Australia to Scandinavia
Hello fellow adventurers!
This is my first post here, so please excuse me if anything is not according to the rules or if this is the wrong forum for this post etc.
I am seeking as much advice as possible, on all aspects of my big plan (and boy is it big). The gist of it is, I have bought a fantastic Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 here in Australia and fallen head over heels in love with it. In roughly half a year I will be moving back to Scandinavia and want would really like to take my bike with me. The sane option is just to ship it back, but where is the fun in that? So over the last couple of years, inspired by youtube channels such as itchy boots, c90adventures, and north and left a bit, a plan has been brewing in my head to try to ride it from Australia to Scandinavia. My initial rough plan went something like this: ride from southeast Queensland on the east coast of Australia, south down through Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, and west across to Perth. Ship the bike from Perth to Singapore, ride up through Malaysia and Thailand, and make my way through central Asia on my way to eastern Europe, obviously avoiding no-go countries along the way like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. Now, after some preliminary research I have identified a couple of what I am sure are well-known challenges with this route:
1. Myanmar is not very stable as of the last few years and also impossible to take a foreign vehicle into
2. China is not very welcoming to foreign vehicles either, but it is possible if you are with an (expensive) guide.
3. Avoiding aforementioned no-go countries leaves basically 2 options for continuing west - China or Russia. China seems to have very little in terms of roads, infrastructure, and settlements in the west and it does not seem possible to drive from let's say southeast China to the western border with Kazakhstan. Russia is an issue these days for obvious reasons, which was not the case when I first started dreaming about this adventure.
I am also curious to hear what you think about the Svartpilen taking on a journey like this. I am fully aware it is far from the ideal choice, but I feel like it should be doable with the right upgrades and mods.
Essentially, I am looking for any advice relating to the following points:
- A reasonably safe route, if there is such a thing
- Is it at all possible to do such a trip with a Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 (people doing far worse on scooters make me inclined to think that it is)
- If so, what mods and upgrades would be essential (luggage, extra fuel, maintenance and repairs, comfort, etc)
- Any essential items to include in my packing list (like satellite SOS beacon, etc)
Any and all advice from anyone from well-experienced adventure riders to keyboard sleuths is more than welcome and much appreciated!
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