Hi Adrain, I've been researching this area lately, have seen the same things you have, and must say I have not come across an 'all weather' road north of the RoB via Ust-Nera that is better than the regular route. On my maps a minor road ends at Ust coming up from the southeast (could not find Kyubeme on my maps - just west of Tomtor I suspect).
From the topopgraphy, I cant see a better road being available to the north - same drainage problems - so it could be RoB or nothing. As I'm sure you know, the later in the summer the shorter your snorkel need be.
You may have found this site: http://www.yakutiatravel.com/eng/main.htm
In fact I get the impression summer is the worst time to travel on roads in this part of Russia because of rivers, etc, but the only practical time that a bike can hack it. I was talking to a Russian bloke from Baikal region at a travel show on the weekend about riding this route and he recommended doing RoB in April: Yak to Mag in 2-3 days he reckoned because it is all nice and frozen. "only -30 at night and -10 in the day". (I'm not sure that would be sustainable on a bike but it would be an interesting experiment!). Interestingly his 4-litre magnum of vodka was nearly empty by Sunday pm.
Chris S
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Author of Sahara Overland II hardback edition and the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, among other things
http://www.sahara-overland.com and http://www.adventure-motorcycling.com
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