Adventures between a Cliff and a Wet Place. Brighty in Central Asia and Mongolia

Awesome. Thanks for posting. I'm in...

Amazing scenery! Keep posting

Chris, have you posted your route anywhere? I'd like to see where you went in Mongolia. Sounds like you rode from the western border with Russia along the "middle route" to Ulan Baator, is that right? What "cities" did you hit? Where'd you go after Ulan Baator?

cant wait for updates!

Awesome pics

Love it! I'll be back in April to visit family (my wife is Kyrgyz). Can't wait!

Must have been Kapshagay.

The story goes like that: After reading «Peau de Chagrin» from very dead french writer Honoré de Balzac, the First (and only so far) President of Kazakhstan, decided the bad influence of the casinos will not be tolerated anymore in Almaty. So he only allowed casinos in the city of Kapshagay, I love moral virtue.

End of hijack, very nice ride you did there, totally envious!!!!!

No hijack at all. All helpful information gladly accepted The problem with me navigating by gps (using OSM) and having Walter's waypoint list was that I'd put the hotel in Semey into the unit and didn't even bother getting the paper map out of my tank bag. By the end of 2 days (day 1 350km, day 2 750km) riding I knew what Semey was in Kazakh script (it was on every roadsign, or a least I think it was...), but every other town remained anonymous. Call me a philistine. Sorry. :eek1

Hey Tom
Give me a couple of days and I'll put a screenshot or 2 from Mapsource of my tracks here. I can email you my tracklog and if you download OSM for the region, you'll be able to see where I rode.

cheers
C

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A few action clips heading up a river north of Issykul, just south of the Kazakh border.


Jan crossing a river


With a little help


“What the fcuk happened there!” The terrain had been a lot harder previously. This bit was easy… there are 2 possible explanations: 1. Rider error. I’m not the type to blame others or the machinery. It could well have been totally my fault that I rode off the edge of the cliff. However, I wasn’t riding like a tosser, and can’t explain the train of events, so… I have no idea.

Or 2. Blame the machine… (A few hundred miles later one of the CDI units on the bike expired. It’s a common fault, particularly on early Transalps, usually starting with an intermittent fault… I then replaced the CDI with a spare I was carrying). 1/2 hour before riding off the cliff the bike was riding like a dog. It was only about 3000m above sea level, but I took the air filter off. The bike seemed to run better. So possible explanation could be the bike was running on 1/2 power, then suddenly the second cylinder kicks in and as I was slightly misaligned to the track, I was launched off the edge. Or not. See Point number 1 = Rider error.

I leave you to decide. I have my views, but to a certain extent, who cares. I’m very lucky I wasn’t killed.



The mx boot in the foreground ads a sense of perspective. The luggage has already been removed.



Maarten (he’s pictured in the first pic of this RR) stays with me while my soon to become ex riding “buddies” leg it to somewhere more comfortable for the night. He fetches water from the river in the far distance and then convinces me we can recover the bike. My dark mood, influenced by the comments from the missing 3, said it wasn’t possible. Or maybe it was that I had tried getting the bike back up the hill, but without everybody’s help nothing was going to happen. I forget the exact train of events.

Maarten suggested we drag the bike down the landslide and then try to wheel /push / ride it horizontally to a point on the track below and to the right of where the photos were taken (across two huge landslides). This is what happened. The bike had been upside down for about 3 hours with petrol p!ssing everywhere before we tried to move it. When it was on its wheels again it started first push of the button! Aren’t Hondas great! I say “we” toiled for about 5 hours to move the bike a few hundred meters, but it was Maarten toiling and encouraging me not to give up. I did my bit, as much as I was physically able to. At night fall we gave up about 150 meters from our goal of the track. I cooked the food.

The following morning the other 3 reappeared (2 to collect their stuff) and Jan also helped manhandle the bike the remaining distance across the second landslide.

Maarten ended up in a really bad way, vomiting from exertion/sleep deprivation. As we lost altitude he seemed to recover a bit. I felt really bad about this. He knows how grateful I was for his help. As I didn’t kill or injure myself in the crash I would have survived: That is, walk out without a bike or any possessions, just the clothes I was standing in. He is solely to be credited that my bike trip continued.



One careful (lady) owner. Never been abused or off road. Mint condition. Viewing recommended. Lots of interest. Won’t be available for long.

Bloody hell ! That is one steep incline and a long drop too :eek1 . There is a man walking about half way down the photo , right edge .
Good to hear that you came out of it unhurt and bless Maarten for his camaraderie .
-zie egret .

That's Maarten with the river water!

Glad you like the story and pics.

Hi ChrisUK,

Could you post a pic of your Gs ? Curiously about the final setup...
Cheers ,
-zie egret.

"Gs"? What's that? If you're referring to a BMW GS, then I can't help. The bike is a Honda Transalp.

My mistake , I mixed up reports ... I wondered about Suzuki GS 500 but obviously not in this report .
-zie egret.

Good stuff ChrisUK. Thoroughly enjoying it

Cheers,

Dickyb

Hi Chris, same here! That part of the world is one I need to see before it's too late ... for me

And not to forget: Good morning Dave, good morning Kas

Cheers

Dirk

GS........

Transalp all the way hey Chris.

Ride safe...or at least safer than you have been.

Cheers
Potski

No problem. Here's the spec anyway. It's a hybrid of 2 Transalps. A 1988 frame/engine (hence to black motor (and oil consumption...) and everything else off a 1998.




Mods include:
30 litre African Queens petrol tank with vaccuum fuel pump by some Japanese company whose name starts with a K

Progressive fork springs and harder oil than standard

Rebuilt OEM shock with sleeve so as to increase spring-preload

Wider footpegs (off a xr600)

Bar risers and Renthal Dakar high bars

Heated grips

Lower strung silencer by Scorpion, allegedly off a 125 Varadero (that's what the bike breaker who sold me it said), with a custom link pipe. This enabled the area previous occupied to be used for spares (until they fell off and were lost!...). Also less heat so the reg/rec should survive longer.

Giant Loop Great Basin bag: It leaks, despite seams sealed. Very sturdy though. Will pack more dry bag liners for next year's trip.

Touratwat tank bag. My first ever TT product! It was cheap on ebay, ok!, because the seller could'nt spell. Probably my last too, the zippers broke quite quickly.

Tool roll on bash plate: Massey Ferguson tractor manual holder

Alli bashplate: very strong. Some of the Mongolian rocks that bounced off it were huge!

Tyres: Pirelli MT21 90/90/21 and 130/80/17 with Michelin HD tube in front. Rear has a normal tube as impossible to get a HD one. Rim locks in both wheels

Swingarm and disk brake off a 98 bike as well as double disk front forks

Crash bars (very strong ) with a couple of no name spots mounted.