Still riding? Looking forward to your next post

Still riding!!

Sorry, a combination of being dead tired, bike needing some work and not the best internet.

Will get the posts back on track !

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

While I'm tying my best to keep my Facebook page up to date (7days1shower) I havent had as much luck here. Currently in Kazakhstan (and loving it!) but will slowly bring this one up to date too

It doesn't help that Kazakhstan has just introduced some new Internet policies which is making access a bit tough!

So...going back a little....

After our first hotel choice in Khovd wanted about $150 for the night we moved onto our second choice which had mixed reviews online. And for a while we thought we were in for a rough stay after finding out that “no hot water for now” actually meant no running water at all!

Thankfully, once the water was on a perfect hot shower was served up along with decent beds!

Unfortunately the rest of the town was still a dump with attempts to find food outside the hotel only ending in being caught up in more dust storms.

The hotel staff did engage in the now common occurrence of photoshoots with the Gixxer.



The next morning was looking like it was off to a rough start too after I followed GPS directions to the main road to Ulgii….a dirt road!







At first I thought this must just be a small section but after a few kilometres, luckily, Mark realised that we were on the old road!





A quick backtrack and navigation through town and we were back on perfect asphalt.







"The Misfits"





Riding with the power of Gengis Khan



The trip was fairly pleasant with only a couple of small sections offroad along with more Mongolians stopping for photos.



More people?





Ok fine, one last one



The most noticeable difference was that it was getting cold, REALLY cold.







Combined with the odd drizzle, this made for some very cold hands.

It was then that I realised that pretty much everyone was using heated handgrips….wish I’d thought of that modification for my bike.

As we pulled into town and were about to go to the Blue Wolf Ger camp we saw a Czech couple pull up on a Transalp who suggested another camp very close by that was rated better than Blue Wolf.



Whilst the initial impressions were ok, turns out the gers flood! So a soaked helmet and jacket were more things on the to-do list to sort out.



I did get my pizza though! Worth it.





The plan was to head to the Russian border the next day but all night it rained, hard, continuing into the morning.

Whilst Mark decided to head off anyway, Yosuke and I have decided to wait it out till tomorrow in hope of slightly less rain.





A coal delivery to the dump of a place in Ulgii



A good lunch of kofte in Ulgii to lighten the mood of being damp and cold



Although things outside were still miserable



A possible solution to my cold hands?





So now, an early 4am start to get to the border. Only 95km away but 30km of that is unpaved which with the rain, could mean mud. That combined with stories I’ve been hearing from others coming into Mongolia at the same border to 8 and 11 hour crossings, the earlier the better. Just hope its quicker the other way…

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

First sportbike to cross Mongolia? Probably not (I've heard from 2 people now about a Slovenian R1 crossing through around 7 years ago)

First Australian sportbike to cross Mongolia? Maybe

Either way, it’s done!!!!



The tactic to try and wait out the rain by a day paid off!

I definitely didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary in the dump of a place in Ulgii. The rain had flooded my gear, the roof leaked onto the bed and everything just smelt damp.

We woke up at 4am the next morning in anticipation of a wet and muddy off road stretch to the border and were on the road by 5am.



While Mongolia had tested me and worn me out, I was very lucky not to come off and experience any real pain…till now.

The cold! The cold on my fingers was unbearably cold and I had to keep pulling over to get some blood back in my fingers from the warmth of the Monkey engine since my engine had case covers on it!



The Monkey had heated grips and the Tenere had wind protectors; I had nothing. If I was struggling with the cold at 2600m, how was I going to deal with the temperatures on the Pamir at 4500m. I need to look into something ASAP

Thankfully, we did have some luck on our sides yet again. Yesterday was pouring rain and today was forecast to be rain again but a little less. But lo and behold, not a cloud in the sky! The offorad sections were as long as promised at about 30km and definitely not difficult, in the dry. In the wet, they would have been fairly muddy.

We got to the border at 830am, a decent time given it doesn’t open till 9am but there was already a line of at least 50 vehicles. Thankfully, at most border crossings, motorcycles get priority and here was no different; right to the front!



After paying a small fee for road tax and changing any remaining Mongolian Tugrik to rubles, the Mongolia formalities didn’t take long at all; 30 minutes. Off to a good start from the horror stories we’d been hearing.

From there, it was a 26km ride through no-mans land; neither Mongolia nor Russia and to the Russian border post. We had done it, we had actually crossed Mongolia!!





