Beijing to London - one day
 

G'day all.
This is going to be one of those slow burner threads as I plan and hopefully get to ride from Beijing to London. I am a school teacher here in Beijing and the plan is to ride back to London, in the not too distant future.

I have many years riding experience starting in the 70's Honda Elsinore MR50 all the way through various motocross and enduro machines followed by RGV 250's, Thundercats, GSXR's, a couple of vintage Vespa's and currently a Benelli TRK502 (cheap here in Beijing).

What will I ride back to London? Maybe the Benelli, maybe something else. Will be affordable.
Who with? Maybe myself, maybe two up with the wife.

Rough route - China, Tibet (still China),Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, wherever in Europe, UK.

I will be reading as much on here and other websites as I can, and devour all the information I can get. Will also no doubt ask lots of questions, including some dumb ones no doubt.

Cheers
Brendan

Hi Brendan and welcome,
That sounds like a good plan, my only observations are assuming that you are a British passport holder you might have to get the ferry from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan due to problems with visas for both Turkmenistan and Iran. That does not mean it is totally impossible but certainly problematic at the moment, good luck with your planning and keep us informed.

Hi Brendan! Sounds like a great plan. Insofar as you already have Chinese residency and a Chinese driver's license, you've solved probably the most difficult logistical problem for your trip - everything else is just a matter of setting out and doing it, and I think a Benelli TRK502 will easily handle the trip.

The model Benelli that I have is more road oriented. It's the TRK502 and not the TRK502X.
https://www.benelli.co.uk/model/2023...li-trk-502-763
https://www.benelli.co.uk/model/2023...-trk-502-x-764

Mine is a 2018 model so without the fancy dash.
It has the underslung exhaust which means no centre stand. This obviously makes servicing or tyre puncture repair rather difficult. The wheels are also smaller and not the spoked type.
So I could either change the exhaust and add a centre stand or change the bike. I assume the cheaper option is to change the exhaust.
So how important is it to have a centre stand? I would think this is a no brainer and a must have.
What about the wheels?
Any and all advice welcome.

In the meantime whilst i wait for the Beijing to London trip to materialise, I am going/intending to ride the Pamir highway in the summer of 2024. Geuss I'll start a new thread for that one.

The ferry is cargo-only, as you are probably aware the Azerbaijan land and sea borders are closed to tourists. There is no likelihood of this changing in the medium future, as the AZ authorities want to prevent the influx of Russian draft dodgers that Georgia has experienced.

From Beijing to London you have two options, the north or south route. South would take you through India, Pakistan and Iran - and as Mark says the attitude of the Iranian authorities toward UK passport holders isn't very helpful. From Beijing I'd say the northern route is better anyway, as it can take you through Mongolia and the Central Asian states, which are well worth riding. You would have to enter Russia twice, but for fairly short distances, and Russian visas are readily available. That would take you back to Europe via Georgia and Turkey.