Western Bam and Rod of Bones july-august 2014
 

Hi,
having to postpone my trip last year, I am finally doing it this year.

Starting in UB with a German Rider, Uwe, we will head to Irkutsk, then to Severobaikalsk, do the Western BAM, then from Tynda, go to Yakustk and finally I hope, go to Magadan on the old summer road.

We will both be on KTM 640 Adv. I have 4 weeks in total and I am not sure yet what to do with my bike once we arrive in Magadan. If I have time I will ride it back to UB and leave it at the Oasis for one year.

I might sell it to one of you fellow, that wants to start the trip in Magadan middle august.

The purpose of my thread is to know who else will be during the same period in the same region, so that we can share information during the trip for exemple.

Cheers
Zimi

The 640 is a good bike for the trip, assuming it doesn't break.

Info on road conditions and sights in 2013 at Mongolia to Magadan: Any which (the hard) way - ADVrider

If necessary, post #19 at http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...e-trip-57891-2 gives information, if you want to freight your bike from Magadan to Europe

Enjoy it. It'll be a big adventure. If Old Summer Road isn't possible, I wouldn't bother riding Tynda/Yakutsk/Magadan. After the BAM it'll be boring as hell.

im aiming to be in Tayshet (as i left a fresh set of tires there from last year) around the start of august. riding solo, unless meet others en-route. am riding an xchallenge

Hi Chris,
thanks for your links. I will read in detail your trip.

I just wonder about one thing. Are there any ATM after Irkutsk for the whole trip to Magadan? Or do I need to take loads of cash? Do you have an approximation of how much I should have to pay the bribes to pass the bridges or to pay the truck drivers if they need to transport our bikes over the river?


I would really prefer the avoid the hassle of shipping back the bike. I don't have time for this and it's too expensive. Honestly I don't know why you bother to ship you old transalp back, it's not worth more than the shipping costs, if not less. My KTM is in fairly good condition, but is worth approx 3500-4000US$ now. I spent 940 euro to send it to Mongolia, and the return shipping is more around 1200 euro from UB. I know that from Magadan to Vlad it can be arround 1000$, so for me it's not worth. I have no sentimental relations to my bikes.

I really hope I will be able to ride the old summer road and I heard from others as well that the new road is boring... But then... I am dreaming now since 3 years to drive to Magadan, see this Road Sigh!!! Take a picture of me and my bike in front of it.. Well you know I suppose!

Edd, are you planning to ride the western BAM? If yes we should keep contact, we will be more or less at the same time as you on the track.

ATMs in Severobaikalsk, Tynda, Yakutsk and possibly one or 2 smaller towns in between.

Bribes/Kamaz truck: We never used any trucks to cross rivers. We used the railway bridges. The only place we paid was at the Kuanda bridge. We were lucky as there was just one skinny bloke, so didn't have to pay much. There's a video in the ride report.

I paid usd300 or 350 for my bike freight on a ship from Magadan to Vladivostok.

I shipped the Transalp back because the value of the bike and particularly the parts/luggage was a lot more than you think and I can legally return in the future. If you abandon a vehicle in Russia or Mongolia, you won't be returning. Their Customs computers are fully networked.

Hi Chris,
thanks for the information. Good to know that there are ATM's, don't like to traveller with loads of cash on me.

Only 350 euro from Magadan to Vlad? Did you ship it with other bikers? Buy anyway, for me then to ride from Vlad to UB would be too long for the small time frame I have.

If I can't sell it, I would as well be ready to lend it to another rider that will bring it to UB.

Does somebody knows if the bikes needs to be taken out from Russia by the same driver that brought it in?

In no case I want to have problem if I want to come back to Russia.

350 usd, not euro. On the deck of a ship. Olga in Magadan liaises with the ship-captain. Yuri received the bike in Vladivostok.

Somebody did ride somebody else's bike from Magadan to Austria or Switzerland a few years ago. Can't remember who though. Maybe the HUBB search function can help?

Or freight the bike from Magadan to Moscow/St Petersburg and fly to Moscow/SP later and ride the bike out of Russia?