The Russian side was a bit of a longer wait as each person ahead of us seemed to be in a van with a dozen people; meaning a dozen passports to process

On top of that, of course there was going to be the odd Mongolian who would argue and push and shoe to try and get in front. In the end, the immigration officer takes the motorcyclists paperwork instead and I’m free to give the Mongolian guy a polite smile to let him know he can keep waiting

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

If I was happy about getting back into Russia yesterday, today Russia just took me to a whole new level of happiness!

Everyone had been saying how beautiful the Altai region of Russia was but so far, we hadn’t really seen it. What I assumed was clouds blocking our view was actually thick smoke haze that was blanketing much of Siberia due to wildfires!



However, as moved further north, the haze dissipated enough to reveal the beauty of Altai.













And it was as if every overlander was enjoying this region just as much as us; from cyclists to bikes and cars as well as huge expedition trucks, there were vehicles from all corners of the world going up and down through the Altai. It was my favourite game of spot the numberplate!





The distance from Kosh Agach to Barnaul was just shy of 700km but a downside of so much beauty was that I kept stopping for photos and videos which made the planned 350km seem more improbable by the minute.







We also came across the Czech couple on the Transalp whom we had met and had dinner with in Ulgii. I thought my chain had problem, his was literally hanging off the swingarm while at full stretch!



But it wasn’t just foreigners taking in the beauty of the Altai; there were so many holidays Russians camping all along the riverside in their tents or caravans







While I had planned to stay at a gastinitsa, seeing all this made me want to camp too! I had enough food and water so why not!

A quick check of iOverlander showed a campsite over a bridge and on the other side of the road which should be secure enough.

The camp site was not hard to get to at all but still secluded enough along with a flowing river nearby for soothing soundtrack to sleep to as well as fresh water!



















A perfect day capped off with some hot noodles and a Bounty and Twix for dessert

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

Very pleased with the decision to camp instead of stay indoors on our first day through Altai.





I was wondering how the next day would be and within 50km of leaving camp it went from beautiful twisties to traffic.

The road was now passing through small towns which bottlenecked all the holiday-goers.

I started to wonder how we could achieve our lengthy 450km target at this pace nd then the dual carriageway opened letting the pace go up to 110kmh.

But with the speeds going up, another danger emerged; Russian driving speeds.

The road was now a single carriageway again and even though I was doing around 100km, I was being passed as if I was standing still by cars doing easily 150kmh.





Making matters worse, the combination of both right and left hand drive cars in Russia meant that many cars were hanging out nearly all the way into oncoming traffic in order to see before passing.

Just as these thoughts were going through my mind, traffic started slowing down up ahead and I saw the cause; a car flipped on its roof. Thankfully the occupants were all standing outside seemingly unharmed but this was definitely a dicey stretch of road.

As if that wasn’t enough, as I pulled out to pass a truck doing 100kmh due to it billowing out diesel fumes, the bike suddenly started hesitating to accelerate any further whilst I was already in the oncoming lane with a car approaching.

I managed to pull in just in time but a little more testing showed the bike was struggling at exactly 6000RPM, hesitating and choking to rev any higher. Maybe a fuel delivery issue? That’s about one of the only things I am a little familiar with so hopefully it’s something I can fix. At least its working seemingly well till 6k RPM and allowing speeds of upto 100kmh without issue

Getting into Barnaul was a big relief after along day with just a final 45 minutes of peak hour traffic to get through but the thought of a 4 night rest in an Airbnb apartment was worth the days effort.

While I initially was worried the apartment was too far from the centre it turned out to be great with multiple supermarkets downstairs and a 24 hour fast food place within 5 minutes walk.

For dinner? Pizza of course.

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

There's an issue with your photos - none other than the first half of the first page here are displaying - I suspect permissions or something like that at your storage site.

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

Very strange!!

They seem to be loading for me :/

Could it be a browser issue?

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

The whole reason I was in Barnaul was because of tyres.

Before I set out on this trip, I did a lot of research into tyres for both the front and rear that would get me through Russia, help me cope with Mongolia and continue on without needed a change.

Not an easy task but I finally decided on a Continental TKC80 for the front and a GoldenTyre GT723 for the rear.

The first 4000km through Russia would be mostly pavement although the tyres did save me through some muddy detours my GPS took me through early on in Russia.

