hi!
was thinking, and that's never good thing...guides cost lot of money for somebody to tell you where you staying and where you riding, unless you are on organised trip it's way to expensive and you don't have much of a freedom, so traveling somebody else trip is not good fun...for that reason I am out...(guided countries, trips..)
and carnet, my bike can go for minimum of £5000 x4(400% Iran) =20 000 deposit, if bank agree to loan me out will be 3-400 pounds in interests...for that money Yamaha xt660z can get 20 full tanks which equals 4800 miles (7680 km) and I am sure that will be great places to be and see within that range.
this trip is my first major, big overland trip and I will avoid carnet and guide countries, there will be more trips and more time to do it all, but for this one I am out of carnet countries too....

what about starting date? routes?
I have rough idea of the route, date, visas...bike is ready (xt660z) just few £000 and good to go....hope you guys are in similar situations and hope for all of you to make your big trips...starting with this one

To carnet or not to carnet
 

Just wondering:...

Why I only have to deposit 3000 for a bike up to 15.000 Euro for IRAN costing me approx 200 Euro for the Carnet itselves (German ADAC).

And why you would not be able to do the same so (if you would like to).



I would surely have second thoughts with the costs / deposit you mentioned..

Leo

ADAC much cheaper
 

I looked through the form of the ADAC.
Seems all Europeans can use it.

ADAC Reise & Freizeit - Carnet de Passages - Englisch

application form:

http://www.adac.de/_mmm/pdf/Carnet%2...isch_18337.pdf
See table of fees:

Costs 199 Euro for members ADAC or other ANWB (NL) AA (uk?)
and 299 Euro for non-mebers of ADAC or sister organisations

1500 deposit but for Iran and some other countries 3000 for a bike with value of <15000 Euro.

There you are if you are member (as I am) 199 euro + 3000 deposit
if you are not a member 299 euro + 3000 Euro deposit

You will only loose the deposit if you are not able to get your bike out of the country (and get the right stamps)

I see no point why you should pay or deposit more.

At the German HU meeting this month, I met a Belgian guy who also got a carnet from the ADAC without any problems ..

I will try to depart from the Netherlands in May 2014 and probably go through Iran - Turkmenistan - Usbekistan - Kyschystan - Kazachstan - Mongolia and might have to return from there to be back in time..

Cheers ,
Leo

I'm really really thinking of doing this in 2014 now... It will be a major struggle to get the cash together but It is 'on paper' doable...

I'm going insane in a 9-6 Job.. Living the suberban nightmare.

Is anyone still genuinly interested ?? I like travelling with other people but then I do like to go at my own pace too.


I don't really want to do the real wild stuff on my own. I like to be in a team for safety and sanity.... LOL.

I've had mixed experiences with travel buddies in the past. Most are friends for life but one or two I still have nightmares about.. :eek3:

Flexibily is the key I guess...


I've done ZERO research but my XR650L restoration is almost fininised. I should have a pretty sorted overland bike in the next couple of months.

summer 2014 i'll be in Magadan first week of July or Zaribino about a week or so earlier than that, (i'll be coming in from S. Korea) heading east to the UK,

i know this is the opposite way you were thinking but, look at it this way, and i am guessing you have to return to a job afterwards, (are you taking a LOA?)

- you get to ride home, so you can adjust the pace (miles per day) as you need to towards the end if you are running short on time/ funds...
- weather/ roads/ borders are more predictable
- this is a lot more difficult to do because of unknowns heading east
- heading west bound it gets easier daily as you head back into civilization
- parts are more readily available if/ when you need them (opposite the other way around)
- it gives you an extra few months to make more money...
- you have to ship either way and i would think shipping into Magadan or Vlad is easier and cheaper than shipping out
- you deal with shipping agents in the UK who speak English
- your bike starts the RoB and BAM fresh not after 20,000 kms +/-
- you are riding on fresh tires and consumables
- i have a guy who can deliver new tires anywhere in Russia so easier to judge distances on fresh rubber (not so easy W to E) as you may end up carry them because of not knowing your when/ where you'll need them initially in Russia

just wanted to let you know...otherwise i'll wave to you as i ride by heading west...

i'll be on my KTM so make sure you keep in touch and we can meet up at some point...look out for me

http://dmh65.smugmug.com/photos/i-N5...-N5rp477-M.jpg

I did east to west last year, there are pro's and cons to it. The cons are riding into the sunset the further west you get and you start on the exciting stuff and after that its all a bit of an anti climax. But fresh bikes and fresh body are a plus for the old summer road and BAM.
We are organising a container to Vladivostok next year around middle of July then back in middle of Sept to UK, may have space available.

