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 J.A.B.A MUNDUS | Motorcycling Around The world )
Mr Adam Lewis ( Short Way Round | …short on legs…short on hair…and short on cash – riding around the world the ShortWayRound! )
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 (Sibirsky Extreme | Going where no motorcycle has been before ) 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.

[mark k]

Gives me something to read at work today


Mark
www.bamriders.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[chris]

Originally Posted by mark k

Gives me something to read at work today


Mark
www.bamriders.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

I'll start properly next week. Lots of pics and vids to come.

[mika]

Hola Chris,

thank you for posting this here, good pictures, waiting for more to come.

What happened to the Transalp? Did you forget to fill oil in? As you know, I traveled solo on an XL250R in 2003 to Magadan, it was fun, but hard at times. I did not take many pictures, because the camera got wet, so I wait for yours.

But next year I will go back to Russia, but not to Magadan.

Saludos desde Bolivia
mika

[chris]

Originally Posted by mika

Hola Chris,

thank you for posting this here, good pictures, waiting for more to come.

What happened to the Transalp? Did you forget to fill oil in? As you know, I traveled solo on an XL250R in 2003 to Magadan, it was fun, but hard at times. I did not take many pictures, because the camera got wet, so I wait for yours.

But next year I will go back to Russia, but not to Magadan.

Saludos desde Bolivia
mika

Hi Mika

The TA never actually died. At the end of my trip I rode it back to Ulaan Bataar and shipped it to Europe. It's on its way at the moment: 5 months late! Don't freight anything to/from Mongolia!

Issues with the bike:

The radiator started leaking in various places (caused by bumpy road)

The shock was about to explode (caused by bumpy road)

I had already toasted 1 clutch and replaced it with a spare: I didn't have another spare (caused by bumpy/muddy road and river crossings)

Where I turned back, half way along the western BAM (before the Vitim Bridge) was the easy bit. The hard part would have been to come!

[zandesiro]

Waiting for more pics...Awesome ride!

[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.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...et-place-66414

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


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBmhHzmf_CE


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!

[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. 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!









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

[chris]

A quick overview map of the trip so far

[liammons]

Fantastic pictures . . .

[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

[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




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.

[mollydog]

Originally Posted by chris

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

Incredible statue ... what is the story behind it? Does this reflect the popularity of overland riders on bikes coming through? I guess by now a lot of riders are doing this ride? Are tour groups offering rides there now?

How did the various bikes hold up in general? What sort of total miles were done?
Would you undertake another long range ride into this area?

Repeated front flats on that KTM must be something with the wheel, spokes jabbing tube? or ..? Rim lock pinching tube? Ever figure it out?
Great report ... looks like you guys did very well, got along well. LUCKY! Sorry to see your buddy hurt his foot. Going cross country always has risks. Here in our Deserts guys ride straight into 100 ft deep abandon mine shafts ... or hit hidden barbed wire and go flying.
Looking forward to more!

[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





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!





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