Mongolia to Magadan: Any which (the hard) way

[Chris]

Hi
Here’s a ride report from a bike trip I did in the summer of 2013: It involves off-pavement riding from Ulaan Bataar, the Capital of Mongolia across eastern Siberia in Russia via Irkutsk, Lake Baikal, the western section of the BAM Road, Tynda, Yakutsk and the Road of Bones to Magadan.

The journey started on a 1988 Honda XL600V Transalp (The Shed) and finished on a 2008 BMW G650 X-Challenge (The RBA). There were lots of adventures: Either because they would have happened on any bike, or special bonuses based on my unsuitable bike selection.

I met lots of great local people and had some super riding buddies. They were, in chronological order:
Mr Pete-the great dancer-Berry
Mr Bod Waters
Mr Andrew Don
Mr Jon Boulton (AD and JB’s website is www.jabamundus.com )
Mr Adam Lewis ( http://shortwayround.co.uk/ )
And last, but by no means least, Mr Felix -Mullets are back in fashion- Wright

Most of the images are mine, but some belong to the boys. I have asserted their copyright as appropriate. Thanks for letting me use them. There are also a few videos. They’re not really edited “with love”, but they hopefully help to tell the story of one hell of a trip.

I’d also like to thank Mr Walter Colebatch (http://www.sibirskyextreme.com/ ) for his advice and navigation aids (Next time I’ll follow the advice more closely…) and Mr Phil Kneller for allowing me to complete the trip on his bike while he spent more with the beautiful and charming Zarina.

Here are some pictures to give you a feel for what I encountered.

 

[Packer]

Looking forward to the story, I've read several of Walters reports so have an idea of the "fun" you encountered.

 

[Micky]

Bring it on Chris ....

Ol' Walter C has a lot to answer for

 

[Chris]

Ch1: Ulaan Bataar - 200 clicks up the track - and back again in the back of a truck!

In 2012 I had shipped the Shed from Europe to Almaty in Kazakhstan and had a good ride around bits of Central Asia and through the Altai part of Russia and across Mongolia to Ulaan Bataar. The RR of that trip is at


http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828973


I parked the bike over winter in the heating cellar at the Oasis Guest House and returned again in early July 2013. After charging the battery overnight and turning the fuel on, it fired up first push of the button. It's a Honda after all.

The Oasis was full of the usual motley crew of overlanders, both 2 and 4 wheeled.

I met up with Pete Berry and Bod Waters (3rd from left and on the right: Who had ridden with Matty Johnson (left) on XR400s from England). We agreed to ride to Irkutsk and along the BAM together. Interestingly the bike behind Matty is one of 3 Dutch Yamaha 600 Diversion road bikes (euro1000 each) that had ridden all the way from Europe and across Mongolia via the southern route without any problems. They sold the bikes in UB and flew home. Who needs a blingen 10k £/ 16k us$/ 12k euro pride of German/Austrian shiney engineering?

And he's off... After the first bit of dirt I took off the windscreen so I could see where I was going.

The long view

A little splash

The trail to the Russia border follows the railway line for a little while


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Wired for sound

On the smooth easy stuff the Shed's suspension could handle it...

What a great ride

Crossing the railway track. Why, oh why, do I carry so much sh!te?

Bod leading, me second

Calamity struck! After a little bit of mis-navigation Bod took a shortcut. It's really easy to ride off piste, but sometimes over the crest of a hill there's an unexpected drop! Where I'm standing, I recon is where Bod took off. He lies where he landed. He was concussed and had hurt is foot really badly. Pete stayed with him while I rode off to try to get transport for him and his bike.

Bod's line up the hill to the crest

Loading Bod's bike onto the truck

Bod and bike on way to last town we had passed 10km previously.

Bod putting a brave face on it at the village medical centre where they looked after him well and fixed him up so he could survive the truck journey back to UB to a proper hospital.

We managed to organise another truck for all 3 bikes and us back to UB with the help of the village mayor who phoned his daughter who could speak a little English and was able to interpret to bridge the language barrier.

There was only space for 3 in the cab including the driver. Pete drew the short straw and spent 300km on the bumpy track and the pavement in the cargo bay with the bikes. We arrived back in UB at 2am the following morning from when we had left 16 hours before. What a day and night!

 

[Timolgra]

A good start Chris!

Look forward to the rest of it.

 

[Chris]

Ch2: Leaving Mongolia, Take 2

After a couple of days where Pete helped Bod to get checked out at a proper hospital, me and Pete set off toward the Russian border, this time on tarmac to make up some time. Bod had broken his heel and had to fly home.

A very intriguing statue heading north, in many ways less tacky than Ghengis', east of Ulaan Bataar

Free camping having crossed the Mongolia/Russia border. Welcome to mosquito central. It only got worse, but later on I never really noticed any more. Here they were still annoying. Note the Shed is leaning against a tree: The side stand snapped again at the border

A visitor

My attempt at surreptitiously taking a photo of a Russian military convoy... I needn’t have bothered: When the APC got closer I spotted the gunner taking my picture with his camera phone.

