Two of us are looking at our first self planned trip from UK to Mongolia and back. We both have done a lot of adventure riding on roads and off road so next year in June we want to do a big trip. We are wondering if 45 days riding out Via Eastern Europe and through Kazakhstan to Mongolia then a more scenic route Via Stan's, Iran and Turkey would be enough time. We are considering using KTM 990's so we can do some off road sections but get through some of the already travelled road parts at a decent pace. Plan is to camp as much as possible. Any thought or advice most welcome.

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DR650SE, KTM 1190 Adventure, CRF450X, KTM990 Adventure

According to Google Maps the shortest route from London to Ulaan Bataar is about 5,500 miles, that's 11,000 miles return. In theory you could do that at 245 miles per day but it would be a punishing itinerary with no time for looking round, diversions, rest etc.

Hi, I just finished a trip from France to Mongolia via Kazakhstan. We took a route via St Petersburg (awesome), then to Omsk (Russia) and down to Astana (Kazakhstan) and then across a very small road to Semipalatinsk, and down to the Altai mountains. Camped the whole way, no drama, just go off main roads a bit and find somewhere quiet. Kazakhstan had the worst roads we saw and there were long stretches of no fuel and longer stretches of no fire wood. Be careful in the black soil when it rains - it is like glue (that was north of Astana). Locals are super friendly all the way across Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

the fuel in Russia is often no great, and in Kazakhstan was very bad. Altai mountains are the bomb diggity. It gets cold!

We had a BMW 2004 FGS and tenere 1988. They were both easy enough to fix on the road (as a semi-competent mechanic). Bike clubs are great sources of information on the way. Tyres might be difficult to come across. Search some forums, there is a bloke in Moscow who posts tyres all over the place, saving you carrying them. We didn't get a flat tyre in 25,000km. Chain, sprockets, and brakes both. Oil changes and minor service every 10,000km kept the bikes in good shape. One clutch cable (you can get "cut it yourself" clutch cables.. not ideal, I suppose, but good for a quick fix).

mat

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@mototouring16 Yamaha Tenere 1988, BMW F650GS 2004
www.wildeshausen-to-tullera.weebly.com www.facebook.com/mattheresa2016