Chiang Mai, Thailand to Vladivostok, Russia

KTMphil · Jul 27, 2015

A year of planning and its actually going to happen. A 10,000km, 5 week ride north east from Chiang Mai, into Laos, crossing the China border on our own bikes, north east to Inner Mongolia, into Mongolia, north to Siberia, then south east in Russia, paralleling the China border to Vladivostok, Russia, just 350km north of the North Korea border (with Russia).

Tools for every occasion, what can happen on a motorcycle adventure, will happen on a motorcycle adventure. The BMW F 800 gs has torx head (star like allen/ hex heads) fasteners, so another set of tools needed for this bike

Taking 4x camera's, telephones, GoPro, laptop, the amount of charging cables and extra batteries is scary. Plug adapters for 5 different countries too.

This trip we have the luxury of a support pickup truck, so 90% of our luggage will be in the truck. The truck will go in the 40ft shipping container at vladivostok, Russia, with the bikes and be shipped back to Bangkok.

I'm taking a huge Pelican waterproof case for this trip which will go in the truck. Everything is organized into groups of similar items then crushed down in compression bags to maximize space. Bags contain camping gear, one bag for warm clothes (Siberia), one for cool weather, shoes, electrical "stuff", first aid kit, toiletries, water filters, mosquito net etc........

P_20150727_181505.jpg by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

prince666 · Jul 27, 2015

Hi Phil and the group.

Have a great trip and safe riding , will you be updating this thread so I can keep track of your progress? to insure my tie up works out ok.

KTMphil · Jul 27, 2015

prince666 said:
Hi Phil and the group.

Have a great trip and safe riding , will you be updating this thread so I can keep track of your progress? to insure my tie up works out ok.

Yep will update when we have a data connection and keep a notebook of places etc.....

KTMphil · Jul 27, 2015

Immigration Visa needed in Advance

For this trip, only China & Russia require immigration visa's in advance. Laos & Mongolia have visa-on-arrival.

Chinese Consulates are becoming stricter on issuing Chinese Immigration Visa's. They do want to see a hotel reservation in China & an outbound flight booked from China if you do not have sufficient proof that you are transiting China to a bordering country. If you are a USA citizen, you automatically get a 10 year, multiple entry immigration visa for China. Other countries get single entry 30 days, you can get multiple and longer but they will make you jump through lots of hoops.

Some info on China visa in the link below:

http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...6-administration-organisation-ride-china.html

Russia - In Thailand you need to go in person to the Russian Consulate in Bangkok, Malaysia a licensed agent can get you a letter of invitation and complete the Russian immigration visa for you.

Info on Russian visa in the link below:

http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...sian-immigration-visa-procedure-thailand.html

prince666 · Jul 27, 2015

Hi phil

you corrected the error

KTMphil · Jul 27, 2015

prince666 said:
Hi phil

you corrected the error

Not now

brake034 · Jul 27, 2015

Our prayers go out to all to be safe and enjoy to the max!
No other RA members are joining you Phil?

KTMphil · Jul 27, 2015

The planned route broken down into 4 parts

cnx russia itin collage_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

One map itin by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

KTMphil · Jul 27, 2015

brake034 said:
Our prayers go out to all to be safe and enjoy to the max!
No other RA members are joining you Phil?

Not on this one. Thai, Malaysian, American & UK

brake034 · Jul 27, 2015

Looking forward to the pictures, videos and updates! Be safe.....

KTMphil · Jul 27, 2015

Planned route into Laos, China, Inner Mongolia (China), Mongolia & Russia. We hope to meet up with Steve and Butch along the way.

itin page 1 edit by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

itin page 2 edit by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

TB-Racing · Jul 27, 2015

KTMphil said:
Butch along the way.

You must know more than I do as ain't going to happen ~ enjoy the ride...

KTMphil · Jul 31, 2015

Robert came up from KL, Malaysia.

Once off the train in Bangkok, leaving Bangkok, the FI/ fuel injection light starts blinking, the bike also starts popping and farting

Screenshot (46) by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

It's still ridable, he rode to Chiang Mai, but with 10,000 km ahead, its not a nice position to be in. All the connectors were checked by Sa Moto in Chiang Mai, no bad connections found. Sa is pretty sure is the throttle sensor motor thats the problem, a new one has been ordered and hopefully will meet up with us in Kunming.

prince666 · Jul 31, 2015

If you have the manual it will tell you in the back of it i think how to reset the fuel injection light and what the various flashing sequences are, and what problem it is experiencing. Also change the fuel filter if you haven't already done so.

So far, it appears that the inline fuel filter may be the cause of more issues, rather than the cure. The 10 micron membrane is so small that it is very prone to clogging. KTM has issued a technical bulletin (TB1202) that directs dealers to replace the 10 micron filter with an updated, larger opening, 20 micron filter. Part of the service bulletin includes updating all 2011 models to run the inline filter.

Capss · Jul 31, 2015

Be safe and have a fantastic journey, I will be following the thread

Wayne

KTMphil · Aug 2, 2015

Into China ...All going as planned so far...off north we go!

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

blackb15 · Aug 2, 2015

Looks really good I look forward to following the adventure
safe riding
paul

KTMphil · Aug 2, 2015

A 7am start on a SW Monsoon morning and off we go towards Chiang Khong, the start of the 10,000 km ride northwards towards Siberia, Russia.

