Trans Sibir eXpedition 2012

[EtronX]

Out of Krasnoyarsk we passed this old relic. A reminder of long gone and sometimes tense days.




We were now cruising towards Irkutsk on the M53. The stretch between Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk is pretty boring. It is a straight transport stretch. You cross the Trans Siberian Railway lots of times. Spending time waiting at the rail road gates.




You also notice that you are entering areas where in the wintertime it gets pretty cold. The stock of firewood were steadily increasing outside the houses.




The road is pretty good all the way. There is only a short stretch of about 50 k's where there is gravel road. The problem here is all the heavy traffic and the dust. When you overtake one of these trucks you don't see diddley squat until you have passed them. There are a few seconds of pure terror when you open up the throttle, go IMC and commit :yikes




Just before Kansk we stopped for gas. As we pulled to a stop we saw another bike there. It was a BMW R1150 GS with funny plates. We got our helmets of and said hello. Then we met Jacob.




Jacob was on his way to Vladivostok and then USA. He came from Israel and had just retired from what used to be called Mossad. He was a man of many words and now on his way around the world. We asked if he would ride with us to Irkutsk. That he would. The Trans Sibir eXpedition 2012 now counted four bikes for a short time.

On hard sunny days like this, when the riding gets tough :freaky we try to interact with the locals. Spread the word of peace:lol3 Steve is stepping up to do the deeds here...




What I love being on the road is the different and untraditional people you meet. You learn about the local people and their traditions. You meet fellow travelers, like Jacob, going on their "once in a lifetime trip", and you meet your occasional Swede. This dude was on his way from Stockholm to Tokyo :linzi




We pressed on. Driving like this is solitude. Even if you ride with a group you are riding in solitude. You get a lot of time to think. I was thinking about BAM and not going there. It pissed me off :dog

When the dusk started to set in we got close to our hotel of choice. Right before Alzamay, it was on the right hand side of the road. Just like our friend in Krasnoyarsk told us. We headed of the M53 and parked outside. Steve went in to get rooms, but came out with the look of a teenager ditched by his girlfriend on prom night :ear No rooms available. No worries. We saw another hotel on the other side of the road. We saddled up and crossed the road.

As we reached the parking lot we noticed a KTM parked there. It had english plates on. Cool Someone to talk to and maybe get some info from. By the look of the bike this guy had been out a cold winter night before. We kicked the dog and went inside

The hotel was full. ***FH*** ad? We had to rough it tonight. We looked around to see if we could see something that resembled and english guy. No joy.

The restaurant was full, but we decided to get some food anyway. We ordered in our near fluent russian. "Shashlik". "Njet". "Ohhh", switched to english. "Food, hungry" pointing at stomach. Got a menu with pictures. Low on blood sugar we were now saved. Getting a table would not be hard. I would just stand beside one and stare :eek1 Us vikings do have a reputation also...

As we looked for a table we heard a voice in a lower than normal tone . "Hey guys. Over here" .We had found our englishman :clap We got introduced and Rod bid us to sit down. We exchanged stories and Rod told us that he had just come out of Mongolia. Coming from Kazakhstan. A bell started ringing in my head.
"You rode with Walter and Terry?" I asked. The answer was yes.
"Where are they now?" I continued.
"Well, Walter is in Moscow getting shagged and Terry is in Irkutsk. I think Walter is coming to Irkutsk tomorrow night".
"They still doing BAM?" I continued.
"Affirmative" Rod said.

What are the odds? We had traveled 10.000 k's. The hotel we were supposed to stay in was full. We crossed the street and there was Rod smiling I now saw a way of getting the Trans Sibir eXpedition 2012 back on its tracks :clap

I texted Walter on FB. This is the transcript:

EtronX
Hola. Can you do me a favour and ask Terry to reserve four beds at Ninas tonight? We'll be there around 1800. So we will meet in Irkutsk after all

06:23
Walter J Colebatch
Ok

08:17
Walter J Colebatch
Done -
I will be there about 1 am

That was it. I asked Erik and Steve if they were still keen on doing BAM and going to Magadan. They were. Then I told them I would ask Walter tomorrow if we could tag along. Here we had two legends who had done BAM before. Now they are doing it again at the same time as us.

Note to self: Remember to by ticket for the EuroMillions lottery.

Now my only hopes were that they would agree to ride with three complete strangers they knew nothing about. I crossed my fingers.