I did end up buying the XChallenge, but in August 2013 it still belonged to my friend who lent me it. I had his paperwork and written (in Russian) permission to do what I wish with it (apparently not a legal document, according to his (now) Russian wife: but no one ever stopped me), as well as the import document and all other paperwork. I arranged everything with Olga in Magadan and Yuri in Vladivostok and even collected the bike in Rotterdam, without it officially belonging to me. Yuri was very insistent that he had the original version of the import document. Olga FedEx-ed it to him.

yes, aiming to start the western BAM road from Taishet, and head to Tynda, and then onto Magadan

Hi Edd,
great, we might be at the same time as you. I will post more detail as soon as I know when I will start from UB.

Do you have a website or a blog? Can you give me your contact informations (phone and mail)?

You dont exactly need a lot of cash on the BAM ... not a lot to spend it on. Taksimo also has ATMs from memory

You mean you didn't find that Michelin starred restaurant in Chara?


Mark
www.bamriders.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

I know from personal experience that there is an ATM at the airport in Sokol, which is the airport that serves Magadan. Sokol is about 60 km inland from Magadan.

Michael

It feels like a michelin starred stolovaya when you have been riding in the mud and rain for three cold days to get there

Hi guys,
so I am soon ready to start the trip, on the 18th of July will meet Uwe from Germany in Mongolia.

Here is my route planning. For those who did it, what do you thing about it? Does it seems realistic? I have the waypoints from Walter and I wanted to ask you some of you have specific recommandation about places to stay in some of the cities and especially as well if you have some repair shop contacts.

I wanted to ask as well what are the most interesting sightseeing. I am a big fan of abandonned cities and stuff like that. Is it worth going to the Gulag Butygychag from Magadan? according to mapsource it's a 300km ride from Magadan.

Ah and one last thing. Is there a road to go from Irkustk to Severobaikalsk that follow the lake instead of going through Zhigalovo? And if yes? how is it? I didn't find it in mapsource.


here it my planning:

date from to total distance day distance comments
16.07.14 Geneva Ulan bator flight
17.07.14 Ulan bator Ulan bator 0 0 pick up bike and do paperwork
18.07.14 Ulanbator Ulan Ude 0 0 finish paperwork, if possible leave during the day
19.07.14 Ulanbator Ulan Ude 585 585 meet Ivan and friends in Ulan Ude in the evening
20.07.14 Ulan Ude Irkutsk 1040 455
21.07.14 Irkutsk Irkustk 0 0 change tires, meet with Masha
22.07.14 irkutsk Zhigalovo 1428 388 sleep in Zigalovo guest house
23.07.14 Zhigalovo Severobaikalsk 1853 425
24.07.14 Severobaikalsk Novyy Uoyan 2037 184
25.07.14 Novyy Uoyan Takismo 2272 235 35km before vitim bridge
26.07.14 Takismo Chara 2531 259 Vitim Bridge
27.07.14 Chara Yuktali 2827 296
28.07.14 Yuktali Tynda 3171 344
29.07.14 Tynda Aldan 3638 467
30.07.14 Aldan Yakustk 4177 539
31.07.14 Yakustk Yakustk 4177 0 Rest day
01.08.14 Yakustk Yakustk 4177 0 spare day
02.08.14 Yakustk Khandyga 4602 425
03.08.14 Khandyga Khandyga 4602 0 Rest day
04.08.14 Khandyga Tomtor 5080 478
05.08.14 Tomtor hunter's lodge 5300 220 road of bones
06.08.14 osr osr 5300 0 spare day
07.08.14 hunter's lodge susuman 5435 135 visit abandonned city kadychan
08.08.14 sueman Orotukan 5673 238
09.08.14 Orotukan Gulag dneprovski 5818 145 visit Gulag Dneprovski
10.08.14 Gulag Dneprovski Magadan 6103 285
11.08.14 Magadan Magadan 6103 0 Rest day
12.08.14 Magadan Butygychag Gulag 306 visit Gulag Butygychag
13.08.14 Butygychag Gulag Magadan 306
14.08.14 Magadan Magadan spare day
15.08.14 Magadan Magadan spare day
16.08.14 Magadan Moscow travel home
17.08.14 Moscow Switzerland

Thanks for your feedbacks!!!!

