December 2023
Issue 88
KISKA.COM Photo: R. Schedl
DUAL-SPORT
2024 KTM 500 EXC-F What do you do when you reach the limit? We say, “Change your approach and keep charging ahead.” We accepted the challenge to create a machine capable of going places it’s never gone before. Now we challenge you to get out there and do the same!
SEE MORE AT KTM.COM Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations! The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost.
Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations! The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost.
Photos: R. Schedl
Limitless dual-sport.
experience the extraordinary with the all-new fe 501s. a progressive piece of modern engineering packed with innovations that ensure dual-sport will never be the same again.
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ISSUE 88
December 2023
December 2023
INSTA-ADV
Issue 88
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THE INSIDER
Contributing Writers Chad de Alva Travis Gill David Marvier Motomorgana
The Year of The Dragon
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Contributing Photographers Align Media Tim Burke Chad de Alva Olivier de Vaulx Travis Gill Drew Martin David Marvier Motomorgana
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AUSTRALIA PART 3
Technical Editor Chad de Alva
Heading West
Story Editor Andrew Glaspell Business Development Brandon Glanville
FIRST RIDE
Beta XTrainer 300
Want to partner with us? Contact: Brandon Glanville brandon@upshiftonline.com
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A Country Of Kindness, Culture And History
RISING TO THE SUMMITS Travel Journal In The Himalayas
Upshift Magazine is published monthly by Upshift Online Inc. 2023. Reproduction of any material requires written consent from the publishers. All photos, editorial contributions and advertisements are accepted upon representation that they are original materials by the author and or advertiser. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the author and may not reflect the views and opinions of the editor, staff or advertisers of Upshift Online Inc. Advertisers assume full responsibility for the entire content and subject matter of their advertisements.
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THE YEAR OF THE DRAG Prediction Time: 2024 is going to be the Year of the Dragon for the motorcycle industry. No matter what kind of bike you’re looking for ranging from a sub-100cc pit bike to a liter-plus adventure bike, there is a Chinese-made option now on sale or known to be coming soon. This influx of new bikes in every category will change the shape of the industry in the coming years. Brands like Kove and GPX are effectively establishing credibility by working with rockstar riders like Mason Klein and Megan Griffiths. Mason’s first outing on a Kove Rally Bike will be in Dakar 2024, and assuming the bike is as good as Mason is, expect a strong finish. Megan has already proven that a GPX 300 isn’t a limiting factor with her 1st place finish in pro women at the 2023 Grinding Stone Hard Enduro. We all know that some average Joes buy the same bikes ridden by their favorite pros, so how many bikes will Kove and GPX sell simply because riders want the same thing that Mason, Meg, or some other hero rider has? Other Chinese interests are purchasing existing brands like Moto Morini and Benelli, or establishing joint ventures like CFMoto has with KTM, and more recently Yamaha. Make no mistake about it, the number of manufacturers and the number of new bikes coming is only expanding. What this ultimately means for the consumer is hard to quantify. A new brand of bike that on paper beats a bike from an established manufacturer and also costs less may sound like the deal of the year – but can that new brand of bike be registered, and can you get parts for it? Or will all of these new bikes force the established brands to change their game to retain market share? Competition is good for the consumer, and 2024 is shaping up to be another outstanding year to get to ride motorcycles. Here is wishing you a new year full of new adventures and good times on a motorcycle – no matter who made it, or what country it came from.
GON
HP CORSE Yamaha Ténéré 700 High Mount SP-1 Short Black Titanium Exhaust Hand made in Italy, the HP Corse Short Black Titanium Slip-On exhaust is a solid upgrade for the Yamaha T7. SP-1 Short high mount stems from the need to take on the challenges of the adventure seekers, reliability, strength, and endurance. Designed to last in time and outlive the most demanding trails thanks to its peculiar positioning, SP-1 delivers the thrill and the excitement of off-road adventures on two wheels to all who are in quest of new adventures. SP-1 embodies the less is more philosophy, asserting itself as the archetype of simplicity, with a minimal design as an ultimate expression of sophistication. Designed and engineered by HP Corse in the heart of the Motor Valley, SP-1 revises its rally heritage in a modern key, reinterpreting the past with a future-oriented approach. $699.00 Available at the UPSHIFT STORE.
Mosko Moto Hard Travel Laptop Case Mosko teamed up with Valeo Cases to provide a unique solution for bringing your laptop on your next ADV trip. Designed to be packed in your Mosko duffle/tail bag, this laptop case provides premium-level impact, abrasion, and vibration protection using CURV® composite and Poron® impact foam. The hardware is adjustable for customizing the fit to your laptop. The T-8 hardware is mounted in a silicone sleeve to protect it from any contact with your laptop. *Fits 2021 and newer MacBook laptops. Available at www.moskomoto.com.
Scorpion EXO-AT960 Kryptek The EXO-AT960 Modular Helmet has evolved from one of the most popular Adventure Motorcycle helmets on the market: the EXO-AT950. The EXO-AT960 can be used as a full face ADV helmet with external peak visor attached, or the peak visor can be removed for a more aerodynamic touring helmet. The oversized eye port is extremely wide for greater peripheral vision and downward visibility, and the modular chin bar can be conveniently flipped up. The internal drop down Speedview® sun-visor allows you to adjust to changing lighting conditions throughout the day. Additionally, the no-fog Everclear® face shield can be removed and you can use the EXO-AT960 with goggles for off-road use. MSRP: $309.95. Available at www.scorpionusa.com.
Bringing Rideability to motocross Prototyped and tested for four years, the wait is now over Officially the first 4-stroke Motocross bike built by Beta LEARN MORE AT
Limited Production Visit a Beta Dealer to Reserve One
Alpinestars Techdura Jacket The Techdura Jacket is highly modular and features technical aspects unique to Alpinestars. Constructed from a durable and rugged stretch polyamide canvas material with detachable raglan sleeves and side torso vents, the Techdura Jacket can be perfectly adapted to the climate, engineered to handle the rigors of enduro and off-road riding. The Techdura Jacket is water-resistant and windproof to protect against the elements and has been designed to fit over any Alpinestars’ upper body protectors. The jacket also features a built-in pocket to seamlessly integrate a water bladder. Entirely unique to the Techdura Jacket, is the detachable tactical pack that comes included with the jacket. The tactical pack separately attaches to the back and chest, providing 4 chest pockets with an airflow space in the middle, on the front, as well as a back compartment for a separate hydration bladder or other gear. The Techdura Jacket with its tactical pack is the perfect choice, making it convenient for enduro riders to carry different items, based on the needs of the ride. MSRP: $319.95. Available at the www.alpinestars.com
Motopumps - 2023+ KTM 890 Articulating GPS Mount MotoPumps KTM 890 Adventure, Adventure R, Rally and 890 SMT Articulating Above the Instruments GPS Mount with AMPs pattern GPS cradle plate. Compatible with all Garmin Zumo models, including the new XT, XT2 RAM and any other manufacturer utilizing a standard AMPS pattern mount. Important: This mount is for 2023+ KTM 890 Adventure motorcycles. If you have a 2022 or earlier KTM 890, CLICK HERE for the appropriate articulating mount. Made in Upstate NY for riders, by riders. This well designed, engineered, tested and off-pavement proven design is stable, durable, minimalist and attractive. Price: $119.00. Available at the UPSHIFT STORE.