We finished our meal with Rod, wished each other good luck, bid our farewells and stepped onto our iron horses again. At around midnight we were all snug in our sleeping bags inside our tents by a lake outside Alzamay.

My last thought before I fell asleep was: "I am going to Magadan".

[EtronX]

We broke camp outside Alzamay in the morning on the 26th of July, and headed south. I was quite excited to finally meet Walter and Terry. I crossed my fingers and hoped that they would let us tag along towards Magadan.



There were some dirt roads and after a while you end up looking like this 3




Todays stretch was just over 600 k's. Lots of photo opportunities on the way.







Just like home, most of the livestock roam free in the summer. Getting some fat on the bones and insulation for the harsh long Siberian winter. Sort of like me

Most of the time they just stand still and look at you with their big empty eyes :topes On the side of the road or in the middle. They don't move. You should though exercise caution when passing. Some will decide to cross ahead of you. If you hit one at speed you will loose :huh




In the evening we got into Irkutsk. Rod had given us the coordinates to Nina's Homestay, but we had some problems finding the place. It is situated in a residential area with lots of houses and no signs outside. We ended up doing some sight seeing in the local neighborhood. Still, every time Mr. Zumo led us to the same place. It was a big house with a gate and thats it. We stopped the engines and started to discuss where the place could be when suddenly the gate opened. Out stepped a handsome young guy with a big smile: "You the Norwegians?" We'd just met tee bee :clap

[EtronX]

We got the bikes inside the fence at Nina's and parked them in the backyard together with the other overlanders




The good thing when staying at Nina's is that you have secure parking. The gates are locked at night and she lets out a dog in the yard. We didn't see this dog, but we'd heard rumors about it. It is supposed to make a Great Dane look small :eyes

A while before we arrived another guest at Nina's was out a bit late. When he came back he forgot to ring the bell at the gate. He just entered through the side door and into the yard. Bad mistake :amazon I don't have all the details of the aftermath but it is confirmed that needle's and thread's were involved...

Nina's daughter came down and greeted us. She speaks good english and helped us get installed. Jacob bunked up with tee bee. Erik and Steve got a room and I was given a third room. As I got my kit into the room I saw that someone else also lived there. By the look of the gear it looked like my new roommate was Mr. Colebatch

I took a look around inside the guesthouse and noticed an old piano. Cool. I tried a few notes and realized it was pretty much out of tune. Ohhh well...

After a little while all the guys had done their hair up and we decided head out for some food. As mentioned before in this thread, Nina's is right at the centre of the town. It was just a short walk to the main square. We walked around a bit looking at the sights. Chatting with tee bee and getting to know him, and he us. We found a nice little restaurant and got some chow down our necks. After some food we headed to a bar. I can't quite remember the name of the place, but I do remember that the scenery was nice

After we came back to the Homestay some new guests had arrived. Among them a french piano tuner doing the Trans Siberian Rail Road from Moscow to Vladivostok. He went straight to work 3 What are the odds???

[EtronX]

As Walter said, we had a long talk that night. I was delighted that he wanted us along on the trip. We were now back on track :clap It would be Magadan after all, or we would at least give it our best effort

We had one concern though riding with Terry and Walter. They are known to ride hard and fast. Would we be able to keep up or would we slow them down and be a burden rather than an asset. We decided to give it a go. We knew the route and we could start of early in the morning. That would give us a head start in case we had problems keeping up.

We started the day of with a nice breakfast provided by Nina.




After breakfast Erik and Steve started trimming down Steve's equipment. Note to self: DHL wants a very detailed list of all you ship home. Down to a paper clip :eek1




On my ride down to Irkutsk I had felt a slight sweet spot in my steering. Barley noticeable, but still there around center position. This was rather annoying. Especially since I had just replaced both steering bearings in Krasnoyarsk. I wanted to get this checked out before we started the BAM. Since Walter had his bike in a local shop I joined Walter and Terry going over. Walter's bike was ready and the mechanic had time to look at my bike. Nothing wrong was found, but he greased the bearings properly and put everything together. Hopefully the bearings would last...




