Major Downer the Cirumnavigator.

[Major Downer]

The Bike is ready to go!



Waiting at the ferry terminal.



Stopped in a little village somewhere in France, One of the hottest days of the year, wasn't fun riding in it.



Stans, Switzerland. The place where they'll happily give anyone a Gun and not supervise you.












Austria. Went on the down hill mountain coaster (The yellow bucket on a rail) it's so much fun... youtube it if you don't know it.




Czech Republic.






Lithuania.




Moscow, Russia. The Red square.






Vodka in a Jam Jar?


Bikes snuggled up for the night


At every petrol station they have a security guard and all the petrol station people wanted the American dollars, so I traded with them all. The next thing we know this people carrier pulls up across the fuel station, the dorr slides open and this mongolian man wearing a cow boy hat jumps out of the van with this massive camera. He starts taking pictures of us on the bikes, kneeling down and at one point lead down in the middle of the four court. He waved us on our way up the road still taking pictures. That really put a smile on my face for ages, it gives me goose bumps now.



We met a small group of Russians and they invited us out to show us the town where they live and what they all did for work. His wife made dinner for us and they made us feel very welcome into their home. The amazing thing is we don't speak Russian and they don't speak English (A lot of roll playing and pointing)



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Stray dogs everywhere.


These two gents helped me fit a new chain that they had in their garage... we where in the middle of now where and they had chain that fitted my bike. that day someone was looking over me. They wouldn't take any money so I had to wrestle it into their hands. I really couldn't thank them enough.



Lake Baikal, it's huge and so beautiful. We met Chinese tourists and they said hello and asked if we were American. we said nai... we are but men, ROCK! (No we're from the UK) then that was it, they all wanted pictures with us, shaking hands, it was like we were famous and even the Russian started coming over and saying how impressed they were, that we are hear exploring their country. I got some guys business card too haha.









We made it to Vladivostok and we splashed out on a fancy hotel for one night because we had been slumming it in cheap motels that cost us £5 for the night (Russia was so cheap) We then moved to cheap hotel and packed our bikes for them to be shipped to Vancouver.

South Korean Air port: I forgot to pack my trousers about a two weeks back when we left a Motel in Russia so all I had was shorts! Get me to Vancouver so I can eat decent food and buy jeans!!





Vancouver!





This was our local Pub we did quiz night every Wednesday and lost every Wednesday. We made friends with the British guy who runs the quiz, he helped us out with Canadian Ice Hockey stars.


Poutine, it's fries with melted cheese and gravy. You've got to try it!



I was luck to see SlipKnot and Lamb Of God in Vancouver.






The best 4 months of my life, I saved for 2 years and it was worth every penny.


Major Downer

[RedsandRoyals]

I always love seeing travel adventures like this. Are you planning on coming to the US on your next leg? If so, what coast? My dad was president of the Mid Atlantic Ducati club, so he might be able to recommend some good roads around Virginia and Maryland if you just want to go nuts on your bikes.

[ElegaicRequiem]

You skipped right past Japan! Understandable, though.

[Major Downer]

Aug 18, 2016 17:28:10 GMT -5 RedsandRoyals said:

I always love seeing travel adventures like this. Are you planning on coming to the US on your next leg? If so, what coast? My dad was president of the Mid Atlantic Ducati club, so he might be able to recommend some good roads around Virginia and Maryland if you just want to go nuts on your bikes.

It's nice to see an in site into other people's adventures and what they had to deal with and over come set situations. I did a lot of research and took advise off of experienced adventures at Motor cycle shows and they were right about everything. Oh wow you have cool Dad! Yea I'm saving hard to do USA properly. I only have a skeleton out line of a trip and then plan for the day a head at the time but any advise would be amazing.

[Major Downer]

Aug 19, 2016 10:44:15 GMT -5 ElegaicRequiem said:

You skipped right past Japan! Understandable, though.

Well Japan was an option we looked into but sadly with the money we had left, it was very expensive. South Korea option mean't that we could have an amazing time in the USA.

[RedsandRoyals]

Aug 19, 2016 11:47:44 GMT -5 Major Downer said:

Aug 18, 2016 17:28:10 GMT -5 RedsandRoyals said:

I always love seeing travel adventures like this. Are you planning on coming to the US on your next leg? If so, what coast? My dad was president of the Mid Atlantic Ducati club, so he might be able to recommend some good roads around Virginia and Maryland if you just want to go nuts on your bikes.

It's nice to see an in site into other people's adventures and what they had to deal with and over come set situations. I did a lot of research and took advise off of experienced adventures at Motor cycle shows and they were right about everything. Oh wow you have cool Dad! Yea I'm saving hard to do USA properly. I only have a skeleton out line of a trip and then plan for the day a head at the time but any advise would be amazing.

Depends on what coast you want to hit. As a California transplant, they have some fantastic coast roads, and you can usually visit vineyards and national parks along the way if you want. It also makes it easy to duck down into Arizona to see the Grand Canyon and then swing up into the mid-west for some really fantastic national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton up in Wyoming. If you take that way, that also lets you get to the east coast through Canada rather than the "flyover" states like Iowa. There's some neat stuff in the central US, but it's mostly flat and corn.

The east coast is more about the cities, and if you're a Civil War buff, the battlefields. Skip anything further south than Charleston, SC, though and D.C. D.C. is vastly overrated (though it you go by it the Udvar Hazy wing of the Smithsonian Air and Space is fantastic). The Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive are gorgeous in the fall, and if you're looking for a good road for motorcycles, try out US 129. It's called "The Tail of the Dragon" and has something like 300 curves in about 11 miles of roadway through the mountains. There's even a motorcycle club at the start of it at Deal's Gap, so you can hang out there and get some tips on other good roads to try. The New England states are also nice in the spring and fall, but most of the cities are terrible, aside from NYC itself (I have particularly poor memories of Hartford, CT).

Also if you want to shoot more guns, you can do that in just about any state. Virginia and Texas are especially gun friendly.

[RedsandRoyals]

Oh, and gas will be pretty cheap unless Iran starts flinging cruise missiles across the Straight of Hormuz or something. It's currently £1.56 a gallon where I fill up, and the further south you are, the cheaper it usually gets.

[Major Downer]

Aug 19, 2016 15:05:21 GMT -5 RedsandRoyals said:

Oh, and gas will be pretty cheap unless Iran starts flinging cruise missiles across the Straight of Hormuz or something. It's currently £1.56 a gallon where I fill up, and the further south you are, the cheaper it usually gets.

That's amazing thank you Reds, I've noted that all down so I can internet search them some more. Highly appreciated! I'll also look to go more inland so I can experience the real USA.

So far California is the only state I've been to and it doesn't do it for me (Personally)

Major Downer