Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[rhogus]

Just discovered and subscribed.

Great story, great photos, great data.

Thanks for making the winter shorter.
And longer.........

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by EtronX

Hello Rod :-)

I see from your text, and from your pictures, that you fancy small soft panniers when you travel. Light is good when it comes to off road.

I see though that you have a ton of stuff strapped outside your bags. Doesn't that defy the whole purpose of having small panniers? I tried the same on my Kola trip and you can still follow my trail from all the items I lost

When I was a Boy Scout I was tought to always leave a trail for me to follow back if I needed to. Were you a Boy Scout too

Hi Etron.

Its a balance isn't it? The small bags enforce discipline, but there's always one more thing you want to take. If I had giant bags it's be the same I suspect.
As has been stated in the thread, I'd never consider hard luggage-it's just too dangerous and a broken tibia in areas as remote as this would be a major problem.
.
1) I was indeed a boy scout. ...dyb dyb!
Normally I don't have so much shit strapped to the outside. I usually just have my sandals on top of my camping gear in the rollbag, and some handy tools in a Dirtbagz pouch behind me. The rest goes in the panniers.

2) I was carrying quite a lot of food at the start-4-5 dried meals and even tho' they're dried they're quite bulky. As the trip went on thje bulk went in to me and off the bike. I still have the bulk alas.
3)There's a spare HD tube in the orange bag that I couldn't get in the left pannier -I know...Bad packing.
4) The big roll of gaffer tape isn;t something I usually carry, but a last minute buy. Again...bad packing so it had to go on the outside

Water was always a problem, I just haven't the pockets for it all and we were going through tons. The bladder in my jacket holds 2 litres but it's just not enough in these temperatures when you might be many miles away from a safe water supply, and need to camp/cook at night too, then ride half the day to another water supply. Sou you end uo with water anywhere you can stuff it, and the empties need to stay with you as I'm pretty anal about littering.
Prutster and Beemster were keeping a list of all the crap I dropped and P picked up, and unsurprisingly, as you'll see as the trip went on, the food was eaten, tube installed, my bike looked tidier. Unlike myself , I looked increasingly tatty and disreputable. .

[hardwaregrrl]

Hey Rod, wondering what your plans were when the KTM kept acting up.? Sorry if I missed it but were you guys trying to get somewhere with a KTM dealer, or just hoping the problem would sort itself out? Did you bring a spare fuel pump and swap it in?

Again, loving each and every word!!!!!

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by hardwaregrrl

Hey Rod, wondering what your plans were when the KTM kept acting up.? Sorry if I missed it but were you guys trying to get somewhere with a KTM dealer, or just hoping the problem would sort itself out? Did you bring a spare fuel pump and swap it in?

Again, loving each and every word!!!!!

Hi Hardwaregrrl -you really need to have a word with your parents.

Choosing my words carefully here: Don't want to give too much away yet.

KTM dealers in that part of the world are pretty rare and sadly of questionable ability. The distances between one dealer and another even if they carried the parts are enormous.
I'd brough spare filters, injector, plug and the usual bits and bobs but no pump.
It might not be the pump...one suggestion from KTM (Mathausen themselves) was it might be the clutch sensor, if it "thinks" there's something wrong it'll put the EMC module into "safe" mode -and kill the engine.
Why they've built it like this I don't know. The Lord gave me some excellent clutch sensors ..one either side of my head and another on the end of my wrist..I didn't need a dodgy electronic one thanks. When I was told about this I almost self-combusted.

All will be revealed . Read on.

[hardwaregrrl]

Awwww shite.....sorry I fooked it up! I was never very good with secrets. Just wondering what was going through your mind at the time. I know what would be going through mine..... KTM

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

Hi Hardwaregrrl -you really need to have a word with your parents.

Choosing my words carefully here: Don't want to give too much away yet.

KTM dealers in that part of the world are pretty rare and sadly of questionable ability. The distances between one dealer and another even if they carried the parts are enormous.
I'd brough spare filters, injector, plug and the usual bits and bobs but no pump.
It might not be the pump...one suggestion from KTM (Mathausen themselves) was it might be the clutch sensor, if it "thinks" there's something wrong it'll put the EMC module into "safe" mode -and kill the engine.
Why they've built it like this I don't know. The Lord gave me some excellent clutch sensors ..one either side of my head and another on the end of my wrist..I didn't need a dodgy electronic one thanks. When I was told about this I almost self-combusted.

All will be revealed . Read on.

[StepOnIt]

Originally Posted by hardwaregrrl

Awwww shite.....sorry I fooked it up! I was never very good with secrets. Just wondering what was going through your mind at the time. I know what would be going through mine..... KTM

I agree with hardwaregrrl and as a fellow 690 owner not sure I could keep my cool. There might be a lose fuel line and a match it it kept it up , show it who is boss.
WTF about the clutch sensor???? over built with poor parts lol

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by EtronX

That is because old Terry is a star, Rod.