No, there isnt.

Zhigalovo it is

Hi everyone, so we are on our way to Ulan Ude where we will arrive tomorrow. We are now 3 riders, Uwe on his KTM 640 Adventure, Ian on his KTM 690 Rally Replica, and me on my 640 Adventure. There is also Chris with his Tenere 660, but he will not attempt the BAM. We all plan to finish in Magadan.

here is our spot tracker:
SPOT Shared Page

and here is my blog:

Zimi on the loose | Facebook

We know that there is a German and a Swiss guy on the Western Bam at the moment, they should have already cross the Vitim Bridge.

We came back home last week from Magadan. Everything went quite well.

The western BAM was a big challenge, a bit unlucky with the weather at the beginning but then it was ok, and looking at some report from other riders from previous years, the water level of the river was not high.

The M56 was quite easy, except a broken bridge in Ust Nera where we had to wait for 1 day.

We didn't ride the old summer road, as everyone told us it's not possible because the water level was to high...

In Magadan they had big problems with rain, flooding, lot of broken roads and buildings.

They said that it was the worst year for a while in the region, even worse than 2013.

We have some information from a 4x4 team from Almaty that attempted the old summer road approx 1 week before us, and they couldn't make it to cross on of the last big river on magadan's side, and had to go all the way back to the new federal road and go through Ust Nera.

Hi Zimi,

Thanks for making your FB pictures available to see, very informative and nice ones!
Just two questions please: did you ship your bike to UB and if yes with who? Well, question three actually :rolleyes2:: did you end up bringing/shipping your bike back from Magadan?

Thank you!
Zoltan

Hi Zoltan,

I shipped my Motorcycle from Germany (TAMM) to Mongolia (Ulan Bator) with the company Pan Europa Transport. Was about 1100 euro.

From Magadan we shipped 4 bikes to Vladivostok in a container. If I remember correctly it was about 350-400 dollars.

And then From Vladivostok to Hamburg in another container. We flew directly home from Magadan and a guy in Vladivostok, Yuri Melnikov organised everyhting for us. He was very helpful and everything worked fine.

We just had a bad surprise with the price. He quoted something like 1200 euro each for the 4 bikes in a container. They ended up shipping 12 bikes and asked us 1700 euro. Because of the number it should have been much cheaper, somehting like 700-800 euro... But what can you do when you are not dealing in person... Anyway we had to pay to get our bikes back.

Thank you, Zimi for your quick and helpful reply. I will make the inquiry with Pan Europa to see whether they can pick up my bike in Hungary and what are the arrangements, etc.
Yuri's name has been circulating around HU and ADVrider, so I guess he is the one I should talk to. As for the price, I am totally with you, not much you can do against these surprises, but swallow the frog (as we say in Hungarian). Just a quick follow up question: did you arrange this with Yuri and the containers well in advance, or just in situ?

Thank again for the useful info!
Z

Hej Zoltan,

I did the trip together with Zimi and sent my bike back in the same container.

Just want to explain something about Yuri. He is absolut the person I trust,
I used his service earlier and have no complaints at all.

As I feel, the difference in the price is some kind of missunderstanding.
We asked for transport from Vladivostock. The container from Magadan had been forwarded by another agent. We all went home from Magadan by plane.

So Yuri received our bikes, took them out of the container, transported them into his warehouse, stored them and finally loaded them again into another container for the final transport. Also all paperwork to clear the temporary import had to be done by him.

This is more work than just to fill a container. My travelmates might still
have another opinion, but none of them ever met Yuri in person.

I had the pleasure to met him in 2012 and received a very good service, will always remember him and Sveta as very friendly and helpful people you can trust.:thumbup1:

Just my two cents

BTW: I want to go to Magadan again next year and look to team up for the
110, BAM and OSM with someone.

Uwe

I've red a few post on yuri and I must admit every post has ended the same the bike arrived safely, on some posts the price has changed a lot but you can put the down to the shipping company, I think,
I may use him next year if I can't get my bike to Canada from russia or Korea ,,we'll see,,,,

Hi Uwe and thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I did get the feeling that Yuri is professional. I usually take these prices as indicative… As long as it there is no horrendous difference, that is what it is.

