Hey all! We are currently in Tashkent having made it almost 10k miles on this magic set of michelin anakee 2s and we are heavy 2up on an 800gs. we have been hauling the other set of tires since Ardahan in Turkey, about 4k miles and by the time we got across Kazakhstan the top rack plate for our top case tried to commit suicide. its bent to hell and thus very weak. We have all kinds of straps but I have to stand up and hold the case and tires down on the really bad bits. So we are looking for a place in Tashkent to hopefully weld something on this plate to stop it from flopping about, then perhaps we can get to dushanbe or bishkek and change the tires. Be nice to get more use out of them, they are still looking pretty good.

So if anyone has any suggestions for Tashkent or Samarkand (we are planning to pop down there before heading back up to cross to Tajikistan at Buston) that would be very much appreciated! And if there is any place in Taj or Kyrgz that has that tire balancing contraption, doubtful but have to ask...

Border updates: Georgia to Russia (Vladikavkaz) no problems getting thru late July. Russia to Kazakhstan (Saratov to Uralsk) was also fine. Tons of road construction and rough bypasses thru kaz, some sand pits. Karabutak to Aral there is 420 KM with no petrol!! Shymkent to Tashkent the border is pedestrian only, you must go down and cross at Chinaz. Pain in the ass and we got stuck there all night.

We are on USA passports...

Hope this helps and if anyone has any mechanic suggestions, let me know! happy journeys...

Hotel kamila in samaquand is very good for travellers , has small pool , not the cheepest but good ,gps 39 deg 39`51.66"N 66 deg 58`18.87"E

it`s about 10 min walk to the registan from there
(you can talk down the price)


zebb
www.motoloco.eu

forgot to say , if your in Tashkent look for the VM bikers bar

41 deg 18`38.48" N

69 deg 17`14.75" E

or there abouts

zebb

+1 to this place secure parking as well.

Well we did find a welder in Tashkent and had the tope case plate reinforced for about 20 bucks. However we did run into a snag when replacing the chain which my husband jparke posted about. Basically at this point we don't have the special tool to rivet the master link on the new chain. We've gotten some good advice and suggestions for hammer & brute force. We were thinking of filing the extractor pin to round on our crappy chain tool to convert it for riveting, this may work in theory?? We did try to go to the VM bar twice yesterday, it was closed. Maybe for the holiday...Parts are in the mail but who knows how long it'll take...Any opinions about bodging this tool which is basically like a c clamp, to rivet...please let us know. & thanks!

Thought I'd add the details of a good mechanic in Uzbekistan. Before riding the Pamir I had a few things I wanted to sort out in my Africa Twin and this guy went out of his way to help me. His details are:

Rustam
+998901683707
N 41° 18.371'
E 069° 10.174'
Center Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

He speaks good English and got me new tyres and welded my pannier brackets. He also can do oil changes and repairs. Parts would need to be shipped in so you need to contact him ahead on Rust.84@mail.ru The biker community is about 50 strong in Tashkent.

Cheers,

Pedro
____________

__________________
Kangaroo Route