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HIMALAYAS
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PRIORITY FOR PROTECTION Helmets, made by the dedicated hands of those who work at Arai, have shown examples of supreme protection for decades. The numerous improvements by their experienced hands, and personal desire to further the protection of riders’ heads, are among the many unique reasons Arai helmets perform the way they do. From our very first helmet to those we make today, rider protection remains our first priority, and we at Arai shall never forget the value of what we have been seeking to protect is priceless.
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THE WORLD JUST GOT A LOT SMALLER WITH THE POWERFUL PERFORMANCE, ADVANCED ELECTRONICS, AND ANY-ROAD CAPABILITIES OF THE ALL-NEW 2023 V-STROM 800DE. Shift your adventure into a higher gear. Developed from a clean sheet of fresh ideas, the new Suzuki V-STROM 800DE features an advanced new parallel-twin 776cc powerplant complemented by dynamic rider aids, long-travel suspension, and spoke-style wheels. So, when you’re idling at the crossroads of on- or off-road adventure, the V-STROM 800DE is there to advance whatever direction you choose.
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GO WEST
Caroline looked into making the trip from Cape York back to civilization by boat. We were dreading the idea of those same 1000 miles of corrugations and dust again. But there was no ferry. “Just grit your teeth, honey. In about five days we’ll be out of here.” By now our tires had become virtually treadless, which did not immediately enhance the experience of the ride, to say the least. Before leaving Cape York, I had washed the air filters but after barely a day and a half of riding the dusty road down, there was another crust of caked-on bull dust on them, and we found ourselves washing and rinsing them once again in the toilets of a remote roadhouse. As much as we prefer the dirt, Caroline and I could kiss the tar road after those 1000 miles of horrendous road. No more red faces at the end of the day. No more blobs of red snot in our noses. Finally clean, dust-free air again! We followed the winding roads through the cool hills of the Tablelands toward Atherton, where fresh rubber awaited us. At last!
By Tom and Caroline www.motomorgana.com
A Whole Lot of Nothing We absolutely wanted to ride the Savannah Way heading west. This iconic 2300 mile road is largely unpaved and connects Cairns in the east to Broome in the west of the country. We would ride from Queensland across the infamous Northern Territories to Western Australia. Just to put things in perspective, western Australia alone is about 1/3 the size of the US, so we had some miles ahead of us. “A whole lot of nothing, that’s what you’ll see,” we were told several times by the local Aussies and we can’t really say they got it wrong, at least not on the first half of the road; a long stretch of gravel through the Savannah with the occasional river crossing. Every now and then we saw a herd of cows in an open field next to the road, which makes you wonder how on earth they survive in that blistering heat without any shade whatsoever. We spotted the occasional dead kangaroo on the road, but that was about it. We slept in roadhouses in the middle of nowhere again, listening to evocative names like Hell’s Gate, and gasoline prices suddenly went up by almost 50%. It was great cruising there though, with the wind in our hair and the sun in our faces. But the last 40 miles before the town of Borroloola - who comes up with those names anyway – definitely broke the monotony. The landscape remained unchanged. The road however turned into an absolute nightmare. Motorists had warned us that they could not drive faster than 10 mph on that stretch of dirt. Corrugations there were elevated to another dimension. It was choosing between vibrating the discs between your vertebrae or burying your front wheel half a meter into the bull dust.
The waves of a normally corrugated track turned into waves of a wild ocean during a hurricane, and if all of that wasn’t enough, some Australian funny guy had put road signs along the track, “Rough road for the next 12km (7.5 miles).” So as we naively were counting down the miles on our odometer, we were hoping for a stretch of flat road to catch our breath. Alas... exactly 12km after the first sign, there was the same sign again. And 12km further again, and again. It left me desperate and Caroline could have cried. Along the side of the road we kept passing cars that hadn’t made it, sometimes consumed by yet another bush fire. We were exhausted when we arrived in Borroloola and ducked into the local supermarket for a load of fresh Coke Zero at prices you wouldn’t imagine possible. “Yes sir, everything has to be transported here and that costs money.” They’re right, of course, but that doesn’t help our travel budget much, and after all that 130°F water from our camelbak, we definitely thought we had earned that ice cold Coke. Borroloola was not really that hidden gem I would recommend to anyone. The supermarket was teeming with drunken Aboriginals who wanted to buy the fresh beer we just got at twice the price, because buying beer here is kind of cumbersome. “Can I see your ID, sir.” Surely I look 18, I thought at first. Then the guy from the supermarket handed me a breathalyzer test. I was amazed. They usually make you blow after you had your beers, not before. Here you have to prove you have 0% alcohol in your blood before you can even buy your alcohol ration for the day. But when you see how many people hang around here lavishly, we understand why. It’s so sad to see, but many of the Aboriginals have a serious problem: no education, no job, no future, far away from everything and still hopelessly frustrated by the arrival of the British in 1770. When they don’t start sniffing petrol or doing other crazy things out of boredom, they seek refuge in liquor. And drunken Aboriginals sometimes help themselves to something that is not really theirs, like our shoes we left drying in the sun outside.
Crocodiles in Kakadu Darwin is primarily the starting point to get to several nearby national parks. There’s Litchfield National Park, a succession of refreshing swimming pools that made us forget the unbearable heat of the day. Kakadu National Park is the scene of what could be perhaps the most impressive spectacle of this ride around Australia: at Cahills crossing, more than 50 enormous saltwater crocodiles lie waiting for high tide. That’s when the direction of the river’s flow changes. Heaps of fish flow into the river from the sea. Just behind the concrete crossing, the crocs lie motionless with open mouth waiting for yet another big fish to pass, only to devour it mercilessly in three bites. Every now and then a discussion about the ownership of the fish was settled with a full-on crocodile fight and I can assure you, the desire to wade the river by motorbike was far gone. Just last year a fisherman was ruthlessly pulled into the water from the shore. They never saw him again.
The Gibb The Gibb River Road makes up for the last 400 miles of the Savannah Way in western Australia and cuts across the Kimberleys, a rocky region dotted with canyons, waterfalls and jaw dropping views, so we were told. At Lake Argyle, we treated ourselves to an overpriced campsite with an infinity pool and a view over the lake before riding “The Gibb”. Unlike the few motorists we encountered, the road itself charmed us. At times it was littered with sharp stones for sure, but as agile two-wheelers we just rode neatly between them. All good! At night we tossed and turned in our sleep, bathing in sweat in a tent on crazy hot soil. At the crack of dawn, we sought refreshment at some of the most beautiful canyons and waterfalls and really enjoyed the stunning views. In Derby, the first town after the Gibb, we finally booked a well-deserved air-conditioned room, bought a bottle of gin, a bottle of tonic, and a bag of ice and celebrated the end of the Savannah Way. What a ride, what an adventure! Check, check, double check!
