UK to Magadan 2017
 

It's early stages but I'm thinking about doing this trip next year and I'm interested in meeting like minded people planning something similar.

I would love to have a crack at the Old Summer Road, but only if I could link up with some others.

Does anyone have any plans for this next year?

Also interested to hear and connect with people who have recently done this.

Thanks

Chris

I would love to do it... However no idea how to make it in real life. What is your time plan?

At the moment, I plan to leave in May 2017 and I'm allowing 10-12 weeks. I can't really take any more time due to family and work. I haven't got a route in mind yet but I'm building up some knowledge from other people's trips on here. Would very much like to go through Iran if possible but it sounds like there may be issues with carnets from what I have been reading.


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Hi Chris,

can you tell something about yourself and the bike you'll be taking on the trip?
FYI i'm taking a 10 week break from work around the same time, leaving from Belgium. As i'm not having enough experience in Russian language yet, for now i plan to do the TCAT in 2017, hoping to do Russia in 2019 or 2020. Plans might change though..

Thanks,

joris

UK to Magadan 2017
 

Hi Joris,



Thanks for your reply. To give you an idea about me, I'm 38 years old, married with 2 young children and live near Chester, UK. I have a recruitment and property business. I have a very understanding family who encourage me to do such trips and I am doing a solo trip down to the Balkans this July/August.



I currently have 2 bikes. A BMW R1200 GSA and a KTM 350 EXC Enduro bike.



I compete in amateur enduro events and I would say that I am a good intermediate rider.



Which bike to take? If I can find someone to join me and would be up for taking on the BAM and Old Summer Road, then I will purchase a KTM 690 for the trip. However, if I go solo, I may take the BMW and take the less adventurous route. From reading other threads on here, it sounds like a 690 would be the preferred choice either way.



As for speaking Russian. I don't speak any, but I'm sure I can get by!

How about yourself?

I'm 39, no kids, and live in the North-East of Belgium. I've a normal day job but can go on break for 2-3 months.
Been driving the motorbike for a while, both on and offroad. I've been to some places, including Russia and Kazachstan, with or without the bike. I also own a BMW GSA OC for daily drive, but won't take this one on long travels due to weight, cost and difficulty to fix myself.
For these trips, i take a DR650SE with some mods to support long trips on my own. I usually like to travel alone, except for risky parts where a partner is beneficial, as would be the case in the East.

I'm a huge fan of Russia and the Russian people, and am trying to learn the language. We'll see how that goes :).

All sounds good. I feel the same, I'm happy to go on my own but would be more comfortable travelling with someone from Mongolia onwards.
I'll be riding the GS back from the Balkans mid August. I could call in for beer and a chat on my way through.

I planned to do this in 2014,2015 and 2016.doh

I'm hoping to get to at least Ulan Batar in 2017.


I'm on the Wirral. And you're down the road :thumbup1:

Hi Ted,

Yes, I saw you were only down the road. I have been reading some of your previous posts and thought you would be a good person to have a chat with. My in-laws live in Neston, so I'm over your way occasionally. Actually going over there next Monday (30th) if you're free for half an hour.

Chris

Yeah. Not far at all. I actually work at Chester Motorrad a few days a week at the moment..

Im not sure about Monday being thr bank holiday and all. I'm on Facebook as 'MotoTed' if you want to connect that way.

Ted

Hi mate,
planning on doing this route solo or with other riders. Your time frame may suit up with me.
I'm 50, fit and experienced offroad rider - hit the the bush weekly on all my bikes
3 kids in Uni and a great wife who lets me follow my dreams
Pretty good bush mechanic if needed
Current bikes. Supertenere 1200, Tenere660, CRF450x.
Not sure yet if I'll take the 1200 or 660, I love riding them both but will take a bike around the same CC as others on ride .
Just a hello from me to see if our plans/ personalities are compatible

Geoff

Hi Geoff,
Thanks for your response. It's looking more and more likely that I will be doing this trip next year. I'm pretty flexible with dates at the moment. Where do you live? In the UK? Have you done much planning for the trip? Routes etc?



Ted, still intend to have a catch up with you in the next few weeks or so.

ill be going roughly the same route starting April 2017 but wont be heading for Magadan but vladivostok in the end since i need to ship the bike onwards to Canada.
will be going through Balkans, turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, kazachstan, russia, mongolia, back to russia.

