Trans Sibir eXpedition 2012

[EtronX]

We got the news from Walter in the morning. He and Terry would not ride with us to Tynda. They were both knackered and Walters subframe had cracked again. They would wait a day and then put themselves and the bikes on a train. We would then all meet in Tynda in two days time. We bid goodbye and saddled up.

PS! Not the best quality on the pictures from this day. It was raining like crazy and almost all of the pictures are frames taken from the GoPro.

First we needed to get some gas. No gas in Novaya Chara so we headed over to Chara to refill. About 15 clicks north.




We got our gas and headed East. It was raining steadily. After about 150 k's we came to the Olongdo river. The bridge was U/S, as is normal on the BAM




This is actually a nice crossing. You have to enter the river and then follow it for a while before you can cross over to the other side. It is not technically difficult as long as you pick the right line We got the XC's over easily, but in places like this the weight of the 800GS is noticeable. Steve got stuck a bit in the middle, but with the help of some locals we got the show back on the road.




We pressed on, but just outside Hani my GPS started to get blurry. I stopped to check if the mount was loose. Then I noticed something on the subframe. "Fhat the Wuck" :splat The thing had cracked again :huh

In Zhigalovo I only had a minor crack in the subframe and the weld that was done there was just at the crack. I tried to get them to weld some more in order to strengthen it, but due to language problems that did not happen. Now I got to pay the price. Nothing more to do than use some TT straps and tie the thing up as good as I could.

We had only gotten a few kilometers after this when my engine started to misfire. It was raining heavily now and I was getting severely pissed issed The engine sounded like a two cylinder engine running on one cylinder. No power. I stopped the bike and checked. Nothing found. I put it to neutral and started it again. It did run fine, but as soon as I put it into first gear it stopped. It had to be the kill switch on the side stand that was causing this. It is a known problem on the XC.

I remembered from when I did the rebuild of the bikes in Holland Erik of HotRod Welding told me about this. He also said it is the brown and white cable you have to cut. I got my Leatherman out and found the cables. It was a bit narrow, but I managed to cut the brown and white. Then I tied them together. The bike started, but as soon as I took it out of neutral it stopped :huh There was one more cable. I cut that one to and tied the whole bunch together. Now it started and it did run in all gears. Problem solved :clap The only thing was that I had no protection if I tried to start the bike in gear or if the side stand came down while I drove. Well, you win some and you loose some. The main thing was that I could ride the bike again.

[EtronX]

We pressed on. The rain was pouring down. In Khani we had stopped for some food. A lot of locals came and talked with us. Most of them drunk, but friendly. A friend of Walters also showed up and asked us to stay. We thanked him, but said we would drive on. Lots of people warned us about the rivers running high due to all the rain. Again we thanked them, but said we would try. If we couldn't make it we would come back and drink Vodka with them :1drink

20 k's from Khani was the firs big river with no bridge. The Yus-Kyuel, a side river from the mighty Khani. We checked the river out and decided we could not cross at the normal place.




It was now in the afternoon. We followed a track along the river a few hundred meters in order to find a better place to cross. Then we came to the rail road bridge and there was a small hut there. We were wet and tired and decided to check out the hut. If it was OK we would spend the night there. A quick look was all it took. We would continue. It was almost raining as much on the inside as the outside :huh

For us to continue it dawned on us that we only had but one option left. The rail road bridge. We had only done this once before with Walter and Terry. Then we had walked the bridge first and put out lookouts at both ends in order to see if a train was coming. We figured out that this we could do ourselves

We did some scouting and found an embarkment that would put us up by the tracks. We drove the bikes up and parked. We did all the Indian tricks and both felt and listened on the tracks. Nothing. Then we decided that this was not quite the way to do it. We had to walk and use the old Eyeball 20/20. Erik walked over the bridge to the first turn. Steve walked back to the first turn. When they both gave me the OK signal I crossed. Then I went to the far end where Erik had been staying while Erik went back for his bike. New thumbs up and Erik crossed. Then Erik swapped places with Steve and Steve finally crossed, and Erik came back across the bridge for the fifth time :huh I hoped we wouldn't need to cross to many bridges because this took forever. If we would use the same amount of time for each bridge it would be snowing by the time we got to Tynda :eek1




It was a fairly long bridge, but we succeeded :clap Crossing this bridge on our own gave us confidence and new energy. This was fun :clap We would continue as far as we could that day. The initial goal of the day was Yuktali. A stretch of 330 km. All proper off road and the few road bridges we crossed were very slippery.




