We can highly recommend, to the
adventurous traveller, a ride around
this beautiful and fascinating country
before the tourist hoards descend
and it is changed forever.
The Bikes:
We were riding our choice of
either Yamaha XT660Z Teneres or
Yamaha XT600s and both models
were perfectly suited for the terrain
and style of riding you encounter in
Kyrgyzstan.
If you are riding with a pillion the
Tenere is definitely the more com-
fortable choice for your passenger as
well as having a bit more power for
the high pass climbs.
The XT600 was appreciated by the
shorter and more petit riders in the
group as the lower seat height made
it more manageable and confidence
inspiring in the rougher dirt sections
of the ride. Andre, our local mechan-
ic, who travelled with us was able to
lower the suspension on a couple of
the bikes so that the seat height came
down to under 80cm.
For one novice young lady rider,
who had only had limited off road
riding experience when she con-
vinced her father to join her for the
Kyrgyzstan Explorer, it made the
difference between an awkward
stressful ride to a comfortable and
fun blast each day.
The altitude of some of the higher
passes meant a drop of power was to
be expected as we climbed but the
spectacular nature of the ride meant
that keeping the pace down on the
winding dirt tracks was probably for
the best. Overshooting a corner up
there could give you a very fast and
terminal short-cut to the bottom.
On a couple of the off-road days
dust was an issue and Andre was
kept busy over the lunch breaks and
each evening, cleaning air filters and
making sure that the bikes ran their
best. CJ
TRAVERSE 64
Craig has completed many Compass
Expedition tours, makes sense, he works
for them.
His descriptions of the areas of Kyr-
gyzstan visited are extremely accurate,
and reccomends that everyone get there
as soon as they can.
Compass Expeditions offer a number of
tours throughout the world, if you're inter-
ested in one of their rides visit:
compassexpeditions.com