Over the years, I've had a couple of failed attempts at starting and completing ride reports

However I really want to share with this community as I feel it has always given me so much in the way of inspiration and information ever since I attended my first HU back in 2013.

So I would like to make the effort to to write a ride report here to document not just the ride itself but also the lead up which has brought me to the point of executing my 'trip of a lifetime'; a decade in the works.

As of today, I am exactly 4 weeks out from my bike, a 2007 Suzuki GSXR600, being air freighted from Sydney, Australia to South Korea and onto a ferry to Vladivostok, Russia where the riding begins.

From there, I head West into Mongolia, Central Asia and towards India.

I feel like I have a lot to share that has led up to this moment both from a personal development perspective but also preparation so I will endeavour to write that as time permits to highlight how an idea gradually developed over time and the challenges to overcome.

As of last night, I am finally happy with how the bike is after a few mechanical issues so I'll share that picture to start off this RR





A little lie.... the above text is from my post on another forum a month ago! I am going to bring both upto the same level and then update both together!

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

Looking forward to the story - best of luck on writing it - that's always the hardest part, but doable once you get down to it.
We need more of a side view of the bike - looks interesting, especially tire choice!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

This is interesting indeed and as Grant says, and interesting Tyre choice for a Gixxer. Ride safe. I am also starting from the UK today on my way to India, so see you on the road somewhere

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Thanks Grant! The first HU I came to I met Peter and Kay Forwood which really cemented in my mind the idea of continuing to use my first bike. Having dinner that night at the same table as yourself and Susan and the Forwoods is what really got me hooked on the HU community side of things

Thanks! Hope to see you on the road too. How are you coming into India/Pakistan given that Iran has the 250cc problem or are you coming through China?

I'll take this opportunity to give some background on my riding/travel-riding and how I've slowly worked upto this particular trip

When backpacking in Asia around 2009, I saw a motorcycle rental place in Chiang Mai, Northern Thaliand and decided to see where I could head on an overnight trip. So with my work backpack bungee-d to the back, I did an overnighter to Pai. An awesome stretch of road! Still wasn't aware of the concept of long-distance motorcycle travel though



Back in Asia on another trip in 2010, this time I decided to venture further past Pai and do the 'Mae Hong Son Loop' which was even more amazing than the ride to Pai. Still no proper luggage but armed with a paper map of the loop this time. What really sparked my interest this time was seeing another bike parked at a guesthouse along the way with Australian plates. Ever since then I've had a fascination of seeing my bikes number plates in far off places where it shouldn't be.





Once back home, I had now gone from being a weekend road-rider to being addicted to track days with a count of 14 in the space of 12 months ... till I lowsided and trashed my precious GSXR; my first bike besides my dad's RG125 that I had learnt on







Since it was no big deal to get a few scratches on it now, I figured I may as well explore my own backyard and did two local rides. The first over the course of a week down through the Southern Alpine region of Australia (with a borrowed tailpack and road atlas) and the next up through the outback to North Queensland and back down the coast (with my first piece of luggage, a tail mounted Kriega bag) ... which also taught me how boring the inner reaches of this country actually are.







In 2013, my uncle living in India proposed riding the Himalayas region of India, well known for its mountain passes such as Chang La and Khardung La. Although I was already traveling in Brasil, it was an opportunity too good to pass up, especially as he was giving me full use of his baby-KTM







All this while, I had still been backpacking through Asia, Middle East, South & Central America but I wanted more. So I embarked on my first 'big' overseas ride in 2014 with 8 weeks through the South-West of USA. The idea had initially been coast to coast after a week in Vegas but I decided to focus on the one region more so as to really get the most out of my time there rather than just miles under my belt. - Half assed ride report here, however over on ADVRider, excuse the lack of one here









In 2015, my brother who had been studying in Holland was thinking of a ride after his semester wrapped up so it was over to Holland to ride to Turkey and back on yet another GSXR (Yet another incomplete ride report here ... again on ADVRider

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

So, it looks like I'm already a month behind from my first post stating I was going to be better at this! As we speak, I am in a hostel in Seoul, South Korea feeling like I am way too old to be in a hostel now. It reminds me that the last time I backpacked was in 2012 when I was 24 and even then I felt too old.

Anyway, all in the name of cheap accommodation!

So since, I last posted, my feelings of fear and trepidation kept playing on my mind. It's all well and good to talk about I'm going to do this and that but when it's actually happening it's a bit unnerving.