Magadan again? Wow, must have left a great impression in you :thumbup1:. I am planning to be there in July, somewhat repeating your trip, the BAM and OSR, and I assume it would require a month. I am so far traveling solo, which is not ideal at all. It would be great to ride with someone.

I found out that Sombor transfers now to Irkutsk (Transport pojazdów � ADVFACTORY), and according to his timetable the bike will be there on 25.06.2016. That would very much suit me.

The other option is UB, for that I still have to contact Pan Europa. I was hoping to have at least 3,5 month available for me to ride all the way from Hungary, but that seems to change, i.e. to narrow down. So now the question is how much time I would have. If more than a month, it might be worth riding around Mongolia a bit before, but that would not affect the date of BAM and RAM.

What are your planned dates? If you want, we can take it to PM (venczel.zoltan@gmail.com).

Best
Zoltan

Hej Zoltan,

to be in Irkutsk beginning of July is my plan anyway, as I want to refresh my bike there for the next stage of the trip. I might be coming down from Murmansk, time for a break.

It might take you a little more time to pass the customs in Irkutsk than
in UB, but people did it in Irkutsk this year - some problems with
the temporary import, but finally everything got sorted.

Just keep me updated about your holidays and time table.
Which bike will you use? I will be on my 640ADV again.

Will send a mail, so you will know my adress also.

Uwe

Hi Uwe,

Thanks for the heads up on the time for the customs in Irkutsk. If I send my bike there I will liaise with Sombor and hopefully be more in the picture.

Let's be in contact. I will be riding a hopefully appropriately modified XCountry. I am fairly limited by bike choice because of my quite limited height :rofl:. I rode off road bikes, but I was figuring that I might actually need to paddle more with both feet on this trip, so that is what's behind the decision…


Best
Zoltan

BAM and RoB in July 2016
 

Hi there,
I also plan to go back to Far East Russia this summer to ride the BAM and RoB to Magadan.
The way I see it there are 2 big options:

1. Ship the bike there and ride back.
I tried option no.1 in 2012 on my own solo trip which took me from Romania to Mongolia via Caucus and Central Asia and to Vladivostok and then by boat/plane north to Magadan where my trip back would start. The trip back was Magadan – Yakutsk –Mirny – Moscow (Mirny – Moscow by plane) –then south to Georgia Turkey and back home to Romania. The whole trip took 6 months and amounted to 36.000 km.
I tried to ride the OSM, and on Sunday, 5th August 2012 around 15.00, I managed to fry my clutch 110 km going from Susuman to Tomtor. Distance left to Tomtor aprox 150 km. Had to activate the Spot device. Rescue arrive aprox 30 hours later, Monday 6th August 2012 around 21.00. Fix the clutch and continued along the Federal Highway to Yakutsk, waters being too high, after 48h of rain for the OSM.

2. Ride there and ship the bike back.
This year I have 30 days holiday in July and want to ride the Bam and RoB via OSM. Plan to ride as fast as possible from Romania to Lake Baikal (7 days) and then head on the BAM and RoB to Magadan. Considering also the Tuva track but I think is too much for 30 days.
This one will be tight.
My bike is a V-Twin, 600 cc, 1993, Honda Transalp.
From Magadan I want to ship the bike to Vladivostok and from there by Yuri from Links to Europe. I worked with him before and was good. He also has good references from other travelers. I would like to split the container and the costs with other riders who will want to ship back from Vladi.
I will fly direct home from Magadan.
I’m looking for anyone planning a similar trip, and want to share information and ride together at least parts of the road and/or organize the shipping of the bikes back.
If anyone is interested please let me know your thoughts about it.

Adrian
asilindean@gmail.com

Hej Adrian, as posted earlier I plan to be at the Baikal area beginning of July. Although I think you will need to ride a bit faster (30 days :helpsmilie:), we might team up for some time. Just keep me updated about your plans, could be also interested to do the Tuva.

Uwe