Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

Yana figured out a way to get Prutser and Beamster to drink ... she broke out the vodka and used that age old Russian line ... lets drink to friendship. You cant really say no to that can you.

and before long, they were wearing hats too:



Yana, who was enjoying having fun with this bunch of motorcycling foreigners in her lodge in the middle of the russian wilderness, decided to throw in a new item into the mix ... karaoke ...



Rod's eyes lit up ....



Beamster helped pick out the tunes ...



While Rod sang along, looking like a character from Midnight Cowboy ...



But the old boy could still shake his moneymaker on the dancefloor .....



(The astute will have spotted the Youssou N'Dour music video in the background - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqCpjFMvz-k. Seven Seconds was about as long as Rod's bike would run, so it was pretty appropriate really.)

A good night was had by all ...

I find it deeply disturbing that the Dutch on this trip are non drinkers.

Rod, your sense of humor is killing me in a good way! A big 2 up for your honesty!

Just when you think a thread can't get any more entertaining..............

Fantastic ride report!


It's always a bad idea to point a gun at one's own head... Especially while drinking... and in the second picture of Colebatch's last post, it looks like there are rounds in the chamber! :eek1 Glad no one caught a bullet that night. Crazy Russians! (no offense to any Russians reading this, of course )

The Dutch drunk as much as the other 3 guys. But Beamster almost had to do that on her own.....
I'm the boring type........that would say thank you...

Am i the only one here that believes that Yana is really hot woman? Havent seen any comments (i think).

That's supposed to be a Smith & Wesson 686.

It was made in China and if it is real, it is a horrendously cheap copy. You can see the mold marks on the trigger guide and along the underlug. In addition, there isn't a gap at the crane - indicating that it is probably a fake. What you see as cartridges may well be a sloppy plating job (it is chromed, rather than nickle plated) and if you look closely at the barrel, it appears to have a plug in it.

It may in fact be real - but I doubt it.

Yeah, I bet you're a total bore.... No way, man....anyone who takes an airhead where you do is the opposite. I was refering to the fact that the Dutch have quite a rich heritage when it comes to brewing beer.!

I just love this RR Big fun!!!!

Its a lighter! Its OK you can blame fcuking Russians, we dont care!

Rod is spot on here - I have a 990 and before that a 950 crazy mad fun, but if I was going to doing more single seat touring I would drop down to a much lighter bike. (Well maybe, there still is something to be said for doing 100mph+ down gravel roads )

Thank you for all that info.

Sounds like the Berg will be a better option anytime, but from what i know, that bike is a dirt bike and like most of its kind it has service intervals based at hours of operation, not based on km. How would you manage to overcome this problem?

One of my good friends (Beta) just took a 570 across South and Central America mostly offroad for 5 months, clocking up 20,000 miles (32,000km) . He changed oil about every 50 hrs - that's approx 3000 km. With an oil cooler and extra oil capacity you could easily push that to 5000 km.

Which is perfectly reasonable for adventuring.

On top of that, oil changes are very easy to do on the Husaberg. Its actually a messy business on the xchallenge, which theoretically has an oil change interval of 10,000 km - but in reality I recommend earlier as the oil is usually dirty by 6000 km. An easy change every 5000 km vs a messy one at 6000 km is not a difference worth factoring in to the equation

Well thought out and detailed comments on various bikes and ADV travel. Should be required reading for everyone.

I think this is the best option overall. But why not start with an X Country?
Why the X Moto? Is there a significant difference? Or even another Virginal
X Challenge?

It's true the little WR250 Yamaha is heavier than it should be ... but do you really believe the Husaberg could match it in longevity? How many 'Berg's have done RTW or similar adventure rides? The WR's are not without some issues ... but generally good. (from what I've read) Many of them are on the road/trail, being hammered and seem to be holding up.

Still, its a tiny bike. Maybe not so great for the wide open, high speed tracks you like. Stay with the BMW's ... you are an expert on them and have TONS of spares.

PS: I'm doing the same with my now well hammered 50,000 mile DR650. Buying a low miles Virgin, swapping everything over.

Cheers!

Catched up - stil as great a report as it was when I started following :)
The more I read about 690's, the more I'm loving my own. I never thought it would be a good bike to travel with... I might have to come back from that opinion. Depends offcourse on the roads/tracks you'll be traveling on.

Xmotos are generally cheaper and have much more in common with the xc. The whole airbox assembly and faux tank area is completely different on the country. The x moto is basically identical, except for the wheels and front fender - neither of which I need or could possibly need. Unlike X-Challenges they are very unlikely to have been ridden off road, meaning the only jarring the bike has ever encountered are asphalt bumps. They are typically a fair bit cheaper than the X-challenges too.

Berg hasn't gone round the world yet. But another team mate, LukasM is going to take his rtw. My Berg will be the least traveled of all the husaberg adventure team bikes

We were discussing traveling on a light bike. The natural extension to this is to travel light oneself too, For me that would mean in clothing terms I carry 4 socks, 4 jocks, 4 Tees, a fleece, some zipleg pants that convert to shorts and my camping gear. Tools and spares and that's it.

If the guys featured are looking in, the pics below are not meant to belittle or offend anyone. If I have offended you I truly apologise unreservedly. So:

In the early days it's too easy to think-I'll take this tool or that spare jacket just in case, and this below can be the result. This was a lovely guy that did the TAT with us in '06. Hi Ron!

The scary thing is this is AFTER he'd sent 70lb weight of gear home and he still didn't have a tent at this point. He actually only fell off twice ( unlike ..err...some) but it took 3 of us to lift the bike back up as the weight distribution..............perhaps hadn't been as well thought out as it might have been. Even more impressive he did the whole trip end to end with the bike packed thus.

<a href="http://s1283.beta.photobucket.com/user/rodcurrie/media/841.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/r/rodcurrie_841.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>


Here's another just to the left (as we look at it) of me and a pal who rode with us on a later trip. This was another really nice guy I think on his first trip. He's on the mighty KLR (all bow) and seems to have entered one of those competitions to see how much gear you can get on a bike. That thing on top of the saddle is one of those cases you see people dragging around an airport and he must have had 3 weeks clothes in there..21 jocks, 21 tees ..a bicycle frame, stepladder. Not sure if the mailbox in the pic was on the bike too. The upshot of this was we set off on the trip and within 10 miles were on flat wide fire trails that will carry a large truck. The KLR unsurprisingly handled like a drunk pig and he had a couple of nasty scares that meant he baled from the dirt and hit the slab. Our group never saw him again, although I'm sure and truly hope he had a great trip on the slab. As Lomax The Magnificent says- "overweight is underprepared"

<a href="http://s1283.beta.photobucket.com/user/rodcurrie/media/024.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/r/rodcurrie_024.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"/></a>a href=

The first place to start is with BMR (Body Mass Ratio), strength and overall riding fitness.

The bottom line is, it's a total weight package which includes CofG (Center of Gravity) and Neutral Point for stability management and this includes the rider too as they are the largest weight load component..

Hey look, its Tom Hanks

naw, i think that Stalin. (ba dum chi) <ba dum="" chi!=""> </ba>

Indeed. I didnt make it clear, it's the little guy in the red crash hat, behind the KLR who's the pilot.