Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[Colebatch]

Today should be relatively straightforward I told the guys. About 400 km ... the first 100 km on rough asphalt.

We packed up at the hotel:


(pic by Steve)

Rode into the centre of town to refuel the bikes and get some breakfast:


(pic by Steve)

The weather didnt look great, but at least it wasnt bucketing down like it did 24 hours earlier.

We had not got far off the asphalt when what would normally be a fairly innocuous river crossing beside a decaying bridge had been transformed from a harmless stream into a raging torrent by all of yesterdays rain.



This was going to mean the BAM proper starts now.!

[davidbrundage]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

This was going to mean the BAM proper starts now.!

It looks like somebody might have forgotten their seat back at the gas station?

[Colebatch]

We gathered together and I thought we give it a try. This is where 4-5 guys in the group becomes handy. Terry's bike volunteered itself to go across, and 4 of us piled around the bike to try and get it over ... 3 on the downstream side to stop it drifting away.

We barely got a third of the way across before it was clear that this strategy wouldnt work. Even with three guys downstream of the bike, it was not possible to hold it against the current. I was out the front trying the manage the front wheel, and it got the point that I could even stand up and began getting my footing washed downstream. Reverse orders were yelled out in semi panic and Terry's bike was hauled backwards to the safety of dry land.

A new plan was needed.



While Steve and Terry checked his bike over, Geir and I went to explore the rail bridge...

[Adv Grifter]

Maybe this would work?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0nkL1pScXQ

[blues bob]

Where in this comic world did you dig up this elaboration of Siberian life? Please tell me it is a spoof of the ultimate kind or did I have too much to drink..........!!!??? I'm not sure if my laughter is justified or if I should be hanging my head in unbelief. Humor is the best medicine.

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by goatroper

I appreciate your "going to town" shoes. Did you pack those?

I like a thin light pair of sneakers when I travel ... and I like all black ones, cause unless you are close up, they look like going to town shoes :)

I bought these all black, chinese made sneakers, in a tiny market stall next to our hotel the first night in Kazakhstan ... for 12 bux.

They lasted me the rest of the trip

[Yamezz]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

I used mousses in the past, when I did the BAM in 2009 for example.

They are expensive, and they are EXTREMELY difficult to mount without both experience and a machine. They are totally unavailable in Siberia. Even in Moscow I have not heard of anyone stocking them.

Also they are not bulletproof ... rear mousses are hollow and filled with air. I punctured my rear mousse in 2009. Making it of very limited use. I had to swap it out for a tube when it ripped.

What brand of mousse did you use? I've been running mousses for five years now, and I've never heard of hollow mousses.



Mounting a mousse is far easier than most people think. It's just a matter of technique. Sure a tyre changer (not to be confused with a tyre machine) is easier, but it's quite doable without. Just watch the World Enduro boys change 2 tyres, oil and air filter in a 15 minute work period and still have time to polish their sponsors stickers. I find changing a mousse to be easier than a tube.

This video is a bit of a stretch, but it does show the general idea of changing a mousse.

[Lornce]

Originally Posted by redroom

This link came to me tonight and I toss it into the mix as it somehow seems germain.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...?device=iphone

Remarkable. I wonder how many other families lived similar lives without anybody ever knowing.

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by Yamezz

What brand of mousse did you use? I've been running mousses for five years now, and I've never heard of hollow mousses.

Michelin M14s ... the benchmark mousses

This is not a pic of my mousse that split open cause I didnt get any pics of it (but Terry was there when we took it out the filthy slimy greasy sucker and discovered it was ripped and hollow), but its another brand or rear mousse I found on the internet to illustrate the point .. its hollow. Fronts are solid ... like the illustration you posted. I am certainly no expert on mousses, but I do know the rears that I have used have air pressure in them and been hollow - I guess they do that to save weight ... Mousses certainly arent light ... saving 35-40% of the weight (unsprung weight) of the rear mousse will be a notable benefit to handling vs a solid rear mousse. But when the mousse wall rips allowing the air pressure out, its suddenly like riding on a 3/4 flat tyre. My ripped michelin didnt have the tongue of material like the mousse in the picture inside the hollow bit. It was just a hollow tube inside ... cross section of a donut.

