope to have the time, money and gumption to get somewhere near it...

Originally Posted by OUtback UFO

The interesting thing about the big hole in Mirny is that there is a no fly zone over it since they have had aircraft get sucked down into it.

Must make for an interesting approach to the runway for the airport in the background:

[Colebatch]

Arnaud and I had arrived back in Ust Kut around 10pm last night and arranged to stay on board the boat for one more night. The plan was to leave first thing in the morning. We pushed the bikes off the boat and locked them together next to the boat, set the alarm for 05:30 ! and tried to sleep. Sleeping was near impossible onthe boat, without the drone of the engine in the background and it was an evening of tossing and turning and restlessness.

5:30 came and despite both wanting to sleep in, we headed down to the galley, where the cook from the boat had also woken up early to cook breakfast for us. With full stomachs, we loaded up the bikes and were ready to go by 6:30, only it was still pitch black. I consulted my phone ... daylight comes to Ust Kut at 7:20 am on this day of the year. And so we went back to our cabin and had 45 minutes snooze before finally hitting the road about 7:15.

It was cold and foggy and I had dressed in my heated vest. Arnaud on his little 250 had no such luxury. He just had to endure the cold. Bratsk was 350km away, mostly over dirt roads, but the roads were decent and we made it to the sprawling spread out city of Bratsk around lunchtime. We knew after Bratsk the road would be sealed. The Hydroelectric dam at Bratsk is supposed to be one of the largest in the world, and it certainly was huge. I have never seen one bigger.



I noticed my front end didnt feel right. Tony P has a credo that if something doesnt feel or sound right, its because something isnt right, and you need to stop and sort it out. I knew something wasnt right but just felt like I wanted to get to Krasnoyarsk where the bike would get a full going over by Zhenya (our mechanic in Krasnoyarsk) and his team of bike mechanics.

Bratsk is spread out over about 50 km and while riding through Bratsk the unease in the front end of the bike felt progressively worse. We stopped and chatted to some Police guys about the road to Taishet, the last 300km of the BAM road. They said if we want to go to Krasnoyarsk from Bratsk, we needed to go on the asphalt road to Tulun and then the Trans Siberian Highway to Krasnoyarsk. With my front end clearly sick, I decided not to argue. It was a longer route, but a safer one with a sick bike.



80 km outside of Bratsk and I was kicking myself for not listening to Tony's credo. I had seen grease oozing past the right front wheel bearing seal when we had stopped in Bratsk and strongly suspected that bearing was on the way out. I had been obsessed with getting to Krasnoyarsk and should have stopped in Bratsk to see what could be done about the bearing. Now I was out on the empty road and the bearing was dead. It was cold and it was raining. There was nothing for it but to get wet and greasy and sort the problem.

Arnaud rode 500 yards ahead where a truck was parked on the side of the road and borrowed a hammer. I jacked up the bike with a stick and removed the front wheel. I started whacking out the old bearing with the hammer and a screwdriver. Predictably it crumbled and I was left with the problem of trying to remove the outer housing of the old bearing. After 20 minutes and a lot of sore thumbs, I had removed the old bearing completely and searched around in my spare pars bag for new bearings.



5½ months on the road and a lot of water in the side bags had left my spare bearings in poor shape. All my spare parts were covered in sand and rust. I had no option by to clean up one of the bearings as best I could and use it. The truck drivers up the road began to move off and Arnaud went to offer them the hammer back. They said we needed it more than them so keep it to finish the job. Very Russian!

An hour and a half after I had started and we were ready to roll. 100km down the road and I had the same horrible feeling in the front of the bike. i stopped to loook and this time it was the left front bearing that was wobbling. Riding the extra 80km past Bratsk with one damaged bearing ovbiously killed the other bearing. Again there was nothing for it but to change the bearing. Again we stopped near a truck and borrowed some tools. Again the bearing came out in 20 pieces, with the only hard part being to remove the outer casing.



This time the truck drivers got involved and began to help us. An hour after we started and the 2nd new bearing of the day was cleaned and fitted.

[hardwaregrrl]

I've always wanted to go to Russia. Not necessarily on a motorbike, but just to go and see it. Now I think I know why. Russian people, man, that is just so cool how anybody will help out, even if they don't know how to help. Thanks so much for educating us on the wonders of Russian people. Saving my pennies...

[rider1150gsadv]

Those truckers were very helpful , I guess that they all look out for each other too in that remote area!!!

[quicktoys2]

Good thing you had some bearings with you ........ were they able to clean up OK or was it a temp fix till you get to a mechanic shop?

[Jerrykap]

Originally Posted by Tony P

I was too late for the ‘team discussion’ of tactics as the other two had set off. I had little choice. I had to work out for myself how I was going to attack it. So there is only one thing to do – just get on with it.


Like the train incident before, I felt no fear – just a calm but quick reassessment of every possibility at every change. Again, it is the thinking back that frightens me. I know I could so easily have not been here any more,

I believe I am close to your age, 66 this March. When my younger riding friends tell me I'm an inspiration to them I just laugh it off as meaningless. What you did out there on that bridge, in that weather, is not meaningless...it was dangerous, hard and necessary. My helmets off to you for sucking it up and doing what needed to be done. It could easily have ended very badly. Thankfully it didn't, and you're now safe and warm with the ones you love. That moment of triumph is yours to enjoy forever, just close your eyes and I'm sure you'll be able to relive it again and again step by step. What you did out there was EPIC and the stuff of legends. You, sir, and your mates are an inspiration to all of us.

I'll soon be in Death Valley riding the mountains and canyons again, if I find myself complaining I will take a deep breath and remember what you guys did.

All the best for a new year, after reading your ride report I feel like I'm starting over.

C-ya Jerrykap