We did ride beside the rail road for some stretches, but the missing bridges and high water level forced us up on the embarkment.




At first we didn't know what to do when a train came. Should we hide or just stay? Every time a train passed it honked its horn. We soon noticed though that they just saluted us and waved from the loc :clap No angry faces. Just friendly waving. I love Russia :clap




After we noticed this we all relaxed more and enjoyed the riding. In Europe we would have been arrested for doing this, but here we even raced the train :rofl

[EtronX]

After Chara there are a lot of rail road bridges going East. We crossed one after another. Some small and some big. We soon decided that we couldn't stop and walk every bridge. It would take ages. In the beginning we stopped and looked very carefully. Then rode over.




Then after a while we just checked our mirrors and went for it. Here Steve and I have crossed and we hear the train coming. Erik didn't




Erik after the crossing He just got off...




Then things went pear shaped For the record; there is room between a bike and a train in these small booths. We know...




Then the spring that holds up the side stand of Steve's bike fell off. On the middle of a bridge :huh Erik rushes in and ties the side stand up with a TT strap




Then it got dark :[-o<

[KawaKjetil]

Really impressive

[RuneMC]

Flott tur, har lest halvveis gjennom tråden til Steve (?) på Advrider også...
Det slår meg dog at jeg foretrekker å kjøre nærmere sivilisasjonens komfort

Men flott innstilling til hele følget da, der har vi nok noe å lære av "mindset" når det gjelder å fortsette ufortrødent og ikke la seg stoppe av større og mindre problem.

[EtronX]

Finally after a hard days ride we got to the Olyokma river at about 2300. We drove down to the bridge to take a look, but decided against crossing due to it being so late. We knew there was a guard on the other end and we didn't want to alarm him by crossing at night.

We headed back to find a place to put up our tents. Everything we had on was wet and it would be nice to dry something out. Just before the bridge on the West side there is a rail road station. We took a look around and then found this big house placed on poles. Maybe we could fit the tents below the house. We checked and there was enough room :clap We just put up our inner tents and hang everything we had around for drying. There was a good breeze blowing under the house. We had great hopes that everything should be dry in the morning We hit the sack and soon ZZZZZZ's were the only sound heard, except for the occasionally train that comes every five minutes during the whole night :ear

[EtronX]

Got wood?

What's up with the boards I see behind your luggage? Oh, and tell us about your bags. This is really getting good!!!


This is what our bikes looked like on the start of the trip.




What we have here is the following:

One Giant loop Great Basin Saddlebag. This was our primary luggage.

On top of the air intake we all had tank bags. I had the Touratech one, Erik the BMW one and Steve the Giant Loop one. Here we all stored our photo and video equipment.

But we quickly realized we needed more room for the trip.

We then bought three Biltema Pakksekk. They only cost around $ 22 each and are fully waterproof.

In the Biltema bags on the right hand side I had tools, spare inner tube, sprockets, new chain and oil. On the left hand side I had my camping equipment and sleeping bag. On the top one I had my daily clothes and my MacBook. On top of this you see our new tires We drove like this to Krasnoyarsk. No heavy off roading so weight was not an issue. In Krasnoyarsk we changed tires, oil, sprockets etc...

The piece of wood on the left hand side we had to put on due to the heat from the exhaust pipe. We melted two Biltema bags and one sleeping mat pre wood installation

Due to occupational hazard and me being an old military man I brought a pretty extensive medical kit. This included a Kendrick Traction Splint, a Sam Splint, a full suture kit and a dental kit. I had medication that made me able to put you to sleep, wake you up etc. etc... I also had a dry kit of wool underwear stuffed in the GL.

Was all this necessary you might ask Well in retrospect I would change a few things:

Firstly I would take less equipment. I think this whole trip could have been made without changing tires. Our Mefo Super Explorer saw no significant wear when we arrived in Krasnoyarsk. That was after 9.000 km's. Same with the chain and sprockets. We could hav used the same for the whole trip. Next time the medical equipment stays at home, Oh you gotta have a little faith

As a tank bag I would use the Giant Loop Fandango It is small and don't get in the way when you stand up. It is also easy to take off using a zipper. One thing to remember with the Giant Loop stuff is that it is not waterproof from the factory. You get the sealing with the bag. Use great caution when you seal the bags. That makes life a lot more easy. I didn't :huh But fortunately I had packed all my gear in small waterproof bags.

