Tibet & Everest Motorcycle trip

For all the motorcycle fans on the site.....

I did this epic 2700 mile bike trip through a big part of China back in 2009. Covered 3 provinces (Qinghai, Sichuan and Tibet). I started in Xining, and finished in Lhasa, while going off the beaten track as much as possible.

Rode up to nearly 18000ft elevation, and went to the North Face base camp of Mt Everest on the bike. ("Everest" is known as "Qomolangma" in Tibet)

As far as we were told, we were the first "westerners" to ride motorcyles to the North face base camp.

A few basic pics of many, many photos!

North Face of Everest Base Camp.
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The Himalayas behind me.
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Rongphu Monastery (The highest monastery on earth)
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One of the countless unplanned river crossings.
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A fellow rider goes down as a rolling boulder under the water surprises him.
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Unplanned spot on top of a 16000ft mountain where we had to spend the night as it got dark, and the other side of the muddy mountain trail would have been deadly at night. Took the pic in the morning before heading down.
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Me and a Tibetan Monk having yak butter tea.(Yak butter tea really is not as nice as it sounds, Starbucks is better...)
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Wowwwww Burt,
What a trip indeed. I am really eating this up :mexwave:. It seemed FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC :tu. I love it and I am jealous :p

Really enjoyed the pictures. Sounds like a blast!

I know I'm not the only jealous guy here... Sounds like a one of a kind journey!

It really was the bike trip of my life. I highly recommend it guys!

Wow!!!!!
I'm just,
wow!!!!!

I miss having a life. Yup, sometimes I really do. I'm glad to see that somebody's out there having fun.
Wow!

Thanks for sharing. That trip was awesome if you ask me.

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Originally Posted by Utopian

Wow!!!!!
I'm just,
wow!!!!!

I miss having a life. Yup, sometimes I really do. I'm glad to see that somebody's out there having fun.
Wow!

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I know what you mean Ron, I had to do this trip before the birth of my little daughter, now life is completely different! No more serious bike trips..just shorter trips :-).

She is a real blessing to have though!

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Originally Posted by Maximilian

Thanks for sharing. That trip was awesome if you ask me.

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You said it Max, it really was epic!

Vrey vrey cool,scratch that off your bucket list. Well done

More pictures, more pictures! Looks like an awesome trip!

So how was it getting the border permits and how much were they? What size bike did you bring in ?


In the absence of light don't pray for a miracle use night vision.

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Originally Posted by shayne

So how was it getting the border permits and how much were they? What size bike did you bring in ?

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It is damn near impossible to arrange permits, chinese drivers licenses and all the other bits by yourself. We paid a company for the whole package, and rented some bikes from them. My bike is a F650GS Dakar. There were R1200GS & R1150GS Adventure bikes, and F650GS models as well.

Interestingly, the only bikes that struggled at high altitude, were the R1150GS's. Every time we went above 17 000ft, they pretty much died. No idling, nothing. I had to tow my buddy's R1150GS with my Dakar F650GS every time, until we went below 17 000ft again. It seems that the R1150GS fuel chip is not programmed to go above 17 000ft. Kind of like the service ceiling.

I guess BMW never thought their R1150GS's would be used that high! The R1200GS and F650GS bikes were fine at all altitudes, and did not skip a beat.

The only thing that I found hard to do, was to wheelie the F650GS at 17 500ft! It really takes a lot to get the front tire to lift at that altitude, but I did manage, so I can tick that off my list as well! LOL.

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Originally Posted by shooter74743

More pictures, more pictures! Looks like an awesome trip!

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Hmmm, I will have to look at the thousands of pics to see which ones...

A few guys have done trips from shanghai to lasa on the cj 750s which is a Chinese made BMW r series from the 30s ( sidecars ,think indiana jones ) always high on my list of dream trips and I live here .. So big guy I applaud you and any others who make long trips on your bikes just too awesome.


In the absence of light don't pray for a miracle use night vision.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shayne

A few guys have done trips from shanghai to lasa on the cj 750s which is a Chinese made BMW r series from the 30s ( sidecars ,think indiana jones ) always high on my list of dream trips and I live here .. So big guy I applaud you and any others who make long trips on your bikes just too awesome.


In the absence of light don't pray for a miracle use night vision.

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Those CJ750's are awesome, I looked at buying one a few years ago. Cheap as can be, I saw some really nice ones in Beijing for only about $4000! You should really do it when you get the chance one day.

Looks like a great trip and an awesome time! Thanks for sharing :)

Anyone else planning a good ride in Asia any time soon?

Colour me all shades of impressed, Sir! :bow

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Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Colour me all shades of impressed, Sir! :bow

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It's been too long now without a proper expedition, I'm itching for another one like this.:hmmm:

Different kind of bike, but in late January I will be riding from Bangkok to Hau Hin.

Have fun and ride safe!

Have fun and ride safe! Thailand has some great motorcycle roads.

Yes, very impressive.