The Toll of the Corrugations Thousands of miles of off-road riding on horribly bumpy tracks, through sand and dust, is obviously not doing our bikes any good. The weight of our large gas tank and our luggage on the back doesn’t exactly do it any favors either. All too often we received messages from other riders having to be towed off. Jack had a leaky head gasket, Mike’s electrics stopped working, Tanita’s friend had expertly drowned his bike in the river, and yet another rider was stuck with a wheel bearing that had scattered to shrapnel. Our Huskies endured the tough ride pretty well, although the marks of thousands of miles of abuse could not be ignored. My chain looked more like a rubber band at the end of the Savannah Way and turned out to be more than two links longer than the original one.... I had replaced the worst pieces of chain on the road, but riding more than two hundred kilometers without adjusting it once again was out of the question. Our wheel bearings were also shot. A little play on the front wheel and a bike that no longer tracked so well were unmistakable signs that they too were in urgent need of replacement. Due to the weight of the luggage, even one of the reinforced bolts that holds the rear tank to the front frame had broken off. Luckily, we carried all the parts with us to fix it at the side of the road. Our bikes were clearly begging for a well-deserved dose of TLC after taking a good beating. Along the West Coast to Perth We started our journey down to Perth in southern western Australia with all due caution. We were to visit Matt, a friend we had met earlier on our trip in Burkina Faso and coincidentally had run into in Georgia. A large box of much-needed spare parts was waiting for us there. We were gentle on the throttle and - with a few minor exceptions - avoided dirt tracks. But we enjoyed it nevertheless: snorkeling along the west coast, swimming with sea lions, a ride through the breathtaking Pinnacles Desert and enjoying the many deserted beaches with a fabulous sunset. Little by little the surroundings became greener, and temperatures became more bearable. Just imagine: we could go to the supermarket again and gas prices dropped to affordable levels. The immense swarms of irritating (stinging) flies of the north gave way to colorful birds that cheerfully wake you in the morning. Those few days with Matt in Perth were just what we needed. A thick mattress to sleep on, a nice chill atmosphere, a little wrenching on the bikes, a barbecue with Matt’s friends and a visit to the city. Our bikes are running sweet again and we are back in top shape as well, ready to tackle the final leg of this amazing country. Next up: Back to Melbourne along Australia’s south coast and maybe, if temperatures permit, a quick trip to Uluru, that enormous boulder in the very center of the country. Then we’ll ship the bikes to South Africa.
Ténéré 700. The Next Horizon is yours. www.YamahaMotorsports.com Professional rider depicted on a closed course. Dress properly for your ride with a helmet, eye protection, riding jacket or long-sleeve shirt, long pants, gloves and boots. European spec model shown. Yamaha and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation encourage you to ride safely and respect the environment. For further information regarding the MSF course, call 1-800-446-9227. Do not drink and ride. It is illegal and dangerous. ©2023 Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. All rights reserved.
BETA XTRAINER 300
WORDS AND PHOTOS: CHAD DE ALVA
BETA XTRAINER 300
I have to admit that when I found out a 2024 Beta Motorcycle XTrainer was headed my way, I had mixed feelings. As a card-carrying member of the 300 two stroke fan club, an “entry level” 300 with “softer power delivery” wasn’t exactly on the top of my bikes I’m keen to check out list. Yet Beta knows how to make a bad-ass two stroke, and their 200 RR Race Edition ISSUE 85 proved to be quite the bike, so I was certainly curious to see what the entry level end of the Beta two stroke spectrum was like. In just one more example of how universally applicable the old saying of “don’t judge a book by its cover” is, after a couple of months and quite a few rides, the 2024 XTrainer has completely won me over and impressed everyone else who’s thrown a leg over it. Beta is perfectly honest with their marketing wordage on the XTrainer’s product page: It’s an entry level bike, and it sells for a price point ($8,399) below what their other two strokes go for. Compared to a 2024 300 RR two stroke ($10,099), the XTrainer has almost an inch lower seat height, more entry level suspension with nearly an inch less stroke, and a smaller (2.3 US Gal vs 2.5 US Gal on the RRs) fuel tank. The motor is set up for softer power delivery, and the first time you see the XTrainer’s pipe, you’ll know that’s actually a thing. Yet the XTrainer has the diaphragm clutch we love, an adjustable power valve, oil injection (there is a removal kit available if you must have your pre-mix), and good Nissin brakes with the same size rotors as its RR siblings. The first time you throw a leg over XTrainer, the bike’s lower seat height size is instantly apparent. For new riders this makes the bike more approachable, and it allows the new and/or shorter riders to get more of their feet on the ground, which is always a confidence boost. Experienced riders will equate the shorter seat height to a bike that is more agile and flickable thanks to its more compact size – more on that in just a minute. The XTrainer does have a shorter wheelbase than all of the RR models (3/10ths of an inch shorter than a 125 RR) and the chassis exudes that compact, agile feel that we’ve come to really enjoy from Betas. Rounding out the cockpit experience are standard issue Beta switch gear, levers, and a fully featured computer. The map switch does not have the traction control that is found on other off-road models. Your only options are the more aggressive sun map and the softer cloud map.
BETA XTRAINER 300
BETA XTRAINER 300
Before we rode the XTrainer for the first time, we made a few key part swaps from the Beta accessories catalog. Our first move was to swap the stock silencer with a FMF Turbinecore silencer so that the XTrainer would have a USFS approved spark arrestor. Since we would be riding the XTrainer at elevations around 7,000 ft above sea level, Beta suggested we replace the stock air filter cage with one from a RR model bike which flows more air and would help with power loss from our elevation above sea level. Our one comfort consideration was to swap the stock seat for a Seat Concepts comfort seat. Lastly, we swapped the stock tires for Dunlop AT 81 and D 950 tires, because someone mentioned the XTrainer is something like a trials bike, so a trials type tire seemed appropriate. For our first ride on the XTrainer, we brought along a couple of other flavors of 300 just to see how the entry level XTrainer could hang with more expensive 300s from other manufactures. Long story short, the XTrainer can easily hang with other 300s with a skilled pilot at the controls. Riders who sampled the XTrainer described the chassis as compact and agile, yet stable, meaning the bike is great for all types of single track from fast and flowy to technical. The suspension also impressed by performing much better than what would be expected from something labeled “entry level.” It’s soft (especially the shock), decently plush, and capable of staying composed at speeds well beyond what would be expected out of entry level riders. It can certainly be out-ridden, but that takes a rider who would be seriously sandbagging to identify as entry or beginner to do so. It’s also worth noting that Beta’s suspension program sells fully customized open and closed cartridge Sachs forks (which come standard on the RR models and feel great) and a better shock for the XTrainer. This means that as your skills grow, you can up the XTrainer’s boingers to keep pace.