After a fairly long day doing admin stuff we said our goodbyes to Jacob headed out. The Sibersky Extreme and Trans Sibir eXpedition 2012 had joined forces. Nothing could stop us now




Todays destination was the Baikal Bikers Festival. It was Friday and the festival should start today. We had heard a lot about Russian biker festivals 3 This could be fun :super Walter had the coordinates from last years festival. We set of towards the west side of the Baikal Sea. It was only a 90 k's ride and we arrived the camping site at around 2100 in the evening. Not to many people there. A couple of families camping and swimming. They all left after a while. Slowly it dawned on us that this might not be the right place after all :asta In the end it was only us and a Lada Niva with three young Russian couples. Someone mumbled that they had heard something about the festival being on the east side of the sea this year. Well too f****ing late for that now :baldy

We put up our tents. Had a beer and packed it in for the night. The Russian youngsters didn't. They partied the Russian way. Disco all night. Singing. Crying. Arguing. Singing. Crying... Well you get the picture. At around 4 -5 o'clock it got silent.

[KawaKjetil]

FB siden vår er her:

Trans Sibir FB

Men jeg skal love noen fine bilder innimellom. Kanskje med en liten videosnutt :-)

Har sendt forespørsel til gruppen , blir spennende å følge. God tur

[EtronX]

It was a nice morning when we finally went to sleep. The Russian party crew did their best all night. I don't know what was worse the screaming and crying or the Russian 80's disco. I think they had what the commercials, for those who remember, called "component car stereo" :wings It was loud.

When we finally went to sleep it was time to get up again :huh The ride to day was not of the longest, but we did have some items on the "to do" list before we set course. Steve needed some new tires and I said I could go with him to the store. It was beside the shop that we were at yesterday where Walter and I got our bikes straightened out.

For some reason Walters battery was flat that morning. He flies a light hitec LiPo battery. Need a special charger for that in order to balance the cells. But the Sibersky Extrem has been on the road before :clap Here is how to jump start your bike.

[video]https://vimeo.com/58123204[/video]

Walter also did some preventive maintenance on the lights. Looked like one of the ballast's had died.




Usually when Murphy is around he visits three times. First was Walters flat battery and lights. Second was Terry's engine casing leaking oil. Third was my clutch cable.





We came about one kilometer before my clutch cable broke. "Fhat the wuck". It was brand new before I left Norway. Special made in the UK to my specifications. Longer than usual because of my Rox Risers. And now it broke :hair This severely pissed me off.

Both Walter and Terry carry spare clutch wires. It is laid parallel to the original one. This is wise to to. I thought of it before I left home, but since I had a brand new one I didn't do it :bash

When I think back on this trip and riding with Walter and Terry there are two things that stand out with those guys:

1. They don't get stressed when things brake down. It is just a fact and then they fix it. It might take a day or five. No worries.
2. They share what they have. It be clutch cables or brake pads. If they have one extra and you need one they will give it to you. It is not "mine" but "ours". I salute that :clap

With regards to Terry; give the man some wire, a plier and some liquid metal and there is almost nothing he couldn't fix

Well, due to all the unforeseen circumstances that morning plans changed. Erik and Steve took of into Irkutsk. Walter, Terry and I got our bikes going and set course for Irkutsk. The plan was to meet the other guys for lunch.

[EtronX]

After the mornings small challenges Walter, Terry and I saddled up. The plan was to end up at Nikita's Homestad in the town of Khuzhir on Olkhon Island. Around 400 k's.




We left our own local bikers camp, drove through Irkutsk and set course north. After a couple of hours we stopped for some lunch. We called the rest of the crew to see where they were at. They were still in Irkutsk, and would be for another hour or two. We then decided to meet the guys at Nikita's. Then we could take our time and enjoy the scenery.

The art of traveling light




The landscape in this area is beautiful. It looks a lot like Mongolia with the open steppes and most of the people who live here are of Mongolian descend. They story goes that one of Genghis Khans generals got into an argument with the leader. He and his flock had to leave and since Genghis had conquered all the land east, west and south the only place for them to escape was north. Hence they ended up here.

In the town of Bayanday you make a right turn in order to head for Olkhon. At the intersection there were a lot of local people selling local goods. Mostly fruit and berries they had collected. Walter bought some delicious strawberries which we all enjoyed After having this nice nutritious food Terry got a bit slack eyed and decided it was time for a siesta :snore A good soldier sleeps and eats when he can.