Now youve heard about hollow mousses

Love your sig line

[00-SEB-00]

Just a quick question about the tyres... I've noticed a bike with the I believe Mefo Explorer's and yours have a bit more of an aggressive profile. What about mileage?

I also use the Mefo's on my DRZ as they are a good compromis but I sometimes miss a more aggressive patern for muddy tracks etc. but then I am also worried about mileage...
Any comments?

@ Walter; just trying like this as I don't know if my mails are coming through: did you get them about the tracks?

[NoLurkerAnymore]

What kind of a hairy creature is that? Doesn't look like a cow at all. Is it a kind of Yak or something? I didn't know they have them in Siberia. I thought they would live in the Himalaya only.

But great pictures anyway!

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by 00-SEB-00

Just a quick question about the tyres... I've noticed a bike with the I believe Mefo Explorer's and yours have a bit more of an aggressive profile. What about mileage?

I also use the Mefo's on my DRZ as they are a good compromis but I sometimes miss a more aggressive patern for muddy tracks etc. but then I am also worried about mileage...
Any comments?

@ Walter; just trying like this as I don't know if my mails are coming through: did you get them about the tracks?

Got your emails, and I sincerely apologise for being late to get back to you, but it is on my to do list to sort something out there.

Mefos win in the mileage stakes by miles and what surprised me was that didnt suffer notably on the BAM or ROB for grip ... I guess not much sand or mud, so they did OK.

While we are talking of tyres ... The tyres (Heidenau K74) Terry and I picked up in Irkutsk and had now fitted, sucked big time. The back tyres had no direction stability and were constantly fishtailing all over the place. We both thought of going back to Zhigalovo to pick up our old tyres (My Michelin Desert and his Mitas E09 Dakar) to continue the ride with ... they would have been much better than the rubbish we were on.

[Twinmike]

Hi Walter

I know it´s difficult, but still a question about the motorcycle

what would you recommend for a shorty like me (170 cm over all )
a X Country with modification like Terry has or a
X Challenge like yours

thank you

[00-SEB-00]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Got your emails, and I sincerely apologise for being late to get back to you, but it is on my to do list to sort something out there.

Mefos win in the mileage stakes by miles and what surprised me was that didnt suffer notably on the BAM or ROB for grip ... I guess not much sand or mud, so they did OK.

No problem M8!
I can imagine that everyone is harassing you right now, but was just to be sure They arrived. I'll get your answer(s) when you have time!

Thx for the Mefo's, you just confirmed what I experienced in the past and why I always still go for the Mefo's for any adventure riding, but they kinda sucked in the Sahara where the desert tyres would have been a lot better of course, but for mileage Mefo all the way.

Allright, back to business now, so everyone stops asking questions, harassing Walter & Co, quoting on a pic from a thousand posts ago (I always wanted to be able to say that once...) and sit back and enjoy the narrating, pictures and Deus Mechanica!

[Tony P]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

This is not a pic of my mousse that split open cause I didnt get any pics of it (but Terry was there when we took it out the filthy slimy greasy sucker and discovered it was ripped and hollow),

I got the feeling your mousse failed as a result of breakdown of its internal structure (not the hollow section!) causing it to lose its rigidity. It seemed equally soft and messy all round when we cut it up to get it in the waste bin.

The internal structure breakdown presumably coming from 'mousse-fatigue' from flexing in use. Although it had not covered a great number of miles (a little over 2,000), those miles caused it to do a lot of flexing !

I assumed the hollow section was not to hold air/gas beyond atmospheric pressure, but to reduce weight/material - leaving sufficient rigidity, until it broke down. BWTFDIK?