Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[ROD CURRIE]

In trying to explain how much help Hassan was to me I'm almost lost for words.
After breakfast we went back to his home and I dropped my gear off, and we went back to his office. He has a structural engineering business and does very nicely indeed.
He went into a meeting and left me in an office with a PC with internet connection so I could then contact my wife, mother etc and my KTM agent in England for advice. I also started using Google translate and we'd sit and talk as well as this (very literal) tool allows. Brilliant. I would have been absolutely stuffed without him and will be forever grateful.
If there's a downside to him he's scarily agressive behind the wheel. It's maybe a Chechen thing? Like 15 year old who hasn't quite learned yet but thinks he's the next F1/Nascar champ. I'm usually a happy passenger but within 100 yards I had my seatbelt on and pulled tight.
Barnaul is a big city, with tons of traffic lights and a blanket speed limit of 50 Kmh-30mph.
Remember the V8?
I'd be able to see a red stoplight 200 yards away with trucks, cars, cyclists etc between us and the light...and he'd be doing 70mph ( 110 kmh) and ACCELERATING through the traffic cutting across all 3 lanes and back...then standing the car on it nose to stop...then as soon as it was green we were off again. I don't think I exhaled in 25 minutes.
I swear I'm not exaggerating . It was constantly terrifying.

At about 5.30 Viktor called -the bike was runnning well, and would I come and test it first thing the next day.
That night I went out with Hassan and a friend and celebrated.

[ROD CURRIE]

Originally Posted by norseV4force

I suppose this is one way to get your post count up without actually having to to do a lot....

Thanks Norse. Feel free to chip in...you're doing the work after all..

[norseV4force]

Work? Hardly! I'm sat on the couch with a glass of red being entertained and every now and again I'll find some way to bring a bit of inuendo in to the mix. It's a pleasure to help.

[gregMo]

...sooo, whats up with the katoooommm???? water?... can't be that silly, since you checked it about 100 times already ...

[Prutser]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

"KAZAHKPETROLSHIT.....VaDA", he bellowed after I mimed the symptoms . ..telling me that Kaz gas was full of water. I had some doubts as the rest of the bikes has used the same gas.

I was thinking that the water in my carbs was from the first crossing So It was that "KAZAHKPETROLSHIT"

[ciedema]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

If anyone has a pic of Viktor please upload-I have none alas.

This is Viktor in his cave.

He's without doubt the best regarded motorcylce mechanic for a thousand miles and although a little tacturn, once you get past that he's a true gem.

I discovered he knew at least one word of English - he used to describe KTM's - it started with F. It wasn't Fantastic.

And as Rod said he is a great guy. Don't even bother with the KTM dealer there (which is called Bike Land, but the locals call Bull Land) just go straight to Viktor's. His address on Walter's Waypoints, if you dont have them just ask any biker in town, they will know him.

[MasterMarine]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

If there's a downside to him he's scarily agressive behind the wheel. It's maybe a Chechen thing? Like 15 year old who hasn't quite learned yet but thinks he's the next F1/Nascar champ. I'm usually a happy passenger but within 100 yards I had my seatbelt on and pulled tight.
Barnaul is a big city, with tons of traffic lights and a blanket speed limit of 50 Kmh-30mph.
Remember the V8?
I'd be able to see a red stoplight 200 yards away with trucks, cars, cyclists etc between us and the light...and he'd be doing 70mph ( 110 kmh) and ACCELERATING through the traffic cutting across all 3 lanes and back...then standing the car on it nose to stop...then as soon as it was green we were off again. I don't think I exhaled in 25 minutes.
I swear I'm not exaggerating . It was constantly terrifying.

Sounds exactly like riding with my brother in law in Romania.

At one point on a ride with him near Oradea, we passed by one of those electronic radar signs (just after passing a cop) and we were doing double the speed limit. Just one of many moments.

As you say, riding with him was "constantly terrifying"! He picked us up from the airport in Budapest but we took the train back. No way I was taking my family in the car with him again!




Great story so far! Thank you to all involved!!!

[Minus Juan]

Rod, you can't make this stuff up.
The last few posts have had me rolling. Looking back on this whole section of the trip I would imagine that the laughter and characters that you encountered must have been a pleasant way to forget about the ktm issues. The van ride was great fun to read, and victor.. no more needs to be said.

This is epic. Keep us laughing please.

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by igormortis

I may have missed it somewhere, but are you guys riding with paper maps in addition to the Montanas?

Sorry I missed this ...

No we were not. (In general). Prutser I think had a big map of Kazakhstan and another of Mongolia. It was something for evening curiosity ... to see where we were ion the big picture once we had reached a town or a road. Obviously 90% of the trails we were on are not going to be on a fold out national map.

[Steveman]

Originally Posted by gregMo

...sooo, whats up with the katoooommm???? water?... can't be that silly, since you checked it about 100 times already ...

Cant believe it.... all others had KAZAHKPETROLSHIT too and didnt suffer.... I am really curious

[Colebatch]

We left Petropavlovskoe after breakfast in our rooms (chocolate bars, fruit juice and crisps purchased the evening before) and made our way up into the hills.

It was dry when we left Petropavlovskoe ... but rain fired up soon after ... This was an annoyance for Prutser and Beamster who had high fenders on their bikes. The mud spray from the front wheel was covering them, their visors and their headlights. Terry and I who were running low fenders, had no such problems.







We were moving into proper Altai country now. The Altai are a Turkic people closely related to the Mongolians. They have a similar horseback lifestyle, but being mountain dwellers rather than plains dwellers, their yurts are permanent, rather than portable. With the resources of the forest, they build wooden octagonal yurt like buildings.

[Colebatch]

Its a beautiful part of the world:

[ninepeaks9]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Its a beautiful part of the world:

Absolutely Beautiful! Nature at its natural state.

[isaac004]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

Totally agree ... Big difference.

GregMo : Russian vodka is brutal ... it makes you wince when you slam it down. Even the super expensive top of the line Russian stuff.

Polish vodka is smooth as silk. A mid tier Polish vodka trumps a top tier Russian vodka any day. You slam one down and you wait for your throat to jump out and slap you in the face (as it does with Russian vodka) but it doesnt.

Try a Zubrowka bison grass vodka from Poland.... chill it in the freezer, and take a shot. Its as good as vodka gets

I'm not a big drinker, but the best vodka I have ever had was a hazelnut vodka at a little vodka cafe in Krakow. It was so smooth, you almost can't believe you are drinking vodka.

Loving the report by the way. Your reports do not do well for the state of the economy...people want to quit and go ride!

[motorfret]

Wauuw!