Riding the Eastern BAM Siberia 2014 on motorcycles.
The route will be starting from Vladivostok, riding the road around to Sovetskaya Gavan via Komsomolsk or possibly jumping on the train with the bikes (depends on time and availability). Sovetskaya Gavan is last stop on the eastern coast of the BAM railway and just past Vanino where we will stay.
Link on the BAM railway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikal%E2%80%93Amur_Mainline
From Komsomolsk we will ride to Vanino and Sovetskaya Gavan along the graded road, after which the real journey begins! Reading through Walter Colebatch’s 2009 blog and talking to him it looks as if no service road exists from the town north of Vanino called Mongokhto.
Our plan is to ride to Mongokhto and see if we can find the track and continue if possible, if not we will double back to Komsomolsk via the graded road and attempt the BAM to Tynda from there. Time permitting we will carry on and ride the western BAM then either ship the bikes back to St Petersburg or ride home ( this may involve splitting up as some would like to ride the horrendous roads home and some not ).
There’s not much information on the eastern BAM with only a few people attempting it, we did meet a biker in Tynda called Max that has apparently rode it on a 250 with some sections having to be done along the railway tracks. Walter Colebatch, Tony P, and Terry rode from Komsomolsk to Isa in 2009 but had to call it a day due to mechanically issues and road conditions.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533442
There is also a crazy Aussie that rode it on a pushbike in 2013 but from Tynda to Komsomolsk , this will give us good and up to date information on both sides.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=12233&v=G3
The team will consist or Mark and Kevin who did the 2012 trip through Russia and Mongolia, and 3 Irish lads Garry, Ned, and Jim.
Lets hope for good weather 🙂
Mark and Kev. I am planning to buy a BMW F650 GS in Ireland in April 2014 and point it east. I plan to spend July/August in Mongolia, then head north to the BAM road. Ultimately I want to be in Vladivostok by Oct 15, ferry to S Korea, then ship the bike to a USA port.
I am looking for travelling companion(s). I speak good German, English, and Spanish. I am learning Russian. I use BMW because I have the tools and know how to fix them (kind of – mostly).
Fritz
Hi Fritz,
Kev lives in Dublin, maybe when you are over there you can meet up with him to chat about your trip. We will be around in August so if you are there you can tag along for some of the ride. Check Walter Colebatch writeups on the GS, it’s a good bike but I seem to remember somewhere that the rims are a little soft and can buckle and dent easy.
Mark
Hi Fritz,
As mark said I live in Ireland and if I can help with buying a bike or somewhere to stay when your here let me know?
Would be nice to catch up for a chat at least.
Good luck and look forward to hearing from you.
Kev
Kev and Mark
Are you going to be in Mongolia or Eastern Russia summer 2014? Marks message gave the impression you might be on the road again. Go ahead and reply to my email.
Fritz
Hi Fritz,
We are going to ship 4 or 5 bikes from the UK to Vladivostok around middle of May so that they are available middle of July.
We are then spending 4 – 6 weeks in eastern Russia, not going into Mongolia for 2014. Then shipping bikes back via Vladivostok.
It’s going to be a 20′ container so space is available for extra bikes but they will have to be in UK.
Cheers
Mark
Mark is such a capable trip leader. We are lucky to have him
Thank you Gary for your support.
I am looking forward to spending all those nights in the Siberian wilderness with you and Ned.
Hi Mark
Thanks a lot for the webinar on personal security and self defence last night.
Myself and Ned really appreciated it and our wives feel a lot happier now that they know we will have someone like you leading the group
No problem Gary,
Hope it comes in handy when ejecting all those unruly teenagers from your coffee shop on a Saturday evening.
Good luck Mark :).
I have fond memories of the people we met….,but the water finally got us………:)
Cheers Terry, hoping for a very dry 2014!
So what are the plans and dates? I want to see how the eastern bam treats bikes of the motor variety. I can think of a few very rough patches… a few every hour.
I don’t know what you will do when you get to the northern arm of the Zeya reservoir. I rode along the railway line for about 12km or so and then pushed through the forest to the very overgrown road. I don’t know if that is really an option on a motorbike. I don’t think there would be any boats around either and I don’t know if the original road is still recognisable on the other side of the reservoir crossing.
Good Luck !!
Luke
Hi Luke,
We followed your blog last year, great reading!
Plan is to be in Vladivostok for mid July and push out straight away.
Will be an interesting trip, we will just take it one day at a time and see how far we get.
Thanks
Mark
Good to hear things will be going ahead. I’ll be watching intently. As Terry said – Be prepared for water and mud. Did you have any plans for the feet?
Also but don’t forget that the insects will drive you crazy, but maybe not so much in motorbike gear, just be wary of sealing where bits of clothing meet.
Take it slow and enjoy the good otherwise you won’t be able to deal with the bad. Don’t expect the puddles to end… ever.