A shortlist of fears
- I've really chosen a terrible bike
- How can I carry the right mix of spares, tools, and things I need to survive
- Do I really need camping gear, it takes up so much space and how often am I really going to camp?
- I really hope I don't screw up bad... when I had always dreamt of this trip all the way up to 2017 where I had to cancel 2 weeks out from leaving, I was single. I got married earlier this year and as cheesy as it sounds, I really would think it'd be nice to come back in one piece

On Friday 14th June I drove my bike from my home to Matzen Cargo near Sydney Airport who would be sending the bike to South Korea for me via air freight.

In order to save on freight costs, the bike needed to be sent without a battery or fuel. I thought I'd try and be smart and ride it there with low fuel.

So, twice in a 50km journey the bike cut out due to running out of fuel on the highway. Luckily, my wife followed me with a jerry can. Now I know how the bike responds when it runs dry but fingers crossed its not an experience I'll be repeating

After dropping off the bike, removing the battery and running it dry, it was off to the customs house to get the carnet stamped. Once that was dine, that was it, the bike was officially out of the country; on paper at least

Before I'd even reached home, the bike was packed....next time I'd see it would be mainland Russia



Helmet and jacket sticky taped onto the seat...I hope that tape holds





I can pretend to be riding a big BMW with the other overlanders I'm bound to meet on the ferry over from South Korea to Russia... at least till the box is opened and they shun me

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

So after 2 nights in Seoul, I am now on the Eastern coast of South Korea in a small town named Samcheok about 6km from the Donghae ferry port (and also where my beloved bike is!)

I have to say, Seoul was just supposed to be a couple of nights to check out something different but I've thoroughly enjoyed the city, its people and its food!

A couple of photos from my last 2 days before I venture out to find some dinner for tonight and rest up before tomorrows ferry...which I just realised I dont actually know the departure time of. Should probably check that out...

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

The ferry from Donghae, Korea to Vladivostok takes roughly 23 hours and actually comes from Sakaminato, Japan first.

After crossing immigration and boarding the ferry into my 2nd class room, my first thought was, ok, what am I going to do for the next 23 hours with nothing but 3 meal coupons to keep me company in the form of looking forward to the next meal time

It wasn't long till I spotted a guy sitting in a common area whom I had seen walking around the port in what seemed to be bike gear.

From there on, it was all about some of the amazing people on board and the stories they had to share



On the left, Taka, from Japan holding a sign in Russian stating that he is travelling across the world with his traditional Okinawan instrument. Not begging but any donations to an artist are appreciated! He also has a bicycle but doesn't consider himself a cyclist as he will be using other forms of transport as well

On the right, Mehmet, orginally from Turkey but living in Wellington, NZ for the past 30 years. Not his first ride on his well worn old BMW but this time he plans to go to Turkey via Mongolia and the Stans via a route quite similar to myself so we had plenty to discuss!



Shoi - A 70yr old Japanese man travelling with his wife who unfortunately is heavily disabled.

They have been riding from Japan to Europe and back every year for the past 7 years with Shois current bike having 480,000kms on it! His previous bike, a GPX250 had 300,000km for a combined total of nearly 800,000kms over 20 years!

This trip is a little different though. Nana had a big stroke in March and doctors told her she would need to spend her remaining time in hospital but they were determined to ride on



On the right is Okita from Japan. I saw him in my room but didn't get a chance to speak to him till we were nearly at the end of our journey. However the term speak is very loose as he barely speaks a word of English!

He had also done something strange where his bike was sent on some other ship and not the ferry we were on! Also riding the same bike as Shoi, hats off to the guy for going through without any English or Russian!



Straight off the ferry and right to the walking strip in Vladivostok; Taka with his instrument



Shoi with his trusty Kawasaki 650



2nd class room on the ferry



A nightclub on the ferry that I didn't quite get to check out



Coming into Vladivostok, I guess I missed a memo somewhere about Russian flag coloured tracksuits

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

Once we were off the ferry, it was the usual customs procedures but every minute the customs officer took made me feel even nervous about the fact she would be looking at my business visa while I stood in front of her with pretty obvious motorcycle gear. Her calling her superior into the booth to clarify something definitely didn’t help but in the end I was through!

First bike I saw on the docks



It was off to the hostel first with the well known freight agent, Yuri, though as customs formalities for the bike wouldn’t start till the following morning.