We met up again with Andrew and Jon whom we had seen at the border.

Navigation here wasn't too challenging

Comfort stop

A bridge was down and yours truly checks the options. A bit too deep to pass. The thermometer also said it was quite chilly!


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Taking this off-road short cut we missed out on the city of Ulan Ude

Not all Russians are poor

Lake Baikal to the left

Lake Baikal to the right

 

[rocky burns]

 

[Chris]

A quick overview map of the trip so far

 

[Chris]

Ch 3. Irkutsk to Olkhon Island

After hitting the main paved road at Babushkin we headed around Lake Baikal to Irkutsk. Here's a traditional piece of architecture, rather than the horrid Soviet stuff that also became so popular in parts of the UK when Huddersfield's favourite son, Prime Minister Harold Wilson (I live near Hudds), was Housing Minister after WW2.

3 wheeled scooter with Italian plate outside the most expensive hotel in town. Unfortunately we never met the owner. ANY vehicle can ride/drive the slab (aka Trans-Siberian Highway) from Europe to Vladivostok. Especially if you've got a winch on the front

Takin' a picture of you takin' a picture of me. At the bike workshop round the corner from where we got our new tyres and other supplies. From left to right: Andrew, Adam (who had already been Irkutsk for a week when we arrived), Jon and Pete. Denis at MOTOREZINA.RU - свежая моторезина по разумным ценам. motokolesa, мотоколеса, моторезина, резина для мотоциклов had posted the tyres from Moscow to Irkutsk for us. top bloke.

Pete fitting a new chain and sprockets.

Tyres for all seasons. Note the stickers on the left. Recognise any of them?

Setting off from the hotel in the rain. Spare rubber (in my case Mitas C-02 (An aggressive tyre in 17 inch. Wow!) and Pirelli MT21) to fit later on up the road. Jon and Pete.

Waiting to board the ferry to Olkhon Island. Sorry to be "Ginger-ist": Ginger and Afro! This guy needs a haircut...

Brighty causing trouble. Pushing in to get on the ferry first. Must be my German genes!

The ferry was free! The first time in Russia where I was pleasantly surprised at the (literally) lack of cost of something. Everything in Russia, except petrol, is expensive.

Pete catching the rays between rainclouds.

My bike looking tough, until the going got tough where it retired hurt.

Traditional local transport

Shamen flags at the Shamen rock

Shamen rock at Olkhon Island

 

[biking photographer]

Thanks for posting this, I have really enjoyed reading about your time in this fantastic wilderness. It entertains my lunch hour, lifts my day, and reassures me not everywhere is like the crappy modern treadmill that we inhabit.

 

[Chris]

Thanks for posting this, I have really enjoyed reading about your time in this fantastic wilderness. It entertains my lunch hour, lifts my day, and reassures me not everywhere is like the crappy modern treadmill that we inhabit.

Thanks for the kind words. Sadly, I also inhabit the modern crappy treadmill, but use my holidays to do trips like this.

I'm teaching year 10 Computer Science at the moment.

 

[Chris]

Ch 4 Olkhon Island to Severobaykalsk

We left Olkhon Island and joined the main paved road north. About 150 clicks before Zhigalovo the road became dirt. And our first opportunity to admire the mighty Lena river

One of many punctures on Jon's KTM. He and Andrew were sponsored by a well-known Czech brand of tyre manufacturer. I think the tyre was just plain shagged and he was trying to coax life out of it that just wasn't there

Swapping the back tyre outside the hotel in Zhigalovo

Jon, being the great guy he is, changing the front for me, in the garage next to the hotel, as it had started to rain

Jon preparing a veritable feast In his underpants

This is a normal road, with some interesting traffic

Adam always has a good eye for an interesting photo


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The Zhigalovo Road up to where it joined the BAM was pretty boring. Long and straight, but it was good to be off the pavement and on the dirt

Not short, and not winding

After we reached the BAM turn-off to head east, things got more interesting

Adam gets his front wheel off the ground

The BAM road follows the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway... Some info can be found at Baikal–Amur Mainline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jon had plenty of opportunity to test the support that propped his bike up

And it gave us the opportunity to take in the pleasant views

Arriving at the Severobaikalsk hotel the Shed's radiator started expiring. The road hadn't even been that bumpy. It could and would only get worse.

 

[SIM]

Cannot believe it Brighty, you on a GS website. Trust you are well where you off this year?

Cheers Simon

 

[Chris]

Cannot believe it Brighty, you on a GS website. Trust you are well where you off this year?

