Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by thinc2

what do you think is the ideal number of riders for a trip like this - it seems as the group grows larger, the pace slows down.

3-6.

[Colebatch]

Another break saw Prutser do some fine tuning to his tyre pressure

[Colebatch]

Life is full of surprises ... we weren't expecting any signs of civilisation, but we arrived at a tiny village. Not marked anywhere. We were hot and hungry and needed supplies for the evening, which would be upon us in a few hours.

I went into town to investigate and see if there was a store. The others stayed behind at the edge of town.







I was able to report back that an old lady ran a small village store out of a closet in the back of her house. She was going to open it up for us.

The shop lady:



We were then invited in through her yard to the shop / closet.





And we marvelled at the selection she had in there:





Before dividing up the stash outside:



while a local kid looked on from across the street:

[Colebatch]

Despite a storm slowly moving in, it was still super hot ... and the town had a well with a hose that we drenched ourselves in:



Prutser got a face clean:



Rod came over to join the water party:



While local kids marvelled at my machine:



But we had to make a move ... do another 50 km (30 miles) or so and find somewhere to camp:



So we said farewell to this tiny little village in the middle of nothing:

[ciedema]

Originally Posted by legasea

There are a lot out there, Rod.
Guess the rider of this"princess" will show during this RR. He takes her everywhere like a feather, well, a big one...
He stands that anyone can park his bike at his will.

Not to get to far off-topic the big 990 (and I am on my second) are great, hell I did some gravel roads in Nevada a couple of weeks 2-up at 90 MPH, but they seriously suck in deep dry sand with any sort of weight on, they suck down steep hills and they suck if you have to haul them over boulders of any size. Sure over the steepe shown in the last couple pages they are great and eat it up like no tomorrow, but that is just the Kazak steepe - like riding in outback Australia.


Edit: and they drink fuel like a drunk drinks whiskey.

Edit again: and if the rider of that particular ktm990 is who I think it (Iker) he is just a crazy man.

[CharlestonADV]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

But if you're looking for a bike that's slow, heavy, with shit susension, comedy brakes and unreliable too (why not go the whole hog?) do your brains in and try a KLR. It's the bike that does everything...badly.

Hummmm....aren't you the guy with the problematic KTM?

[davidbrundage]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

While it was incredibly remote, it was also incredibly beautiful in its own way .... way out here. For the first time in the trip so far, we were aware that we were really in the middle of nowhere here. No farms. No people, and the double track we were riding on was not frequently travelled at all. Pretty faint in most parts.

Excellent report Walter.

This line made me start thinking about the incredible amounts of time that must go into your route planning, and I was curious if a ride like this would have been possible to plan 15 years ago without the use of satellite imagery. I'm sure you use a combination of maps, local knowledge, and google earth to lay everything out, but in these remote areas where the two-track you guys are on probably isn't listed on many maps, I'm sure it was satellite imagery that would have shown you this overgrown two-track. Could this ride have been done in the past?

[FinnDuro]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Cooler? yes ...
Much cooler? I dont think so.
....
Bear in mind Bedouins in the Sinai often wear black robes, Tuareg in the Sahara wear dark blue. That wouldnt be possible if the differences were critical. Airflow is key.
- - -
Another thing of interest popped up as I was writing this reply and mentioning bedouins ....

Walter, really appreciate your thorough take on that black vs. light fabric theme. Thanks, mate! I'll be waiting for the next gen Klim adv/badlands jacket a la Pyndon for retail, hoping it to be available in some other than black as well, if for no other reasons than aesthetic preferences, now that the hot/cool colour aspect is pretty much conquered. :)

[BELSTAFF]

Originally Posted by CharlestonADV

Hummmm....aren't you the guy with the problematic KTM?

Touche, kind sir

[EtronX]

Originally Posted by Prutser

Rod do you know what category your boots are ? A.B.C or D
Me and Beam(st)er were using hiking boots too.
On my road bike I use B category. But this trip I brought my C catagory (Hanwag Alaska Top)
Which give a lot more support and protection than my B category.
On this trip we stood on the pegs the whole day, the stronger soles of the C category gave a lot more support.

