Jima, the old mechanic at Vlad Moto, meticulously spent two hours carefully plastic welding my broken chain guard and making a template before cutting a piece of sheet metal and riveting the two pieces together. I was amazed at his skills, a true artist and proud of his work. The finished chain guard, much improved on the original, and finished off to the highest standard, at no charge! I only asked if they had something I could use to fix it myself!
Phil and Dot arrived in their camper van, proudly showing off his new alternator. Nearly two weeks wasted waiting for it and Phil was eager to move on. After he bought us shashlik and a coffee! So good to see him happy and we wished him a safe journey. I would miss them and hope to see them in Ramsgate when they return.
Mad Max and a few others rode to Ussurisk that evening, keen to party. We would leave in the morning, proudly following Mikail on his Honda VX 1800 with beautiful tiger paintwork.
We left with six bikes, with more joining on route. Mikail followed later after more 'business.'
Soon there were 18 bikes with many more overtaking. A fantastic feeling and as we entered Ussurisk, we joined a whole park full of bikes.
We were introduced to Danielle Murdoch from New Zealand, an architect riding a Honda 250 all the way to London. She had conquered Vietnam and Cambodia so Russia should be a breeze.
The convoy of bikes to the campsite was helped by the police holding the traffic and red lights were ignored. A fantastic sight to have bikes as far as you could see! Just to celebrate 'Ride to work day.' In total around 270 bikes piled into a forested area by a large river. Everywhere we went people offered food and vodka, an amazing experience.
Later that evening I asked Alexander 'The Architect' and second in command of the Iron Tigers to tell everyone about Geoff's accomplishment of a million biking miles in his lifetime. Geoff was dragged on stage and given a T-shirt and the obligatory bottle of vodka. I got a good photo of him being given 'respect' from the crowd! A great night was had by all.
Danielle left heading to Kabarovsk in the morning and onto Mongolia. Much braver than me and her entire kit weighed 16kg, less than my trainers! After the a sauna and dive into the cold river for Geoff, while I bravely watched, we followed Mikail back to Vlad Moto. That was until he was overtaken by a Suzuki Bandit 1200 and most of a Yamaha R1. I was ushered to follow them, going slightly faster than the speeds I rode the first time I entered Vladivostok. Well, double actually, about 20mph less than the bike was capable of and about 20mph more than I was capable of....
Phil and Dot arrived in their camper van, proudly showing off his new alternator. Nearly two weeks wasted waiting for it and Phil was eager to move on. After he bought us shashlik and a coffee! So good to see him happy and we wished him a safe journey. I would miss them and hope to see them in Ramsgate when they return.
Mad Max and a few others rode to Ussurisk that evening, keen to party. We would leave in the morning, proudly following Mikail on his Honda VX 1800 with beautiful tiger paintwork.
We left with six bikes, with more joining on route. Mikail followed later after more 'business.'
Soon there were 18 bikes with many more overtaking. A fantastic feeling and as we entered Ussurisk, we joined a whole park full of bikes.
We were introduced to Danielle Murdoch from New Zealand, an architect riding a Honda 250 all the way to London. She had conquered Vietnam and Cambodia so Russia should be a breeze.
The convoy of bikes to the campsite was helped by the police holding the traffic and red lights were ignored. A fantastic sight to have bikes as far as you could see! Just to celebrate 'Ride to work day.' In total around 270 bikes piled into a forested area by a large river. Everywhere we went people offered food and vodka, an amazing experience.
Later that evening I asked Alexander 'The Architect' and second in command of the Iron Tigers to tell everyone about Geoff's accomplishment of a million biking miles in his lifetime. Geoff was dragged on stage and given a T-shirt and the obligatory bottle of vodka. I got a good photo of him being given 'respect' from the crowd! A great night was had by all.
Danielle left heading to Kabarovsk in the morning and onto Mongolia. Much braver than me and her entire kit weighed 16kg, less than my trainers! After the a sauna and dive into the cold river for Geoff, while I bravely watched, we followed Mikail back to Vlad Moto. That was until he was overtaken by a Suzuki Bandit 1200 and most of a Yamaha R1. I was ushered to follow them, going slightly faster than the speeds I rode the first time I entered Vladivostok. Well, double actually, about 20mph less than the bike was capable of and about 20mph more than I was capable of....
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