Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[Blader54]

Re: Ewan and Charlie and BMW. I recall that in the film they say that KTM wouldn't give them bikes because they didn't believe they could complete the Road of Bones. Maybe KTM thought their bikes woudn't make it, or the riders weren't good enough. Either way.....
Re: Sponsership. Sounds to me like the Sibersky gang have extremely minimal "sponsership," if they could even be said to have any at all. This is in marked contrast to some rides I've seen where the riders declare that the purpose of the ride is to "raise awareness" of some illness, or negative social condition and then solicit donations of everything, even bikes sometimes, on the theory that they are a charity---in essence clothing their personal "dream of a lifetime" adventure so as to get everything handed to them for free. That just doesn't sit right with me. Walter & Co aren't doing that, and they have been very honest and forthright about the book, DVD, etc. Sibersky Rules!! Ride on!!! I'm dying to see if W made it to Moscow.....and hope there will be a photo of this young woman who launched him on this headlong rush across Mongolia.

[ERU]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaBound

Hello everyone. I was trying to hold out till I bought my ADV bike but I couldn't resist. This RR is so amazing I had to ad my 2¢. I'm new to motorcycling and I was looking to get either a BMW F700GS or a Triumph Tiger 800. I'm not gonna lie I'm not nearly as ballsy as the amazing group of folks as the ones on this trip. Another issue is I'm pretty short for a guy at 5'7" with an 30" inseam so most of the ADV bikes are to tall for me. I've been lurking here for awhile and I've picked up a lot of tips as to what bikes and gear to use so I thank you a lot. Anyway I just wanted to say hello and I'm waiting for the next RR

I'm only 1.69 and i'm riding the F800GS. Don't put limits in your head. I have a very good friend who ride a 950 [one of the tallest bike i ever seen] and he is also 1.69. In fact seeing him riding the 950 actualy convinced me to buy the 800.

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by Aarrff

Question for anyone of the group and thank you in advance if you have time to answer...hope its not a repeat question that I missed: I have several pairs of boots that are still decent to wear and one has a gortex liner. I have my opinions on this but I have never been in such a situation as any of you where your feet are wet daily and boots constantly full of water for this long. I have only had this happen for 3-4 days at most. For this ride and weather, are there advantages to gortex or similar liners in your boots or disadvantages. What about the health of your feet/skin?

Hi AArrff.
I concur with what's already been said. My boots have Gore-tex within and that's great as long as you're just riding along in the wet. Alas it won't stop the water getting in from the top down when you're in it up to the thighs and will just trap it within. Wet feet time.
My own advice would be just get something that has the right balance of protection and comfort for YOU, enjoy the advantages and live with the inevitable drawbacks. Bas and Beemster used good quality hiking boots, I use high top hunting boots, Terry used some "Adventure" motorcyling boots that he pounded to death as they just weren't up to the hammer and Walter uses top end MotoX boots. We're all right if that's what suits us so just use what suits you. Simples!

[ROD CURRIE]

All.
Taking a back seat just now as I think P will want to put some of his pics up from the last day or so, and they'll be much better quality wise than the iPics I've been posting.
Bear with us as we try to keep the thing chronologically aligned. RC

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by BTBW 01

Stunning RR, enjoying every update.
Silly question but in the background there are no trees!

Mongolia is thousands of miles of endless grasslands .... either that or a guy with a giant lawn mower keeps the whole country neat

[GB]

No trees.. so in their ger homes what do they use to burn in their stoves?

(thanks for another fascinating glimpse into places most of us will only see on our screens..)

[Center-stand]

Originally Posted by GB

No trees.. so in their ger homes what do they use to burn in their stoves?

(

Dried yak scat??

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by GB

No trees.. so in their ger homes what do they use to burn in their stoves?

(thanks for another fascinating glimpse into places most of us will only see on our screens..)

I have seen all sorts of things ... fires tend to be started with chopped wood split into various sized splinters. I have also seen dried sheep and cow dung patties used. And I have seen coal used.

In this case, I remember the woman was using wood.

Their kids had the family tomahawk which split the wood from logs into chunks. I recall a pile of wood logs next to the ger of the kids. The two boys had their own ger about a quarter mile away from their parents.

There are occasional forests in Mongolia. I guess wood is also something that they can always buy in the nearest villages too.

[dirkdiggler]

Originally Posted by Center-stand

Dried yak scat??

We used dried cow pats for fire fuel in Kazakhstan and Krygastan. They would burn well and were plentiful.

[Penguin74Q]

A pile of Camel patties I found behind a gas station 75 miles SW of Altai last March.

[sion]

Originally Posted by Penguin74Q

A pile of Camel patties I found behind a gas station 75 miles SW of Altai last March.

looks like oatmeal-raisin cookies

[Yellow Pig]

This in todays BBC News:

Wolves raid east Russia villages

[Erik RS]

I'm sorry ckjj888, but what's wrong with the new reply button?
I get a bit of scrolling cramp with you guys quoting heaps of pics

[Gripforce]

I couldnt agree more

[MeinMotorrad]

Same here. I've only got about 1mb sec connection