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The XTrainer’s motor is less powerful than other 300s out there, but to be clear it still has plenty of cowbell for technical flywheel-loading moves and stupidly steep climbs. Yet the bike doesn’t want to pull your arms out of their sockets or loop out on a ham-fisted clutch move, which helps big time with the intimidation factor for riders who haven’t felt ready for a 300. The cloud setting on the map switch can mellow things out more if needed. On top of the rev range, the power does check out early when compared with a 300 running a normally shaped pipe, but we’re told you can put on a ‘regular’ pipe as your power needs grow, one more example of how the bike can grow with the rider. The power valve can be adjusted to change the engine’s character, and as usual, we backed it out for max twist right off of idle. This change in power delivery, fed through Beta’s great diaphragm clutch and combined with the low seat and compact chassis, make the XTrainer a fun size technical weapon. Riding the XTrainer like a big trials bike is where this bike completely won me over. The XTrainer is an absolute giggle for technical work, and the bike just makes you want to try and ride up stuff. Even at 6’ 1” tall, I still appreciate getting a little extra foot on the ground when I need it while doing technical moves in sketchy places. A shorter (smaller) bike is easier to work with, and something I’m less likely to fall off of when I run out of talent. More than once I stuffed a spicy line on the XTrainer and needed to make a last ditch dab to avoid falling. I was able to make the dab and stay on the bike, but another inch or so of seat height from another flavor of 300 may have caused me to miss the dab, which could have turned a close call into a crash. Put another way, the XTrainer’s low seat height gives you additional confidence when trying technical moves, and the bike certainly has the capability to perform when it counts. If you’re looking for a bike to work on hard enduro drills with, or to try and ride up the spicy lines that give you pause on another flavor of 300, you need to try it on an XTrainer. It’s been awesome to watch other riders hop on the XTrainer and quickly see their technical game level up. This bike excels play and instills confidence – and that’s awesome. Likewise, the XTrainer quickly gels with newer or shorter riders. You can almost see the light bulb go on over their head when someone who has sat on another 300 sits on the XTrainer for the first time and discovers how easy it is to touch the ground. About the only downside to the lower seat height is that the bike doesn’t lean over very far when it’s on the kickstand, so you’ll need to be mindful of how you position the bike before parking it on the kickstand, or the XTrainer will seize the opportunity for an unscheduled nap.
BETA XTRAINER 300
BETA XTRAINER 300
BETA XTRAINER 300
The Beta Motorcycles XTrainer has proven to be a great off-road two stroke. It quickly proved that it is much more capable than what one might assume given its entry level positioning, and while it is objectively less powerful and sporting suspension that is less capable than its 300 RR sibling, the XTrainer is brilliant in the hands of a newer rider, or an experienced rider who wants to use it for everything from working on drills and play riding, to riding singletrack at not race pace. There’s also the satisfaction that you get from cleaning lines on an entry level bike that your riding buddies can’t clean on their more expensive 300s. Entry level clearly doesn’t equate to limited fun in this case. Given the XTrainer’s price, it makes a compelling entry point into the world of off-road two strokes. As you grow as a rider, the XTrainer can be upfitted with better suspension and a few other parts to give it power, approaching a regular 300. Yet in stock form, the XTrainer is still a neat bike. In our time with the XTrainer, we’ve used it for just about everything we use our other 300s for and with one asterisk it’s been fun everywhere we’ve used it. We’ve ridden plenty of single track, packed a chainsaw with the XTrainer to clear single track, spent plenty of time hopping logs, playing in technical riding areas, and letting the bike sing in the sand and in open riding areas. The one asterisk to all of this is the fuel range. The 2.3 gallon tank combined with admittedly less than perfect jetting, results in a shorter fuel range. In one case we only managed 34 miles of mixed off-road riding before we had to flip over to reserve – so be prepared to carry more fuel if you’re eying an XTrainer for big rides. It’s also worth noting that a beefier skid plate and a set of hand flags were quickly determined to be essential parts for this bike, so we went back to the Beta accessories catalog to source these parts. Play bikes need protection too. Your grade school librarian was right when they said you can’t judge a book by its cover, and just as that saying applies to so many other aspects of life, you also cannot judge a motorcycle by a couple of words. The 2024 Beta Motorcycles XTrainer has proven to be an absolute hoot of a bike, and anyone from a beginner to an experienced rider who wants a fun size play or training bike will have a great time on an XTrainer. I’ve completely enjoyed my time on this bike, and I’m really hoping that Beta will give us the opportunity to try the upgraded suspension and a normal pipe to see how the bike’s capabilities expand. If you haven’t had the chance to try an XTrainer, you’ve been missing out. For more information on the 2024 Beta Motorcycles XTrainer, visit www.betausa.com
BETA XTRAINER 300
BETA XTRAINER 300
SPECIFICATIONS Engine
Beta Built single cylinder, 2-stroke, liquid cooled, with BPV powervalve system and counter balancer, electric start with back-up kick starter sold as an option
Bore
73mm
Stroke
69.9mm
Displacement
292.3cc
Compression ratio
11.55:1
Valve train
Beta Progressive Valve (BPV)
Ignition
AC-CDI Kokusan
Spark plug
NGK GR7CI8
Lubrication
Electronic Oil Injection
Fuel system
Keihin PWK 36mm
Clutch
Wet Diaphragm-style
Transmission
6 Speed
Final drive
O-ring chain
Frame
Molybdenum steel / Double Cradle with quick air filter access
Wheelbase
57.8”
Seat height
35.8”
Ground clearance
12.6”
Footrest height
15.4”
Dry weight
218 lbs
Fuel tank capacity
2.3 US Gallons
Front suspension
43 mm inverted front fork with adjustable dampening
Rear suspension
Steel body shock with adjustable rebound and compression
Front wheel travel
10.6”
Rear wheel travel
10.6”
Front brake
260 mm floating rotor
Rear brake
240 mm rotor
Front/rear rim
21” (Front) 18” (Rear)
Front/rear tire
Soft Enduro Competition
*Specifications subject to change without notice. Additional information on all models including manuals. MSRP: $8,399.00
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BY CHAD DE ALVA
An t igravi t y XP-1 Gen2 and XP-20-HD Dead batteries never happen at a convenient time. You’re always trying to get somewhere in your vehicle or set off on a ride when you go to engage the starter and the only thing that follows is the resounding silence of nothing happening. Depending on the vehicle you’re trying to start, where you are, and whether or not you’re alone – a dead battery can be a single serving of Murphy’s law, or a multi-course force fed meal of misery and/or cause of a survival situation. Yet with an Antigravity Batteries Micro-Start in your kit, jump-starting said dead vehicle takes just a couple of minutes. A Micro-Start is a portable jump-starting battery and personal power supply that is capable of providing enough power to jump start a dead vehicle and/ or keep all sorts of devices charged up when you’re in the field. The fancy lithium battery in a Micro-Start can provide hundreds of amps of current to start a bike or a truck, and various USB ports on the device allow you to use the Micro-Start to charge all sorts of other devices whenever you need. Antigravity Batteries was the first company to bring a lithium-powered jump starting battery to market with their original Micro-Start XP-1 in 2012. Over the last decade, they’ve expanded and revised their line of Micro-Starts to match the needs of different users and different use cases. Two of their latest and greatest Micro-Starts are the XP-20-HD, which is the most powerful and largest capacity offering, and the XP-1 Gen 2, which is the next generation version of the very portable XP-1. The XP-1 Gen 2 isn’t much larger than a pint can of your favorite beer, yet this little box that fits in the palm of your hand is capable of starting big V8-powered trucks with 400 amps of starting current. With a rated capacity of 12,000 milliamp hours, the XP-1 Gen 2 is capable of completely fast-charging a current gen smartphone twice via its 30 watt USB-PD port. This USB-PD port is also how the unit is charged, making it easy to charge the Micro-Start from any USB type C source you have access to. A USB type-A port supports Quick Charge 3.0, so charging all sorts of devices that use proprietary cables can be done with the XP-1 Gen 2 as well. Rounding out the features on the unit is a flashlight that can be set to On, Strobe, or SOS Flash mode.
