Ch 19 Leaving Yakutsk, and an involuntary return (
For You Herr Wright, zee journey is over!)
Yakutsk is a great place to hang out, but we only had 2 nights here. Our time schedule was very tight, particularly if we were going to attempt the Old Summer Road section of the Road of Bones. Still plenty of time to dope up on pizza, burgers and
. I also got myself a haircut. Not a mullet though...
A concert in the main square.
Snoozing on the ferry back across the mighty Lena river
No idea that's going on there. Hare Krishna outing?
A BMW and a Honda Transalp. You can tell by the logo on the fairing...
Nice views on a nice day. It wouldn't last long
Wow, a local biker. Nope! Phil Kirk from Australia on a 1983 Jawa 250 2 smoke. Riding from Magadan to London to attend a conference. His Australian employer was paying his transport to get there. Most use the money to buy an air ticket. He used it on freight from Brisbane to Magadan as well as petrol and 2 stroke oil!
Phil and the bike made it to London, with barely a hitch. Might be worth considering alternative choices of vehicle when planning long distance travel. It doesn't need to be a real (or faux) "adventure" market niche junket with bling out of the catalogue. I bumped into Phil again on the highway near Irkutsk. I had flown from Magadan to Irkutsk and was riding the Mark I to Mongolia to freight/fly it/me home.
Wot the sign sez
The statue to match the sign
For You Herr Wright, zee journey is over! Felix was waiting for me as I'm riding a bit slower. My steering head bearings and fork seals are fuct. Nothing compared to Felix's bike mishap though. He had noticed that his rear auxilliary tank was leaking petrol. After attempting to seal it, we had a closer look at why it was punctured. The chain had hit it. Broken shock? No. Cracked swingarm? Yes.
I'll only say that it wasn't a BMW manufacturing or design issue or caused by any sort of crash when Felix was riding the bike. I know too much about the real reason why it broke, but I think Felix should comment as he sees fit.
Help was at hand to start 200km the journey back to Yakutsk
Loading the bike onto the next truck. Felix putting a brave face on it. He must have been totally gutted.
I started riding back to Yakutsk too, while Felix followed in the truck, but then the rain started and it got really slippery. It got dark too, so we loaded my bike into the back as well. By 1am we manage to get into a hotel near the Yakutsk ferry terminal. What a day and night!
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