Cheers

Mark


Mark
www.bamriders.com

Big loop
 

Hey Ed,

I'm thinking of doing the big loop via Balkan, Turkey, Iran get via Tadjik Pamir HW into Kyrg and circle back through Kazach, Russia, Belarus etc. about 20K km, in as much time as it takes, start around April '14. The looping saves the hassle of shipping the bike back. Going to quit my job and ride an AT '97. Could this raise your interest?
Cheers,
Noel
Toyota Off The Map

riding into the sun...i'm kind of used to that living in the desert

as for starting on the exciting stuff and then the rest gets less and less interesting, just read your whole blog in one sitting and i see you came back mainly by Russia, i would be heading south into the Stans...also from the UK i am shipping back to South America from the UK and riding south again for the third time...more Ruta 40 and Ushuaia and go and see the places i missed the first two times...so again not an issue for me i have lots more craziness to come, also i have never ridden in mainland Europe also

BTW, like your website, i'll be in touch via PM or EM

Yeah we were running on a tight schedule so didn't make the Stans, they will have to wait. Sounds like you have a great plan, only wish I could come :(

meet me Irkutsk or Almaty and you can ride south into the Stans with me from there back to the UK

Everything raises an interest....

Looks like were heading in the same direction.....

Some serious interest is raised over here ass well .... :cool4:

My preferred route would be Netherlands, Turkey, Iran, TurkM, Tadjik, Kyrg, Mongolia :mchappy:.

Either ship bike back -or- with trans-Siberian express to Moscow -or- ride back.

Company would be very welcome... In fact I will not do Kyrg, Mongolia, Kazachst solo. (Stuck in the middle of nowhere with broken down bike / body seems very unattractive).

Surely hope this will work out
Cheers
Leo

For roads like the Road of Bones and Western BAM There are two windows ... the window of possibility and the window of ideal weather.

The window of possibility is early June to early September. Beyond that it will be sub zero on the Road of Bones. Already now (late August) in Yakutsk the daily minimums are 4 degrees C. You have an extra two weeks or so on the BAM Road before it gets similarly chillly. The Trans Sib Highway is usually OK till end of September and Vladivostok itself which is further south again, is OK till the end of October. Note also that if there is a late spring thaw, the meltwater that normally peaks in May can still be high in the first half of June.

The window of great weather is basically July. June 20th to first week of August at a stretch. This is when you are most likely to get warm sunshine, clear blue skies, seemingly endless 30 degree days (which actually end in a few short weeks).

Whether or not its a long term trend, I would note that the last few Augusts in particular have seen a LOT of rain.

The window is small and it is quite critical in terms of your planning. As is the weight of your bike for those roads. I strongly recommend you work with that info, rather than against it.

As Walter says, think very carefully about bike weight, luggage weight and quality of suspension on the bike, as well as timings as described. It's real expensive if you end up borrowing a mate's bike because yours is shagged. The chances of getting a bike to borrow are rather small unless your friend is otherwise engaged in the shagging department and needs his bike ridden. :D

That's my story from this year and the expense was worth it.

I haven't even got to the ridicule I will suffer in the coming months considering the brand of the borrowed bike and my previous utterances regarding it. ;-)

Look, I will cut you a break ... you rode an Italian Aprilia built bike with an Austrian built Rotax engine on swedish supension, a bike that retailed for about a third of the typical bike of that brand ... there is pretty much none of your feared brand in there. So dont beat yourself up too much mate! There is nothing to fear. Its not a REAL one of that brand of bikes. In fact it was so lacking in that brands DNA that they refused to recognise it, and kicked it out of the family home. !!! You did a good deed. You took an unloved bastard, orphan of a bike, a bike whose German father kicked it out of the family home cause he thought it was useless, a bike whose Italian mother, from whose loins it sprang, has never shown any interest in since birth, ... and you made it feel loved - you gave it a purpose - you showed it what its good at !

Ted: another thing I DO recommend you consider strongly, as its inevitable that there will be MANY deep puddles and river crossings, is to make sure your air intake is located as high as possible on the bike. I dont know how the 650L is set up, but if it isnt somewhere up near the fuel tank / upper head stem, then you have time to think about how you can relocate it or make a semi permanent snorkel.

There are many of these small things that back in the comfort and good weather od Europe you think ... " naaaa ... a couple of water crossings ... its no big deal. Worst comes to worst I will push the bike thru".

When you realise you have 20 of them a day, for a week, and how each puddle or river is full of football sized boulders that are a real struggle to push a bike over, you will wish the air intake was such that you can ride your bike thru anything less than "nuts deep"