Nice meeting you outside Altsamay for dinner :-)

Terry may indeed be a star-but rushing to his defence here he's only about 5 weeks older than me, so couldn't possibly be described as "Old Terry" unless I'm to accept the same soubriquet-the very thought.

...in fact I think he's just out of his teens at times, and determined to stay there!

What say T?

Good meeting you guys too.

[elron]

WALTER, TERRY, PRUSTER, BEAMSTER, & ROD: This is a great read with all of your input and being written 'post' ride you folks are doing a great job keeping the story line going and giving different perspectives.

ROD: Wondering what you're using for boots? They appear not to be mc purpose built, but look quite sturdy. I ask, because with my size 16 feetsess [sic], mc boots are 1st off, difficult to find, and then, such humongous clod hoppers with all the buckles and bulk that they really interfere w/my podalic maneuverability & comfort. I've got bigger lowered pegs, longer reach shifter, etc., but I still find myself more often than not wearing a solid pair of less bulky hiking boots rather than my size 16 Alpinestars 3.

elron

[MrPulldown]

Why the long johns/underwear. If it is 100 degrees out you would never find me wearing LJs. Chaffing?

[(sp?)]

Originally Posted by MrPulldown

Why the long johns/underwear. If it is 100 degrees out you would never find me wearing LJs. Chaffing?

depending on the LJ fabric it may be cooler. I found a set of Schoellers at my local BMW dealer that I always wear in the heat beneath my gear. It wicks away and evaporates the sweat creating a cooling effect.

Nice report guys and Beemster!

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by elron

WALTER, TERRY, PRUSTER, BEAMSTER, & ROD: This is a great read with all of your input and being written 'post' ride you folks are doing a great job keeping the story line going and giving different perspectives.

ROD: Wondering what you're using for boots? They appear not to be mc purpose built, but look quite sturdy. I ask, because with my size 16 feetsess [sic], mc boots are 1st off, difficult to find, and then, such humongous clod hoppers with all the buckles and bulk that they really interfere w/my podalic maneuverability & comfort. I've got bigger lowered pegs, longer reach shifter, etc., but I still find myself more often than not wearing a solid pair of less bulky hiking boots rather than my size 16 Alpinestars 3.

elron

Hey Elron.
This is only my opinion:I have tried MX boots and find them just too hard to get on with.... so uncomfortable and almost impossible to walk in as if you're not wearing ski-boots...clunk-slap..clunk-slap every step, I can't change gear with them and find (for me) I've no feel on the brake. Years ago I started wearing high leg para style hunting boots. Waterproof, offering enough ankle support and absolutely all day comfortable on and off the bike. In a big spill, no doubt they wouldn't protect as well as a MX boot, but I've had not less than 200 offs and plenty of them in horrible rocky terrain and they've offered enough protection so far.
As in all these things, its a balance and one day I might regret the choice, but these work for me . They're about the same price as low-end Trail boots. About £120/200 bucks.
If you want the make I'll have a look and PM you. The current ones are made in Italy.

[FinnDuro]

RR Crew, any of you wished you hadn't gotten almost all black riding gear... ? Would think light greys and such might've been much cooler?

[Prutser]

Originally Posted by MrPulldown

Why the long johns/underwear. If it is 100 degrees out you would never find me wearing LJs. Chaffing?

Originally Posted by (sp?)

depending on the LJ fabric it may be cooler. I found a set of Schoellers at my local BMW dealer that I always wear in the heat beneath my gear. It wicks away and evaporates the sweat creating a cooling effect.

Nice report guys and Beemster!

Just like (sp?) says. There is a lot of technical underwear that helps to keep your body cooler.
The days on the Kazakh steppes were so hot that we poured water into our jackets,pants and helmets.
And even soaked the shirts each time we stopped. It took a bit more than one hour to dry again !!

Beam(st)er was using arcteryx (really great stuff).

A big pro of that underwear is that when you start to sweat your riding gear doesn't stick to your skin and it feels a lot more comfortable.

[Beam(st)er]

Originally Posted by FinnDuro

RR Crew, any of you wished you hadn't gotten almost all black riding gear... ? Would think light greys and such might've been much cooler?

Hi Finnduro,
I think lighter colours would have been much cooler indeed.
I'm not sure but maybe lighter colours would have saved me from having a heat stroke...
Some more vents would have been better for sure!

[Beam(st)er]

Originally Posted by EtronX

Hello Rod :-)

I see from your text, and from your pictures, that you fancy small soft panniers when you travel. Light is good when it comes to off road.

I see though that you have a ton of stuff strapped outside your bags. Doesn't that defy the whole purpose of having small panniers? I tried the same on my Kola trip and you can still follow my trail from all the items I lost

When I was a Boy Scout I was tought to always leave a trail for me to follow back if I needed to. Were you a Boy Scout too

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

Prutster and Beemster were keeping a list of all the crap I dropped...

I indeed had to keep my distance for my own safety...