Magadan Motorcycle Adventure Episode 3

Motorcycle Adventure Dirt Bike TV is proudly supported by Adventure Spec in England, Rally Raid Products, Giant Loop in the United States and Adventure Moto in Australia. This is Chernika, very good for your eyes, it's good, especially for a child. I don't know what they taste like, unusual, kind of a cross between blackberry, blueberry and raspberry. Yes, sunberry. Sunberry. We're on our way to Chita, on this beautiful road, no trucks, no one to bother us, it's so beautiful, big landscapes, but I have a problem with my bike, the fork seals have blown. So, we're still about 300km from Chita, and that still means another 3,500km to go, so it's really important I get these fork seals fixed. Renat and I are going to have a go at making a fork seal cleaner out of a plastic bottle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Ok, so, that should do the job. 30 dollars, 30 euros, or maybe more. Well, given the discs are washing in petrol, because that's all I got, so hopefully that will be good. Both front disc pads were soaked in fork oil, but stopping didn't matter too much in these conditions. My repair, well, that lasted about 200km. We were heading to Chita, our staging point for the biggest challenge of the trip, the road of bones. In good conditions, our trip should be fast flowing gravel, but let's wait and see. At Chita, we picked up new knobby tyres and repaired my fork seals properly. So, we're about 500km from Chita, in the middle of nowhere, in Siberia, absolutely middle of nowhere. Just stopped at a petrol station and there was an Australian who came through yesterday. Now, this Australian gave the petrol service attendant 20 bloody cents for a souvenir. So, I've upped it now for 5 dollars. So, here, look at this. See, there's his 20 cents souvenir. You don't have to get close, it's 20 cents. Now, whoever that was, buddy, that's what you give them, 5 bucks. 10 rubles for a souvenir. I'm rich. Yes. Australia, Australia. Australia, kangaroo. Kangaroo. We swapped bikes, they can have our bikes. Kangaroo. One thing that astounds me with Russian work ethic, Renat and I arrived at this tyre repair place at 7pm and they just said, yeah, come in, we'll help you fix the tyres. You wouldn't get that in Australia. Very inspiring, always people wanting to help in Russia and get you going. So, Renat, we've picked a narrower tread for the next bit. It's a narrower tyre, isn't it? Yes, gives us good grip and turning. Renat's timing for replacing the tyres was impeccable. That night the rain poured down and we were greeted in the morning with a slippery clay-based surface that kept us on our toes for hundreds and hundreds of kilometres. I know the lens isn't very good, but I've just had my first drop in Siberia right on that bridge. I crashed as I came onto the bridge and slipped down the bridge and, you know, the guardrail went boom. You OK? Yeah. Where is your sheep? Your sheep is gone. Where is he? He's in the bin. Another casualty of the rain and mud was Renat's sheepskin that found its way to the bin. My sheep remained on the bike and I don't mind when they get dirty and matted. For me, their comfort matures like a fine wine. My sheep is retired. Yes. I thought we were doing it tough until we came across these guys riding road bikes. Have a look at that extra padding to protect his arse. These guys were proud indigenous Siberians known as Yakuts from the land of Yakutia or eastern Siberia. Their ancestors were hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders and they had a strong attachment to their land and nature. They were returning from a bike trip to their home city of Yakutsk. We befriended them and shared a meal and I was introduced to drinking the tears of God that had the dramatic effect of making Renat a great singer. Hello! Happy to meet you The roads are noisy But the horizon is alive And the dew is blowing Nine! Hey! We are travelers! Have a nice trip! Now, just before I go to bed, this is the stuff we've been drinking. Now, it looks like water, but it's not water. It's not water. It's Samogon. It's hot water. Whiskey. Cry or what? How do you call it? Pure tears. Tears of God. Yakuts, our primary staging area for our run to Magadan. It's only 115 kilometers away. Our Yakuts friends, who were the leaders of the Night Wolves Motorcycle Club, invited us to stay at Yakutsk before hitting the road of bones. To get to the city, we have to cross the Lena River. There are no bridges in this place of extremes. The river is impassable for long periods of the year by large blocks of ice and fast-flowing water due to the spring melt. And here, standing in a T-shirt on a very pleasant afternoon, it was hard to believe that the average winter temperatures fall well below minus 30 degrees Celsius. One of our friends was waiting on the riverbank, but we had bad news. Rain was heading our way, and we needed to knock over the first 300 kilometers of the road of bones. Renat apologized to our host, and we headed back on the ferry with the intent of punching out some serious K's in the long twilight. Well, the interesting news. Renat's just got the weather report, and it looks like rain tomorrow. We were going to stay in Yakuts, but we've decided we're going to punch ahead and try to knock out 200 to 300 kilometers towards Magadan. Otherwise, we won't make it in time. So a little bit of pressure, a little bit of change, but it's okay. They're ideal conditions for riding today. Let's see how we go. After all, it is an adventure. While I get down to editing the next episode of the Russian Magadan motorcycle adventure, here are a couple of links to other adventures that will get you revved up and motivated to get on that bike and go for it. And remember, the world isn't half as scary as the nightly news would have you believe.