I´ve never really understood that "Ironbutt"-philosophy myself, but also dont have any problem with it, if someone else gets their kicks from it.

We did Europe-Australia with my girlfriend one year ago, stayed 6 months on the road, and I wished we´d had at least 2 or maybe 3 more. We had time for some sightseeing, but we felt we would have liked to stay in some places a little longer.

40-60 days sounds a bit tough, I´m not convinced, that it´d be do-able at all. Riding in Australia, for one thing, will not prepare you for riding in Asia. India, for example, is about as different as it can get from Oz. Some 1200 million people living in an area, thats about half of Australia. Pushing it too hard in that traffic, even in the daytime, to meet some imaginary time limits, is highly likely to end in a very unpleasant way.

I would estimate, that from a riders point of view, 300kms per day on the highway in India, felt just about the same as 800kms on the highway in Australia. The roads, and especially the traffic, are so far apart.

You can draw a large cross over Burma on your route map, because you wont get there with your own bike. And you may be able to do China, but do not expect it to be easy, and budget somewhere between 5-10 thousand US just for the extra costs related to the arrangements that are needed. Those arrangements also need to get underway several months before you plan to cross. (The distances on your route map, especially Singapore to Kunming, felt a little bit short, but I may also be wrong about that EDIT: Almaty->Belgrade 5600kms? that also sounds way too short, if we´re talking road distance here).

Riding very tired in Asia is simply a bad idea, and unless you´re very familiar with the local ways and such, so is riding in the dark. These two alone would be enough for me to not even think doing what you plan to do in such a short time. But sure its your life, and you can do whatever you choose with it. Good luck on you anyway!

>We did Europe-Australia with my girlfriend one year ago, stayed 6
>months on the road, and I wished we´d had at least 2 or maybe 3 more.
>We had time for some sightseeing, but we felt we would have liked to
>stay in some places a little longer.

Believe me I have the same feeling every time when I go on holidays either locally either overseas. From personal experience no one can learn/understand everything about foreign culture even in he/she spends a couple of years in such foreign country.

40-60 days is only a ballpark figure. I don't expect to ride more than 600kms/day even in Turkey/Thailand on good highways. These were only estimates, but close enough to give rough picture about the trip.

Most people link trips to the mileage as I believe trips should be linked rather to the times. From what I've learned, riding 13-16 hours a day is the maximum I would recommend. That gives 6-8 hours for sleep and body/mind to recover. Not every day has to be like that one.

My most recent trip of course can not be fully compared to Asia trip, but it is still better than sitting at home, or worse, pretending that I can get experience by riding from home to work and back. I would really like to hear what kind of preparations (trip/packing/...) did you undertake before going to Australia.

>The distances on your route map, especially Singapore to Kunming,
>felt a little bit short, but I may also be wrong about that EDIT:
>Almaty->Belgrade >5600kms? that also sounds way too short, if we´re
>talking road distance here).

As stated on the web site, the source was Web browser and Live Maps are incompatible. I also expect these to increase by not more than 10%.

Thank you for your response.
Stjepan

Regards the trip, you might want to check out our "blog" (well, sort of.. I had some work I needed to do on my laptop while underway, and it ate up my spare time, so it was never finished - but I will actually convert it into English now, when I´ve got more time, and it will one day include our whole trip!!)

It is at:
MOTO-Ykkönen - Matkalla
(at the moment, it is only partly in English, but will be updated).

About the distances, I still think those marked on the maps are too short.

The beginning of our trip, from Lubeck (north Germany) to Slovenia-Greece-Turkey-Iran-Pakistan-India (with no detours in Europe, only some in Turkey, and very few in Iran or Pakistan, but including Dharamsala, Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Alleppey, Trichy & Chennai in India) was almost exactly 16.000 kms on the road. There are maps on our "blog", so you might want to put that same route into your route program, and see what kind of figure it´ll give you.

Me, I wouldnt ride 13-16 hours a day anywhere in the tropics, because it´d mean also riding in the dark. Over there, daylight will be ~12 hours, and darkness comes very suddenly.

Well done Pekka on your trip and thanks for sharing your experience with us.

I am sure some people on forums would object on your bike setup (too overloaded, etc...), but I believe you have consulted Suzuki User Manual before the trip with regards to weight capacity limits.

By the way Honda CB900 User Manual declare max weight of 174kg including rider. Weight on my recent trip was 17kg + 106kg rider (with boots, jacket, pants, helmet). Anyting else (e.g. aerodynamics, manouverability,...) is not much relevant, however I am not saying it's not important.

Regarding preparation I believe that you haven't had >>exact<< trip plan before you left Finland. The figures that I put on my website (as stated several times) were estimate ballpark only.

I believe your ride was done according to environment/circumstances, which is the same I will be doing.

Once again well done and congratulations on your achievement ! I look forward to check your web site again once it's completed in English.

Thank you
Stjepan

WA Marathon
 

Hi Stjepan,
Like a few folk on this site i've been waiting to see how you went on your quick trip, must say congrats on making it there and back and although outside your original time frame still a bloody good effort. Your a tougher guy than me with that 1800km day to finish off. Sorry you got so many negative coments even if some may have been concerned with your well being.
Again really enjoyed the pics and provided a good insight to this area, originally planned trip from east to west coast last April with a mate but due to time did the Tassie trip instead, only 4500ks.
As with this trip, look for the positives for your bigger trip and get as much good info as possible to make the ride easier for yourself. If this one is anything to go on you shouldn't have too much of a problem,
cheers


Scoop :mchappy:

Good on you for having a go :thumbup1:

You can only learn by doing.

Hey Davo. Good to see ya here too mate. :welcome:

Really enjoyed your photos Bosi, as they brought back lots of happy memories of my own trip.

However I still think you're nuts. That sort of endurance test is not for me. Glad you're still alive to tell the tale.