Suzuki DR 350 a ride to Italy-Russia-Kazhakistan-Kirgyzstan-Uzbekistan

Hellò everybody , my name is Maurizio (aka Momi), i live in Italy and this year i bought a Suzuki DR 350, my first motorcycle. Since I was young I just had driven a scooter, Vespa PX 125 all around West Europe<o></o>
In 2006 I was for 3 weeks in Alaska in the north on Noatak River by canoe, and 1 week in the south, in the Kenai peninsula, where I rented a little motorbike, a Yamaha 225 XT, driving for 1000 miles.<o></o>
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In 2007, during my trip in South Asia ( Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand) I rented for some days little motorcycles ( 100 cc ) doing some little trips.<o></o>
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So during winter 2008 I began to plan a vacation on motorbike.<o></o>
Place: i want to arrive to Samarcanda (Uzbekistan), I don’t really know why<o></o>
How: crossing Russia and formers Soviet Republic<o></o>
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First the motorcycle. I really don’t understand nothing about mechanical problems ( just put petrol, check oil and tyre pressure): so I need of a strong and reliable motorcycle. A little more big than the Yamaha 225 XT, but I went to some shops and I understood that 600 cc or more are to big for my experience. <o></o>
Simple: in these countries could be difficult find spare parts or assistance for really new kind of motorcycle.<o></o>
The DR 350 appeared to be good:<o></o>

• Electronics : just ignition<o></o>
• Engine: four stroke, single cylinder<o></o>
• Weight: just 130 kg ( 286 pounds)<o></o>
• Low fuel consumption: around 28÷30 km/lt ( 17,5÷18,5 miles/0,22 gallon)<o></o>

On internet I found a good bargain: year 1999, just 8000 km ( around 5000 miles) price 1500 € ( 2000 $).<o></o>
I bougth on february . A mechanic that work in a Suzuki shop and has the same motorcycle prepared my DR with special tank: 16 liters (3,52 gallons), and so I have a range around 450 km ( 280 miles).<o></o>
I bought lateral stiff bags and prepared myself a back roof rack.<o></o>
I started on 19 of july and my plane was to reach Samarcanda in Uzbekistan crossing Russia, Kazahkistan and Kirghigistan . <o></o>
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3 days before the start<o></o>
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my technical equipment <o></o>
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the night before<o></o>
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the route<o></o>
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Go<o></o>
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Cracovia (Poland)<o></o>
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Lithuania<o></o>
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a really particular camping near the border with Latvia<o></o>
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breakfast with the owner<o></o>
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Latvia<o></o>
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it’s the afternoon of the fourth day and I reached the Latvia-Russia border<o></o>
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Russia !!!!!<o></o>
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Awesome, it's like watching my bike ride around the world!
Great trip, it looks like.

Thank's guys and excuse me for the grammar: translate is a relly hard job especially if you've never had study english.
First look at the pictures...read ok second step

Your English is just fine besides the pics tell the story.

My first hotel along the M9: always during my travel i used motel for truck driver. From my own experience normally they are cheap, somebody always take care of your truck, or motorcycle or car. You can even get good information about directions and road status<o></o>
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this motel has not room, ma little houses with one room<o></o>
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my first russian dinner: soup and fish<o></o>
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the next morning ( my 5^th day of ride) I started to Mosca<o></o>
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finally Mosca (Mockba) and now how reach midtown ? I didn’t have a GPS just maps and some fotocopy of cities from some books. Easy: ask to the people wher’s the Kremlin. It is right in the middle of the city ! Mosca is a big city: 45 minute to reach Kremlin<o></o>
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my hostel was really close to the Kremlin in Arbat street, that was a promenade so I had to push my motorbike along the street, but it was possible put it inside the entrance <o></o>
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my room has 8 sleeping bed, and there was common kitchen<o></o>
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Nadia and Olga the receptionist whith my book guide<o></o>
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The next day a classical tour Kremlin and Red Square<o></o>
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a picture with a Japanese tourist group. When you are traveling and aren’t sure about the best position to take a picture of you and a monument or special place, look at the Japanese: they always choose the best position for the classical souvenir picture<o></o>
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S. Basilio Cathedral: beautiful<o></o>
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the Bolshoi Theatre<o></o>
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in the afternoon i went to a bar near my hotel. The day before I had seen a lot of russian biker and I was searching a mechanic to can check my Suzuki: there was any particular problem but I had did still 3000 km.<o></o>
They was nice and one of them that could speak english called a mechanic, Igor and fixed an appointment the morning after near a motorshop: Motorland.<o></o>
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the shop and Igor<o></o>
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after two days I started again along east: here this russian tourist want to take a picture with me<o></o>
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in this motel i was in a 9 people dormitori, but i was alone<o></o>
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a stop to dine<o></o>
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the Volga river: very wide, it isn’t ?<o></o>
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not bad this motorway cafè<o></o>
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a typical russian city<o></o>
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Sasha the truck driver by which I sleped in the same room: nice he helped me a lot, ordering the breakfast and giving some indications for the roads<o></o>
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today I was heading for Urali Mountains<o></o>
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around 8 pm it began to rain a little, so I take a break to prepare some rice ( in my bag I have food and a blazer)<o></o>
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on the road again and finally around 9,30 pm a motel, a little bit strange<o></o>
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another day, another motorway cafè<o></o>
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Here I’m in Del Abinsk, near the Kazakhstan border<o></o>
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this isn’t a motel…but a bar<o></o>
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the Russia-Kazakhstan border !<o></o>
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Keep it coming my friend! Great pics!

