Introduction

This is the story of a six month motorcycle trip from the UK to Mongolia, through Russia, Central Asia, the Caucuses, and Turkey. On the first half the trip I travelled on my own, but fate intervened and I rode with a pillion through Russia and Mongolia. The bike used was a Suzuki DR350. Most of the photographs on this site were taken by Yevgeniya Belova, and all credit and copyright should be presumed hers.

The story is split into these sections, or blog posts:

• Through Europe to Turkey
• Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzistan and Tajikistan - The Pamhir mountains
• One week in Russia
• Mongolia
• Heading home through Russia
• Final thoughts, and lots more photographs

Some background information:

My name is Nathan Coy and I was born and have lived in Nottingham in the UK, I was 23 at the time of the trip. I started riding motorcycles when I was 18, and quickly developed a passion for riding to remote places on the most interesting roads I could find. I also became involved in repairing, maintaining, and modifying motorcycles, as the hobby quickly took over my whole life. Over a four year period I rode my bikes all over Europe, as well as the UK itself, always trying to seek out the most interesting and idylic places to ride through. When a friend leant me copies of infamous motorcycle travel DVDs Mondo Enduro and Terra Circa, my eyes were opened to the possibility of venturing much on two wheels than I'd previously thought possible. I set off on this trip nine months later!

Yevgeniya Belova was born in Uralsk, Kazakhstan. She has lived in St Peterburg in Russia for seven years, and at the time of the trip was 25. She arranged to travel with the three Frenchmen in their classic Citroens via the internet, and acted as their photographer and translator (in Russian speaking areas).

The bike is a 1995 Suzuki DR350. It is the enduro model which differs from the more common 'S' and 'SE' models in various ways in order to make it lighter. For the trip I fitted the headlamp unit and three phase alternator off an 'S' model bike along with a battery, reg/rec and wiring to go with it. I added luggage racks to the bike myself, though the side racks were later altered by a mechanic in Almaty to make space for a pillion and the extra footrests added. I also fitted a heavier rear shock spring shortly after setting off as the weight I was carrying with all the tyres etc was just too much for the standard spring. I fitted a 22l Acerbis fuel tank intended for the Honda XR range, making the brackets myself which attached to the bike at the same places the standard plastic tank did.

I left home at the start of May 2009, and returned home almost 6 months later at the end of October. I estimate the distance covered on the trip to be somewhere around 20,000 miles. The route below can also be viewed in google maps here.

I have no idea what the future now has in store for me.

Nathan Coy
nathancoy@ntlworld.com