Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[OhBoy]

Fawk Me. Balls out determination dude.
Rod...how you managed on the other side of the world is amazing.
Sometimes I think about the walk if I should break down just a few miles into the woods. (and dread the thought)
Guess the survival skills start to kick in.
You WANT to save this fantastic trip any way you can.
I've been following your challenges with a vested interest, mine is a 2010.

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by Asianrider

Now a question about you having to wait for Rod: is it because the bikes have been imported on a carnet ATA ?

Those bikes needed a ATA carnet because the owners of the bikes were not with the bikes when they were imported. To save time and money they were all put on one carnet (i.e. it was one load). If each bike had a separate carnet it would have been no problem. But because of the way they entered the Russian- Kazakhstan customs union, it meant they had to exit together.

[FechFech]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

.....
There was an Aeroflot flight early the next morning with a quick-ish connection in Moscow. .... I grabbed the Flot and landed in London about 14 hours later.

Hi Rod,

Did you consider the option to fly to Vienna and get the parts there ? It is about 300 km from Vienna to Mattighofen. Most guys working at KTM are bikers themselves, I'm sure they would have rushed the parts to Vienna for you to pick up. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them had even volunteered to fly out to Moscow with the parts to meet you there, had they known your story.

Sorry to hear about your dog. We have a pet in the family which needs to be put down in the next couple of days, I know how it feels.

All the best,

FechFech

_______________
2012 KTM 350 EXC-F
2010 KTM 990 SMT
2009 KTM 690E
2006 GasGas 250 Trial

[potski]

Rod...I don't know you mate but for me this has so far been your trip...what stamina determination and humour under stress; what an example to others on here you have shown...not least by doing the correct thing for you dog..like others been there myself twice, can't have another now.

Ride safe

Cheers
Potski

[AFCFORME]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

My labrador dog had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in the back of her throat a few weeks before I left and a test had revealed it was a very aggressive type of cancer. I could have chemo and radium treatment for her, but even with that the prognosis was maybe as long as 15-16 months, at worst 2 months. I lost my sister to lung cancer and having seen what the treatment does to people I truly wouldn't put put a dog through it.
She'd been fine until the day before, since when she'd gone downhill very quickly. My wife was going to take her to the vets to be put down but I didn't feel it was fair to ask her to go alone and I'd be there in a few hours.
I got home every late on the Friday night and the dog was asleep and doped, so my first task on the Saturday was to take my faithful pal to her death. It's still hard to think about it.

Know im a few pages late. But been there as well and its never easy. She looks like an absolute sweetheart. Sorry for the loss(of your sister and the furry pal.)

[catweasel67]

@Rod

With the benefit of hindsight do you think there's anything you could have done earlier to diagnose the failure?

Any idea what caused the failure?

Love the report, keep it coming :) btw, you're all gits! it's reports like this that end up costing me a small fortune ;p

[camperdad]

Rod- So how many miles/days did you ride your bike with it barely running? How many miles did you have to be towed? Great ride report! Epic adventure!

[MGB]

I rode a BMW R65, completely stock, and it got this attention everywhere on the island. you would have thought I had the latest Porsche or something.

Originally Posted by Prutser

Some more pictures.

The locals are checking out the bikes. Lots of thumbs up and questions we didn't understand.

[gunnerbuck]

I guess the lesson learned when traveling the back and beyond with an FI bike is to carry a spare pump in your parts inventory... Did Walter or Terry pack a spare for their bikes on this trip? In the carb vs FI debate, this is one time when having a carbed bike would of gave you less grief ... FI is great and simple as long as you carry the plug and play spares and maybe a diagnostic program for the worst case scenarios...


The Altai region riding pictures look epic, what a scenic setting to pitch your tent at days end...

[Jettn Jim]

Waay to go maaan... won't get into the Fuelie vs carb debate, but glad she's runn'n tip top again... for now!?!

But gotta say I'm just sending peacefull vibes your way after helping your pup move onto the other side...
Have had to do it with loved ones and it can be hard. Always remind/tell folks to, think of the life lived/ the fun times had, and not dwell on the percieved loss.

Peace man,
Jim

[2WheelieADV]

Originally Posted by IceCreamSoldier

I will say that two things swing how good vodka is .

thing one: how cold it is
thing two: who you're with and what you're doing

Three - who's poring (nalivaet) it. It can taste differently or you can feel differently later, depending on who is filling up the glasses.

[TinkerinWstuff]

Originally Posted by norseV4force

Looking cool whilst dry humping a bannister is always a difficult one to pull off but I think Walter just about gets away with it in this pic

wife and I had tears in our eyes over this one!!

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by gunnerbuck

Did Walter or Terry pack a spare for their bikes on this trip? In the carb vs FI debate, this is one time when having a carbed bike would of gave you less grief ... FI is great and simple as long as you carry the plug and play spares and maybe a diagnostic program for the worst case scenarios...

Its not having FI that causes the problem ... its having a bad fuel pump that does.

There is no history of fuel pump issues on the 650cc BMW X-bikes. Therefore, no spare pump needed. Neither Terry nor I carried a spare fuel pump. There is a history of poor fuel pump issues on pre 2012 690s (as we now know) - when they changed the pump design and or supplier - thus Rod's replacement pump looking different. (There is a history of bad fuel pump controllers and key ring antennas on 1200 GSs, there is a history of bad voltage regulators on old fashioned carbed Africa Twins too that can kill your bike in the middle of nowhere)

Its a matter of knowing what the likely fail components on your particular model of bike are. Its not BMW vs KTM, Carb vs FI ... those are non issues. The issue is knowing what are common failures on your particular bike. Rod was brand new to the 690 so we spoke to people on forums to ask what it might be (regulator as per fishfund was a suspect), and I even spoke to some senior technicians in Mattighofen I know (they suspected it might be the TPS) ... but in the end it was the fuel pump. I think only one guy guessed it in the 30 odd pages of guesses as to what it might be ... and that guy also said carrying an improved aftermarket fuel pump was essential - so thats the benefit of experience with this particular bike. You know to carry a spare or to fit an aftermarket pump.

KTM 690 owners, go forth and buy ye-selves fuel pumps !

What is a pity is that manufacturers don't correct known faults earlier. Why did it take KTM 4 years to change the fuel pump? Why did Honda never put good regulators on the AT after almost 2 decades of production? Why has BMW not sorted out fuel pump controller issues on the 1200 after 8 years?? That is frustrating for new owners of these bikes. But established long standing owners know all of this stuff anyway and know to carry spares of them.

[Montek]

well said. Know and understand your bike as much as possible. But, shit happens also. Don't know any of these guys, but feel they all had a pretty good grasp on thier bikes and spent considerable time getting them sorted - but - shit happens thus the fuel pump with the orange bike. Can't take everything one "might" need

OH, and luv'n the rr. you guys and gal rock. Now, you all start written again!!!!!!! need my daily fix

[Colebatch]

We had heard by now that Rod was going to have to fly back to the UK to get parts, so at that point we knew we had a good 6 days or more up our sleeves. A day for flight there, a day for flight back, at least two days combined to fix the bike and ride the 500 miles to Aktash, 48 hrs or so in the UK ... so there was plenty of exploring to be done.

We continued our ride along the mighty Katun River, amongst stunning scenery







It really doesnt get a lot better than this: