Grand Russian Traverse 2007 [Archive]

Bartman10

26th March 2007, 11:43

Bartman10 and Fraggle are off for a BIG adventure ride across Russia, as you may already know.

First up, as posted in general biker ravings, we're having a BBQ down at TSS motorcycles, Lower Hutt, this Saturday the 31st of March from about 9.30 am 'til closing. If you want to know more about international motorcycle travel, or you just want to say hi, please come down. That thread will probably die a natural death, so I'll keep you posted about developments in this thread. We're still a few months off, but things are starting to get interesting.

Our website is www.russiantraverse.co.nz (http://www.russiantraverse.co.nz)

You can PM for more information.

We've learned a lot about international motorcycle travel. If you want to find out some more about it, please ask and we'll point you in the right direction.

For the record Chris Scott's book is excellent and I wish I bought it ages ago. We've essentially come to the same conclusions as Scott, but we've chased a lot of dead ends in the process. I wish I'd bought the book a year ago.

Cheers,

Mark and Jane.

merv

26th March 2007, 12:04

Good luck with the trip.

miSTa

26th March 2007, 13:12

Sounds like a fantistic trip, best of luck

mazz1972

26th March 2007, 15:16

Your trip sounds awesome....hope you are able to keep the website updated so we can read your stories!

Have a GREAT time!!

cooneyr

26th March 2007, 16:49

I'm extremely jealous. The Long Way Round planted the seed for me but looking at your budget it is defiantly going to be many years before I get the opportunity.

Good luck and make the most of every moment.

Cheers R

Bartman10

26th March 2007, 16:59

Do not let the budget put you off!

We have not spent anything like what's listed. They are just RRP prices.

Jane and I have made some huge sacrifices for the trip and you'll have to do the same! Do the following and live the dream. You've already got the bike so you're half way there.

1. Move into a shitty flat with 8 other people
2. Cut your food budget. Live on baked beans and potatoes
3. Look for bargains, sponsorship opportunities and donations.
4. Get extra work in the weekends
5. Start planning now. It takes at least a year of planning.

Remember - we have spent FIVE (5) years planning this trip!

So start now!

Mark

I'm extremely jealous. The Long Way Round planted the seed for me but looking at your budget it is defiantly going to be many years before I get the opportunity.

Good luck and make the most of every moment.

Cheers R

Toaster

26th March 2007, 17:02

Hey have a safe and enjoyable trip comrades!

Zukin

26th March 2007, 20:46

Do not let the budget put you off!

2. Cut your food budget. Live on baked beans and potatoes

Mark

And for a special treat, you would get Jane "Watties Big Eat meals" aye :laugh:

vamr

26th March 2007, 21:52

far queue

26th March 2007, 22:34

AWESOME :rockon: Excellent adventure guys. I'd been wondering what you were planning, it was obvious something big was in the offing. I've got your website bookmarked and will check in regularly. Good luck and have a ball. I'm sure it'll be tough at times, but what a great thing to be able to look back on.

Macktheknife

27th March 2007, 00:17

What a tremendous adventure this will be, would love to do it too but that will have to wait I think.
Keep us updated please, I will be watching your site for info, and would love to talk to you both when you return on how it went for logistics.
Good luck
Mack

Bartman10

27th March 2007, 10:27

Am kind of lazy to calculate months based on your route but...

I'll be in St Petersburg, visiting family, for majority of July and if you are passing through there can give you somewhat of a tour.

I always dreaded to imagine what it'd be like being in Russia without speaking the language.

We'll be in St. Petersburg in September.

I'll be happy to say hello to your family though, if you like.

We're trying to learn Russian at the moment. It's quite difficult, but I'm sure it'll get better.

Mark.

SDU

27th March 2007, 10:41

Wow :rockon: I hope you two have an awesome & healthy adventure.

vamr

27th March 2007, 17:43

We'll be in St. Petersburg in September.

I'll be happy to say hello to your family though, if you like.