T E S T E D : A n t i g r a v i t y X P -1 G e n 2 a n d X P - 2 0 - H D The XP-20-HD is the most powerful and largest capacity Micro-Start, and as such it’s a larger device, measuring two 12-ounce cans tall. Yet the trade-off for this increased footprint is a seriously impressive power reserve. Starting power on the XP-20-HD is rated at 930 amps, which is more current than is provided by the starting battery in many vehicles. Total battery capacity is 24,000 milliamp hours, which is more than enough power to completely charge a modern smartphone four times. A USB-PD port is good for 100 watts in (charging the Micro-Start) or out, which enables the XP-20-HD to charge all sorts of devices including laptops. Two USB Type A ports allow you to charge multiple devices at once, and a DC output allows you plug in a 12 V cigarette-style adapter for devices with a cigarette plug. The flashlight on the XP-20-HD has constant On, Strobe, and SOS modes. Using a Micro-Start to jump start a vehicle is an easy process. Expose the battery that needs to be jumped, and identify the positive and negative terminals. CORRECTLY Connect the Micro-Start clamps to the battery, and then to the Micro-Start ensuring that the clamp connector fully seats in the Micro-Start’s port. Turn on the Micro-Start. If you’ve connected everything correctly, the Micro-Start will indicate as such, and you can attempt to start the vehicle. If you’ve connected something incorrectly, the Micro-Start will make it very obvious that it’s saving you with its built-in protections – a feature you don’t get with jumper cables. In the real world, the XP-1 Gen 2 has started every dead vehicle I’ve come across with ease. From a HEMI-swapped JK with a known bad battery, to a 289 in a sixty-six Mustang that wasn’t left plugged in, a couple of minutes with the XP-1 was all it took to bring these rigs back to life. Given that 5.7 liter V8s are no sweat for the XP-1, starting a motorcycle is no factor. The XP-1 comes in a zippered case that measures approximately 9x8x2 inches, but for ultimate portability, the hot ticket is to put the XP-1, the clamps, and any cables you need in something like a large Upshift Dmada pouch Link to cut down on packed volume. Minimizing packed volume is where I found my one complaint with the XP-1 Gen 2, and that is the massive plastic housing for the protection circuitry on the clamps. Given that the XP-1 Gen 2 clamps look identical to the clamps on my old XP-10, and that the XP-20-HD clamps don’t have this massive plastic chingus, it feels like Antigravity left an opportunity to make the XP-1 more packable on the table by not giving the XP-1 Gen 2 the same style clamps as the XP-20-HD, where the protection circuitry is in the Micro-Start. That being said, the XP-1 Gen 2 is still very packable, and absolutely worth the space it takes in your pack when you need it.
T E S T E D : A n t i g r a v i t y X P -1 G e n 2 a n d X P - 2 0 - H D If the XP-1 Gen 2 can start anything I’ve hooked it to with ease, the XP-20-HD feels like bringing a gun to a knife fight. This is the one jump starter to rule them all. The XP-20-HD more than pays for its increase in size over the XP-1 with the sheer versatility that it offers. It has enough battery capacity to charge your phone several times, meaning that at one good charge a day, a XP-20-HD can play power bank for the better part of a week of camping without recharging. Its USB-PD port makes for fast charges, at 100 W it can give even top shelf laptops a boost in power. The move with the XP-20-HD while moto camping is to charge all of your devices in camp, and charge the Micro-Start from your bike while riding as needed. Unlike a standalone power bank, the Micro-Start can also jump a dead battery, and multi-use kit is always a win when space matters. Antigravity Batteries Micro-Starts are indispensable for anyone whose plans can get derailed by a dead battery. Over the last few years, my old XP-10, and now these new XP-1 and XP-20-Micro-Starts have proven their worth time and time again in keeping dead batteries from ruining plans. With a Micro-Start in your vehicle, it takes 2 minutes of your time to practice random acts of kindness and help someone out who would otherwise be stranded by jumping their vehicle. With a Micro-Start in your pack or your luggage, you have a highly effective backup plan for jumping your bike or just keeping your other electronic gear powered up as you journey into the remote places of the world. The choice of which Micro-Start to get comes down to what you need to start and how much power you need on hand, but know that either way you can’t go wrong with an Antigravity Batteries Micro-Start. Antigravity Batteries Micro-Starts and their awesome Re-Start Lithium Starter batteries are available in the Upshift Store.
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A COUNTRY OF KINDNESS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
By Travis Gill of viajarMOTO.com
Europe is a diverse continent. One of the best examples of this is when traveling from the neighboring countries of Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria. A simple border crossing brings you to very diverse countries with their own unique climate, culture, and cuisine. In the case of these three countries, you’ve also got an entirely different language and alphabet. Italian is a romantic-style language that evolved from Latin and has a very familiar alphabet to English. Greeks maintain their long history of language which spans back 3,400 years and includes the very unique Greek alphabet. Once you cross over the Greece/Bulgaria border you’re welcomed to another language that derived from the Slavic regions and the Cyrillic alphabet. This diversity can be quite the alphabet-soup for a pair of American, English speaking motorcycle travelers. This diversity is the reason we travel. Chantil and I both find a new country to always be reinvigorating and exciting, full of new places to discover, cultures to absorb, and local cuisine to eat. What we observed in our month-long journey of Bulgaria, was a country full of kind people and a culture that represents a long and proud history.
A Proud History To understand Bulgaria, one must understand its past. This region of southeastern Europe is steeped in a rich cultural tapestry of history shaped by generations of advancement, economic prosperity, and challenges to its independence. During our travels, we learned quite a lot about the history of Bulgaria through the many sites we visited along the way. Chronologically we started with the Copper Age inhabitants at the Varna Necropolis. We then explored monuments to the establishment of the Bulgarian Empire and spent a night in a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery. We learned of the difficulties faced during the occupation of the Ottoman Empire, the geopolitical alignments during WWI and WWII, and the isolation of the Iron Curtain. We also chatted with some Bulgarians about the transition from Communism to Capitalism and their current prospects after joining the European Union. Ancient Gold While visiting the Varna Archaeological Museum, we were surprised to find an impressive exhibit dedicated to the oldest collection of gold jewelry and treasure ever discovered in the world. The 1972 revelation of the Varna Necropolis unearthed 294 graves and skeletal remains that were carbon-dated to be from 4,600 BC to 4,200 BC. Many of the sites contained sophisticated examples of gold and copper ornaments and jewelry numbering in the thousands. One of the graves, a male believed to have been a prince or metal smith, contained more gold than had ever been previously found during that time period. The museum’s reconstruction of the grave-site with gold offerings and jewelry on the skull, torso, and arms was fascinating to witness.