The Giant Loop Great Basin is a great saddlebag if you have a bike with no rear baggage frame. On our bikes we had a very light and solid frame built by Hotrod Erik. This protected the Xtank and supported the rear fender. The frame was a bit to wide for the GL Great Basin. We didn't get it to fit properly over the saddle. On a bike with a wide frame in the back you are better off with the new Giant Loop Siskiyou Panniers or Adventure Specs Magadan Panniers

And one more thing, bring lots of rear brake pads. When it rains you can go through a set in a day or two

[EtronX]

We got up in the morning after an interesting nights sleep. Just by the station where we slept there was a side track that the trains used to wait at in order to pass each other. Especially one of the trains made a very special noise. The engine must have been a big turbine engine. I know the sound of one, and this one did not have a diesel engine. I thought about checking, but I was to tired.




We got our kit together and fortunately everything had dried during the night This was a good start of the day. We saddled up and headed for the Olyokma bridge a few hundred meters away. The bridge was long and it was guarded on the far side. We had a quick Council of War about how we should do the crossing. Should we walk over and ask permission first, or should we just go and ask forgiveness after? We decided on the last option. I got ready, and to make sure we had no problems, I had 3.000 Rubles ready in my hand. I would give this to the guard when on the other side.

We had a quick lookout for trains and off I went. Due to a turn of the rail road immediately after the bridge the trains go very slow here. That's a good thing Due to the turn immediately after the bridge you can't see the trains before they are on the bridge. That's a bad thing :huh



It took me a very long two minutes and fifteen seconds to cross the bridge :eek1 When I got over a man came smiling towards me. I got of my bike, took of my helmet and greeted him with a 3.000 Rubles handshake. If it weren't for his ears his smile would have gone all around his head I told him two others were coming and asked if that was OK. "Nje prablema". I waved at the guys and they set course across the bridge.




Now I can't remember the name of this fine man , but he was really friendly and invited us in for something to eat and drink. Note, this was around 0800 in the morning :rofl




He was very talkative and wanted us to stay. He spend four weeks here in his little cabin and then a few days at home. We had some tea and biscuits with him and he also offered us Cognac to celebrate. This was the first one along the BAM that we saw drinking something else than Vodka. He had style :1drink We politely said No and took the tea.

We spent maybe 30 minutes with him. It was a good 30 minutes. It is very nice when you meet a man like him. Friendly to his heart. I start to believe in the human race again We took our farewell pictures and drove the short distance into Yuktali.

[EtronX]

First off in Yuktali was to get gas. The "station" is not in the centre of the place as you would expect, but rather in a rural area outside the centre. Well, rural might not be the correct word here We followed the instructions from Mr. Zumo. He led us to some typical old Russian houses with fences around and a small garden where they grew vegetables. Didn't look like no gas station to me. Then a guy came over to us. We asked and he confirmed that this was indeed the gas station :huh We just had to drive around the estate. So we did and there we met Yura. Waiting for us with a big smile




We got our gas and Steve got his side stand fixed. Yura's friend scooted off and came back with a spring. Put it on the bike and Voilà side stand OK again




After getting gas, not a hair over 72 octane, Yura jumped on his scooter and led the way to the local Supermarcado.




We bought some food and new dry thick socks. What a luxury We were now ready for the last stretch in towards Tynda and the finnish of the BAM :clap

[EtronX]

So here we are. In the middle of Siberia. Miles from the civilization. Then I can go into a store and buy bananas. Maybe from Ecuador. Probably they were shipped by boat initially. Then by truck to the train station. Reloaded to a train and off they went to Yuktali. Where I could buy them. Isn't that pretty amazing? I mean, we are in the middle of Siberia

[EtronX]

After the refill of food, socks and gas we were now ready to twist the throttles again. For a long time we followed the Nyukzha river. The road was nice and we could keep a good pace.