London to Magadan
 

Early days, but I am interested in doing this trip and would welcome company rather than solo. An organised tour sounds OK but the cost is a killer.
Timeframe suits, although I have more time available, having retired.
I am an Australian with some family in the UK.
How many people are genuinely interested, do you want to limit numbers, and is there anything I can do to assist with planning etc?

I have spoken to Compass Expeditions that do the organised tour. I was tempted at first but when I looked in to it, they don't do the BAM or Old Summer Road and they are 2 things I would like to attempt.

As for numbers, I would say that a group of 3/4 would be ideal but open to suggestions.

It looks like we have a few people interested in this. Does anyone have any suggestions how we move this forward from here?

Meet up, Skype etc?

Hi Mate,
I live in eastern Australia , I plan to fly the bike to the UK and spend some time exploring two up with my wife then split somewhere in Europe. She will fly to the US for a family visit and I will motor on East. As far as planning goes I keep things pretty loose and and will travel within the visa windows that I can get. I have no route planned yet but intend on travelling Mongolia up through to Magadan. I will be getting a multi entry visa into Russia.
I have no problem with one or more riders,

Cheers

London to Magadan
 

Good question on how to move forward.
I have reviewed all posts to date, and suggest that a few upfront things might best be settled first. Some of the posts indicate a good skill level on the bike, and a reasonable knowledge of the roads and what to expect.

1. Choice of route - what countries will be crossed, and outline of main cities/towns. e.g. The Dude has outlined a number of countries but ends in Vladivostok, which might well be OK but probably misses Road of Bones.
2. Degree of difficulty - having seen some reports on the BAM road and the Old Summer Road, I would be hesitant to attempt these even if relatively dry. Whereas I am happy on the dirt, my strong preference would be to take the easier rather than harder tracks where there is a choice.
3. Exit strategy from Magadan - perhaps up to the individual, but options might be - shipping bikes back in which case from where e.g. Vladivostok and how to get there, riding back, selling bikes.
4. Accommodation - preference for camping where possible, or paid accommodation?
Any thoughts on the above?

it certainly misses the road of bones as its just too far out of the way when heading to vladivostok. the initial idea was to go to magadan but there simply are no feasible transport options available to canada so vladivostok is pretty much a must wether i like it or not.

thats another issue. watch the races to places episode where they do the old summer road ... not something i want to attempt on an 1190 ... road of bones itself is a different topic and strongly depends on conditions after winter i reckon.

only way out(for the bike) is via ship and that also takes a while to get to vladivostok or any other place where you can ship the bike onwards. to me this simply is a time issue. i want to get to prudhoe bay starting in vancouver and then head down to ushuaia in 6-9 months so not to keen on "wasting" time with transport via boat.
ill definitely be heading to south korea from vladivostok via ferry and ship the bike via airfreight from seoul.
as for personal transport you can catch a flight to petropavlovsk and head on to anchorage from there.

ill camp wherever possible and feasible but in far eastern russia accomodation comes cheap so an actual roof over my head might be an option.

Hi guys.

I recently joined this website as I am looking into doing a similar trip from April/May 2017 riding from UK (Midlands) and would like to reach Magadan. I am 34, from Czech Republic (have been living in England for the last 10 years), no children and an understanding girlfriend. I ride a Yamaha XT660Z Tenere. I am a confident and capable rider, also pretty handy with the tools.

Planning to ride through Europe, Turkey, Georgia, Iran (visa dependant), Kazakhstan towards Mongolia, Lake Baikal, BAM to Magadan. Nothing is set in stone, just a rough idea.

Look forward to hearing from you, happy to meet up/skype to discuss ideas.

