For them as bin all over
 

The Black Pig is going east in May/June for a week or 6 and defo going off road and i'm after a bit of advice on what the DIES on the XT660Z !!!

I've already got the list .....extra pads , cables and rectifier but it'd be helpful if others know of more.

Tried me GL on today and gave it some stick !!! Doesn't fit as well as on the DR , but still there when i'd finnished

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...o/IMG_1593.JPG

Nice tight wooded trail
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H...o/IMG_1592.JPG

Cheers Phil

Depends how far east u are going.... maybe a spare set of cush drive rubbers,
a good set of tyre levers and a few spare tubes if u end up in Mongolia

Where ya going Phil??? Sounds intriguing!!

Wont be able to get to Mongolia this time Geldof unfortunatly but in answer to your question Sandman , The Balkans and behond through Turkey and into Georgia.
Wanted to do the full circit of the Black Sea but Visas and Ins for Russia and the Ukraine would blow my budget blowup But there's always next year

Phil

PS just realised i've posted this in the wrong place !!!any chance the mods could shift it to XTZ prep long trip please

All going well I will be heading to Mongolia this summer. Whats the craic with Insurance in Russia then? Thought you could just get it at the border

Coming over the border from Georgia; I bought my Russian insurance in the first city I came to (Vladikavkaz; I could probably find the co ords of the office if needed). It wasn't too expensive as I recall. The day after I bought it, I was pulled over by the police who wanted to see all my docs, including the newly bought insurance. So it was money well spent as I was free to go as all my docs were in order.

Hi Geldof
You can buy Ins. at the border , for me it worked out around �100 and another �120 for the visa , not only are funds tighter than i though i'd only be in Russia for a max of 3 days !!

Hi Wuming
I take it you did the old milatry road (E117 i think) as i aren't going in to Russia and this was part of my original i'll get to the border , sneek over get a pic and do one :hello2: , i couldn't go all that way and not dip me toe.

Phil

Hi Phil. The important stuff has already been covered. All I"d add is check your sprocket and chain before leaving. If they are on their way out, best to just put some fresh ones on before leaving. Once they are beyond a certain point they degrade very rapidly.

Have a nice trip. You might run into us in the Balkans in June, but we'll be on Husky Terras.

Thanks duibhceK
I plan on tacking a full chain kit with me anyway but thanks for the input, where in the Balkans will you be ? maybe we could catch up :happy:

Phil

Yep, I rode the old military road from Tbilisi to Vladikavkaz. Even if you don't cross into Russia, it's a great ride over the mountains. As for parts, I carried all sorts, including a spare reg./rec. The only spares I actually used in 14,000 miles were a fresh set of rear brake pads, new cush drive rubbers and a new rear inner tube (after shredding my original one in the Uzbekistan desert!).

We're booked on the Autozug train, arriving in Villach on June 9th so we can make most of our 3 week holiday. We plan to make short time of Slovenia and the Croatian inland and take our time crossing Bosnia, entering Serbia near Srebrenica. Then across to the Danube and the Bulgarian border and from there south via Nis, through Kosovo, Northern Albania and then spending some time in Montenegro visiting friends in various places. Taking in Podgoric, Sveti Stefan, Kotor fjord, Biograd NP, Durmitor NP. From there back up through Bosnia and on to Villach again.

Cheers Wuming
To be honest i have no worries about the bike ,its just sat here , pizzing it down outside works sh1t and all....................i need to get o the road !!!

Hi duibhceK
Sound vey similar to my route but also heading over to Moto Camp Bulgaria N 43 02.238 E 025 14.951 , ive got 4 weeks maybe 5 so nothing in concrete

Phil

Sounds like a good trip. Furthest east I've managed to achieve was Odesa in 2008. Would have liked to have gone further and looped the Black Sea, but time was not on our side.