At the Vladivostok Port with Yuri and Svetlana



A great chance to walk down to a waterside walking strip in Vladivostok to see people go about their evenings.

The following morning we were picked up and taken to the port offices to start off some of the paperwork and told that unloading would happen around 3pm after which we wold be able to get our bikes!

So, more free time and a nap to return at 3pm.

As other slowly got their bikes and cars, I was the last one standing as my bike had come from Sydney, Australia in a crate and had not been unpacked in Korea but rather transported as cargo.



At 5pm, I saw the crate come out of the gates only for the forklift to reverse and take it right back in!!

So, another hour till I finally got the crate out and started breaking it down to a sense of relief that the bike was in the box just as I had last seen it in Sydney!





A new battery and petrol (I had to remove both in Sydney for it to be taken over as non-dangerous goods) and it fired right up.





The NZ biker, Mehmet had stayed back with me and after adjusting some luggage we ventured out for the short trip to our hostels….right through 7pm peak hour traffic of Vladivostoks one-way streets

Not a long ride but my Aussie bike was finally on Russian soil!

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

Well I’ve not gotten too far in the last 2 days.

Most people make the dash from Vladivostok to Khabarovsk in one day, however on the advice of my Japanese friend, I decided to do a 100km short day to Ussuriysk first.

This worked out well as I spent the morning riding around Vladivostok trying to buy some chain lube and a way of acclimatising to riding because besides short test rides I actually haven’t ridden consistently in a couple of years!

Got into the small city of Ussuriysk at a little motel surrounded by automotive battery shops. Once there I noticed my back hurt from the backpack and also one of my tail fairings was hanging off due to missing screws from back when I crashed the bike on track.

The battery shops was notable because I had to buy a battery in Vladivostok since mine was removed for shipping. It’s a new Korean one but 120CCA vs my previous 135CCA ... hopefully not going to be an issue later on

The back I’ll get used to, the bike, a bit of cable tie maintenance.

Unfortunately, the plan to leave the following morning was dampened (pardon the pun) by rain. I looked up as many forecasts as I could and have decided to leave tomorrow morning instead…which could also be raining

I’m in no rush but I would like to try and get to Mongolia in time for Nadaam

I know the Turkish biker had ridden almost 2 days in the rain and been quite miserable so I really want to avoid it if possible. Plus the accommodation is cheap here, close to a huge supermarket for cheap eats…except everything smells like cigarette smoke…

In other disappointing news, the Japanese biker has decided to head back home due to his wifes health and the Turkish biker has had an engine failure and is on a truck to Chita now… hoping for better luck my way tomorrow

Leaving Vladivostok



A great supermarket with a couple of vodka selections...



Ussuriysk









Motel Blues

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

Things I can’t do; analyse weather

I thought that I would wait out an extra day in Ussuriysk as today would have some window of opportunity without rain.

Turns out, it was even worse than yesterday.

All packed and ready to leave ... in the rain



I had to get out of there though, the smell of cigarettes was permeating my clothes and honestly making me feel sick

A thorough muddy drenching all day long till I got to the small town of Bikin











Although most of its roads are dirt it has a nice hotel which while on the pricey side, I really need to just rest and dry out what I can

Big supermarket right next to the hotel was handy since the only other place to eat was a 'Chinese' place next door







Was thinking to spend an extra day here to wait out the rain again but with everything already wet now, hardly any point

Onwards to Birobidzhan tomorrow

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

Today was a total rollercoaster; started off with low expectations in the wet but day progressively got better till a point I was near ecstatic with the improvement till moments later that excitement came crashing back down


I started off packing the bike in the rain again, resigned to another wet day. Didn’t really matter too much since most of my gear was damp anyway… so much for the fancy Klim jacket, Forma boots and Held gloves and all of their GoreTex

Packing in the wet in Bikin



I now understand why all I keep finding are Chinese restaurants




A saving grace seemed to be that the road surface was much better than yesterday and there even some nice flowing corners but while the tyres were performing well enough in the wet I was too hesitant to tip in in the bike at 90km in the wet


However within about 50km, the skies started opening up, started seeing more bikes and in general my mood just got so much better!

What I was riding out of



But it was starting to open up in front!





From there, the roads stayed well surfaced towards Khabarovsk and with a few 60/70 bends the riding got fun too.



Coming into Khabarovsk



I’m glad I followed advice to not stay in Khabarovsk as this was the only part of the day that was a bit congested, hot and dusty; like any city really.