A bit after Bayanday the gravel road starts. So far on this trip traveling with the Sibersky Extrem crew the speeds had been quite moderate. I had seen none of the high speeds they talked so much about. Then we hit the gravel :hair The fine two Dr. Jekyll's that i was riding with turned into Mr. Hyde's. Suddenly it looked like both guys had just stolen the bikes :eek1 They took of like homesick angels. The smile on both faces increased So this was what it was all about

I had to do my best to keep up with the guys. They were hauling ass. Finally we reached the ferry that would take us over to Olkhon. I was still in one piece :eek1 One thing I like about the ferries in Russia is that if they are a part of the road they are free. Not so in Norway, but then again I guess we can't afford it




From the ferry to Khuzhir it was all gravel and the pace increased. "Holy cow, either I will make it or I will brake it" :huh I had a really hard time following the guys, but after a little while my shoulders came down, the Tibetan Death Grip on the handlebars loosened up and I started to enjoy this It was really fun going fast on these roads.

After some hairy ass riding we came to Khuzhir and we took some pictures. The rock that you see in the background is Shaman Rock. A very sacred place for the Buddhists. They believe that the Shaman lives inside this rock.




It was a good experience being here. I felt good vibes. Next time I will spend a few days here.




Sooo, to all you followers. Your daily dose I advise you to look carefully at the beach picture



The beach




Then we did the standard posing pictures First out is our great leader. The one and only Mr. Colebatch :super



Then the groupies Terry and I :freaky



The bikes :rofl



And finally the rest of the crew arrived and we took the group photo 3

[EtronX]

After we were all together again we got three rooms, the bikes inside a fence and outside our small huts :norton




We headed over to the restaurant to get some food.




There were a lot of people there. Of all nationalities and ages. Most of them were backpackers doing their Trans Siberian Rail Road trip from Moscow to Vladivostok and now they had a little detour up to Olkhon. We even met an old friend. Pierre the piano tuner

[JohnnyTh]

Fantastisk!

[EtronX]

On the road up to Zhigalovo we started on the proper off road part. From here on it would be next to nothing of hard surfaces until Magadan. As normal Walter and Terry rode quite hard, but we were able to keep up. Midway up Erik and I stopped and agreed that we should do some filming. I rode ahead and rigged up the video camera, but no Erik showed up. I waited for ten minutes before I headed back. A couple of click back he was standing by the side of the road. He was not a happy camper. It turned out that the subframe for the fairing was cracked. We patched it up as good as we could and continued the last bit. When we got to Zhigalovo I noticed that I also had a crack in my subframe. Sit happens and then you fix it 3

A couple of years ago two guys came through Zhigalovo on two KTM's. They needed some alu welding done and some small shop did it for them. We were to head over to that shop the next day. We spent the evening dismounting everything.

A new dawn came and we headed over to the shop with the alu frames.




After a little while a guy named Alex came over and said he worked there. We asked if he could help us. He was not sure if they could weld aluminum so he called his boss. Negative answer :huh Bad new for us. But Alex was very keen on helping us. He asked us to wait a few minutes and took off. Four minutes later he came back in an old diesel Mazda. A decent size joint in his in his mouth and Vodka by his side. He told us to jump in The adventure continues :clap




We headed over to a shipyard. In the middle of Siberia :huh It didn't look right...




Lena is a pretty big river in Russia. It is also one of the main transport veins in the region. Maybe a shipyard is not so out of place anyway

If you have to deal with government or businesses of a certain scale the bureaucracy in Russia is interesting. Everything takes time and you need to talk to lots of people and get many stamps. Same here. We went through many offices. From the managing director and his secretary, whom I bet was a local champion shot putter, to the engineer who calculated the price. It took three hours. I practice Yoga quite a bit. Now I went to my Zen place :raabia Things work better then :norton

When we were done at the shipyard Alex insisted that we should follow him home for a cup of tea. We could not say no after all the help he had given us. He took us home and served us tea and pulled out his guitar. Then he blew us away. The man could both sing and play :clap He told us that he used to play in a band in Severobaikalsk before he came to Zhigalovo.




The house next door.




We did spend some time listening to Alex before we insisted we had to go and get the bikes done. He really did not want us to leave. This is the genuine Russian friendship and hospitality. We, in the "Civilized" world, do have something to learn...


Later that day it was time for food. Walter was leading the way :dg

[EtronX]

This is a short, but true story, about Erik and our newfound friend Alex. The story begins one beautiful morning outside a shop in Zhigalovo

Walter and Terry had just scooted off to put on some new tires on their bikes.




Erik and I was waiting outside for Alex, who shortly arrived.