We're trying to learn Russian at the moment. It's quite difficult, but I'm sure it'll get better.

Mark.

Ah, that's a shame, St. Petersburg is by far my favourite city that I've lived in.
The architecture is breathtaking no matter how many times I've seen it.

I grew up in Petergoff (or whatever the English spelling is), 15 minutes walk from the winter palace.

Unfortunately I'm the only one of my family who speaks English.

Street Gerbil

27th March 2007, 22:40

Bartman10

28th March 2007, 08:20

Dude, any chance you could revise the schedule to be in SPb in June? You have no idea what will you be missing!

Thanks for you reply. The whole idea of this trip is to do an East-West crossing of Russia.

Anyway we've already organised shipping and bookings and contacts in Vladivostok. We're comitted to starting in the East. We're leaving in only 8 weeks. It's a bit late to change the script now!

Maybe next year we could do SPb in June...

Thanks,

Mark.

Frodo

3rd April 2007, 20:01

Bartman10

4th April 2007, 09:09

I'm sure you'll have a great trip.

I note that you didn't install bigger fuel tanks, just taking bladders along. Why's that? I think that the small tanks are one of the main disadvantages of stock DR650s.

Hi there, thanks for the comments.

Several reasons for the tank. Fuel is abundant in Russia. The MAXIMUM range that we we're going to need is about 300 km. The stock tank is good for about 250 km, so we didn't see the need to upgrade to a 500 km tank. Other reasons include cost (large tanks are very expensive) and weight of extra fuel. Weight is the enemy on these kind of ventures. Furthermore we've got some tank pannier bags. If we'd put large tanks on we'd end up having an unmanageably large tank/tank bag combination.

Cheers,

Mark.

Transalper

4th April 2007, 14:14

...The stock tank is good for about 250 km, so we didn't see the need to upgrade to a 500 km tank...I guess your taking the DR you already own so know it well. Most the DR650s down here in the south island seem to be jetted to avoid the carb iceing issue in winter and we only get about 205km on a stock tank to dry.

I wish you all the best, have a great trip and I look forward to reading more as time goes bye.

Bartman10

4th April 2007, 14:52

I guess your taking the DR you already own so know it well. Most the DR650s down here in the south island seem to be jetted to avoid the carb iceing issue in winter and we only get about 205km on a stock tank to dry.

I wish you all the best, have a great trip and I look forward to reading more as time goes bye.

Thought about rejetting, but we'd prefer to leave it for now... Might take bigger main jet along for the ride. What are you running?

Problem is we may need a tech inspection when we get to the EU. They may pull us up if were not E1 compliant anymore. Concerned that rejetting may have an effect on this.

I know in Holland for example they're very strict on emissions. Not sure what the rest of the EU is like.

Furthermore I'm very happy with how the DRs are running at the moment. Don't really see the need to rejet especially if it's going to cost us in terms of economy. 85 - 95 octane is readily available in Russia, so we don't see low octane fuel being a problem either. If the whole lot melts down our exit strategy involves getting on the Trans-sib train. Moreover I've heard military pilots are more than happy to do a cargo run for a few bucks. We've got a couple of grand worth of insurance so I'm sure we'll work something out.

Please remember that Russia is not third world. It's rough in places but so is Northland. I've learned a lot about the country during my research phase, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. Forget the cold war propaganda, Russia is a country of warm hearted helpful people, just like New Zealand, Europe and the US. Sure there are a few unsavory characters, but you get those in Lower Hutt (http://www.stuff.co.nz/4015055a12855.html)too.

Thanks again. Don't forget to check out our sponsors!

Cheers,

Mark and Jane.