As wuming did, we bought our insurance on the Ukrainian border (entering from Moldova) which cost us 15USD. Before we left the UK we were advised to take US dollars for border payments in the Ukraine as you get a much more "favourable" exchange rate (same applies to Russia). I remember the chap at the border telling us that it was cheaper to buy insurance for Russia at the same time too, offering us a month's cover in both countries for 50USD. Whether that's true or not, or just his "sales pitch" we never found out as we weren't intending going any further than Odesa. Oh, and for some reason we found in the Ukraine fresh crisp dollar bills go further than "used ones"?

Thoroughly recommend taking in the Transfăgărășan Highway, that is if Romania features in the grand scheme of things.

Done.

Thanks mate
So much to do and so little time !!
Phil

We only have 3 weeks, so we probably won't be going that far east this time. But we may run into each other somewhere in ex-Yu or Albania. :occasion14:
There's probably going to be another HUBB meeting in Montenegro around that time as well, but I haven't received any further details yet. The venue will be different from last year's, that's all I heard so far.

I've just done a c and S set on my ten. It got to 12K on the OEM set and then just gave up. I was adjusting it everyday.

I found the worst part was the underside of it where it runs along the upper chain guide. Road grit etc basically wore the chain away like sandpaper.

Mike

@ duibhceK
Hope we can grab a beer together it'dbe good to met up,as for the HUBB meet ,i haven't seen anything on that but the WYOA ( Wipe your own arse) bunch off ADV are doing a GYOA (Greese you own arse) running up from Greese to Italy off road at the same time.
I kow some of the lads and hope to met them as well


@ Mike101
Yep same here , when they go they GO FAST

Phil

I've been following the GYOA thread on ADV, but they'll be done with their tour before we get started. I did get the tracklogs of Louis that Roos has also used as an inspiration for the GYOA routes.

Nothing has been announced on HUBB yet for the 2014 meeting in Montenegro. We were at the 2013 event: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/events/montenegro-2013
And the organizers have informed us that there would be a 2014 meeting. I'm sure something will be posted up on HUBB in the coming weeks.

Sorry duibhceK
I forgot i'm going a little earlier , but willkeep a look out on the HUBB for the Mont meet
Cheers Phil

Ordered some bits !!!!!

1st to arrive were the progressive springs !!!!
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C...o/IMG_1841.JPG

And i even read the instructions !!!! Good job they were for a 1200:Christo_pull_hair: went to check out what happened on ebay and in my attemp to save �10 postage i pushed the wrong button ............aaaarrrrggg

They are now backin the UK and the replacements should be here soon !!

Anyway she got a oil and filter change

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z...o/IMG_1842.JPG

Tyres arrived TKC up front and still in two minds which to take for the back K60 or the E09
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-r...o/IMG_1843.JPG

Both are 140/17 but just look at the size differance !!!
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...o/IMG_1844.JPG

I even measured them !!! yep both 17"

I couldn't stop there , so dropped the back end out ready for the new shock and pulled the forks

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...o/IMG_1849.JPG

Old shock , actually still in good nick ..............but dirty
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4...o/IMG_1850.JPG

Forks draining
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-O...o/IMG_1851.JPG

And finally new Ohlins in

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...o/IMG_1855.JPG

Now where's me springs ????? 11 days to the off :mbounce:

Did you buy the Ohlins in the uk or Europe

Germany @ OTR
http://www.off-the-road.de/en/home/

This summer three of us went UK - Balkans - Turkey - Georgia (Tiblisi) - Russia (Moscow) - Latvia etc - UK

6500 miles in total on one XTZ and two XTRs

I just made sure I'd serviced it fully; fresh oil, new pads, new chain and sprockets, new cush rubbers.

We had spare wheel bearings (we've had bad experiences with XT bearings), a couple of soft links, tyre levers and puncture repair, tools to break chains and remove wheels as well as re-tighten stuff that had come loose - the usual cable ties, tape and bits of wire, the odd nut and bolt and a litre of oil (of which only a tiny amount was used).

A set of headlamp bulbs.

That was it.