That's depressing. Good for the country though.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

The Dakar will make it. As long as you know ALL it's weaknesses and prepare in advance for them.

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

3 days? Walter, I think you underestimated it, or you are joking.
We are not all almost professional rally style riders as you are :-)

Asphalt is rising, yes, but it is still plenty of washboard parts and I think on a road bike...yes, maybe doable, but really not a good idea.

fahrer1: leave the big and heavy road bike home, search for travel reports on this site and on advrider, and enjoy Mongolia riding the 650.

colebatch:

I have read all your RR's and admired your adventures. However, that kind of riding is not my cup of tea, so I am sure that the southern route is going to be very special for us. If I was a single rider I might have had preferencies closer to yours, but with the woman of my life behind me I try to keep the stress and the risk as low as possible. Riding motorcycles anywhere is a risky bussiness allready, so I hope for as much paved road as possible. In that light I am very happy for your information that roughly 80% of the southern route is paved. I believe that we'll manage the other 20%.

Still, Magadan calls, and if the road improves before we get too old we will try that one as well.

Thank you for being an inspiration for many of us.


Eshark:

Nice to hear that there are more couples like us. I agree with everything you said. It is not necessary to go to the extremes to have an adventure.
Riding two up, especially with someone very important, puts things in a different perspective than when you are riding alone. Not just that it is more difficult to ride with the passenger but it also increases the responsibility. You just do not do the same things when you are alone and when you are not. At least I don't. At home, when I ride alone or with a group of fellow motorcyclists I still sometime throw sparks with footpegs, but when my wife or daughter are with me I am the slowest and most carefull rider. And a much slower one when we are far away from home. As I said before, our final destination of any trip is our home.

tmotten:

Good for the country, and for the milder riders :-)


Touring Ted:

I hope that the Dakar will make it. I really know a bit about BMWs. I maintain about thirty BMWs from our local Moto Club, and singles are really doing well. There are a few with 100000 kms, and I never had to change a shim. Just water pumps, a clutch and fork seals occasionaly, and a steering head/wheel bearings here and there, the rest is just regular maintenance.


crisidsto:

Yep, the 650 it is. We'll save the R for the next trip. And, we plan at least a week to get from the border to UB. Then two days there, and back to Russia.


We would like to catch a train from Irkutsk to Moscow, to save some time on the way back. Any info on that subject? Is it realistic to just come to the train station, bribe somebody if neccesary to put the bike on the same train with us, and to be in Moscow in a couple of days? Language is not a problem. We do not actually speak Russian, but Croatian, being a Slavic language, is similar enough so we understand quite a lot, and now we have additional experience from the past two years of travelling through Russia.

I don't think you need to wait for the road to Magadan to improve; I rode the new federal road in 2011 and it can be ridden on any form of motorcycle. While most of it is unpaved, much of the route is graded gravel and it is actually better than a lot of the pavement in Russia. There are certainly a few ungraded/sandy sections and some messy construction zones, but that's it.

Regarding taking a train from Irkutsk--there are several threads here and on ADV on the topic, so I would take a look.

I think it is not realistic.

At least not to save time.
In 2013 Seb did it in the Train from Irkutsk to Novosibirsk.
And he wrote a "how to do " for that.
I Have to look to find it and set the link.

I Met Seb in UB at the Oasis and he told me about the train and I was really thinking about it to save time.
But usually your bike is not in the same train to Moscow, you have to wait there a few days to pick it up, I decided not to go by train and ride the bike.
It does not take more time and it is even cheaper ( when you calculate the hotel im Moscow )

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www.klausmotorreise.com

So, here is the link

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...re-train-71580

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www.klausmotorreise.com

Yes, train business is more or less unpredictable, because you going passenger carts but your bike will be in cargo cart. and delay of cargo happens to be even over the week. And Moscow- huge expensive city.
Russians do it different, there is plenty of empty trucks driving west direction and it's cheaper than train.
Local shipping companies can arrange with them to deliver your bike. Only risks are if truck get in accident or brake down.
But you need to know shipping date some days before.

Not really. You just avoid it like the plague if actually want off road adventure. There are thousands of tracks in Mongolia that will never be asphalted. But the main routes across the country .... they are pretty much history.

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Klausmong is probably right that you don't save much time shipping from Irkutsk--it is 3-4 days on the train, plus whatever time it takes you to embark/disembark the bike. Plus sitting on the train is pretty boring.

But it still might be worth putting the bike on a train and flying to Moscow, because IMHO the ride between Irkutsk and Moscow is a very tedious ride of several days, and you can instead spend this time in Moscow, which is a fun place to visit.