If it weren’t for that, it may have made more sense to run road tyres till Ulan Ude and then buy something new there; although easier said than done since my tyre sizes aren’t the easiest to find.

With regards to my first change, the initial plan was Osh, Kyrgyzstan which was then revised back to Almaty, Kazakhstan; at both places I contacted retailers and prices were sky high

I then found a guy in Moscow that could supply a wider range of tyres at a reasonable price shipped anywhere in the Russian customs union (Russia, Kazakhstan & Kyrgystan)

So I had now decided Osh would be too far to stretch the current tyres, so should I go for Almaty in Kazakhstan or Barnaul in Russia?

The difference SHOULD have been about 1500km based on the most direct route until I started learning the information that the direct route was so bad it was smashing peoples bike frames, wheels and in general just nearing impassable. So, the longer way around was an additional 1500km making it a drastic difference for the tyres

I had to make the decision in by Ulan Ude and after much deliberation I settled on Barnaul as the shipping point for my new tyres; Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR for the front and Mitas E07+ on the rear. Perhaps not as great a combo as my first but hopefully suitable to take on the Pamir Hwy

Now that I was actually in Barnaul though I was wishing I had gone with trusting my own research as both the front and rear still had life in them, probably enough to make it to Almaty via the longer route even!

But it was too late, it would take too much time to get them shipped again to Almaty and add even more cost so the best solution we could come up with was to change the rear, especially since the new rear is supposed to be long life, and I will carry the front with me so that I can change it in Almaty or in case the current one goes before then, at least I have a spare with me.

TKC80 front after 7500km. Still plenty of meat left



GT723 Rear after 7500km. I loved this tyre and sad to see it go with life still left on it



Luckily a 17” front fits snugly with my current luggage setup and in fact even acts as a bit of a luggage rack. I may even consider carrying my old front with me after the change in order to help carry fuel.

So, in Barnaul, the tyres had been shipped to a local biker, Andrei, who was going to help us fit the new tyres and any other work we needed done such as luggage rack welding for the Japanese guys and a new chain for me; all free of charge of course.









Andrei had told me in messages that he wasn't a service centre but he knew how to get the job done as the best mechanic in Barnaul! Breaking a very tough rear tyre bead



As I waited for Andrei to arrive I thought I would look into the hesitation issue from yesterday and pulled off the fuel tank. As I took the fuel pump out the most ridiculous amount of gunk started falling out; dirt, all dirt.









Easily a handful of dirt had accumulated at the bottom of the tank and clogged up the pump assembly.

Mark on the KTM from Canada had mentioned to me that he was using an Australian made pre-filter sock for fuel in Mongolia since he had heard the fuel was bad there. I had told him then that oh, I have been filling up at petrol stations only so I hadn’t been using the same pre-filter that I was also carrying. Damn I felt silly.

Thankfully, it seemed that no major damage was done as the pump was still working and despite the amount of dirt, the low pressure filter itself was not too bad. Even more luckily, I had diagnosed the issue perfectly and was carrying 5 spare filters and a spare pump.

A thorough clean of the assembly as best I could, a new filter and it was all back together again. A quick test didn’t show any hesitation revving to 8k RPM

From there, it was a couple of afternoons at Andreis place while he helped us out with our other mechanical needs and told us crazy stories of his rides in the Siberian winter such as riding a scooter across a frozen Lake Baikal as well as a big power Harley with side car also across the frozen lake!

After the bike was done, Andrei was even kind enough to take us on a tour of the city including to the local biker bar









While the bikes got some care, it was also great to take a day or two off in Barnaul with a nearby fast food store serving everything from pizzas to wrap and burgers and the general calmness of a residential neighbourhood giving us some nice peace and quiet



Hopefully all rested up and ready for the next challenge; Central Asia, starting with Kazakhstan

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

- GOODBYE RUSSIA, HELLO KAZAKHSTAN -

Today was the day I finally leave Russia for good after my 2nd entry into the country (travelling on a double entry business visa). Unlike others on a 1 year multiple entry visa, I don’t have the option to change up my plans if I feel like it and enter back in.

I was truly going to be sad to leave as although I had started off in Vladivostok apprehensively about how crazy Russian roads and traffic would be I had grown to love the country while travelling through Siberia for everything from its varied landscapes, friendly people and great food.

I had been taken in by bikers to their homes, had my bike looked after and in broken English and Russian, had some great conversations.