Transalper

4th April 2007, 15:10

Afraid I don't know what my partners DR has in the way of Jet sizes, she gets about 160km to 175km there abouts on main tank. We haven't had it through a winter yet but assume the iceing has been delt with with that economy.
I hope to be collecting my own DR650 any day now. The current owner says it does ice up a bit but you can manage it so as it's not such an issue. [Edit: deleted a bunch of wong asumptions on how icing happen] I'm no mech so will be asking him more about that when i get the bike.
He said he gets a lot more (much like your 250km from memory) out of a tank too.
Time will tell.

far queue

4th April 2007, 22:13

I guess your taking the DR you already own so know it well. Most the DR650s down here in the south island seem to be jetted to avoid the carb iceing issue in winter and we only get about 205km on a stock tank to dry.
Thought about rejetting, but we'd prefer to leave it for now... Might take bigger main jet along for the ride. What are you running?Mine's not been rejetted. I'm running stock jet, airfilter and exhaust. Only changes are are - snorkel removed from airbox and mixture richened slightly. I suffered some icing when it was new so the shop said to remove the snorkel and then they adjusted the mixture screw at the 1000km check as the bikes are lean when new due to emission standards. I've had no icing problems since these changes and I always get 16km/L = 208km/tank.

Bartman10

18th April 2007, 14:38

Making some pretty good progress.

Got tyres and rim locks sorted

Big thanks to Continental tyres and Stewart at TSS for giving me a $700 discount on the tyres.

Thanks to Martin at Motomart for his help with the rim locks.

Feeling super good and super stressed out at the same time. Everything is going really well, but it's been a lot of hard work.

Bikes are getting shipped out to Korea early next week, where we'll take a leaky ferry across to Vladivostok.

Thanks again to KB'ers esp. Skunk (loan of trailer), Merv, Zukin etc.

Cheers.

merv

18th April 2007, 14:49

We've had this discussion about DR's and fuel use before and I will reiterate Mrs merv's one easily does 22km/litre. OK no icing in Welly we hardly get frosts. The only bike I've had anything to do with that iced carbs was way back in the 70's two stroke twin but it was jetted quite rich and I always thought that rich was more likely to ice than lean because of the evaporative effect of the fuel. However, I'm no expert on Russian conditions. You can only try and if you warm the bikes up well with choke use I'd be hoping they're OK.

chris

18th April 2007, 14:56

Transalper

18th April 2007, 15:42

I had J's DR650 out over Easter on the last half of the Dusty Butt and home again. Only my second chance to really get to know it.
I took some notice how she went and was a little suprised to see 195km to reserve on Saturday and on Sunday with fuel in the topbox i ran her dry. It did 192km to reserve then and went dry at 254km. So there we go, a bit strange after she reported about 165km to reserve earlier (more in line with cooneyr and farqueue).
Sunday just gone, i got my DR650 out (finally aquired it on Friday) and we both went for a run. Filled at the same place/time. I ran on to reserve about 189km, i got 10km further down the road than J.

Previous owner of my DR said when the bike starts icing he just made sure so as to not fully close the throttle. It was more likely to do it with a quick, full closing of the throttle than anything else and i think he said when the air was thick with fog.
Anyway I have yet to experience this for myself too.... roll on the Brass Monkey and some crisp foggy mornings etc etc.

I guess you'll keep an eye on the mileage your getting over there when you first head off and so know soon enough if your estimates ar going to work.

Bartman10

18th April 2007, 15:49

Hi Mark,

Did you get what I sent? If so, is it OK?

Secondly, 250km from a stock tank may be wishful thinking, especially if fuel consumption suffers due to crappy fuel or extended distances over rough terrain, low gear running etc. Looks like you're well set up though. By the way, пиво is Russian for beer.

250 km stock probably is wishful thinking, but we've got a spare 200 or so from the bladder so I'm sure it'll work out... If the locals tell me that there is no gas available I'll buy a jerry can on the road.

I did get your letter thanks! We really appreciate it. It was perfect. In fact I'm writing a story for you now...

Actually пиво is the first Russian word I knew. We've been taking some lessons, so we know a few basic words.

Check out the mozzie net! Apparently the mozzies are a big as sparrows!

