Adventures between a Cliff and a Wet Place. Brighty in Central Asia and Mongolia

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by potski

Hi Chris,

Right, so the 650 doesn’t seem anywhere near as economical as the stalwart 600’s... wonder how the 700 would fair... What do you think of them btw? Did you find the African Queens (strange name for a business, but hey ho) tank a worthwhile expensive addition?

I think it was just Moritz's bike that had this issue, that than all 650s. Possibly it needed a tune-up. I think the 700 looks horrid and would never buy one. I got the AQ tank very cheap as part of a whole 1998 bike from a friend. New at about 1000euro for the tank is not justifiable or affordable.

Originally Posted by potski

Oil consumption: Yes, I have heard that the early bikes had a liking for a drop of the amber lubricant. My 88 bike as yet doesn’t use any that I can see, though it only has 65,000kms on it so I guess it’s early days, also it doesn’t see much constant highway 5/6000 rpm travel…. We’ll see how it pans out in the future as I have no intentions of parting company with it…btw, I have a 16 tooth front sprocket which helps, think you have too?

Just getting decent m/c oil in Mongolia is virtually impossible. I'll be taking 5 litres in my hold luggage when I fly back next summer (2.5 for a change and 2.5 for spare)!

Originally Posted by potski

Lighter bike: The early Alps are 175 kilos I believe, so not bad at all in their day for a 600 twin… I take it when you say lighter you mean a single like your DRZ? The Alp is such a good mile muncher in comparison, though admittedly not as good/light in the dirt…compromises!

Of course everything is a compromise. Indeed, by light bike, I meant DRZ or something like a reliable (an oximoron, I know) ktm690

Originally Posted by potski

So, you are not so much munching on turkey as driving on Turkey this year…sounds like a pretty good jolly to me …May your wishes come true and you find “beer and dancing girls” in the land of “Turkish Delight”…..Ride safe and I hope your festering is minimal but fun and ADVenture maximum…

Just looking at the weather forcast: In Bulgaria, where the "spare/other" Transalp is parked has for 23rd Dec got a high of 0 degress centigrade and a low of -10

Originally Posted by potski

Keep us all posted here; the scenery, colours and characterfull images are making for a superb RR Looking forward to BUT…. watch out for cliff’s, corrupt/fat cnutstables and shallow but DEEP river crossings. …how about a few photos from your RR on the “show us your best ever Transalp photos” below?

Originally Posted by potski

Cheers
Potski

Will do more on the RR when I have a moment. The (in)famous Mongolian river crossing is still to come. I'll try to post some Trannie pics on the "best ever" thread too.

Merry Christmas and all the Best for 2013 to you sir, and all inmates on advrider.

[Tirpse]

Hi Chris,

Me and english friend Keith from Almaty were same time travelling in area and we met Chris in Songkul-lake and then continued to middle of civil war to Pamir Highway
















Keep up mate! I will be watching your story.

Cheers
SamiV

PS. Damn pictures are big ones. I need to resize them later today.

[ChrisUK]

Hi Sami
Many thanks for sharing these great pictures and memories!

cheers!

[ChrisUK]

Hi guys
Haven’t posted in a while. Been busy moving house, sorting matrimonial issues and riding the "parts donor" Transalp (an 87 shed: You'll recall the trip bike is an 88 model with a 98 bodykit)




from snowy Bulgaria (Doug's in Idilevo http://motosapiens.org/moto/?q=en/node/1 ) to Istanbul/Turkey, where it was a bit less snowy, only just though! Met some great Turkish bikers from http://www.facebook.com/groups/kuzgunmotor/ also called http://www.facebook.com/groups/turkeybiker/ in Istanbul!

Anyway, I digress. After sorting the bike and enjoying the R and R time it was time to head through the Altai region towards the border with Mongolia at Tashanta. There’s quite a few pictures. Hopefully they give a flavour of this beautiful part of the world.


Truck on a bridge


Beautiful valley


I was impressed with myself! I managed to track down some real (Russian) duct tape. I needed it. The bike is held together with it and cable/zip ties :-)


The new Russian chip and pin reader


I met these nice Russian cyclists from Ekaterinburg on their summer vacation. The lady spoke good English and told me the Russian for tyre changer:


This is where I probably was a bit heavy handed and blew out the sprocket carrier bearing which caused a few issues after I reached Ulaan Baatar.


Spotted this outfit on the side of the road and pulled over. A couple of minutes later this young lad rocks up with a container of petrol, pours it in the tank, kicks the engine over and rides off.
http://youtu.be/tpoxL8iqXs8

In the next village, I spot him again with 2 girls: One in the chair and one on the back. Bikes = babes?


Wow, another road user, shortly before the checkpoint where I wasn’t permitted to ride my off-pavement “shortcut” any further. The Russian Army officer spoke Spanish (!) and mine was ok enough to be told I was riding too close to the Kazakh border. Bollocks, I had to ride all the way back to the main road!


Altai house


Clarkson/ Hammond/ May were ‘ere.


Altai river scene


Overtook these Russian chaps on an Africa Twin. It had an eclectic mix of body panels. Why are they carrying a totally shagged rear tyre on the back?


Wild camp.


Ok, looks like I’m riding the bridge…


Sunset just before Mongolia border.


The next morning. I had just ridden 2 miles perpendicular to the paved road and pitched my tent, because I reckoned it would be better (and cheaper) than sleeping in the border town.


Will be in touch again much more frequently than since the last instalment.

See you later.