Impressive Monuments Equally fascinating is The Founders of the Bulgarian State Monument in Shumen. This enormous structure is considered to be the heaviest Communist-era monument ever built. It was completed in 1981 to commemorate the 1,300-year anniversary of the First Bulgarian Empire that flourished between the 7th and 11th centuries. We started our trek from the parking area at the bottom of the monument, where its sheer size can be seen from 29 km (18 miles) away. After a brisk 1,300 steps, we arrived to what felt like a futuristic cubist-styled planet inhabited by concrete giants. The massive size of the figures is impressive – highlighting the skill, expertise, and detail of the sculptors and architects. The main figure of Khan Asparah represents the 681 AD founding of Bulgaria. He stoically stands with a sword stuck in the ground and hands raised above him where the three sculptures of Khans Tervel, Krum, and Omurtag look down from their reigns during the 8th and 9th centuries. An adjacent wall contains a magnificent three-paneled mosaic depicting the development of the state and the Byzantine Christian influence that began in the 9th century. Christian Influence Religion has played an important part in the history of Bulgaria which has predominantly been Christian since it was adopted by the country in 864 AD. Small Eastern Orthodox churches dot the rolling landscape and quaint towns, while beautiful and magnificent cathedrals, like the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in the capital city of Sofia, stand as an important holy site and a pilgrimage for faithful Bulgarian Orthodox Christians.
Another famous pilgrimage site is the Monastery of Saint John of Rila located within the natural beauty of the Rila Mountains. This region of Bulgaria is ripe with lovely winding roads that lazily twist through the national park – perfect for a spirited summer ride. The phenomenal beauty of this 10th-century monastery makes it a popular destination for tourists, so when we arrived and saw the parking lot full of cars and tour buses, we were a bit put off. However, the secret to fully appreciating this historic landmark is to book a night in one of the simple and quaint rooms they offer for the small fee of 30 BGN ($16.40 USD) per person. As sunset neared, the loads of tourists hopped back into buses and cars, and the monastery took on the hushed sounds of the mountain winds and the hourly church bells that echo throughout this walled holy site. Being able to casually enjoy the church’s bright and stylized Orthodox frescos and walk among the manicured grounds were a special moment that left us both appreciating what life might have been like for the monks who lived here during the prosperity of the Second Bulgarian Empire of the early 13th century. A Symbolic Fortress Under the leadership of Tsar Ivan Asen II, Bulgaria became the leading power of the region with its capital in Veliko Tarnovo. A hilltop medieval stronghold, named Tsarevets, was fortified to house the royal family and became the most important fortress in Bulgaria, often being compared to the magnificence of medieval fortresses in Rome and Constantinople. During our visit to Veliko Tarnovo, we stayed overnight so we could observe a presentation named Tsarevgrad Turnov in Sound and Light. This impressive show bathes the entire fortress complex in light, color, and sound using 2,400 floodlights, flash lamps, two lasers, audio equipment, and six bells of various sizes that were imported from Czechoslovakia. During the 21-minute show the lighting and bells are choreographed to dramatic music that tells the tumultuous story of the Second Bulgarian Empire. Chantil and I both felt it was an impressive show and worth the additional planning and cost of staying an extra day in the city. Tsarevets remained a symbol of strength throughout most of the 13th century, however things were about to change. In 1393 the Turkish Ottoman invasion of the Balkan region spread to this last standing symbol of the Bulgarian Empire. After a three-month siege, the Tsarevets fortress fell, and the Bulgarian empire was plunged into the next five centuries of darkness and suffering that would be known as the era of the “Turkish yoke”. Bulgarian nationalism and independence seemed all but lost.
An Uprising and Revival The Ottoman rule of Bulgarian and the Balkan regions was long and brutal, but local resistance continued. Guerrilla warfare, combined with military defeats from other Christian nations such as Austria and Russia, continued to erode at the Ottoman rule. The 19th century saw a growing revival that began to restore Bulgarian national consciousness. In 1876, Bulgarian rebels coordinated an attack on multiple Ottoman garrisons in what would be known as the April Uprising. It did not have the effects the rebels imagined. The Ottoman response was swift and severe with the massacring of Bulgarian civilian populations of well over 15,000. Once news spread to the rest of Europe, public outrage was strong against the Turks. A European conference of statesmen proposed a series of Ottoman reforms that were quickly refused by the Sultan, and on April 24th, 1877, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire. During our travels to the northern Bulgarian city of Pleven we made sure to visit an exhibit called the Pleven Panorama that depicts the events of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-78 and the fivemonth Siege of Plevna. The panorama was created by 13 Russian and Bulgarian artists and was unveiled to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle in 1977. Two hours southeast of Pleven is another memorial at Shipka Pass: The Liberty Monument. This was built to honor the 5,000 Bulgarian volunteers that held off a much stronger Ottoman army of 30,000 until Russian reinforcements could arrive UPSHIFT Issue 87. Beklemeto Pass is another road worth riding, where the BG-35 snakes over the Balkan Mountains. Once you reach the summit, you’ll see another Communist-era monument called the Arch of Freedom. This memorial was built in 1980 to commemorate the Bulgarian liberation from the Ottomans in 1878 and a second liberation by the Russian Army during WWII in 1944. At the base of the arch are symbolic statues of Bulgarian women in folk costumes welcoming the Russian soldiers with gifts of bread and salt. Two World Wars During both WWI and WWII, Bulgaria initially tried to remain neutral, however as the war progressed and the desire to reclaim land that was lost in previous conflicts, the political leadership chose sides. In the case of WWI, they allied with Austrian-Hungary and the German Empire, and in WWII with the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. Bulgarians suffered such heavy losses during WWI that it created a labor crisis and staggering inflation. During WWII the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria in 1944 and occupied the country relatively unopposed. By the completion of WWII in 1945, Bulgaria was well within the grasp of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP).
Communist Advances The BCP modeled its policies after Stalin and the Soviet Union with centralized government control of agriculture and industry, and totalitarianism. Throughout the 1950s, new energy and transportation infrastructure was constructed. What was predominantly an agricultural workforce in the 1940s gradually became a manufacturing workforce, with Bulgaria becoming a major exporter of household goods, and computer technology by the 1970s. For many Bulgarians it was a very productive time, as long as you towed the party line. Those who openly disagreed or challenged the BCP policies were often labeled “enemies of the state” and deported to corrective labor camps. If you’re interested in Communist era history, then a visit to the Retro Museum in Varna won’t disappoint. The museum is chock-full of a wide variety of household items and vehicles that were manufactured from socialist countries during the era of 1944-1989. Everything from unfiltered cigarettes, cola drinks, plastic toys, bicycles, vacuum cleaners, cosmetics, and the most popular cars are displayed in impeccable condition. Chantil and I especially enjoyed comparing the childhood toys of Bulgarians to our own childhood memories from the United States. Instead of a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), kids east of the Iron Curtain had a Dendy – a knockoff clone of the NES. Instead of plastic toys of F-14 and F-15 fighter jets, Bulgarians had MiG-29s and SU-27s. Instead of the western-built family Volkswagen or Fiat, Bulgarian families drove eastern built Volgas or Trabants. The Eastern Bloc nations even had their own brand of motorcycles – Simpson produced in East Germany and Balkan manufactured in Lovech, Bulgaria.