Upload error.

Cheers,

Mark.

Bartman10

18th April 2007, 16:03

This time: Check out the mozzie nets!

cooneyr

19th April 2007, 13:11

....I took some notice how she went and was a little suprised to see 195km to reserve on Saturday and on Sunday with fuel in the topbox i ran her dry. It did 192km to reserve then and went dry at 254km. So there we go, a bit strange after she reported about 165km to reserve earlier (more in line with cooneyr and farqueue).....

I'm a big wimp and flick over onto reserve as soon as I start to get a little cough which I'm not sure is running out of fuel. It almost always happens at 170kph though. I or others have not touched the carb on the bike since I got it so have no idea how its set - it seems to run fine.

Not to concerned about it though as on the Yahoo DR650 group the yanks regularly talk about 40 mpg with all the shagging they do with the things (they seem to love to play with things!). Reserve is 10 liters, at 170km is 17 km per litre (5.8 l per 100km) and 40 mpg is - supprise - 17 km/l. Damn this means I have to trust what a yank says!!!!!:innocent: I know I have a different carb (or is it ignition) and exhaust (factory suzi though) from TA and Nordie. I dont have the micro switch on the carb and the holes in the exhaust are larger.

Cheers R

Bartman10

4th May 2007, 20:52

We sent the bikes off last weekend, and (in theroy at least) they should be on their way to Korea now...

So it's all on...

Just got to try and finalise insurance and buy some flights. Anticipate leaving about the 1st of July.

Saw a cool movie about a couple cycling through Mongolia. Mongolia is starting to apeal more and more... Anyone been there?

Hopefully I'll get a bit of time to do a bit more on the website. www.russiantraverse.co.nz (http://www.russiantraverse.co.nz)

Thanks again to Skunk and Merv for their help...

My plan is to get a job brewing beer when I get to Europe. Never done much brewing before, but can't let that put me off...

Do Svidanja :bye:

Mark

Zukin

4th May 2007, 21:22

Saw a cool movie about a couple cycling through Mongolia. Mongolia is starting to apeal more and more... Anyone been there?

Do Svidanja :bye:

Mark

Hi
I have never been to Mongolia, but a very good friend of mine is over there all the time
He hunts (that is his business)
He tells me that the locals are very friendly and that you should always enter a Bukka (sp??, their huts) and turn to the left....

It is a great county by the videos he has shown me, and never eat the sausages!!:shit:
They don't have any beef over there so the sausages are pen@* :sick:
Definately worth it if you can get through there.

We are planning to head over to Sweden in Feb 08, so if you are around let me know, I have loads of friends there too, and they would only be too willing to put you up should the need arise :yes:

Cheers Scott

cooneyr

5th May 2007, 08:46

We are planning to head over to Sweden in Feb 08, so if you are around let me know, I have loads of friends there too, and they would only be too willing to put you up should the need arise :yes:

Cheers Scott

Speaking of Sweden (sorry to hijak bartman) - check this link (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140803) from adv rider out. Pics of up north above the circle. Awsome place and have been lucky enough to get a week up in the artic. Going back this september for 2-3 weeks.

Hej do
Ryan

Bartman10

17th May 2007, 11:56

Just a quick update.

The bikes are now en-route to korea. You can check out their progress here: http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=MZHC8

We've got our flights and visas sorted, and finished getting our jabs and we're stocked up on other medical supplies.

I've been working on some GPS tracks etc. They're still mostly unfinished, but if you've got Google earth or garmin map source you can check out the downloads below...

***IMPORTANT*** becasue KB won't let me upload the google earth or Garmin file extensions please download the RussianTraverse.doc file and rename it RussianTraverse.zip. You can then extract the contents and view at your leisure.

There's also a nice picture of the container ship.

Only problem is that I'm about to have a nervous breakdown!

Big thanks to Korea on this site for his help!