From there, I even had a chance to briefly meet my first Russian biker on an R1M with a group of friends from Vladivostok on sport bikes





Unfortunately, about 15 mins after that fuel stop I looked down to my RAM mount to see my phone….gone ☹ I rode the whole 20km back and forth again very slowly looking for any sign of it but it was well and truly gone. I guess navigation becomes a bit more challenging now

Given it was already coming on 8pm I decided to give up and head into the town for the night at Birobidzhan; the main city in the Jewish Autonomous Region created by the Soviets as part of the ‘Birobidzhan Experiment



As I pulled up to my Airbnb, the host was outside working on his car (a new top of the line Landcruiser) in a shiny tiled garage where he also invited me to park the bike



The apartment itself seem to be brand new in a similarly brand new building. At less than the cost of a hotel with a kitchen, washer and an amazing bed, at least I could be in comfort while I lament over the loss of my phone



Noodles is all I'm really capable of cooking but I added fresh vegetables!!



Walking to the supermarket it felt like quite a nice town too. These pipes ran along the road but not sure if they once (or still do) serve a functional purpose

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

All very recognizable. The pipes everywhere are hilarious. I think in several towns they still function. Also in Central Asia. Sometimes a whole area can just smell like gas and you see these pipes, even running next to a school for example.

__________________
2011 Overland from Amsterdam to Nepal and back
2018 Overland from Amsterdam to Tokyo via Central Asia and Mongolia

Awesome adventure, thanks for bringing us along on it! If you get as far as Estonia, send me a message and I'll buy you a and show you around.

Can I ask what you've done to the bike ahead of the trip? I can see you've got knobbly tires - anything new in the suspension etc?

You'll be fine.

Consider getting soft panniers or something like that on the road... riding with a heavy backpack is a quality-of-life issue. You can get used to it, but you'll enjoy yourself a lot more without it.

Hah, yeah - there's only so much Goretex can do! You can probably find a waterproof oversuit in a bigger city somewhere - it will not breathe, but it will keep you dry inside.

They certainly did once and maybe still do... apart from being cheap to put up, remember that this is a relatively earthquake-prone region. FWIW they still do this as a bypass when they are repairing underground pipes or building tunnels - you'll see pipes like that frequently in Berlin, for example, painted bright pink!

Awesome adventure, thanks for bringing us along on it! If you get as far as Estonia, send me a message and I'll buy you a and show you around.

I'll be looping back down after Stans towards India, maybe next time!

Can I ask what you've done to the bike ahead of the trip? I can see you've got knobbly tires - anything new in the suspension etc?

The tyres were more of a trial a quick test at home showed slightly better traction and in my confidence on light gravel roads

I've seen the odd sport bike post online after chucking them on for travel and they just end up being on normal European roads.

Yesterday they were really put to the test and so thankful I threw them on (I'll be writing the latest update below)

You'll be fine.

I wasn't sure if the lower CCA may affect cold starts in colder climate as altitude increases


Consider getting soft panniers or something like that on the road... riding with a heavy backpack is a quality-of-life issue. You can get used to it, but you'll enjoy yourself a lot more without it.

My backpack is actually not too heavy, all I really have in it is my paperwork, a DJI Spark (no batteries) and my Surface Pro. I think its more so the hours on end spent hunched over on the bike and age catching up to me..


Hah, yeah - there's only so much Goretex can do! You can probably find a waterproof oversuit in a bigger city somewhere - it will not breathe, but it will keep you dry inside.

I don't like the sweaty feeling either lol. This will have to do

They certainly did once and maybe still do... apart from being cheap to put up, remember that this is a relatively earthquake-prone region. FWIW they still do this as a bypass when they are repairing underground pipes or building tunnels - you'll see pipes like that frequently in Berlin, for example, painted bright pink!

I also got told by a Facebook follower that having them above ground helps deal with regions in which there is permafrost!

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com

So I didn't post an update here on my ride from Birobidzhan to Belogorsk because for lack of a better word; it was uneventful.

I only even had 2 photos to share from it which really aren't even that interesting





Yesterday certainly turned things around.

As usual, I put my next intended city into the maps.me GPS application on my phone (my other phone..) and it made me a route out of Belogorsk and towards Magdagachi.

Now to be fair, I did see that there were some unpaved roads on this route from the city back to the highway, however, I had noticed that the application sometimes picked up roadworks as unpaved and decided to carry on as roadworks were everywhere!

