Does anyone know the best time of year to cross Mongolia, eastern Russia and Siberia ?? Considering the weather, temperature, river heights etc ???

www.touringted.com

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I highly recommend doing it in the summer...

hah absolutely... I was just wondering what the 'Window' was !!

I'd want to spend a decent bit of time getting there. Enjoying Eastern Europe, Turkey and the stans before getting into Mongolia and the further wilds.....

I'm trying to work out a start date really. If it's early 2014 then I doubt my finances will be in place. I'd be better off waiting until 2015 in that case.

HOWEVER !!

What's the weather like South of the Black sea and in Azerbaijan in November/December ??

I'm guessing that if I want to cross Mongolia/Siberia in Summer, with only a 5-6 month time period, Id be leaving the UK sometime in Early May. Sound about right ???

That's about 12 months from now !!!

How much would this trip cost, spanning six months ? I'm guessing about £7000 with flights and shipping.

I might even just put my feet up in Turkey for the winter. However, this is pretty unlikely with a girlfriend waiting at home, sticking pins in a voodoo doll.

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Hi everyone!!!
Just to drop few words/thoughts.
Watching DVD’s from people who done this sort of trip, one thing is common, they all start mid April. Mondo Enduro, charley and Ewan, kev sanders, that Irish guy oisin huges......all of them leave UK around second half of April, and all had dry and good rides..(More/less...more more than les)
Money is issue, but ask Austin Vince (mondo enduro) what he think about it, and i believe him, money is not that all important, it helps but going to unknown and overcoming obstacles is what is all about, and will always stay in the memories, tarmac and hotels are all the same.
I agree that £7000 should be enough perhaps £1000 per month, but i am afraid that means no Iran (carnet) and china (guide). I don’t think i will have more than that...For everything else there is mastercard....
My idea of the route is based on Kevin Sanders ride from London to Beijing (if someone wants to see DVD let me know), that part of their ride from turkey till entering to china.
Would love to spend time in Turkey, Pamir highway, all this STANS(kaza,taji, kyrgy....unameitstan) and Mongolia, road of bones and back to Vladivostok at late July or august, ready for shipping...
On this forum is few other guys planning similar route at the same time so maybe all link together and this trip may happen.
Today i started my new job and i hate it, and only thinking (daydreaming) about this trip will keep me going till next spring...
Thanks and Keep it real...

For roads like the Road of Bones and Western BAM There are two windows ... the window of possibility and the window of ideal weather.

The window of possibility is early June to early September. Beyond that it will be sub zero on the Road of Bones. Already now (late August) in Yakutsk the daily minimums are 4 degrees C. You have an extra two weeks or so on the BAM Road before it gets similarly chillly. The Trans Sib Highway is usually OK till end of September and Vladivostok itself which is further south again, is OK till the end of October. Note also that if there is a late spring thaw, the meltwater that normally peaks in May can still be high in the first half of June.

The window of great weather is basically July. June 20th to first week of August at a stretch. This is when you are most likely to get warm sunshine, clear blue skies, seemingly endless 30 degree days (which actually end in a few short weeks).

Whether or not its a long term trend, I would note that the last few Augusts in particular have seen a LOT of rain.

The window is small and it is quite critical in terms of your planning. As is the weight of your bike for those roads. I strongly recommend you work with that info, rather than against it.

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As Walter says, think very carefully about bike weight, luggage weight and quality of suspension on the bike, as well as timings as described. It's real expensive if you end up borrowing a mate's bike because yours is shagged. The chances of getting a bike to borrow are rather small unless your friend is otherwise engaged in the shagging department and needs his bike ridden.

That's my story from this year and the expense was worth it.

I haven't even got to the ridicule I will suffer in the coming months considering the brand of the borrowed bike and my previous utterances regarding it. ;-)

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TBS.com

I did east to west last year, there are pro's and cons to it. The cons are riding into the sunset the further west you get and you start on the exciting stuff and after that its all a bit of an anti climax. But fresh bikes and fresh body are a plus for the old summer road and BAM.
We are organising a container to Vladivostok next year around middle of July then back in middle of Sept to UK, may have space available.

Cheers

Mark


Mark
www.bamriders.com

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Mark
www.bamriders.com

riding into the sun...i'm kind of used to that living in the desert

as for starting on the exciting stuff and then the rest gets less and less interesting, just read your whole blog in one sitting and i see you came back mainly by Russia, i would be heading south into the Stans...also from the UK i am shipping back to South America from the UK and riding south again for the third time...more Ruta 40 and Ushuaia and go and see the places i missed the first two times...so again not an issue for me i have lots more craziness to come, also i have never ridden in mainland Europe also

BTW, like your website, i'll be in touch via PM or EM

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www.rtwpaul.com

Yeah we were running on a tight schedule so didn't make the Stans, they will have to wait. Sounds like you have a great plan, only wish I could come

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Mark
www.bamriders.com

meet me Irkutsk or Almaty and you can ride south into the Stans with me from there back to the UK

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www.rtwpaul.com

We depending on the situation in Syria, Iran might not be possible at all

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That is what I was thinking yesterday while watching the 20.00h news!



Time will tell!

Just an idea guys,I think I heard some time people are getting into Iran without a carnet but need to go in and out by the same border. If this can still be done you could just back track into turkey and take a ferry to Ukraine then onwards to Russia .

For British.... I think it's definitely bad.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Hi guys,

I planned to ride the western BAM and OSR this year from Ulan Bator (shipping the bike from Germany), but because of my work had to cancel everything. So I will be up for the same project for 2014, most probably during starting mid july in Ulan Bator and meeting in Irkutsk with HUBB member Bubbla who will ride from Sweden.

I also plan, if possible to sell my bike in Magadan around first or second week of August. Otherwise, I will be looking to share a container for Germany, but ideally I will sell my bike there. I will have only 4 weeks for my trip. We will both be riding KTM Adventure 640.


I read in this post that someone wants to make it with a R80 BMW. I would strongly not recommend this bike. I rod in 2011 from Switzerland to Mongolia with a R100Gs, and had some troubles in Mongolia in the river crossing, although there were not deep (30-40cm), because the air intake is much too low compare to other bikes. For the BAM, this will not work for sure.

I initially planned to ride from UB to Magadan with a new set of K60 Heidenau tires. What do you think about it? I have good experience on paved road with them, last +10'000km, and on dirt road the back one gave up after only 5000km, but I have a heavy bike (R100GS PD) compare to the 640 ADV.

My concern is, if I can't sell the bike in Magadan, will need to ride back to some major city like irkutsk or Ulan Bator, and I will not be able to do this with the same set of tires. I don't like so much the idea of having to carry a set of tire all the way with me, but I doubt I can find new tires in Magadan....