[egret]

Most excellent !
A quick question , unrelated to your ride report... Have you riden a Kawasaki KLE500 Chris? If so , how you rate it ?
Thank you ,
-zie egret .

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by egret

Most excellent !
A quick question , unrelated to your ride report... Have you riden a Kawasaki KLE500 Chris? If so , how you rate it ?
Thank you ,
-zie egret .

Glad you like the RR. Sorry, never owned or ridden a KLE. However, things I read on the HUBB suggest it's a good bike.

[LethPhaos]

Awesome pictures... I really want to visit that region asap, as (especially mongolia,as I've read) is changing fast.
Did you have issues with your bike being too heavy? Or was it manageable enough?
It would be good if I could take my AT out there, but it might be better to kit out a 690, but that would dent the budget a lot :)

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by LethPhaos

Awesome pictures... I really want to visit that region asap, as (especially mongolia,as I've read) is changing fast.
Did you have issues with your bike being too heavy? Or was it manageable enough?
It would be good if I could take my AT out there, but it might be better to kit out a 690, but that would dent the budget a lot :)

The AT will do just fine, assuming the suspension is up to it (my TA has progressive fork springs and a modified -stiffer- shock), aggressive tyres (I was running Pirelli MT21) and your riding ability.

At home in the UK I ride off pavement quite a bit on a drz400 and have also done some off pavement touring on it in Moroc and Romania. I also borrowed the same model for trips through Baja and CDT and western TAT in Mexico/USA. There's pictures and videos on my website . So what I'm saying is: it helps riding a shed in the dirt if you've got a bit of experience.

I spotted this ueber-shed in western Mongolia. It belonged to a French bloke. My French is too poor and his English was non-existent, so I was unable to ask him why he was carrying everything including the kitchen sink





I saw the bike again in Ulaan Bataar, so he and his chums made it! He rode (was pushed.... according to his mate... ) the southern route, which allegedly is "easier" than the northern or middle routes.

I'll try to post the Mongolian section of this RR soon.

[beat]

Originally Posted by ChrisUK

I'll try to post the Mongolian section of this RR soon.

come on Chris, make walter and his boys look like pussy's with those bongo trucks

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by beat

come on Chris, make walter and his boys look like pussy's with those bongo trucks

I can't compete with Walter's RR He's got over 100x more hits than this one. However I did see one of his stickers on a road sign in the middle of nowhere (is there anywhere in Mongolia, that's "somewhere"? ), if that helps

PS. Did your bike arrive OK back in NL? Any problems with the freighting? One of my options for this summer is to freight the shed back from UB to my parents' house in Germany.

[beat]

Originally Posted by ChrisUK

PS. Did your bike arrive OK back in NL? Any problems with the freighting? One of my options for this summer is to freight the shed back from UB to my parents' house in Germany.

Well it did arrive okay but in germany...
Apparently i paid for shipping to germany but the bill said holland somehow. So i went to pick it up and had a few beers at a friends place along the way.
They got a big warehouse and apparently storage is free, at least for the first few months

I know your bike doesn't have the looks but is it still valuable enough to ship back?

By the way, i'm translating my rr to english and post it later up here. But i have the impression that walter and gang is delaying

[ChrisUK]

Here’s a couple more maps of my route between Almaty and the Russian/ Mongolia border at Tashanta with one or two comments of what happened (or didn’t) en route.


Almaty to Russian border


The Altai region of Russia


Mongolia pictures coming next…

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by beat

Well it did arrive okay but in germany...
Apparently i paid for shipping to germany but the bill said holland somehow. So i went to pick it up and had a few beers at a friends place along the way.
They got a big warehouse and apparently storage is free, at least for the first few months

I know your bike doesn't have the looks but is it still valuable enough to ship back?

By the way, i'm translating my rr to english and post it later up here. But i have the impression that walter and gang is delaying

Thanks for the paneuropa.de shipping info.

The bike value doesn't really justify shipping cost, but I also have to consider the "opportunity cost". And the bike does give me some good memories (Cliff nightmares excluded!).

My 2 options are freight from UB to Germany like you did or put it in a truck/train from Yakutsk/Magadan to Moscow (I fly there) and then ride home from Moscow.

Which option I choose depends a lot on timings. There's also a 3rd option that is to ride the bike from Magadan back to Tajikistan to ride the Pamir Highway that I missed in 2012 and then freight home from Kyrgyzstan, but this is the least likely option at the moment.

[beat]

Originally Posted by ChrisUK

Thanks for the paneuropa.de shipping info.

The bike value doesn't really justify shipping cost, but I also have to consider the "opportunity cost". And the bike does give me some good memories (Cliff nightmares excluded!).

My 2 options are freight from UB to Germany like you did or put it in a truck/train from Yakutsk/Magadan to Moscow (I fly there) and then ride home from Moscow.

Which option I choose depends a lot on timings. There's also a 3rd option that is to ride the bike from Magadan back to Tajikistan to ride the Pamir Highway that I missed in 2012 and then freight home from Kyrgyzstan, but this is the least likely option at the moment.

somehow some buttons are missing in my browser
anyhow i know Uwe (black 990 in UB) used a train from vlady to yekaterinaburg but the bike in post train took 14 days longer

[Pamirski]

Hi

nice RR, those are the regions we spent our last 4 summer holidays and we are still thinking of it for next summer.
Where did you want to go, when following the Chon Kemin valley? Just turning back or is there a pass, that is rideable?

Regards

Christian