It was also a sense of familiarity that I was leaving as I understood Russian to some extent and moving on meant starting anew from learning how to say hello and thank you, knowing what food to eat and even just day to day things on the road.

For example, filling fuel in Russia requires you to specify how many litres you want and paying upfront. Now with a bike, I usually just want it to be filled to full so whilst in some cases this can just be done by leaving a large cash amount or card as bond, some attendants flat out refuse until you specify an amount and pay for it. A headache but again, familiar.

There were the nice things as well like the custom followed by most drivers to turn on the hazard lights if you allow them to pass as a thank you. Of course, I would curse them in my head if I let them pass and they didn’t thank me!

A last look back at Russia



It didn’t help that the things I had been preparing for the next country, Kazakhstan, weren’t all that great; a direct route from the Semey border to Almaty of 1200km was 800km of road so bad that people were breaking bike frames and wheels, a barren landscape, corrupt police that were ready to pounce.

Thankfully, I had done my research yet again and validated with others that a longer, 1000km longer, route was possible down south to Almaty via the capital city of Nur Sultan (previously known as Astana). This would eat up some time and effort but hopefully save the bike.

At the last minute, I also decided to drop the idea of the smaller border crossing into Kazakhstan through Shemonaika, which was supposed to be much quicker than the main crossing, due to hearing about road conditions and headed to the main border of Semey.

Again, through some research I found that just before the border is a small town where the main business seems to be selling insurance. The first of these little booths seems to be the popular option with a very friendly lady who offers tea and biscuits while you wait. Probably paying a slight premium but all in all, only 1600rubles for a months insurance



The border process was once again very quick despite horror stories and both Russian and Kazakh sides were done within 1 hour and 15 minutes. A quick chat with the Kazakh soldiers with a lesson in saying hello (asalam aleikum) seemed to indicate that this was going to be a predominantly Islamic nation.

Lining up before the Russian side



In Kazakhstan!



As we stopped for some water right after the border, a lone rider approached us from the other side; a German on a GS1200 named Oliver.

For the past few days I had been wondering if I should attempt taking on the Pamir and trying to gather as much information as possible on road, fuel and weather conditions. Oliver in one conversation was able to alleviate all my concerns and helped me finalise my decision; I will attempt the Pamir!

In return, I was able to try and give him some information on Russia and more importantly, Mongolia. Of course, I also gave him a sticker and toy kangaroo!





Unfortunately, from there on, it seemed that the stories of Kazakhstan were starting to be realised as although the road was paved, it was of fairly poor condition with every bump and hole sending a jolt through the bike and me.



However all along the way, it seemed many Kazakhs were very fond of bikers as a loud beep would suddenly warn me of a car next to me with someone hanging out the window waving enthusiastically

Pulling into Semey, without a SIM card, we started looking for accommodation. The first place; fancy but too expensive, keep looking. The 2nd place had a standard room for one person for 6000 tenge and a double luxury room for 9000 tenge.

I decided to opt for the standard room but had to pay an extra 700 tenge for breakfast whilst the Japanese bikers shared the luxury room which had breakfast included!

Next order of business; food! But with no money, this meant that an ATM had to come first.

One of my favourite activities in any new country is to go looking for a basic necessity such as a SIM card as It often leads to fun discoveries.

In this case, my first Kazah food at a fast food joint where I opted for an unknown snack rather than chicken nuggets and was rewarded with a delicious pastry filled with meat.



Buying the SIM card itself was an experience as the 1 hour wait to get it activated lead to a great conversation with Azhar who ran a gold shop and Evgeny who ran the phone shop. All through Google Translate of course.



From there, dinner. I did try to have some more Kazakh food (shashlik) but ended up with Uzbek plov (which turned out to be so delicious, I had 2 plates)



A good bed to sleep in, delicious food, friendly people; maybe Kazakhstan wasn’t going to be so bad after all

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

- West through Kazakhstan -

It seems that roads heading in and out of a city are fairly poor but everything in between is great! (So far)

Heading from Semey, west, to Pavlodar was no different

Anticipated a hot day at 36c but luckily cloud cover kept things fairly decent

The 340km that would’ve otherwise felt big actually seemed ok so going to try a 440km push to the capital of Nur Sultan (formerly known as Astana) tomorrow

No Mongolian cowboys wanting photos with the bike any more



I had seen this bike in the hotel parking in the morning but it was gone by the time I was ready to set off