A Country in Transition The early 1990s saw drastic changes in the European landscape as a wave of independence spread throughout the eastern Bloc Nations. The reunification of Germany, the Solidarity movement in Poland and the Baltic nations, and the breakup of Yugoslavia, were all political transitions from socialism to capitalism. The turn of the century also saw the greatest growth in the European Union with the addition of ten new countries in 2004, and the addition of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007. Bulgaria is a country in transition and continues to struggle with political corruption, organized crime, and high unemployment rates – especially compared to other western European nations. So why should Bulgaria be on your list of countries to travel on a motorcycle? For one, it’s got a unique identity and history that is quite fascinating. The Communist-era monuments are some of the most interesting and impressive we have come across in our travels so far. The natural beauty of the Bulgarian mountains, Rila, and the national park regions are also quite spectacular. Even the most popular areas of Bulgaria will be relatively free from over-tourism – something that has plagued more popular areas within Italy, France and Spain. As Chantil and I were preparing to cross the border into neighboring Romania, we contemplated on our travels through Bulgaria. We looked back on photographs and fond memories where we learned about the interesting history, unique culture, and the kind people that we met along our journey. However, in front of us laid a new country to explore and we were looking forward to riding more backcountry roads of the Adventure Country Track. More adventure awaits… About viajarMOTO Travis and Chantil Gill started full-time motorcycle overlanding in early 2020. They choose to travel slower – soaking in the culture of a country before riding onto the next. You can follow them at www.viajarMOTO.com.
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::: T R A V E L
JOURNAL
IN
THE
W O R D S A N D P H O T O S B Y D AV I D M A R V IE R
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July 2023 The Hungarian travel agency GoBeyond.Travel calls me and makes me an offer I can’t refuse. Agent: “Are you free in August? Do you want to come and explore the Himalayas on a motorbike?” Me: “Er... OK!” For a photographer as passionate about mountains and bikes as I am, it’s the Holy Grail! So, I flew to Delhi on August 11th, 2 days early, to discover
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this mysterious world on my own. Ah, there! If you’re looking for a change of scenery, you’ve come to the right place! This city is literally embedded in a luxuriant forest, home to great apes, falling lianas from the canopy, and gnarled trees
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of unknown species providing life-saving shade. The forest revels in the ambient CO2 produced by vehicles traveling at breakneck speed, all honking their horns. The countless rickshaws,
the
famous
yellow
and
green
motorized
three-wheelers, speed through the streets in the stifling heat and humidity approaching 70%. The scenery is so complex that it’s hard to get a shot, with a network of overhead electrical wires as wild as they are home-made, thousands of advertising boards scattered across the open spaces, and thousands of tiny shops follow one another in an infinite labyrinth. The street, apart from the furious vehicles, is occupied by millions of human beings. A motley mishmash. Drowsy beggars, schoolchildren on their way home, cops chilling out, women in impeccable saris, and men wearing improbable mustaches. Life is really intense here. With a population of 26 million, it’s easy to get dizzy. India is the land of superlatives. And as we’ll see later, I was not at the end of my surprises! Despite everyone’s kindness towards me and the incredible diversity of temples, markets and other treasures that Delhi had to offer, I couldn’t wait to explore the wide-open spaces of the world’s highest mountains!
Sunday August 13th No more riding solo. I join guides and clients. A good part of Eastern Europe rubs shoulders here: Hungarians, Germans, Romanians, Slovaks, Slovenes and Austrians. Nobody speaks French. Total immersion. It’s perfect! The agency’s two guides, Levente and Peter, are real enthusiasts with a quirky sense of humor. And here we are, off for a 12-hour overnight bus ride to Manali, the starting point for our motorbike exploration of Ladakh, a steep, high-altitude region on the borders of China and Pakistan. Located in Himachal Pradesh, it’s only 500km away, but here distances count
The mountains collapse under the torrential rains of the monsoon. We slalom between the mud and rock flows. We made acrobatic night-time U-turns by bus, on cracked roads surrounded by precipices. The news
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double. 12 hours quickly becomes 24 hours.
roads torn up, houses collapsing and everything sliding down the valley. At the very bottom, the raging brown waters swallow up everything. Safety first, we made a strategic retreat to Delhi to catch a flight to Leh, taking the first few stages of the trip away from us. In the end, that’s what traveling is all about: showing resilience and making the right decisions...and putting things into perspective, because all we lost was three days of motorbike travel. Others were much less lucky. Leh is a small town perched at 3500m, with a colorful mix of Western hippies in search of spirituality, trekkers, Indians on the go, bikers, etc… Numerous military bases testify to the high strategic value of the area. But the atmosphere is very relaxed and the cuisine, with its strong Tibetan influence, excellent: tupka soup, thintuk, momo and other spicy rice dishes. Thursday August 17th At last! After all these adventures, we jump onto our Royal Enfields, ‘Himalayan’ and ‘Bullet 500’. In India, these are the queens of the road. With a PeliCase full of photo equipment fixed to my luggage rack, I hop on the little 411cc and hit the gas! We left the peaceful haven of the Charu Palace Hotel more excited than ever. But beware, we ride on the left-hand side of the road here, a legacy of British colonization. What’s more, the driving style is really random!
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missing and that we’ve had a close call. Entire villages were cut off,
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was bad. The next day, we learn that many people from the region are
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We visited the age-old Hemis monasteries, followed by the Thiksey monastery, dating from 1450. Golden Buddhas, intricately carved sculptures, prayer flags, steep staircases, and shimmering colors dominated by red symbolizing accomplishment, wisdom, luck and dignity – you’d expect to see Chang and Tintin at any moment. In an incredible state of preservation, these holy places are open to the public, who wander among the monks dressed in red, praying, eating or conversing without a care in the world. It’s magical! Our guides from the Indian agency, run by two solid Tibetan brothers, Dorge and Vijay, welcomed us with open arms and told
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us all about their country with passion. Always considerate, they give us sound advice on how to combat the altitude sickness that is already making itself felt at 3500m. Friday August 18th This is the famous day of the “High Passes”, used by camel caravans hundreds of years ago, often exceeding 5000m in altitude. We leave Leh. Far away, vertical peaks bar the horizon, covered in domes of ice and, clinging to their slopes, impressive glaciers seem to defy gravity. Living in rudimentary tents by the roadside, the “Bihari” (inhabitants of the state of Bihar, north-east India) tirelessly build the roadway in precarious conditions for miserable pay. Hooded at
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all times to protect them from the dust, they live and work for BRO, the notorious Border Road Organization. Their working techniques sometimes seem improbable, but then, the notion of time can vary radically from one latitude of the planet to another. Yellow bollards regularly dot our route, bearing unconsciously comical messages to drivers: “If you are married, divorce speed” or “Speed and Safety never meet”. Police station. ID check. Tea. We’re approaching 5,000m. Some of us are suffering from the lack of oxygen, but the preparation we’ve done in the days leading up to my departure is paying off. I’m in great shape! I galloped over some rocks to take a photo and then stopped very quickly, cut off in my tracks, gasping for breath and with my legs all limp. OK, maybe I’m not as acclimatized as a Sherpa yet!