Stan

hmm, Visas for Iran a problem for UK citizens ?
Friend of mines whos an OZ citizen just went there a couple of weeks ago and he had no issues getting a border visa.
i know its not an issue for austrians but dunno about UK

London to Magadan Proposal
 

Suggested Route Outline:

England - start London
France - Strasbourg
Switzerland - Bern, Lauterbrunnen
Austria - Innsbruck
Hungary - Budapest
Romania - Brasov, Bucharest
Bulgaria
Turkey - Istanbul, Black Sea Coast, Eezurum
Iran - Tehran, Isfahan
Turkmenistan - Ashgabat, Turkmenabat (transit visa?)
Uzbekistan - Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, Fergana
Kyrgyzstan - Song Kol Lake
Kazakhastan - Almaty
Russia - Novokuznetsk, Irkutsk, Olkhon Island
Mongolia - possibly Khovsgol Lake, Ulaanbataar
Russia - Yakutsk, Ust-Nera, Magadan

All up, probably 25,000km. Details and actual routes to be established - try to go on backroads and dirt where possible. The Compass tour provides some good options on places to visit, but exact routing not known.

If there are alternative outline or detailed routing proposals, or/and some specific places that must be visited, please put them up, as nothing is fixed at this stage.

Flights are available from Magadan to Vladivostok, and from Vladivostok to wherever. A ferry can ship bikes to Vladivostok from Madagan - takes 4 or so days. I understand that you can ship bikes almost anywhere from Vladivostok.

Depart late April early May 2017.
Comments welcome.

Russia Vladivostok
 

Just back from a three 6600 km trip to and through Bulgaria -Black Sea- and back to the Netherlands. Now looking for a trip next year (2017 or maybe 2018) to Vladivostok on the Trans Siberian Highway. I have no experience off road that's why I (54 yrs) choose the Trans Sib. I ride a NC700X.

Ton

the "ship" part is important here. there are no cargo flights from vladivostok that take bikes and the ship takes about a month to get to alaska.

not something im keen on truth be told but it would open up the possibility to visit nepal and the himalayas for a couple of weeks while the bike is underway...hmm...

EDIT: im leaving on the 1.5.2017 at the latest

If I end up doing it, my main target would be from UK - Ulan Batar in around 60 days. Then make a secondly plan from there.

R.O.Bones
 

My biggest decision at the moment is what do I do once I get to Magadan.
Ship the bike and myself do to Vlad and onto South K and home or ride back towards Europe ? What are anyone elses plans .
I think we should start to fine tune some departing dates and arrival dates to Madadan, that way we could start to look into visa's and shipping etc.. ideas.
I also have the option of starting in Magadan and ending in Europe but riding with a few other humans sounds like more fun .
Geoff

I love the idea of riding from magadan back to Europe. It makes sense on so many levels. Fresh bike, no need to carry as many spares, no time limit as you're riding from one summer into a much milder autumn etc.

I wonder why it's not so popular.

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Hi guys. Magadan back to uk 2017 sounds good. Whats the system of getting bikes to magadan

Once I get to Magadan, I would be shipping the bike home and getting a flight back to the UK as I can't afford any more time away from home or work. I'm hoping to get the whole trip done in around 10 weeks.

I would be interested in doing it in reverse and starting in Magadan. At least we and the bikes would be fresh. It would also mean that the group starts together for the rough and remote stuff and give the option to split up once this section has been done.

Magadan to London
 

I am OK doing the trip from Magadan to London rather than the original proposal London to Magadan.
There seem to be 4 others who would do the trip in this direction - Hammertime, Touring Ted, Horseman66 and Clive50.

As I understand it, bikes would need to be shipped to Vladivostok, and then to Magadan. Riders can fly from Vladivostok to Magadan.

I suggest a departure from Magadan on Monday 15 May 2017.

My suggested route is the reverse of the one I posted earlier. However, I can see that some may want more challenging choices such as the BAM and OSR, and some are time limited. It seems possible that these can be accommodated to some extent, but it would be worthwhile knowing in advance just what others really must do.

I won't know if I can commit to anything until December/Jan.

This brexit situation has created turmoil for my business and future plans.

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I did this trip on a DR650 in 2014 with Compass Expeditions and we had a quick look at Western end of the Old Summer Road and it was a mess. Later we met an English couple in a 4WD Kamaz who had attempted it from the Eastern end and gave up as well telling us the conditions were horrendous.

