Good guess 9181kms!
Mongolia was no problem on the bald tyres, although I did fall over twice in the last river crossing on the northern route near the Tsaangur border crossing.
I blamed it on the blad tyres and not my lack of riding skills!
But they were great tyres, will be using them again.

__________________
Mark
www.bamriders.com

I'm going to do this trip in 2015 now..... I was really being optimistic thinking I could save enough money before April. If the BAM has to be ridden in July, leaving any later would be rushing. And I hate to rush...

When I travel, I like to have the money to actually enjoy myself instead of penny pinching every single day.

I think I'll do a trip around eastern Europe in 2014 and test out my rebuilt bike...


I'll still be following this thread with great enthusiasm and gathering intersest for 2015

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

it can be ridden in August, its just you are lot more likely to have rain ... same for the road of bones

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well you see ... I've done this before

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I want £8000 in the bank before I leave. If I leave the UK in April/may I'll have about £5000 and that's with selling a bike I don't want to. Think I'll ride up to nordcap instead and some shorter blasts about..

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Well try it on 5k and take a credit card or something to make up the extra 3k if needed, the younger the better i say and alot can change in another year

I was living/working in Perth Oz working offshore and one dinner break whilst bored i started searching the internet looking at blogs ect ect and i said to myself i would do my bike test and then plan a trip around 2015.

I had a bad day at work in February on a Monday and 3 days later i jacked my job and was back in the UK, 6 weeks/3 bike tests later i was preparing my DRZ and getting visa's.


First time i rode my bike was to Dover, my bike would not fit through the back garden gate with the side bags on and i fell off leaving the back of my house as i never rode the bike with the side bags

You know whats best for you and you are a experienced traveler but i would live for now and not later in a sensible way

Life is to short

Wesley, you're dead right mate. And I am usually just like that. I've been travelling like that for the last 8 years. I've spent a fortune, owe a lot of money and have no career !!

Do I regret it... NOT FOR A SECOND

This time however, I refuse to use a credit card. I'm in the early stages of starting a welding/fabrication business and I have invested A LOT of cash in it. It's a long term plan to give me freedom to travel in the future. At the moment I'm working like a bloody dog for company's who make all the cash off my back. Screw them... I just need to be semi-sensible for 12-18 months to refill the war chest and not be scratching around on the dole when I get home..

I'll still be travelling next year but for the Magadan trip, I really want to make the most of it and be able to spend money on Vodka

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

We are sorting out a container to Vladivostok to be there next year mid July and then return early September.
5 places so far, you are welcome to jump in either way or both if you fancy.

Mark
www.bamriders.com

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Mark
www.bamriders.com

He Ted,
I'm thinking of going back to my original plan for 2014......Morocco and Europe and recently that's evolved in Morocco and Nordkapp! April/May Morocco and June back home and enjoy local summer time and July/August Nordkapp and then subsequently October or so to Oz for a couple of months, where I still have a Landcruiser standing and waiting for me. So who knows.....
Cheers,
Noel

Too right Wes ...

Something to think about Ted ... If you want to go to Magadan via the legendary Old Summer Road, go next year.

The single biggest challenge on that road is the Kyubeme River crossing right at the western end of it.

Its the bridge where Ewan and Charley were faffing about at and Claudio just climbed across the collapsed bridge and went to sleep in the abandoned village on the other side. Eventually the bikes were loaded up into their support trucks and driven over the next morning.

Well to cut a long story short, the collapsed bridge, which had been collapsed and derelict for 30 years, finally got swept away in spring floods last year. The remains of the old wooden bridge were pulled down in October last year and this year a new concrete pylon was planted in the middle of the river for a new concrete bridge to be completed by the end of next year.

So next summer is your last chance to do the Old Summer Road, complete with the full Kyubeme River crossing. Once there is a brand new concrete bridge over the hardest part, it wont feel the same.

If you are worried about costs, skip Turkey and other expensive close to home bits that you can do another time.

I am constantly putting up to date info on that part of the world, as well as historical pics of interest from the BAM and Road of Bones on the Sibirsky Extreme facebook page (link in sig line). It may be useful to follow it if you are planning to go to that part of the world.

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Jeeeezzzzzz !! A dilema.....

My timing sucks..

Thing is, If I go away for just 2-3 months I'll kick myself. I love to have a good six month trip every 2-3 years if possible. I only managed a 1 month and a 2 month trip last year and It just didn't scratch my itch. It's not enough time to unwind and lose yourself.

If I do this trip, it has to be a good 5-6 months.

NO MORE CREDIT CARDS

I'll go and sit on a step and think about it....:confused1:

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

have cold s ready for when i get to the UK and i can show photos of the great time that you should have been having

or

go and walk around you house/ garage and sell all the crap that you haven't used for a year or more...someone out there wants it...that includes bikes...AND GO RIDE, this is what i'm doing right now

__________________
www.rtwpaul.com

...and

i'll even help you with the welding business when you get back, i have been known to weld...hell of a lot...if you need a good TIG man for the winter

__________________
www.rtwpaul.com

You never know........ I'm learning tig now. Currently melting a lot of aluminium into wierd shapes and swearing

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

you've moving to slow and got your settings too high, probably not clean enough either, try using MEK before you weld...i'll tell you how to do it in Magadan

__________________
www.rtwpaul.com