Real easy to lose someone with all the turns from Chiang Mai, NE towards Chiang Khong, so far we've not lost anyone

A nice photo moment just SW of Mae Kachan

KTMphil · Aug 2, 2015

Chiang Khong by 1pm, things are looking good. An agent has been there a day ahead of us and all the Thai Customs temporary export for the Thai registered bikes is being dealt with. Just hang tight at the only coffee shop and wait for the green light call.

We get the all-ok call and down to the border we go

Signing all the pre-finished documents. WE did have a bit of a scare with Thai Customs - Thai registered bikes are only allowed out of Thailand for 30 days, these bikes will be out for 65-70 days. Nearly caused a problem but our fixer fixed it of course.

KTMphil · Aug 2, 2015

.....Lots and lots more to come

prince666 · Aug 3, 2015

Good job so far glad to see the KTM made the ride in the end, time to work on my bike in preparation to the tie up are you on schedule.?

KTMphil · Aug 3, 2015

Can anyone see the photo s I posted last night? .... I can in China.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

prince666 · Aug 3, 2015

pictures all ok to see from my end in China ???

have you been riding the expressways in China "G" roads

Capss · Aug 3, 2015

All I am getting is a question mark where the photos should be but can right click and open in new tab, in BKK

Wayne

Lone Rider · Aug 3, 2015

I don't see them and right or left clicking does not help either here in Chiangmai using Google Chrome.

With some trickery I can get the URL's and by pasting the URL in a new tab I see the pictures 1 by 1 but that is a time consuming process.

bsacbob · Aug 3, 2015

I have fixed the links hopefully Phil will find a more reliable way of uploading for the rest of the trip.

brake034 · Aug 3, 2015

Nice, quite a group of riders?!

Forest · Aug 3, 2015

I dont see any pics after chiang kong.from Mongolia, dont know if matters (?)

bsacbob · Aug 3, 2015

Got a message from Phil earlier saying their planned hotel was closed due a strike by the staff, so he may well be otherwise engaged looking for accommodation in Kunming

KTMphil · Aug 3, 2015

Through the Thai border with some mild panic , cleared into Laos easy and eastwards we go on R 3

We stopped to wait for 5 bikes that had disappeared behind, they were too long, we knew something was up. R3 had some reall bad uneven sections from the heavy trucks. Don had hit one of these and came off

KTMphil · Aug 3, 2015

20 minutes later he turns up thank the Lord

View attachment 38871

IN is crash, the right footpeg had snapped off, the good 'ol vice grips did a good temp. fix until we got to the hotel

KTMphil · Aug 3, 2015

Time to get home from the fields and she can't figure out what all the fuss is about

Nice smiles

With the crash we're running late & hit a massive storm going into Luang Nam Tha, not want you want on the firstv day

prince666 · Aug 4, 2015

R3 had some reall bad uneven sections from the heavy trucks. Don had hit one of these and came off

I did make a report in a post back in May about the R3 not in good condition due to overloaded Chinese trucks and oil on the road , on the way back to China I had a fall over as well but mine was due to oil on the road ????.
Sounds like Don and the bike is ok , some big rain all over China just now hope it's not too bad in your area.

But would like to say a few point about the AH3 , 2 years ago when I first rode this road it was a great road , but due to the overloaded Chinese trucks and badly constructed road IMO it's no joy to ride no more ,Deep ruts oil/ diesel spillage contributes to IMO a caution road to ride on

link to RR Caution made about this road ......http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/showthread.php?t=7121&page=2&p=53037#post53037

KTMphil · Aug 5, 2015

Up early ...we have to get into China, get our Chinese registration, get our Chinese driving licenses and hopefully get to Jing Hong.... A quick ride and we're at the Laos / China border

We were through in about 40 minutes .... Nice KLR 650 the other side!

First time we've actually had the VIN numbers checked on the China side of the border

KTMphil · Aug 5, 2015

First Chinese fill up - 93 & 97 octane available -- " Jo-Maa" means fill up

Some aux. lights come loose ...an easy fix

Into the Mengla police station to get our temp. registration and Chinese driving licenses

The truck inspection test had some breaking issues, a little weight on the back and it passed. They nearly went through the rear window'

KTMphil · Aug 5, 2015

The obligatory Police driving lecture

Then we're off NW towards Jing Hong, time looks good

The expressways in China make for quick passage making, no windey roads, they just bore through the mountains

Whoa -- what scenery

Army check on the highway ... All the buses passengers bags are opened

KTMphil · Aug 5, 2015

Pretty easy day approaching Jing Hong

The famous bridge across the Mekong River

Into Jing Hong with plenty of daylight

KTMphil · Aug 5, 2015

More to come on the drama

prince666 · Aug 6, 2015

Opps the orange KTM on the blink still ???

Good to hear you are in Xishuangbanna great town , yes Jiaman Xie Xie (fill up please )
Ride safe

KTMphil · Aug 6, 2015

Northwards out of Jing Hong'

This was a serious army checkpoint .... All temporary Chinese registrations and driving licenses were checked. Automatic rifles ready, this wasn't messing around stuff