Just been reading through this thead and am tempted to say I will join. Im a Brit living in the south of Portugal, I've done a few trips to France, Spain and Morocco over the last few years on my XTZ 750 Super Tenere and now have a XT600e to add to the collection.
I have a fair bit of off road experience but only on hard rocky stuff, I ride trails local to me nearly every weekend.
I would love to do a trip like this but find it a bit of a mine field with paper work etc so would need some guidance.
What are peoples budgets?

Regards
James

See u all on the road next year..going from vlad to europe....

'Bike on a Hike'. Available at WWW.Amazon.com

I'm interested in this too. I've been researching the same trip for a few months now. Not sure if E2W or W2E is best. I'm in Sydney AU, 49 Yrs, DR650, all set up up to go. I'm still working on approval from the wife and kids. :) Shipping AU to London is easy with 'getrouted.com.au' arriving May 2 2017, so I am favouring that at this stage. A mate that did the trip in 2014 had to wait 4 months to get his bike shipped home from Vladivostok. I'm keen for the more adventurous path and would love to do the track to Madagan, but not sure if I'll have enough time. Most likely I would go to Vladivostok and ship home from there. I'd have a maximum 4 months to complete the trip, but would like to do it in 3 if not too rushed. I'd also like to travel alone, but it makes sense to team up on the more remote sections I suppose. Nothing set in stone for me, but I'll keep following this thread. It's getting close to decision making time for anyone thinking of doing this trip in 2017.

I knew i shouldn't have read this ...................DR650 and torn between West Africa and Russia :helpsmilie:

Hi All, are you still planning this journey? As I would like to join. I'm 54 and the kids are off my hands and with up to 6 months off work I am looking at doing this kind of trip. I have a Triumph Tiger in the process of setting it up. Perhaps you already have enough riders and anymore gets a bit unwieldy , but if you have the time I would like to keep in touch with preparations like shipping etc.

Cheers Dave.

Hi Dave,

All very much in the planning stage at the moment. I'm researching and gathering as much info as possible.

Regards
Chris

Hi guys
I’m also planning for this trip and I wanna go around April 2017. It looks like there are already many people looking at this trip so we might could form a second group? Traveling as a group of maximum 3 or 4 is the best, I think.

Ken

Hi,
I'm 43, 2 kids etc. I plan to do Mongolia, BAM and RoB in 2017. Old summer road would be fantastic - but not alone...
I own a KTM690 (Basel kit). Group of 2-4 would be nice - also temporary for some sections/stages would be an option.
Still planning for 2017?

Regards/"Hälsningar" from Sweden
Patrick

Hi All

I am interested in this trip but can't leave until but can't leave until the 15th July. I would be interested in joining any shipping group to get bikes out there. I have previously done the Stan's and Mongolia. I would be happy to join a later group (July) I am based in Devon UK.

Cheers Nick

Yes 2017 is great:thumbup1: You wanna start from Magadan or Europe?

Cheers
Ken

So we have Chris in Chester
Ted on the Wirral,
and me just in Warrington

I have been yearning to get another bike after the Africa Twin
I am interested in a TransAlp, probably some thing like a 2006 650cc thing.

I would have to pull some mega strings at work, to get decent time off though.
Or find another job on return Lol :)

vette

Very similar.

Here is what I recently posted.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...045#post547812

vette

And me in widnes . Maybe a NW micro meeting ?
Ps .I would not recommend the transalp for BAM,ROB. The are much better choices out there. If your a honda man a XR would be better or something like a DRZ400, bmw x challenge .

Well, I'm making slow progress but would welcome a north west catch up if people are willing.

I've just bought myself a 690 Enduro R. Looking at a few different kits at the moment but thinking of going for a Basel Quest if I can get my head round the cost!

I've also just ordered a load of Reise Know How maps from Stanfords and will start route planning when they arrive.

My current preferred route is to blast through Europe to Turkey and then head down through Iran. I would like to tackle the Pamir Highway before heading north and then across to Ulaanbaatar, then on to Magadan.

One idea I have is to split the journey in to 2 sections. I'm wondering if I could leave the bike in storage at the end of the Pamir Highway and then fly home for 4 weeks approx. Although I would prefer to keep going, I'm thinking that this may work better for keeping my wife and business happy!

Does anyone know if this would be possible to do?

Hi Kito,

Perhaps not BAM or ROB,
How about a loop around Mongolia and back?

