Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[Colebatch]

Our day began in our little Hotel / Restaurant / Fuel station, with breakfast in the dining section:



After a nice mornings ride, we stopped for a post lunch nap under the trees. Temperature was perfect, and the breeze was cool.





The afternoon trails were generally good, but we had a few funky sections:





We reached the town of Romny in the late afternoon and were driving around looking for a hotel when we spotted a KTM outside a cafe - think it was a superduke. Naturally enough, we stopped and went inside to find the owner of the bike. I fugured he could help us find a hotel. When I entered the cafe, there was a grey haired guy having a romantic dinner with his lady friend. On seeing a pair of bikers, he jumped up, shook our hands and asked if he could help with anything. I said yes, we are looking for a hotel.

He said no problem, threw some cash on the table where his lady was sitting, grabbed his helmet and told us to follow him.

Dont know what his girl thought of all this, but 2 minutes after we walked into the cafe, we were walking out, and trying to keep up with a hyper energetic lunatic on a 950cc streetbike. Here we are arriving at our hotel in Romny:

[Leo.G]

That's a nice bike!

What did he think about the trip you were doing?

Ok, I'll stop bothering..
Keep it comming!

[freefallen]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Dont know what his girl thought of all this, but 2 minutes after we walked into the cafe, we were walking out, and trying to keep up with a hyper energetic lunatic on a 950cc streetbike.

yep, this is kind of a russian hospitality.

[zaner32]

Lovin' it!

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by Leo.G

That's a nice bike!

What did he think about the trip you were doing?

Ok, I'll stop bothering..
Keep it comming!

Well it turns out the guy was a big shot in the local mafia ... and his bike had no number plate so I reckon was almost surely stolen from Western Europe somewhere and smuggled into Ukraine.

We just decided to keep him happy. He wanted to help us and thought our trip was very cool. I dont think he comprehended the scale and scope of it that much as he was drunk most of the time. But he was friendly and kinda helpful to us ... so we just rolled with it.

[Leo.G]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Well it turns out the guy was a big shot in the local mafia ... and his bike had no number plate so I reckon was almost surely stolen from Western Europe somewhere and smuggled into Ukraine.

We just decided to keep him happy. He wanted to help us and thought our trip was very cool. I dont think he comprehended the scale and scope of it that much as he was drunk most of the time. But he was friendly and kinda helpful to us ... so we just rolled with it.

Well.. In my opinion, it's the best way to keep up with people like that.. Hopefully he wasn't rude or anything to you two...

At least that showed you the famous "Russian hospitality" that everyone talks about..

Did he do any part of the trip with you or stayed right in that city where you found him?

[GoinPostal]

OK, I'm in too! Great RR

[RingGap]

Great update, in reality Ukraine / Russian Mafia don't need to steal cars & bikes they have cash and lots of it, it's just the countries government that doesn't get there taxes from these luxury purchases. Customs officials in the old pocket.

[Desert Scoundrel]

Originally Posted by RingGap

Great update, in reality Ukraine / Russian Mafia don't need to steal cars & bikes they have cash and lots of it, it's just the countries government that doesn't get there taxes from these luxury purchases. Customs officials in the old pocket.

They don't need to do alot of things, but they still do. I, too, am sure that unplated bike was nicked.






Great report CB, but you need to hustle up and give us more!

[Kristof Granit]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLightning!

They don't need to do alot of things, but they still do. I, too, am sure that unplated bike was nicked.

Personally I drove more than 6500km here in Russia, including Moscow, on my bikes without plates numbers...
Yes, many bikes don't have plate number but it doesn't mean they have been stolen...

-----------------------
Great report, I am waiting to read the Russian part

[Colebatch]

A check of DHL tracking showed Terry;s shock was still trying to get thru customs in Kiev. We called our tattoo parlour owning friend (Alex the Kiev biker we meat 2 days earlier) who had some contacts in customs (since he was constantly importing ink and tattoo equipment) and he said he would get onthe case and try and get the shock released ASAP. We decided to stay in Romny for another day. We would have to wait for the shock (it wasnt yet in Sumy), and our hotel was cheap and cosy.

Just as we were getting ready for breakfast, we had a knock on our hotel room door ... it was Viktor, our KTM riding friend. He insisted on buying us breakfast. While we ate eggs, Viktor ordered vodka, and went through almost half a litre for breakfast !



Then he wrote me out a special letter ... in case we had any problems with anyone in the region, including the Police ... I was to show them Viktors letter, and all problems would instantly vanish. We were riding with Big Viktor's blessing.

[Colebatch]

Viktor showed up again for lunch, bought us lunch and took us shipping for tools. Terry needed a small 7mm spanner. Viktor bought him a ratchet while we were at the tool shop. Terry didnt want it - weight he didnt need to carry. But Viktor insisted. And by now we were well aware that you dont say no to Viktor.



My bike was now sporting a Ukrainian flag ... given to me by the guys at the wedding just outside of the Chernobyl exclusion zone



Relaxing afternoon in Romny



Later that evening, back in the comfort of our hotel, we enjoyed a tasty meal of chicken schnitzel with melted cheese and a side of fries, washed down by non-filtered wheat beer, the finest drink to come out of the Ukraine.



Viktor showed up at the hotel again, for a few vodkas, before finally leaving us in peace for the night.

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by Kristof Granit

Yes, many bikes don't have plate number but it doesn't mean they have been stolen...

Sure ... but Viktor had no recollection where the bike came from, and no idea where to get spare parts, or no idea even where was the nearest KTM dealer.

I think its a pretty safe bet that he just "found" the bike

[XC Rider]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Then he wrote me out a special letter ... in case we had any problems with anyone in the region, including the Police ... I was to show them Viktors letter, and all problems would instantly vanish. We were riding with Big Viktor's blessing.

Love it! This is what makes trips memorable; did you have any need to pull out Big Vik's letter?


Also love this pic. Spotted the Ukranian flag before you mentioned it and was wondering where and how it showed up.

Originally Posted by Colebatch

After a nice mornings ride, we stopped for a post lunch nap under the trees. Temperature was perfect, and the breeze was cool.

[tee bee]

The next day,we left early and headed off into some beautiful wooded hills ,riding alongside farm fields and through secluded villages.
Whilst riding through one small village ,Walter scares a young calf in the middle of the track. He didn,t see what was happening as i was following around 100 yards behind, but the farmer wash,t too happy, chasing the calf with a big stick and shouting at me. I know i should,t ,but i could,t stop myself from laughing .

Later on that same day, we were exiting another small village, through some old derelict farm buildings,on a bumpy soil track.Walter was up ahead again. But what happened next was a bit surreal ,a police lada with blue flashing light came tearing out from behind one of the farm buildings, chasing Walter......,The two police officers soon realised they were never going to catch him,but then realised that there were two crazy bikers invading their territory. They then turned their attention to me, waving and shouting out of their car window for me to stop. By then i wash,t quite sure what to do, open the throttle and leave them in a cloud of dust ?, or do the honourable and courteous thing and stop. I decided to stop and see what would happen, they jumped out,just like a scene out of "keystone cops",..... before realising that i was a foreigner,.....they then just stood there staring at me, got back in their lada and drove off.!
It was so funny i could hardly ride my bike.