Wellington: Int'l motorcycle travel BBQ. TSS Sat 31 March 07

**Bartman10** · 26th March 2007, 11:34

Bartman10 and fraggle are heading off on an adventure ride across Russia. The trip will cover about 15,000 km's.

We’re leaving in late May riding from Vladivostok through Russia, possibly Mongolia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and finishing in Holland to visit my Grandmother inAmsterdam for a cup of tea.

We’re having a BBQ at TSS motorcycles this Saturday the 31st of March to talk to some of the Wellington crowd about our trip, and hopefully raise a few dollars from our sausages. We’ll be down there from about 9:30 am until closing.

Please come down to TSS at 421 Cuba St, Alicetown, Lower Hutt if you:

1. Are thinking about international motorcycle travel – we’ve been the researching for the trip for a few years and learned a lot about the paperwork required, logistical problems, gaining sponsorship and budgeting. Our research doesn’t only apply to Russia, but also to central Asia, Europe, Australia and America.

2. Want to buy a sausage or steak sandwich to help out.

3. Just find out more, have a chat and look at a bloody big map of the biggest country in the world.

More details are available from our website. www.russiantraverse.co.nz

Which brings me to another point; we’re still working on the website, so if you want to make any suggestions we’ll try to incorporate them.

Please continue to purchase products and services from our sponsors and suppliers. They provide great quality gear at competitive prices. What's more they're true enthusiasts who really know their products.

Our supporters include:

SportsPro and Factory 909

Extreme Gear and Camelbak

Ullrich Aluminium

Eurobike: Stylmartin, Motoline, Spidi, Champion, Scottoiler and Givi

Darbi accessories:
Continental tyres

Coleman camping

Ampro: MSR, Gerber, Ben's Mosquito Repellent and SealLine

Outsider Mountain Sports: Ortlieb

Bivouac Outdoor: Macpac, Icebreaker, Outdoor Research

TSS motorcycles

Motomart

Thanks for your support.

Any other suggestions are gratefully received. Please PM.

Mark and Jane
Grand Russian Traverse 2007.

**merv** · 26th March 2007, 12:06

Good luck on your trip. I'll see if I have time to drop in on Saturday.

**Trudes** · 26th March 2007, 12:21

Wow, how cool you guys!! Will try very hard to pop down to TSS on Saturday. Have an awesome fun and safe trip, and very much looking forward to the trip reports!

**Masterchop** · 26th March 2007, 12:22

Mate,I am very jealous,it will be a fantastic trip.

Good luck with it.

**skelstar** · 26th March 2007, 12:28

Good stuff bro! ...def make it along for a yak...

**Zukin** · 26th March 2007, 16:14

Hey there

It is so close now

I would love to come down to the BBQ. but I cant.
I hope to say farewell before you go though.

Cheers and all the very best
Scott & Carissa

**Bartman10** · 26th March 2007, 16:22

Thanks for your message Scott.

We'll be in Hawke's Bay before we leave. We'll probably have a BBQ out at Te Awanga and catch up with some of the HB crowd. I'll let you know the details.

Mark.

Originally Posted by Zukin

Hey there

It is so close now

I would love to come down to the BBQ. but I cant.
I hope to say farewell before you go though.

Cheers and all the very best
Scott & Carissa

**Macktheknife** · 26th March 2007, 17:25

What a cool thing to do, well done guys and I hope your trip goes brilliantly. Sadly I won't be able to join you for a snag and a chat but wish you all the best anyway. Good website too guys.

**Bartman10** · 26th March 2007, 19:31

Thanks Mack. Website took ages becasue we knew nothing about making websites when we started.

I'm sure the trip will work out fine. When we started this project about 5 years ago we didn't know much about international motorcycle travel. We've learned a lot, but will probably still freak out when we're finally on the road.

Just noticed this is my 500th post too!

Originally Posted by Macktheknife

What a cool thing to do, well done guys and I hope your trip goes brilliantly. Sadly I won't be able to join you for a snag and a chat but wish you all the best anyway. Good website too guys.

**The Big J** · 27th March 2007, 13:06

Hey guys

Congratulations on making the jump - how`s your russian?

I`ll put a link on our website www.locokiwi.com - when I get around to it!

Had a strange day travelling today (am in Honduras). Have been on hiatus with a friend for a week, so back on the bike with a fresh oil change and all and get a flat tire thankfully in a city as I`m not with my riding partner who has the tire irons!

And then I miss the turn off to the village I`m going to and all of a sudden I`m at a dinky border town before Nicaragua. A bit of an anticlimax with nothing to do but hey, better than another day`s work!. And the hotel room with telly cost $18US, I found a single bed with nothing for $4, doesn`t even have a light in the bathroom.

You may get some good reading from a book by Ben Kozel Five Months in a Leaky Boat who rowed down the Yenisey to it`s delta in the Arctic Circle. From that experience it sounds like your livers will be taking a pounding from Russian hospitality.

I hope you`ve tuned into Horizons Unlimited, just amazingly helpful website.

stay safe and travel well, I`ll keep reading!

**Bartman10** · 28th March 2007, 08:26

Originally Posted by The Big J

Hey guys

Congratulations on making the jump - how`s your russian?

I`ll put a link on our website www.locokiwi.com - when I get around to it!

Had a strange day travelling today (am in Honduras). Have been on hiatus with a friend for a week, so back on the bike with a fresh oil change and all and get a flat tire thankfully in a city as I`m not with my riding partner who has the tire irons!

And then I miss the turn off to the village I`m going to and all of a sudden I`m at a dinky border town before Nicaragua. A bit of an anticlimax with nothing to do but hey, better than another day`s work!. And the hotel room with telly cost $18US, I found a single bed with nothing for $4, doesn`t even have a light in the bathroom.

You may get some good reading from a book by Ben Kozel Five Months in a Leaky Boat who rowed down the Yenisey to it`s delta in the Arctic Circle. From that experience it sounds like your livers will be taking a pounding from Russian hospitality.

I hope you`ve tuned into Horizons Unlimited, just amazingly helpful website.

stay safe and travel well, I`ll keep reading!

Thanks for the tips. Been on HU for a couple of years now... It's a great website...

Great to hear things are going well for you in Honduras. If this Russian trip goes well South America might be our next destination...

I'll add your website to our links page when I get some time. The whole website is undergoing some revision now. Hopefully it will be sorted in the next week or so.

We've heard great things about Russian hospitality... We're standing by for a liver pounding....

Thanks, and stay safe in South America...

Our Russian is going OK, but we've still got a lot to learn. I'm sure three months over there will help!

Mark.

**ajturbo** · 28th March 2007, 19:41

you heard that i wasn't going to be here then !!!
have fun!!!

**Bartman10** · 30th March 2007, 10:28

Thanks to Wellington Photographic Supplies, who came on board yesterday too with a nice new camera at a very sweet price.

We'll see y'all tomorrow then. We'll be down at TSS from about 9.30 am and fire up the sausage sizzle just after that.

Cheers.