We hit the occasional iffy bridge, but nothing to serious




Some we checked a bit :huh




Then we rode it




We had some lunch :lurk




After a while we traveled a bit North East of the rail road tracks. Going up and down over the mountain ranges. It was especially fun going up the steep hills. You could really crank it open going up. Letting the bike dance below you. The only issue was if you pressed the engine to hard it started knocking. Probably due to the low octane gas we got in Yuktali


Suddenly we came to this bridge in the middle of nowhere i guess that someone had a great idea at one time, or at least the guy in charge of the road was from the district




The road got better and better. After the settlement of Loptsa we could steadily do 100 to 110 without problems sitting down. We made good distance and Tynda was within easy reach that day.

As we rode I felt my luggage was a bit loose. I stopped and retightened it. Letting the guys ride ahead. I got back in the saddle again, but rode a bit slower. No rush catching up with the guys. On a fairly straight stretch of the road I saw a Lada 4X4 coming against me. It was an elderly couple in the car and they flagged me down. I stopped and both got out pretty excited. Then they explained that they had sen the flag on my bike and that last year two Swedes had stopped by their house while they needed some help with their bikes. I asked if that was Staffan and Victor. Their jaws dropped and they said yes. It's a small worl

Before I left, in addition to Walter, I also made contact with Staffan who rode from Sweden to Magadan and back in 2011.

[video]http://vimeo.com/30032234[/video]


After this little meeting I revved it and caught up with the guys. We stopped and had a little discussion. Should we go all the way to Tynda or should we camp one last time along the BAM. The decision was unanimously. We would camp We found a great camp place by the river Larbi.




Got the fire going and made some food. Here Erik is enjoying himself




And Steve




Me, I felt happy and a bit sad. Two years ago I had gotten the idea of riding the BAM. Now it was done. It was an anticlimax. I had waited so much for this moment. Planned for so long and now I had done it. The trip had been an adventure and I had loved every second of it. But now the BAM was over.

We ate the food. Had a few beers and just enjoyed the beautiful night. It was a great ending of the BAM :wave

[dag-zzr]

Virkelig en topp reiseskildring.

Har vert "mye" om reiser i Russland ulike tvkanaler i vinter som jeg har fulgt med på. Blir helt syk av ønsket om å kjenne lukten og føle vinden fra de stedene som vises på bilder og film. Både fra både bygd og by.

Til dere litt yngre.. Det er bedre å angre på det man har gjort, enn det man ikke har gjort

Mulig anledningen byr seg til en tur. Kansje ikke på MC, men hvem vet? Så på tvn at norges eldste mann (105 år) ikke hadde begynt med trening før han var 80 år. Da er det vel sikkert ikke for seint for meg ennå???

Lurer på hva krav til veistandard og sikkerhet er i Russland??

[EtronX]

Lurer på hva krav til veistandard og sikkerhet er i Russland??

Jeg har nå reist to turer til Russland. En kort tur til Kola og en lang tur til Magadan. Her er mine inntrykk fra turene med hensyn til veistandard og sikkerhet :-)

I Russland får du alt med hensyn til vei. De har de bredeste og flotteste motorveier, og de har dette:




Alt kommer an på hva du ønsker. Fra Kirkenes til Murmansk er det greie veier. Samme sydover fra Murmansk mot St.Petersburg. Det er noen småhull i veien, men ikke verre enn det man kan oppleve i Telemark Skal man innom småplasser, og det vil jeg anbefale på det sterkeste, treffer man ofte på grusveier. Disse kan ha varierende kvalitet. Er det nedbør blir noen av disse småkrevende. Poenget her er at man kan kjøre rundt i Russland på en R-sykkel, om man ønsker det, uten problemer.

Når det gjelder sikkerhet, og følelsen av den, kan følgende sies om Russland; Jeg har aldri følt meg bedre mottatt og tryggere enn i Russland. Russerene er utrolig gjestfrie og stolte av landet sitt. Du blir ofte invitert inn på mat og drikke. Du får aldri lov til å betale for det. Det ville fornærme verten og samtidig sette deres gjestfrihet under tvil.

Det kan til tider drikkes litt mye der borte, men igjen så opplevde vi at folk var høflige og greie. Om enn noe snøvlete

De gangene vi hadde tekniske problemer fikk vi all den hjelpen vi trengte. På de rareste plasser. Folk er vant til å klare seg selv, og de reparerer det meste med enkle midler.