Or ship the bikes to Mongolia, do a loop around Mongolia, and just ride back to UK?

vette

Yeeeah. North West mini meet. Paaaaarrttaaaaay :)

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If you plan a sealed road tour then the transalp is likely perfect for it but when I went to Mongolia it was about 1000 miles of mud, sand, gravel and quite a few river crossings from the western border to UB . I personally would not enjoy a road touring bike there. Yes it can be done and the is likely a few who have but if I'm going out that far I want to make the most of Mongolia and enjoy what it has to offer.
You can stay on sealed roads all the way across Russia and enter Mongolia and then it's just a few hours on a relatively good road to UB .

Has anyone worked out why nobody ever seems to ride East to West ??

Well maybe they do, but I've not heard of anyone doing it.

Ship out and start the trip on a fresh bike with new tyres. And fresh body too..

I really like the idea. You ride into Europe, and instantly everything gets simpler and easier. And that can be nice after a hard slog.

The only negative I can think of is that the sun will be in your face a lot of the day.

Or I suppose if you go from West to East and you want to pull out of the trip, you can just turn around. Once you ship out east, you've kind of committed yourself even if your heart isn't in it. A bigger leap perhaps ?

Yep I have done it twice first time shipped to Almaty road around then back to the UK second time shipped to Ullannbattor and road home. Worked well both times.

Great to hear it..

Did you meet many on the road doing the same ??

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Hi Ted

Nope not really. In 3 months I met 2 groups of Europeans travelling the other way.

I guess going west to East you will meet a lot more travellers then. I like meeting and riding with folk so i guess id prefer west to east.

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Sounds like a good rough plan. I'm just going to lurk for now - my riding plans for 16' fell apart, so maybe 17' would be the year.

Sounds like a great trip...and it's on my list as well.....the 690 is a great bike and I put 40'000kms on mine before I sold it to come to Europe from Australia... I would strongly suggest you get practice swapping out the fuel pump though. They can give out anytime regardless of kms.I don't want to scare you, just prepare you. It's not hard and it can save a lot of heart ache on the road. Regardless of what the best procedure is I and there are a couple. I found you can do it by just removing the back wheel and lowering the pump out. I always carry a new pump filter and filter gauze/ sock with me as wel as hose clamps and high pressure hose in a pvc tube with 2 end caps. Do it in the garage before you go as practice. I also removed the factory crimp clamps and replaced with good quality hose clamps as these are easy to remove on the road. Also the only other problem is wiring harness rubbing on frame. Mine shorted at headlight mask around headstock I would suggest more insulation tape around rub points....I'm currently in the UK just finishing a 5 month ride around Europe on my KTM 1190 R ... Shipped from Australia....And only problem was.. You guessed it. Fuel pump...no hassle but was kind of expecting it anyway...I will be doing this trip and have plenty of time off, but won't ask/ commit here and now as a big part of me wants to come up into Mongolia/ Russia/ through China.
If you are aware and on top of the fuel pump/harness issue then disregard my ramblings.... Cheers Phil

I like your thinking Ted,
Ship the bikes out to Ulaanbatoor, then we do a ride back.
Russia is a huge place to cross from East to West, or West to East,

Perhaps ship the bikes out to Ulaanbatoor, then ride partway back, until the road becomes too monotonous ?
Then ship by truck back to France or somewhere easy for us to collect, and ride home

Gra.

I will start from Europe. Probably via Latvia into Russia (if alone).
/Patrick

Magadan
 

Hello Chris,

i am new here at the Hubb. My name is Hans and i am from germany.

I plan the same trip like you for 2017. First i plan it for this year, but i have had an accident, an my shoulder was defect and must be operated in hospital.

The other tree friends have done the BAM 2016., not Magadan.
The report must be here in hubb.
Their bikes are standing in Ulan Bator at a shipping station. One of the three will eventuelly go with me to magadan.

i have plan my trip as follows:
-send my bike to Ulan bator (the cost from Germany 900 €)
-then i will go to island Olchon
-from there to BAM
-in Tyda i will follow the road of bones to Magadan
-i go back from Magadan to Wladiwostock
-on the back way i will do the old sommer road
-from Wladiwostock i will go to Japan
-eventually it is possible to let the bike there in a shipping station.

