Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by rdwalker

OMG ! You made me look it up! Now I am sorry... sick...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrofulous

Blimey...It is somewhat onomatapaeic and as davesupreme said, you sure don't wannit, but didn't know you guys reached for the dictionary when wandering through our ramblings. We better be more careful what we say or given this example ADV will run out of server space.

[ROD CURRIE]

[QUOTE=Packer;20362282]Rod was struggling with his interpretation of the saying "two heads are better than one"


The one with the horns was the brains of the pair.........

[Gravel Seeker]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

.....Beginners often think more is better so go for a GS 1200 or a 950/990 Adv. For most of us its the biggest mistake you can make. Truth is most of us haven't the skill and strength to pilot that much mass through mud, deep sand etc.......

Hear hear !
Case in point; Long way series

[Gravel Seeker]

Originally Posted by CharlestonADV

+1...great insight. I know quite a few owners of the big GSs who would never consider venturing off pavement.

Over here, when the R1200GS first came out, it came with cast alloy wheels and spoked ones were an option. Add a pricetag of NOK 245.000 (USD 45.000) and you see that it's no longer meant as a RTW machine like the R80GS was in 1980....

[ROD CURRIE]

We rode until the sun went down and as the light was fading at maybe 10.30 we arrived in a little town that I think -but W will correct me if I'm wrong-is Olgiy.
Walter led us into the town and we attracted the usual Martian monster interest from the locals whilst he battered on the hotel doors the see if we could get somewhere to stay and have something to eat. Alas both hotels were closed and now it was almost dark, so we left town to find somewhere close-ish that we could camp and not be disturbed.
The night was overcast and cool but dry. We went along the side of the embankment of the river that borders the town until we came to a "ramp" that led down to a grassy plateau 50 or so yards wide and a few hundred yards long that we could all pitch our tents on.
As usual the mossies and midges followed us and prepared to feast on us po' white folks blood, so we all pitched up pretty quick, hid within and scoffed whatever food we had to hand. Not sure if P & B cooked up a storm as normal, but ZZZzzs were flying out of W & T's tents in minutes.

[ROD CURRIE]

I woke up early next morning and it was fine and dry, although again overcast. The mossies were in fine tooth so standing still wasn't really the best option.



It was still only about 7, so I packed up my camp and and took the bike for some exploration and took a few pics.
Here's the lonesome horse.




The weather was looking worse all the time and by the time I got back it was about 8.30 I thought I'd better see if the guys are up and about, and what the plan is for breakfast and todays itinerary.

Terry was first to appear and as the rain started to fall he began to pack up and get ready...the others were soon moving about and wasting no time getting their gear away.
Now it really started to rain

[Prutser]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

We rode until the sun went down and as the light was fading at maybe 10.30 we arrived in a little town that I think -but W will correct me if I'm wrong-is Olgiy.
Walter led us into the town and we attracted the usual Martian monster interest from the locals whilst he battered on the hotel doors the see if we could get somewhere to stay and have something to eat. Alas both hotels were closed and now it was almost dark, so we left town to find somewhere close-ish that we could camp and not be disturbed.
The night was overcast and cool but dry. We went along the side of the embankment of the river that borders the town until we came to a "ramp" that led down to a grassy plateau 50 or so yards wide and a few hundred yards long that we could all pitch our tents on.
As usual the mossies and midges followed us and prepared to feast on us po' white folks blood, so we all pitched up pretty quick, hid within and scoffed whatever food we had to hand. Not sure if P & B cooked up a storm as normal, but ZZZzzs were flying out of W & T's tents in minutes.

The town was called "Tsengel" and me and Beamster didn't cook that night. To much flying blood suckers out there !

[ROD CURRIE]

This truly was a knockout location and on a sunny day would have been hard to beat, but under skies unbrokenly as leaden as these we weren't seeing it at its best, and we regarded the coming day with some trepidation.



We went into town to seek out gas and breakfast.

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by Prutser

The town was called "Tsengel" and me and Beamster didn't cook that night. To much flying blood suckers out there !

Thanks P, wasn't sure where we were...not for the first time

[achesley]

Thanks Rod. Done lernt me a new word. trepidation I'm gonna learn to talk proper English yet.

[Gravel Seeker]

Originally Posted by Wal2

thanks Prutser/Walter....don't want to ride too sedately.. suppose the best bet is to have some fun on the easier terrain and back off when the bike is not coping so well with terrain its not up to .........i was thinking, possibly a 2nd hand (1-2year old) 650 bmw with some limitations is still better than not doing it

If you're serious about trying to do something on a single 650GS you just have to do a few simple mods and you're off;

• Replace the springs in the forks
• Add lock washers to all frame bolts
• Have someone fab or buy a luggage rack
• Remove the sidestand kill switch
• Add a chain guide

The one spare you absolutely must carry is a waterpump seal kit, other than that just regular tools, fuses, bits to repair wires, zip ties and a few screws and nuts.

It will quite literally go around the world without any complaints, just remember that it is neither a motocross bike nor a MotoGP bike.

Those are the must do's, and if funds permit I'd add

• Bar risers
• Touratech rally peg relocation kit
• Better headlight and led tail light
• Smaller, flexible turnsignals
• Other mirrors, ones that can be swung back instead of breaking off

After that the list is of course endless

[Prutser]

Rod was so happy that the KTM was running again he had to wake us with his roaring engine....
The weather wasn't stimulating us to get out of our tents.



This is a street view of Tsengel with its bustling city life.



After getting our bikes re-filled we continued our journey.

[hardwaregrrl]

Showdown shootout? 12 noon? Exciting!

Originally Posted by Prutser

[Colebatch]

There was one more foto on the way to Tsengel:

[Blader54]

WOW!