We arrive at the Khardung La pass, culminating at 5602m (according to the road map). That’s 800m higher than the summit of Mont Blanc! The highest passable road in the world! Vertiginous. The traveler becomes aware of the relationship between scales. The mythical site is overrun with tourists looking for selfies. A rusting military antenna, a few dilapidated huts and religious buildings are all linked together in an inextricable aerial network of giant garlands of prayer flags, so typical of Himalayan summits. And the ride continues. The view from the other side is splendid. The valley before us is scarified by a small, delightfully winding road. What a thrill! After all our misadventures and the endless bus journeys, it’s so good to find ourselves winding around curves on the other side of the world! You feel so free but so tiny in this limitless landscape. In the distance, the peaks remain, a gigantic natural barrier of mineral and ice. Editing the photos in the evening, Masala Chaï in hand (a traditional Indian drink made from black tea, spices and milk), you realize just how vast the landscape is when you spot a motorbike, like an ant, crabbing along the endless slopes.
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Saturday August 19th This morning, we set off through the Nubra Valley towards the China-Pakistan border, part of the ancient Silk Road to Central Asia. The motorbikes pass by a gigantic military base. The broom of steaming green convoys is incessant. At the end of the road, the “enemy”. It’s time to show some muscle! But the valley itself couldn’t care less. Majestic, a grey, opaque, raging river flows through it. The current is so strong that it causes whirlpools and huge waves. The road overhangs and winds along the left bank. A crystalline blue torrent rushes down from the glaciers, fortifying the ragmoments. It’s hard to describe in words or images the immensity, the grandeur, the force of nature in this place! It makes you feel so small.
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ing waves. A rapid change of colors. Grey wins out in a matter of
bend in the road. A line of stopped vehicles. It looks like the guys have been here for a while. We climb over the stones as the soldiers snooze under their lorries, sheltered from the heat. I park my bike and go for a closer look. Hooded men are repairing the deck of a rattling suspension bridge. An alarming sign: “One vehicle at a time” sends a chill down the spine. Thirty meters down, the same frightening river. The sight, I have to say, is not very engaging.
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Our team stumbles into a traffic jam, here in the middle of nothing, at the
setting off to explore more welcoming lands. Nothing ever goes according to plan. We visit a superb monastery clinging to the side of a cliff and the giant golden statue of “Maitreya Buddha” overlooking the Nubra. Sunday August 20th We get up at the crack of dawn and climb on our bikes at 7am for a long stretch of off-road riding on a broken and poorly maintained track. The morning light is magical, revealing shapes and contrasts. It was beautiful. As a free electron, I roam around the group as I like, stopping every 100 meters. I often ride alone, as I love to do after all, or in pairs with the guide Tenzing, a young Tibetan and excellent rider with whom I have an excellent friendship. The only requirement is that we have to cross three major rivers before noon. With the snow melting during the day, the water level sometimes rises too high.
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Anyway, we wait an hour and a half before finally turning back and
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Nothing impassable, but you have to trust the locals. They know the region like the back of their hand, and we’re still in the high mountains, although we tend to forget that. One look at the landscape and the domes of ice capping the surrounding peaks is enough to remind us that we’re a long way from home and that everything can change so quickly. I feel acclimatized now. No more evening headaches and shortness of breath. Living at around 4000m, your body gets used to it little by little. Despite everything, the slightest effort is multiplied tenfold and I fall asleep early every day. That’s what high-altitude is all about, this nagging fatigue
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and this radical lifestyle change. Today’s lunch consists of an improved Maggy soup from a roadside tavern and some “momos”, the famous boiled or fried ravioli, sometimes filled with meat, but usually with vegetables. We continue along the track when suddenly the horizon opens up onto a body of water that turns out to be an
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immense lake. In the background, the 6000-plus peaks. One plan follows another. The color shifts seamlessly from cyan to magenta. What depth! It’s sumptuous! I’ve never seen anything like it! The highlight of the whole trip! A lost site high up at 4500m. Live to admire the landscape of Pangong Lake. Its surface is absolutely glassy, without a ripple, and deep blue. The water is salty and contains soda. There is little or no life in it. The lake is just a few hundred meters wide, 138km long and 328m deep! It’s a real rift, probably a remnant of the ancient ocean that was the Himalayas 600 million years ago. It divides its banks between China and India. The sides of its mountains seem so perfectly cut with a knife. The palette of colors is infinite. We set up camp in large, comfortable canvas tents overlooking the splendid scenery. We take our time and it’s the moment to open the bottle of Ricard that I had slipped into my luggage to introduce my traveling companions to this very French beverage. I explain its popularity and its sacred link to the game of “petanque”. The sun declines, offering an infinite variation of warm and cold hues, constantly shaping the landscape as the hour progresses. I head off to bed. The next day is going to be tough and I need the energy to take pictures. I need the strength to stop, jump off the bike, grab my camera and start shooting. Then put everything away and sometimes start again 100m further on.
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Monday August 21st The lake is as impressive as ever when I wake up in the morning, and after breakfast I’m back on the trail. I get on my Himalayan and ride along the banks for a few more kilometers. I come across some “kiangs”, those big wild Tibetan donkeys, then a few cows along the rare green pastures. Then the road plunges into the arid mountains, passing through a pair of sleepy villages similar to those you might see in Morocco; the main road in the center, shops and restaurants with covered terraces scattered on either side. And then, as so often, heavy boulders have collapsed onto the track and cut it off. We
We climb higher and higher. The landscape is completely desolate, as mineral as you could wish for. One mountain even seems to be covered in a layer of metal. The geology is really quite surprising. The long climb up a winding road takes us back to one of the highest
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waited patiently for a digger to clear a path.
everything. A small cairn 14 meters higher up in the rocky outcrop indicates the 5450m mark. I climbed it, of course, but not without difficulty! There’s a very special atmosphere up here. We make our way back down the loops on the opposite side, towards Lake Tomo Riri, which we reach at the end of the day. Less spectacular than Pangong, it is nonetheless a must-see. On the shores of this nature reserve lies Karzok, one of the villages closest
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roads on the planet: “Kaksang La” 5436m. From here, you can see
6250m above it. I took advantage of the opportunity to try out hiking at high altitude and took the time to chat at length with the friendly, smiling locals. We spend the next few days heading down to Leh to drop off the bikes and fly back to Delhi, visiting more of Ladakh’s wonders along the way. The return to this huge, teeming city was a shock, and I have to admit that this time I found it hard to leave the hotel swimming pool. You have to digest a trip like that. As I work on my images and write these lines, I realize how lucky I’ve been to see this fabulous place with my own eyes, unlike any other place on earth. Populated by people of extraordinary patience and kindness. A fine example of humanity. Thank you to them and to GoBeyond.Travel for this experience of a lifetime.
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to the stars on earth. The three peaks of Mentok Krangri tower
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