Cheers,

Mark.

www.russiantraverse.co.nz (http://www.russiantraverse.co.nz)

Bartman10

22nd May 2007, 14:15

Looks like the bikes have arrived in Korea.

Anyone want to add any last minute advice....?

We're leaving Wtn this Sunday and flying out of Chch next Saturday.

Big thanks to the KB community for your support. My introduction to KB wasn't the best, but you guys have been superb.

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=9271

I'll try to keep the updates coming...

Cheers.

chris

22nd May 2007, 14:29

Hi Mark,

Apart from enjoy yourselves, not much to add. Although, it may be worth trying to blag some adventure type riding gear as I'm sure that after digging out or picking up a 200+kg DR650 for the umpteenth time while wearing leathers, you'll wish you had. Even if it's a pair of MX boots, pants and an Enduro jacket. I know you're out of the country now, but there's no harm in trying.

Anyway, have fun, I'd love to see Russia and am only slightly jealous...

Crisis management

22nd May 2007, 14:32

Have a great trip, we'll all be watching from here.........enviously!

chris

22nd May 2007, 14:43

I've also got a set of standard bars and hand guards for a DR650 if you need them! (or anyone else for that matter).

dasser

31st May 2007, 19:46

Hi Mark,
The dilbert zone is not going to be the same.
Your old office is just a shell, Computer gone, I have your old chair... Not sure if I really want this ...:sick:
You two take care... watch out for the beers....:yes:

:scooter:

Bartman10

3rd June 2007, 17:50

Thanks dasser

We landed in korea yesterday and spent the night at a pretty flash hotel. That's the end of that though, and we're back to $25 places from tonight.

I'm impressed with Korea. It's very well organised and the people are very helpful.

Things are going according to plan so far. I'll post another up date when we get to Russia.

Cheers.

Bartman10

10th June 2007, 13:33

We've got the bikes, and we're packed up ready to go.

We intended to take the ferry on Thrusday but we're running a couple of days late.

Taking the ferry at 15.00 local time (18.00 NZ time)

Let you know when we get to Russia.

We've updated our diary pages. www.russiantraverse.co.nz/diary.html

Cheers.

Mark and Jane.

merv

10th June 2007, 13:53

OK have fun then.

kerfufflez

10th June 2007, 15:12

I'm impressed with Korea. It's very well organised and the people are very helpful.

Glad you're having a good time on your trip. But that quote really made me laugh. I agree with it - until you have to work here, then things are not quite so organised, mostly a complete shambles in fact.

But that's largely irrelevant, have a great time through Russia.

The Big J

13th June 2007, 04:38

Good work man - have a great trip. Just having a nightmare currently getting maps for South America so I hope you are sorted there.

Got a body blow having a saddlebag 'disappear' while ferrying stuff to my hotel room. Such a pain in the arse to replace things and the fucker got my icebreaker thermal before I go to Bolivia. FUCKER.

Still we live and learn eh? Drive safe and I'll watch your website.

hondav2

13th June 2007, 22:51

Ride safe and enjoy your journey, I have ridden about 100,000km on my 2 DRs and if i can be of any help please contact me . I have done a 1,000 miles in 24hous and 3 days of 500miles each day on gravel in North America. There a good bike , only major problem was when Ignition pick up failed . Had to replace stator as well , cost heaps and when i got home the local Suzie dealer told me u can soldier in one from a GN250 costing about $80. Switch on clutch lever can fail as well. When do u think u will be back in NZ. We will have to have a beer. Cheers Toddy

Bartman10

15th June 2007, 14:11

Hey guys.

Managed to clear Russian customs alright and everything seems to be fine.

Enjoying the sunshine here in Vladivostok. Roads are mix of good, bad and very bad. Glad we're using DRs and not Gixxers. Hope to do a diary update on our website soon, but we've been busy organising insurance, tyre shipment and cellphones.

PM me if you want to be added to our news letter.

Not sure when we get back to NZ.

Cheers,

Mark and Jane

www.russiantraverse.co.nz