A crazy Korean guy taking 5 years to ride around the world



Roadside produce



Lunch break





Many rest stops in Russia have these bays for people to work on their vehicle

Seems Kazakhstan follows suit

In this case the guy seemed to be pulling down on something near the gearbox and then beating the hell out of it with a big hammer



Dinner in Pavlodar; dump of a hotel but giant shaslik made up for it

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

- To the capital! -

Since I’m avoiding the road to head directly south to Almaty, I need to head further west towards the capital city of Nur Sultan (although it seems locals refuse to recognise it as anything other than Astana)

A quick stop by the mosque in Pavlodar before heading out of the city







Based on yesterday’s smooth ride, I decided to scrap my plan of a 2 day ride and try to do the whole 440km in one go. Then take an extra day to explore what is supposed to be a cool city

As soon as we got on the first highway (A17), the construction began.

This meant not only diversions but speed limit is reduced to 40 down from 90







It seemed that the reputation of harsh police enforcement was true to as nearly every local slowed right down!

At this pace it seemed near impossible to be able to complete this is a day but after nearly 250km of pain the road changed; we were now on the P4





And life on the P4 was good! Perfect dual carriageway and a 120kmh limit; time for the GSXR to open up a little!

Coming into Astana, I got the usual waves, honks and thumbs up that now seemed commonplace in Kazakhstan and it indeed looked like a very clean and modern city

Only problem was, I couldn’t find the entrance to the hotel despite circling it twice!

But again, friendly Kazakh people to the rescue. A lady and her daughter in a black Range Rover got us to follow them right up to the hotel

A hot shower, good dinner and great bed to get ready for a big day of walking and exploring tomorrow!

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

I’ve enjoyed reading this today, and will be following from here. Sooner you than me on a gixer off road, but if we were all the same life would be dull. Respect!

Get that chain sorted/changed or have the capacity to get a link out - i didn’t on a previous trip and it suddenly became a critical problem.

- NEW FAVOURITE COUNTRY & CITY –

The plan for the day off in Astana was to walk around and explore the city.

However, the night before, I had been lying in bed scrolling through Instagram and come across the page for Astana Bikers. After a couple of quick messages back and forth with the page owner, Darkhan (who rides both an immaculate Goldwing and also an Aprillia RSV4), it was decided that walking about 10km in predicted 37c heat was a terrible idea and Darkhan would instead come by to pick me up and drive me around

First thing next morning, I shot him a message to let him know that the Japanese bikers were looking for an accessories shop for new gloves and within 15 minutes, another biker, Mikhail, was at our front door.

Turns out there is a large biker WhatsApp group and the news of traveling riders needing assistance had gone out en masse.

While Darkhan took me out for a drive in the city, the Japanese guys were taken to Mikhails home and told to choose from his own gloves for pairs that would fit them!

I on the other hand was busy being amazed by the hyper-modern and amazing city that is Astana.

Coming into Kazakhstan, I had very low expectations and a hot and dusty steppe and not much else to do. However I’m so glad the direct road to Almaty is bad which has made me come through Astana.

The city is extremely clean with wide and perfect roads and almost every building is architecturally beautiful.





Arc De Triomphe... Astana
















Entire residential areas are styled in distinct French, Italian or other European styles; large restaurants are housed in huge buildings styled to look like landmarks from their home countries such as Azerbaijan, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Japan.

However it’s not all about imitation, while even the simplest buildings re beautiful, the city boasts more concert halls, stadiums, museums and other arenas than I could ever hope to visit in months of living here all interspersed amongst ornate mosques.

You’ll have to excuse my photos as most were taken from a moving car; it was simply way too hot to be out.

Going far beyond the term of being hospitable, Darkhan treated me to a light and refreshing lunch before dropping me back to my place. But not before telling me to make sure to be ready by 10pm so we could head to the local bikers meeting where a large group of Astanas’ sportbikers would be waiting to meet me and see the Aussie GSXR!

Lunch with Darkhan, cool and refreshing acroshka with lime and mint juice





These guys were crazy, reaching well in excess of 150kmh on the street with no regard for speed cameras flashing away like strobe lights. I hung back with the Goldwing...














A final parting gift; a patch from Astana Motorcyclists!

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

Chain was replaced in Barnaul!

Rear sprocket seems to still look ok, hopefully front it too

Also going to be very fastidious about cleaning and lubing now

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