Hi,
I did the Southern part of Mongolia (Gobi desert and vicinity) last summer onboard a Chinese made bike. I met a German guy on GSA and had opportunity to ride together. IMHO lighter better. So, I would recommend your F650GS though it cramps for the pillion.
Bring along your tent. If camp is intended dont camp anywhere close to restaurant/shop/meeting places or the like. Some rowdy drinkers may just want to disturb you close-by. Camp where not easily seen and locked your bike.
Safe ride

Amzah

Does anyone mind if I ask a different (but related) question about Mongolian road conditions?

I broke my fibula about two weeks ago, falling awkwardly when I hit an unexpected patch of deep sand on a gravel road in near the Russian border with Latvia. I'm back in the UK now, while my husband continues with our "Inagh to China Motorcycle Ride". The leg is already healing and I am walking with an orthopaedic boot, rather than a plaster cast. My bike has been left in Moscow, and I intend to go back to get it in July.

Since we don't like being apart, the hope is the John will be able to ship his bike from Tianjin with the rest of the GlobeBusters group and fly home from Beijing. However, GlobeBusters have warned us that it may be difficult at this stage to get the permit changed for his bike to exit at Tianjin, rather than the Mongolian border, which was our original intention. In other words, John may have no option but to exit China at Erinhot.

If this happens, GlobeBusters threw out the idea that, if my leg was healed, I might join John in Ulanbaatar and ride back with him - an idea that really appeals to both of us. However, a Russian friend has warned me off riding across Mongolia. I ride a BMW R1150GS and he says it will not be safe for me with a recently-healed leg. We had thought to take the southern route and 80% tarmac sounds good to me. What about the other 20%? Do you think my Russian friend is right to put me off?

BTW John is riding a Triumph Tiger 1050 with upgraded suspension. The 1150's suspension has not been upgraded.

If necessary, John can ship his bike and fly home from Ulanbaatar. This was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, but would we be better to leave Mongolia for another year?

Most of the unpaved roads are hard packed and dusty, but can get quite rutted in many places from trucks and a like...
Rain can be an issue hiding BIG holes so tread with caution in rain etc.

If you're riding within your limits and sticking to the beaten track then you should be ok on either bike, but would recommend fitting some all terrain tyres and use a lower pressure etc for added grip on loose but of cos you'll loose stability on higher speed stuff..

As mentioned camp away from town centers or you'll probably get a few rude awakenings, but essentially you'll be fine.

For the R1200R you could swap out the wheels for some spoked GS ones and get yourself some proper off road tyres not too costly and would easy to sell on after the trip.

Here to help should you need it .. happy travels..

SERIOUSLY???
You say its 80% asphalt???..its NOT! Will be fine on a road bike??..you knock that off on 3 days??? Bullshit! I was there 3 weeks ago..

Tsagaannur-Khovd is "meaby" drivable with streetbike,if you drive slowly, but not recommended.
Khovd- Altay road is BAD right now because of raining, and no change to ride there with streetbike...shaking like hell.
Altay-Bayankhongor "Roads" are little bit better but with streetbike,hell no.
There is river crossing in Bayankhongor, depth something like 60cm.
It took 4 days from west border to Ulan Batar, and i drove 10-12hrs/ day. Bike is kawasaki kle 500 ( dryweight 175kg)

Well I think that now, when we are back home, it is a polite thing to say thank you to everyone that was kind enough to share their experience.

We came back from the trip last week. A series of unfortunate events costed us a lot of time, so we did not go into Mongolia. We toured the Altai, and went to the Lake Baikal. We could have done that on R1200R.

Two days before our planned departure I broke my pinky toe, so we had to postpone the start for a few days, untill I could put my boots on. Then we had rain for every day from home untill Barnaul, so we needed seventeen days, instead of fourteen as planned. In Barnaul I have noticed a leak in the radiator. One radiator was avalable in Moscow, so we lost another week waiting in Barnaul untill it came.

We had to return home as scheduled, so we decided not to take a risk of losing additional time in Mongolia. Even this way we needed 48 days for the trip instead of 40-45 that we planned

Except the hole in the radiator, bike did not like the Russian fuel, and it started to surge and "hick-up" after Irkutsk. Changing all the filters and cleaning the injector did help, but it is still not 100% ok, so I have to drain and clean the fuel tank. Also, the chain shield broke, the front tyre was damaged, and had to be changed. Some bolts and nuts loosened from the vibrations, the most serious one was the one holding the engine to the frame at the rear/bottom. I guess not so bad for a 19000 km trip with a seriously overloaded bike.

I guess that after many years of problem-free travelling, one trip with some problems is not so bad.

Thanks again to everyone who gave us advice, and special Hi to Carol and Ken who were our eyes and ears in Mongolia.