Cheers Simon

Hey Si
Stranger things have happened, although not many You recall I did once ride a GS 60000 miles between 1999 and 2002. The little ride report is at http://www.thebrightstuff.com/thebigtrip.htm

It gets even more wierd.... I now own a BMW (X-Challenge) again, although I prefer to call it a Rebadged Aprillia. Oh the shame

This summer I plan to bimble across southern Europe from Greece to Gibraltar on the XC taking in as much off-pavement as possible. What are your plans? Coming to the HU meeting?

 

[Chris]

A map of the route between Irkutsk and Severobaykalsk at the northern tip of Lake Baikal

Sorry for the horrendous shade of green on the line

 

[Chris]

Ch 5: Severobaykalsk to toasted clutch river

Adam: Give the man a map, 2 tins of sardines and 2 tins of Heinz baked beans = Heaven

Anti-freeze and rad-sealant. Adam had helped me fix the hole in the rad the night before. That hole held. Other holes appeared virtually daily.

Trying to get my bike road worthy

Eventually ready to go

Group shot

Catching dinner

This is what you call ground clearance.... And fit for purpose!

We bumped into these 3 cool Russian guys from Ekaterinburg(?) who were riding 250 cc thumpers they had bought in Vladivostok home. We couldn't understand why they had been riding for 12 days since Tynda. We reckoned you could do it in 5. How wrong could we be!

One of the bikes they bought. Is that a glass bottle strapped to the front of the engine? We told them where they could find our old disguarded tyres in Zhiglovo

One of the Russian dudes had a suspected broken ankle. The journey must go on...

Andrew chatting with a local chap who had the best set of steel teeth, but I think he knew I was only taking his pic because the teeth, so kept his mouth shut

Adam, master-craftsman at work

This one wasn't towing a caravan... Sorry, in-joke... Some people know what I'm talking about, hey Kurt/ Felix/ Noah/ Phil/ Mark

A visitor



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An overview of the (easy) riding conditions that my big shed wasn't really enjoying, leading to a "little" river crossing (which, in comparison to what was to come 500km down the track was an utter piece of p!ss). The suspension on a touring bike like my Trannie (despite my Shed having a rebuilt and stiffened shock and fork springs...) is completely substandard compared to a pukka enduro bike like a DRZ400/ XR400/ orange 690.

Move over fat boy, this is how it's done!



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Exhibit A. Did we also mention low ground clearance? Airbox under seat? Chocolate tea-cup clutch?

 

[Chris]

Ch 6 Toasted clutch river to Taksimo

It wasn't completely plain sailing for the others either

The final hurrah of a blowing a clutch

Posing for the photo. The face ain't smiling. I'm seriously up (in?) sh!t creek

Not posing

Jon and Andrew having time to see the funny side while they give me a pull

A local biker taking the bridge. Bollocks, did I feel small! Stupid effing tourist!

A more suitable vehicle than my bike, especially if you take the bridge!

Todor and Yevgeny arrive

In a video further down I describe how indebted I was to Yevgeny and Todor, 2 Russian truckers for helping me change my clutch. I was carrying a (used) spare that my mechanic had swapped out for a new one before I sent off from England.

They had the tools and skills and I knew what needed to be done as I toasted a clutch in the sands of Morocco and had the opportunity to watch a Moroccan mechanic and his son in Rissani change one in 2005. The fact they spoke no English and I spoke only 7 words of Russian (Da, Niet, Piva, Vodka, Borscht, Shashlik, Gastiniza) made no difference. In 4 hours we had it done, including an oil and filter change.

After they fixed my bike and didn't want any money (I did try to give them a little, but they flatly refused), they also fed me!

Monument. I'm surprised I was even in the mood to stop to take a picture. Maybe I was looking for excuses to stop to catch my breath




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This video shows a little of my emotional state and gratitude to Yevgeny and Todor

Welcome to Severomuysk

Very good condition for a BAM road bridge

A not so good bridge: The previous summer in 2012 much of this region was ravaged by forest fires




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We are not enjoying this! Wrong bike Bright, get it?

A famous bridge that's been in more than one ride report




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Wakey wakey! The railway is never far away. It also allowed me to extract myself from here back to Lake Baikal and the easy road to Irkutsk. More of that later though.

Locals enjoying a sunny day (honestly, there weren’t many) by the river

The Seaplane monument in Taksimo getting a clean and paint

A close-up in case you missed the detail

 

[Ex-Call Centre Chimp]

This is a fascinating read thanx for taking the time to post it.

I have to say though it looks like a complete nightmare, there are more photographs of mishaps/punctures/breakdowns than there are of anything else.

I admire you for doing it but actually, looking at the lack of breakdown recovery vehicles, anonymous air conditioned hotel rooms &
multi-national restaurant chains I'm rather pleased to be on the boring treadmill of work.

Fair play to you though, I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the report.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Great report so far and looking forward to the rest

 

[Ash]

Great report so far and looking forward to the rest

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