Just as Alex arrived Erik realized he had to take a dump. Not in five minutes, but now :huh A bit frantic in his eyes he tried to explain this to Alex with not much success :eek1 He was getting quite desperate when finally Alex got it :bash He jumped over a fence and indicated for Erik to follow him. Erik jumped over with the speed of a man in need. They went to the back of the building and there was an old outhouse with two doors. Erik jumped in through one and squatted down. It was pretty filthy, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Then he realized there was no paper. He called Alex who gave him some old newspaper that was lying on the floor.

Due to the fact that these were strange conditions to Erik shit, literarily, stopped up. Then Alex, now next door, called out for paper. Erik wobbled to the door, stretched out and gave some well used newspaper to Alex who thanked him and finished up. Then Erik wobbled back and concentrated on the job at hand. As he got more comfortable with the situation and the surroundings he relaxed a bit more and got back to business. Then the door opened and Alex was there starting a conversation with Erik 3 So there was Erik, squatting down with his pants on his knees in an old dirty outhouse in Siberia trying to take a dump and Alex wanted to converse ten inches in front of him 3 This was totally normal for him it seemed 3

I just love the Russian boondocks :clap

[EtronX]

We spent two nights in Zhigalovo. It took some time getting the bikes ready and we had to celebrate Walters birthday :freaky I won't say much about that except that it involved a substantial amount of Vodka, guitar and singing :kumbaya

What happens in Zhigalovo stays in Zhigalovo

We hit the road in the morning and stopped on the outskirts of the town to get gas and the obligatory Snickers. As normal the locals wanted pictures. What I like though is that most Russians are always very polite and always asks permission before to see if it is OK.




After gas we drove a few clicks before we crossed the mighty Lena on a floating bridge. Walter leading the way.




At the intersection between Chikan and Magistralny there is a road sign. It was marked by Sibersky Extreme in 2009 and now it was time to mark it again with the Trans Sibir eXpedition sticker






After the intersection the roads turned worse. It was a pretty wet, slippery and bumpy ride. For a while I was behind Walter and I flagged him down because I thought he had a flat. No such thing. Just his new tires that were extremely slippery in the mud. He was all over the place.




Both man and machine needs fuel :1drink




My XC with the Dakar Carbon front fender.




After a pretty rough day we made it to BAM proper. All alive and none hurt. Just a bent front wheel on the list :clap




We got some gas from the local gas station. This one might look basic but just wait and see




Next stop was Severobaikalsk

[AJ]

En dag jeg får riktig god tid skal jeg sette meg ned å bruke dagen til å "være med" på denne fantastiske og nærmest unike Sibir ekspedisjonen :-) .

Må si vi er heldige her på MCsiden.no som har ekstrem-eventyrere som deler sine opplevelser så rundhåndet som det EtronX gjør! :=D>

[EtronX]

EtronX, what can you tell me about that low fender? Where'd you get it? Was it just a straight bolt-on? How'd it hold up?



I got this fender from Pål Anders Ullevålseters mechanic. It is a carbon thing and it is very light. It was not a straight bolt on. It was made for Pål Anders KTM Dakar bike. His bike is quite a bit more narrow in the front suspension compared to the XC. I had a friend build up some kevlar on the outside and then we sanded through. Then we got the width that was needed. It is still very light, but maybe a bit short in the rear. Both Walter and I found some old plastic oil cans in Uoyan that we cut apart and made into front fender extension. This prevented the mud from being thrown up onto the engine and radiator.

[EtronX]

A quick questions to all the guys please, did any of you ever consider using a tire mousse, similar to what the guys on the Dakar use. If not why please, is it a cost consideration or are they just not worth it for these types of trips, I have know idea what a tire mouse costs. Cheers.

We also looked into mousse, but decided agains it. As Walter said, it is a pain in the neck to change tires.

We left Norway with brand new tires. We used Mefo Super Explorer and heavy duty 4 mm cross tubes inside. The tires and tubes were changed in Krasnoyarsk, but in retrospect that was not needed. We could hardly see that they were worn at all. That was after 9.000 km's on mostly asphalt. The tires would have lasted the whole trip. Thats almost 18.000 km :clap

After Olkhon the proper off roading started. I took some pretty heavy hits to my rims. Hitting rocks in the road at high speed. Some that I was sure would puncture the tubes. Nothing happened. Between us Erik and I had one puncture on the whole trip. That was when Erik hit a spike laying in the road close to the end of the trip.