So, I headed out from the hotel and went through the next couple of small towns running parallel to the highway; ok, roads not the best but had a chance to fill up

I then got turned onto a road that seemed to be even worse running parallel to the train line; ok, I’m sure it’ll cut me across to the highway soon

The road was just gravel….then deep gravel. Ok not so bad, good chance to see how these tyres perform as I had only briefly tried them on some loose gravel roads back home; good traction, bike was sliding around a bit but I had read to not fight the bars and just keep the power delivery smooth. Not dissimilar to riding on a wet track but it was pretty hot and dusty!



Ok finally, we are cutting across the train line and a long road now to re-join the highway. No more deep gravel but still unpaved; I can deal with this



The road slowly got narrower and turned into single track; ok, I can deal with this too…



Single track now had overgrown bushes all along it smacking me in the knees and wrists and without me noticing, the tracks were now getting deeper too



Before I knew it, I was at a small water crossing. Again, just as I had read, I got off, checked the depth and the best path through. The bike made it through well with just a little extra power out needed at the end to get the rear wheel out of the mud. Surely regular road tyres would have failed me here



As I came out of the water and over a small crest, ahead of me lie deep tracks that were undoubtedly made by those big KAMAZ trucks with very aggressive tread



I took stock of how far I had come and (perhaps foolishly) decided to press on.

From here on in, I didn’t have a chance to take many photos and it turned out the GoPro had run out of battery too; not that I noticed

I was too busy wrestling the bike through, without a doubt, the worst “roads” I have ever ridden on.

The track had turned into deep, muddy ruts with some just being massive ditches full of water where a previous truck had perhaps gotten bogged and been dug out.

I was lucky that it had not rained for a day or so as I was able to find some dryer sections to go around the ditches in places.

At the same time, I was very surprised in both the bikes and my ability to keep going. I didn’t drop the bike once even after making the mistake of putting my foot down for support and having it sink shin deep into mud

The bike didn’t get much of a chance to get out of 1st or 2nd but every time the temps got high, the fans came on right on cue and knocked the temps back down.

Finally, after 2 long hours, I covered approximately 50km and was back on the highway, never so glad to get onto mind numbing, straight tarmac again and onto more uneventfulness…. Or so I thought

After about 45 mins, the rain started. I was passed by a big tourer type BMW with Russian plates; a quick wave and he blasted past.

I saw him once again parked at a café next to the servo I was trying to get fuel at but nyet! No benzin I guess, I think the delivery hadn’t come yet

At the next petrol station, there he was right behind me in the line! So, a quick hello and we started talking.



I still had about 120km to go till my intended town of Magdagachi for the night which had one gastinitsa (guesthouse) but also a risk it may be fully booked out!

So when Vladimir invited me to stay at his place instead, I gladly accepted

Only once we started riding I realised that after another 40km on the highway, we turned off to go deeper in 100km; a road which I would have to backtrack the following day to continue towards Mongolia

But writing this now, I have no regrets about that whatsoever even though it has set me back another day.

We got to the small town of Zeya and proceed to buy some groceries (basically meat and vodka) and head to his ‘dacha’ (a traditional Siberian summer house) and spent the night drinking, talking and grilling meat

With Vladimirs dad; Boris



Getting the firewood ready







Vodka and starters



One of the most amazing sunsets I have seen







Cooking!











So in writing this long update, what really I really wanted to get to was how this one day helped me.

The previous night in Belogorsk I was feeling upset, angry and a whole bunch of emotions that I wouldn’t have thought I would be feeling when on my “dream trip”

I was annoyed that I lost my phone, felt angry that it seemed someone had found it and not bothered to respond to my message asking for its return. How dare Russian people screw me over?!

I was annoyed that my body was taking such a beating on this bike and that too, so soon into the trip

I was worried that I was hearing of unseasonal rain in both Russia and Mongolia; would I even be able to try crossing Monglia?

I was even more worried about this bike; I had always been adamant that I wanted to used my first bike but what the hell was I doing. All it did was cause me pain and it would most probably fall apart at the first sign of rough terrain.

So after going to bed with all this in my mind, to be challenged with the toughest roads I’ve ridden so far and come out of it unscathed and then experience amazing Russian hospitality put my mind at ease.

Things still may not work out, but I owe it to myself to at least give it a go…

__________________
Exploring the world by GSXR; www.7days1shower.com