Hi guys

We are setting off Vlad-London in 3 weeks time on our Suzuki DRs. Our bikes are currently being shipped to Korea. Unfortunately 5 days before shipping I had a fairly major accident on a busy stretch of motorway. My bike was fixed up by a local bike shop but they missed the more significant structural damage - my rear subframe has been shifted sideways. If you look at my bike from the back, the seat looks about 50mm out of alignment with the rear wheel.

By the time we found this out (due to hospital, waiting for the initial repairs, and busyness with shipping the rest of the bikes) we had about 5 hours until the bike needed to be on the ship. I didn't have much choice other than to put it on the ship and deal with it over there. It still feels reasonably manageable to ride, however I'm aware that riding 25,000kms on a weakened frame might mean I need some urgent repairs at some point.

So - I'm wanting to pull together some information on good, reliable welders/engineers along our route. We're arriving in Vlad around April 20, will be there for about 10 days, and then heading Chita - Ulan Ude - Irkutsk (we will stay in Irkutsk for a few days too) - Ulan Bataar - NW Mongolia - Kazakstan (Eastern) - Almaty - Bishek.

If anyone has any recommendations of places I could potentially get my rear subframe fixed (it is not a bolt-on subframe so needs to be pulled back into shape and strengthened) I would be very stoked. Any thoughts on how much it is likely to cost would also be appreciated - I will be pretty tight for cash and it'd be good to have a heads-up of how much that sort of thing is likely to cost.

Cheers!
Rob

51st Traverse