During the trip I didn't see a big rock hidden in the tall grass. My foot was swept of the peg at 80 km/h.
It did hurt a lot but they gave enough protection to have no injuries. (its always a compromise but for me they are the multipurpose shoes for trips like this.).

We did 18.000 km this summer. Of them 8.000 km were serious off road doing BAM and ROB to Magadan. For most of the trip I used standard issue Norwegian military boots. They are comfortable to wear. They are solid. You can use them for a 50 K hike and they dry fast. On the ROB part I used my heavy duty cross boots. I had wet feets for days...

The protection on my military boots is not as good as high cross boots, but everything is a compromise. They protect the ankle good. The soles are good and they will take a beating.

On our trip I brought a very advanced medical kit. It is an occupational hazard. I could sedate, sew up major cuts and fixate a femoral fracture among other things. I also brought a dental kit. I used nothing.

What will I bring next time? I will use ankle high hiking boots. Preferably military leather types. No fancy smancy GoreTex stuff. My military boots will get wet, but they dry fast. They are comfortable to walk with, and you can stand up on your pegs the whole day with no pain. For medical supplies I will bring something that reduces pain if you go down in flames. Like Oxycontin. That will not keep you pain free with a broken leg, but it will make your day a lot easier when you wait for help.

On a RR like this there is always a lot of questions about what boots to wear, what helmet, what tent and sleeping bag you should use. How to eat, breast feed etc......KISS always works nice. Take what you have and go

[davesupreme]

sorry.... i ain't givin' up my breast feeding tricks....

[Hevy Kevy]

[Prutser]

Originally Posted by EtronX

We did 18.000 km this summer. Of them 8.000 km were serious off road doing BAM and ROB to Magadan. For most of the trip I used standard issue Norwegian military boots. They are comfortable to wear. They are solid. You can use them for a 50 K hike and they dry fast. On the ROB part I used my heavy duty cross boots. I had wet feets for days...

The protection on my military boots is not as good as high cross boots, but everything is a compromise. They protect the ankle good. The soles are good and they will take a beating.

On our trip I brought a very advanced medical kit. It is an occupational hazard. I could sedate, sew up major cuts and fixate a femoral fracture among other things. I also brought a dental kit. I used nothing.

What will I bring next time? I will use ankle high hiking boots. Preferably military leather types. No fancy smancy GoreTex stuff. My military boots will get wet, but they dry fast. They are comfortable to walk with, and you can stand up on your pegs the whole day with no pain. For medical supplies I will bring something that reduces pain if you go down in flames. Like Oxycontin. That will not keep you pain free with a broken leg, but it will make your day a lot easier when you wait for help.

On a RR like this there is always a lot of questions about what boots to wear, what helmet, what tent and sleeping bag you should use. How to eat, breast feed etc......KISS always works nice. Take what you have and go

Next time i'll try them without the Gore-Tex. Now they didn't dry for days. The Gore-Tex wasn't helping much with the water up to our knees most of the crossings.

[mrbreeze]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

I had a Honda V-Twin once and I totally agree the engine is the most reliable thing I ever had on a motorcycle.

But the bike is too heavy overall, and definitely too top heavy. No ground clearance. The brakes are poor and the suspension is terrible. You can fix the suspension and the ground clearance. Fixing the brakes is harder. Fixing the weight problem is pretty much impossible.

Same with the Tenere 660. As far as I know, its the heaviest single cylinder bike on the market, possibly heaviest single ever made. Africa Twin and Tenere 660 are good reliable bikes that will take you anywhere - if you like riding at moderate speeds.

They are just going to be much more difficult to ride as fast as we were generally going.

doesn't look like you're going very fast when one of the bikes is being towed.

I think reliability and comfort would be at the top of my list if I were looking for a bike to do a trip like this. But that's just me.

[bigdon]

I think that the Goretex Boots stink much worse than Natural Leather boots do!