Thank you, that was so interesting and useful!

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Michael
Life Reportage

Especially for somewhere like Mongolia, the difference between a light bike and a heavy bike can be the difference between endless freedom and all day chores.

Another story I heard on that front this year was a couple of other friends of mine who crossed the border into Mongolia from Tashanta on a Monday morning (the border is closed on weekends). Because it was a Monday morning there was a queue of foreign bikers crossing there ... dutch, germans and an american. The Germans were on large BMWs with lots of luggage. They went through the border first. By the time my friends got through 2 hours later, they had barely ridden 10 minutes into Mongolia when one of the Germans on the big bike was riding back towards them. When they stopped for a chat it turns out the German hadnt fully appreciated the concept of Mongolia on a big heavy bike with lots of luggage and had decided within an hour to turn round and head back to Russia. The big bike and big luggage had made it a misery for him.

It is of course possible to ride somewhere like Mongolia on a big heavy bike, lots of luggage, and enjoy it, but you would have to have a lot of experience riding that kind of bike, with that kind of luggage in those kind of conditions before you got to that point.

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Hello hubb!

My first post!

I have been lurking on every site on the web, for the past 6 months, researching for a trip I plan to make around this time next year to Mongolia and back. I registered to pm colebatch (Who seems to be the guru on all things Mongolia) a couple of questions but since you have to have a minimum of 5 posts I thought i'd ask on this relevant thread.

It's my understanding that there are 3 main routes through Mongolia however defined/clear they may be. I was just wondering... How easy is it to source water along any route in Mongolia? One requirement of my partner before setting off into the unknown is a reliable source of water along the way. Even if we carry several litres on the bike that would only last us a day or so if we were caught short. Would running out of water down Gobi Dessert way be a real problem?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Gosh I really want to do Mongolia on my BMW 1200 GS Adv in Sept/Oct. What do you guys think? Rode lots of dirt on small bikes long ago. Rode this bike 2 up throughout Baja late last year. Hmmm???...

Does anybody else know the country well? There's been about 50 views on this thread since I asked my question 3 days ago.

"Gosh I really want to do Mongolia on my BMW 1200 GS Adv in Sept/Oct".

Hi, I am looking into the same topic/problem. After crossing the Sahara in 2007 it was evident that I would not have been happy with a bigger bike, I was riding a Tenere 660.

My next project is Mongolia 20013, and one guy who wants to accompany me drives a BMW 1200.

We are not so sure that this is a good idée, so please tell us you’re final decision, and how it all worked out.

Thanx ahead

Haakon

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Haakon
Check out: North Africa 2007 and The Great African Run

Hello robb36,

I'm no expert on Mongolia, but did spend 3 weeks there last year doing the middle and some of the Gobi down south. Re your question about water - I never found it a problem; down south there were occassions when it was about 100 km between villages, but there was always water available from a well, a pump or a stream. I carried 4 litres on the bike and 2 in a camelbak and found that sufficient and never felt at risk of running out. The thing about Mongolia is your never a huge distance from people, the population density may be low but they are spread out, and where there are people you can always get water. So with a bit of care, no I don't think water should ever be a worry.

As for the big bike / small bike debate all I can say is I took a KLR 650 and for a few days (and after umpteen times picking it up) in soft sand down in the south I'd have loved a lighter bike, but for the rest of the trip (for me) it was fine. A DRZ400 or WR250R would have suited me better for the harder off-road days but a GS1200 better during some of the longer transits in Russia - everythings a compromise.

Happy planning

Thank you for that navalarchitect. Just one more question, is it generally alright to drink from a river? Or would you recommend boiling first?