Great pics! Keep the story coming!

Great pics!

Wow! This is amazing. Keep up the awesome posts!

Can't wait to read more of this report! Great work!

Yes, but you can't imaginate how hard is translate ...i'll keep up

What a great adventure! Those Russian gals are really Buff!




BTW, When are you comming to the USA?

Simplistic yet so fulfilling your adventure seems to be.
Thanks for the pics.

Congratulations, for your first big, bike ride. Thats a serious one.

Thanks for posting.

I agree, awesome trip.

Iker - did you post up a ride report on your North Cape trip in the summer? Hope that you're well. Marcin is fine, still on crutches but making progress.

Sorry about the thread hijack.

Great trip you've done there, and on the first bike you've owned, very brave

Thanks for the effort you put to translate and to tell the story, keep up with the good work there.

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my first night in Kazhakstan<o></o>
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in the kitchen women are preparing pilminizie a local dish that looks very similar to an italian dish of my city tortellini - <o></o>
from Wikipedia: Tortellini is a variety of ring-shaped pasta. They are typically stuffed with a mix of meat (pork loin, prosciutto crudo and mortadella). Originally from the Italian region of Emilia (in particular Bologna and Modena), they are usually served in broth, with cream, or sometimes with a ragù. Packed, refrigerated or frozen tortellini and tortelloni (similar but larger) appear in many locations around the world, especially where Italian communities have a certain relief. Tortellini and tortelloni are made in special industrial lines supplied, all over the world, by Italian companies such as Arienti & Cattaneo, Ima, Ostoni, Zamboni, etc.; "fresh" packed tortellini have usually 7 weeks of shelf-life. Similar foods in other cultures include the Ukrainian Christmas food "vushka" (Ukrainian: &#1074;&#1091;&#1096;&#1082;&#1072;).<o></o>
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italian tortellini<o></o>
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Next morning, a little stop in a really little little town<o></o>
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a future biker ?<o></o>
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in the afternoon I was drinking a coffe, when suddendly a truck driver went in to the bar, asking who’s the owner of italian bike. He’s italian driver that was delivering special bullettproof glasses for a new private home of the Kazhakstan president Nazarbajev…strange, a so popular man, that normally win elections with relative majority around 90% that need of bullettproof glasses !<o></o>
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I decided to do a diversion from main road M36 to reach the lake Burabai and take two days of a rest. Around this lake they are building a lot of good hotel, cause keep in mind that Kahzakstan is a very big country (9^th in the world), but ther’s a lot of steppe and desert: for this people a big lake it’s something of incredible.<o></o>
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to sleep i read on my guide that some houses allow to put tha tent in the garden: I found a private house that rented rooms and places for the tent in the garden<o></o>
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I had a really hard bargaining whith the daughter of the owner about the daily rate: no discount at the end, she really still was a manager. Is the first on my motorcycle, 11 years old !<o></o>
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breakfast with the family<o></o>
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carne di cavallo e pasta fredda<o></o>
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the lake: <o></o>
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the smiling and reassuring face of the president Nazarbajev<o></o>
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for my last dinner on the lake I bought big shrimp in the market and I cooked myself<o></o>
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Excellent report and great pictures. Quite an adventure for your first motorbike. By the way, the town you refer to as Del Abinsk is actually Chelyabinsk, which saw a large amount of nuclear research / activity during the cold war, and the Russians were reported to have dumped all of the spent fuel and reactor parts in Lake Chelyabinsk. It has been called "step and a half lake" - as it is so radioactive that just a step and a half along its shore will give you a more than lethal dose of radiation. Hope you didn't go for a swim :huh :eek1

Ciao Maurizio,

what a great report and what an adventure

and on one of my favourite bikes, I have had two DR350's.

Well done,

Bob.

PS. my son (Paolo) is excited by the fact that you come from Modena as he is a big fan of Pavarotti