Eventuelly we can do a part of the trip together.

I hope you understand my poor english and here from you.

besth wishes

Hans

Russia, Japan 2017
 

Hi folks
I will start 2 months trip from Poland to Russia, Japan and back in July 2017.
I will drive with 2 equiped Toyota.
I'm experienced traveler, I was few times in Russia, I speak Russian.
During way back I will enter BAM.

Anybody wants to join, please send me PM or write my mail from my web site.
I live in central Poland, anybody wants to stay at me I'm inviting.
Plenty of place for tents, BB, shower etc,beer

Hi Hans,

Your English is fine, not a problem at all.
You sound like you have a good plan in the making.
I hope your shoulder is up to full strength for you.

Keep safe pal.

Vette

Good starting point.
When and where?

I work 4 days out of 8, so a reasonable amount of time available.

Gra.

I'm out BTW. Never did get that approval from the wife. Now doing Australia loop in 2017, with a view to doing Siberia etc in 2019.

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UK to Magadan 2017
 

I have just finished a 16,000 km trip around Australia, and in preparation, am trying to establish status of the UK - Magian trip as proposed by Hammertime. There have been 26 different people posting to this proposed trip, and I can see that there are real difficulties in getting this trip established when more than one person is involved.
Unless participation is being pursued privately outside the Hubb, I cannot see who is genuinely interested in this trip whether it be east to west, west to east, have alternative start or finish locations, or different timescales compared to the May 2017 start time proposed.
As preparation time is becoming scarce, I would like to know who
is still interested in doing this trip, starting no later than 10 May 2017, either:
(a) UK to Magadan
(b) Magadan to UK which is my preference
(c) Vladivostok instead of Magadan, e.g. Vladivostok to UK
(d) Alternative start/finish locations.

Response by end October would be appreciated.

d) South of Sweden to Stockholm to Riga then into Russia. To Mongolia then Irkutsk to BAM to Tynda then RoB to Magadan. Then back somehow.

Start 1-3. June.

Somebody interested to meet on the BaM or RoB (end of June or July)? Old summer road would be nice.

My bike: KTM690 (Basel)

Cheers
Patrick

Ok, having put a lot of research in to this, I have come up with the following plan. I don't feel too happy about leaving my family and business for 3 months and have therefore decided to split the trip in to 3x 4/5 week trips.

I plan to leave the UK mid may and head down to Greece to compete in the Hellas Rally. After this I will head through Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and complete the Pamir Highway. I have arranged bike storage in Osh, Kyrgystan. I will then fly home.

In September, I then plan to return to the bike and ride north to Semipalatinsk and pick up Walters Sibex Trail to Ulaanbaatar. I will then leave the bike in storage (to be found).

I will then return in July/August 2018 to complete the last leg including the BAM and OSR.

I will be riding a KTM 690. I'm happy for others to join if this itinerary fits them.

Hi there!

I have been reading this thread with great interest as i am interested in doing kind of the same route (roughly germany-iran-the stans-mongolia-russia/rob---magadan).As i have nearly one year of free time i am not sure if i will ride my bike back home or continue via japan/korea.I think this will be a question of money and how much joy i will feel after riding some months.I am really happy that there are so many people out there which have similar plans(kind of)...

I would be very interested in sharing the roads a few days,especially in the remote areas.Also if the chemistry might be working even for big parts of the trip.

I am a 25 years,living in southern germany.I ride a 2002 f650 gs dakar and have already gained some experience in offroad riding,would consider myselfe as an intermediate rider,but a very bad mechanic.I m in love with dirt,leaving the beaten track and some beers in good company..

Currently working as a paramedic,taking a gap year.
That much of the monologue!Cheers and safe roads,

Ben

London to Magadan
 

Nice to see that Hammertime has put up his proposed trip plans. Breaking the trip into 3 segments seems sensible for his circumstances, and may facilitate tyre replacements.
Snomed has also put up an understandable outline plan.
Unfortunately, neither are suitable for me, and no one has shown any interest in my earlier proposal, so I shall depart from this forum.

Hi all,
I'm working on a route and plan related to the original idea Hammertime put forward. If all goes well, i'll do the route according to option A) outlined above, but will end the trip after either Pamir Highway or Mongolia, depending timing. Which would mean i do option D).