Jeg vil anbefale alle å ta en tur i Russland. Som biker vil du bli veldig godt tatt i mot, og kanskje noen av fordommene vi alle er utstyrte med vil bli plukket bort

[Bikeridr]

Når det gjelder sikkerhet, og følelsen av den, kan følgende sies om Russland; Jeg har aldri følt meg bedre mottatt og tryggere enn i Russland. Russerene er utrolig gjestfrie og stolte av landet sitt. Du blir ofte invitert inn på mat og drikke. Du får aldri lov til å betale for det. Det ville fornærme verten og samtidig sette deres gjestfrihet under tvil.

Det kan til tider drikkes litt mye der borte, men igjen så opplevde vi at folk var høflige og greie. Om enn noe snøvlete

De gangene vi hadde tekniske problemer fikk vi all den hjelpen vi trengte. På de rareste plasser. Folk er vant til å klare seg selv, og de reparerer det meste med enkle midler.

Jeg vil anbefale alle å ta en tur i Russland. Som biker vil du bli veldig godt tatt i mot, og kanskje noen av fordommene vi alle er utstyrte med vil bli plukket bort

Jeg er vel inhabil siden jeg har russisk kone. :-)
Men, det du summerer her er vel den mest korrekte beskrivelsen jeg har sett.

Jeg har også kjørt endel (med bil) i Russland, og trafikken kan være tildels "aktiv", men ikke noe verre enn at med litt trening så klarer man fint å bli like "aktiv" selv.

Jeg har nå lest loggen deres og fulgt med på bloggen deres og jeg kan bare si FY F..N! Dette har jeg også vanvittig lyst til å gjøre selv

Takk for en skikkelig leseverdig blogg og takk for at jeg/vi har fått "tatt del" i turen. :-)

[EtronX]

After a good nights sleep we woke up to a nice day. The night had been dry and all was jolly




We got some breakfast down our throats and collected our kit. The Heater Meals are great. Everything is included in the package. You open, take the pack of saline solution and put on a designated piece of paper and the whole lot heats up. It gets very hot, so be a bit careful. I had a few of these with me on the trip. They weigh a bit, but when you are cold and hungry and need something hot without to much hassle, they are perfect :thumb




The 120 or so kilometers into Tynda were uneventful. The roads were good and there was almost no traffic. Maybe because it was an idle tuesday in Siberia. The plan of today was to get a hotel room, hook up with the Sibersky team coming in on a train and do some maintenance on the bikes.

As we got into Tynda I called a number I'd gotten from Walter. In the other end Max answered.




Max was a really friendly and helpful guy. He was the Commander in Chief of the local Kamaz shop. He came to meet us and guided us to a hotel in the city. He was also the one that had ridden Eastern BAM with the girl from St.Petersburg

On the ride from Chara, Eriks subframe had also cracked again. We both needed some welding to be done. This time properly and with reinforcements. Steve's front rim didn't look to good either. If it had been drawn in a cartoon, like say Donald Duck, the rim would have been drawn like a figure eight :rofl We asked Max if he knew any place we could have this done. "No problem", he said. There was a guy specializing in aluminum welding next to Max's shop. He called him and the guy was available in the afternoon :clap




In the meanwhile we got our stuff into the hotel room... As you all see, travel light is a mantra for us :eek1




After getting properly installed at the hotel, we headed over to Max's place and started demounting the bikes. When we'd gotten the subframes off and elderly guy came over. He took a quick look at the subframes and at Steve's front rim. "Nje prablema", he said and took my subframe into his shop. I looked around in his shop and saw several severely cracked and damaged aluminum car rims. This was his niche. He welded them back together. That was a first for me. I didn't think that could be done :huh




After my subframe was done, he started on Erik's, and I put my bike back together again. Properly welded and with proper reinforcements this time. Just as I was finishing up my bike I got a SMS from Walter. They were to arrive at the train station around 1600 and needed help to get the bike off. Max and I went over to meet them.




Walter had to weld his subframe also. That meant we needed on more day in Tynda. We would have tomorrow off. Max told us to put the bikes in the garages at his work place. It was secure parking guarded by a vicious dog and a night guard.

The average age of the team I won't calculate. I just get depressed But when you look at this picture you might wonder... The smart phone generation :rofl I think Walter is ordering a lot of parts from Boris :deal