KL-London Ride 2015

5 September 2015 - Preparation Stage 

   We plan to start our ride on 10 Sep 2015. That is 5 days from today! Are we ready yet?  I had a quick check on the following. Before that I was asking myself, what would I do different this time in my rideabiketravel series? It would Keep It Simple philosophy. Now the quick check:

Bike matters - Check and ready; Visa - check; Carnet - check; Personal Insurance - check; Medical - check; Personal clothing and riding gears - check; International Driving license - check; Money matters - check. I think I am set to go.

KL-London route selected  

Bike set-up  

Test and Trial  

Test and Trial night ride

The Quartet at '0 Kilometer' mark in Kuala Lumpur

It seem all of us, Ali on his Triumph T110, Hassan and Nordin on their Honda CB500X each and me, are set to go Insha Allah. The preparation stage end.
 During those preparation stage, we in Malaysia celebrated the Eid Fitr (Muslim celebration after a month of fasting). During this time also, my family member visited me during their Summer holiday.
Nice to see them after almost 3 years I was absent during the previous Rideabiketravel series.

My two lovely grand daughters visiting me 

I look forward to this ride and hope to see you on the road somewhere. Follow me with more stories and pictures as I progress. Salam and See you.

Kuala Lumpur - London Ride 2015

20 August 2015 - The Plan and Preparation   

 The idea of a ride from Kuala Lumpur to London (KL - London) was mooted in 2014. I was speaking with Mr. Ali when visiting his garage early 2014 and spoke about this particular ride. Instantly he was excited with smile in his face and said " Jom"! ( Lets do it!). He continued, " Saya kahwin dulu Bang then settle everything dan kita jalan" ( Let me get married first then when everything settle we move).
A year and a half after this small meeting, we finally come to agree to a simple plan; Ride all the way from Malaysia to the UK, in about 3 months. Upon arrival the UK, ship bike and rider back to Malaysia or leave bike in Europe for later ride while rider fly home.

Simple as I can think, things get a bit different in our preparation. There is going to be a huge dent on our pocket to cross China or Myanmar with just for two of us. In the region of USD 11,350 per person just to cross China for about 14 days or USD 1500 per person to cross Myanmar for a 10 days duration. I therefore seek assistance. Two other interested friends willing to team-up. So, in the end we are a team of 4 riders and 4 bikes and we pick to cross Myanmar by engaging the Burma Senses Travel & Tour company. A 10 days ride across Myanmar for USD 1210 per person.

 .....and our selected route will be

No trace?....check it out next post....

 

13 Aug 2014
   Ulaan Bataar to Baga Gazriin Chorin ( position N47deg 02.195 min, E 106deg 35.919min).
 We check-in and took over the bike. All bikes of same make and looked in good running condition. We hit the road almost mid-day as we took some time to exchange currency and bought some ration for the journey. All set and off we go.
 The road if there is such road, mainly semi desert empty grassland. Dead carcass and horses roam the grassland. There are fuel stations along the way especially at small villages. Beautiful day to start the ride though abit chilly (in the mid 20s degree plus mild wind it feel like 14 degree).

Near the airport 

Ulaan Bataar

Our support car 

New bikes for us too

Bikes tested correct. All smiles n ready to go..

    

Here we go...

 

  

Some memorial spot 

 

       

Part of the road 

      We stop frequently to check each other and for quick smoke break. The day to cover is way far to go. But we take it easy. We stop as we liked and destination is not what we are for but the ride.

Checking on each other 

Where is what? 

Double humps Camel first encounter 

First nite camping under open sky...Brrrrr temp. dropping 

Fuad's home cook dinner...

We settle for the day     

 We onle managed about 100km for the first day. Tired and cold...Tomorrow another big gruelling day.

Mongolia Ride 2014

12 Aug 2014  Our flight started from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong on 11 Aug 2014 . Transit in Hong Kong and continue next day to Ulaan Bataar, capital of Mongolia.

International airport at Ulaan Bataar 

First snap in Mongolia outside the airport

Mongolian Air  

 

Mongolia Ride 2014

11 to 29 August 2014 

  Mongolia is part of my RTW adventure ride. The original plan was to cross this country next year but this plan has to be modified due to many reasons. So, taking the opportunity to do a recce ride this year, I invited few friends to join me. A dozen names quickly wanted to go but eventually only 9 signed up. A chat room in the WhatsApp was established and we called it 'Ride Without Border'.
 Mongolia is a big vast country. Ruins by it rulers. Unfriendly vegetation and climate. There are basically 90% off-road ride. For some of us, this may be the first time riding off-road for a long duration. Can we stand the test of this rough terrain and climate? Let see. At the beginning I make it clear it is "Minority Rule" applies. That way, I believed we will still be friends after the trip. It actually works.

The Team - 9 strong men

More to follows....

Loop Ride 6 States

25 May 2014
                      Me and Suhaimi aka Ameng decided to go for an overnight Loop Ride through states of Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perak on 25 May 2014. This short ride is nothing but fun ride with a mixed of highway, secondary and off roads.
                  

Black marker indicates route  

KTM990 vs KLR650  

Ameng onboard KTM 

The Tree 

Well, I think the highlight of this ride is "The Tree" that marked the boundary between Kelantan and Terengganu. Adios! Watch out for next ride. Stay and Ride Safe always.

Lake Toba, Indonesia Ride

10 -  14 May 2014 - Lake Toba Ride

This is another short and sharp loop ride around Lake Toba and its vicinity. To my surprise it was full of adventure. I was on onboard Bajaj 220 cc motorcycle 2 up while the rest of other riders on Honda 150cc. We went through, hectic and madness Medan traffic, night riding, up hill and winding roads, broken roads and less travelled road, ferry ride, heavy rain, manouever around flocks of water buffaloes crossing our path and some shopping with hard bargain. It was a wonderful trip nevertheless and making new friends strengthening the existing ones.

The Bunch 

Guest house in Samosir

Typical Batak native house

Market place, Medan 

Finally, we all ended up at the market place in Medan, shopping before return flight home.