I'll leave Belgium second half of May, and work my way down to Turkey. Heading East after that, but will probably skip Iran (CdP, Visum demands) and go up via Georgia/Russia to enter the Stans from the North. Pamir Highway is next after which i'll head East again to Mongolia.

I have a max. of 10 weeks but take 8 as actual driving time to allow spare time for transport home. Right now i'm looking at taking the train back to Moscow from any major city where i could potentially put a bike on a train.

Main goal is Pamir, hopefully Mongolia if time allows. Cherry on the cake would be Western BAM, but that's entirely up to timing.

If anybody on this forum sees an opportunity to share ideas / plans / routes, please send me a PM. I'll be most interested in experiences / guidance to get bike and body back to Belgium after the 2 month timeframe (yes, i'm analyzing all info from Hubb, so far Train seems most sensible and cost effective option).

Cheers,

Joris

Hi,

I am also planning go to Vlad in 2017 (july) from Rotterdam.
How is your planning going now. Do you have a date you want to leave. I have a GS 1200, but for this trip, i want a Suzuki V Strom 650.
Maybe i can join. My email: djinsital@gmail.com.

Djin

Hi,

I am also planning to ship/. Fly th bike to Alaska.
What bike do you ride. I have a R 1200 gs.

Djin

Ive decided to go to Rhyl for the weekend instead.

Have you worked out a place for a tyre change ? you should be able to make it to ruthin if on tkc80..

About Russia
 

Hi everyone, it was interesting to read this topic, so nice to see so many travelers.

My name is Alex, I am pretty new to this forum (hi Ton:))) and haven't seen all the discussions regarding travelling from Europe to far East, crossing Russia, etc. but I want to highlight several key things:

1) I am from Russia, Moscow, and we do motorcycle tours and bike rentals here. If you are going to visit Moscow we can always meet for a glass of beer. If you need any help in Russia or you have any questions about Russia ask me

2) Two years ago we were in Mongolia, last year in Baikal and Vladivostok. This year several close friends of mine traveled to Magadan, over BAM and Mongolia. What everyone says - roads are becoming much better, they are under construction in many segments. Moscow - Vladivostok is already fully paved road. Magadan highway, the Kolima road as we call it in Russia, is under road works. BAM is also repaired. So what? If you want extreme and unpaved roads do your trips within next 2 years, don't waste your time. All these roads will be paved by 2020

3) We are going next year from Moscow to Vladivostok in a group of 4-6 bikes with a support van. 95% Paved road. Very nice cultural program. Tour description at our web site rusmototravel.com. If you are interested contact us

p.s: I think no need to tell about bike rentals and tours in Russia, if you need this you are welcome

My e-mail is alex.nikonov@rusmototravel.com. web site rusmototravel.com

I'll probably carry a spare set.

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How our people's plans?

I'm setting off in 2 weeks time. It would be good to hear which ones of you are actually heading east this year and what routes/timescales they are working to.

Regards

Chris

Hi will start from Vladivostok on ist June and ride westwards for a RTW. Hope to see u somewhere!

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I'll leave this Sunday May 7th from Belgium to Bishkek. Country list:
BE-NL-DE-AU-IT-SL-HR-BA-ME-AL-MK-BG-TK-GE-RU-KZ-UZ-TJ-KG

Expect to be at Russian border on June 7th. Expect to be at Bishkek Juli 10th. Riding DR650. Hope to see some others on the road (Chris, i know i'll bump into you at some point :) ).

I am about to leaving eastbound these days from Germany through East Europe heading for the 'stans. The itinerary is DE-AT-SK-HU-RO-BG-TR-GE-AR-IR-TM-UZ-TJ-KG-KAZ-RUS. Intermediate objective is Caucasus Mountains, and then a focus is on the 'stans naturally.
For the above I can allow roughly 4 months, and need to be leaving Russia end of August as per visa expiration. Any direction afterwards is open at this time.
I'll be on a Honda CB500X motorcycle and setting off all by myself.
My departure is delayed unfortunately due to Turkmenistan transit visa approval taking more time still. Cross fingers they make it soon and won't reject. When I have my passport I'll be on the road. See you there.