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  1. #1 Chengdu- yushu, Qinghai 
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    Heh, haven't posted here in ages. Let's hope the pictures come out the right way up

    So, since last year, I've been planning to follow this route kangding in Sichuan to yushu in Qinghai... But start in chengdu. In May, I rode the bike from Shanghai part way to human them sent it by rail to chengdu.

    I had my first road crash on my first day out of chengdu. It was due to a blow out on the front tire.. The mechanic may have pinched the tube behind the rim lock when fixing a flat. Anyway, first night out, I slept in my tent by the edge of the Riyadh in a thunderstorm. Then spent a few days umming and ahhing about fixing the front tire definitively. I eventually went back to chengdu, bought an (overpriced) gravy dirty tube for the front, then fixed the Tue myself to be sure.

    Hers my "camp" near qionglai.

    image.jpg

    Things get better after this (nod to China v s story, except my bike want totally smashed up)
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  2. #2 Re: Chengdu- yushu, Qinghai 
    foreign China moto dude bikerdoc's Avatar
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    Wow... this sounds interesting...
    Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist
    - Pablo Picasso
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  3. #3 Re: Chengdu- yushu, Qinghai 
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    Some pictures from the trip. It ended up being about 3000 km and took around five weeks. I turned ack from Yushu just as the weather was turning. Got caught in snow quite a bit on the way back, especially on the passes.IMG_5568.jpg Me at the beginning of the trip in Chengdu. Top heavy. This is what comes of buying camping equipment at the last minute.
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  4. #4 Re: Chengdu- yushu, Qinghai 
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    IMG_5698.jpg
    Climbing the first mountains West of Chengdu
    IMG_5698.jpg Pleasant stop in Shangli Gucheng
    IMG_5703.jpg
    Weird site on the road..TIC
    IMG_5740 2.jpg
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  5. #5 Re: Chengdu- yushu, Qinghai 
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    Let's try putting pictures in a dropbox folder...
    These are on the way to tagong, so include Kangding, where the owner of the Zhilam hostel, Kris showed me some local trails on his dirt bike. The first time I've done off-road with the X2. Revealed the need to sink the rear shock. It was pretty high from Shuben's frame, when offroad, we were finding it hard to put a foot down. FGun times though.
    https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...wW?usp=sharing
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  6. #6 Re: Chengdu- yushu, Qinghai 
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    Ganzi was simple, bustling and VERY Tibetan. There is a hostel, only opened at the beginning of the 2017 season in Ganzi called Dzachusama. Good coffes and western food, plus the owner, Nate, advised me of a dirt road to the next town of Manigange. I took this, going through a closed off tunnel, past goffers and packs of ig Tibetan Mastifs, through deserted remote villages and finnaly stopped when the sun started to go down and set up my tent.
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  7. #7 Re: Chengdu- yushu, Qinghai 
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    These pictures are of the dirt road from Ganzi to Manigange, then of Yushu itself.Yushu was my destination for this trip. I spent nearly a week there. Because I was travelling just before the golden week, I saw very few other travellers. I was glad when I met another foreign traveller-a Spanish guy in Yushu and we explored the city. One night, after succeeding in finding a bar, some tibetans filled our table with beers and we only paid for two, leaving shaky at the end of the night. I rode out to the grasslands near Yushu with Arnau on the back and we went along dirt roads, descending steeply into a valey (the road we took is marked on the picture by red arrows) and into a valley where there was a large temple damaged badly by earthquake.
    Traveling by motorcycle really does afford you access to places others rarely go.

    It was a good time in Yushu, but I'd been on. the road alone for abbout a month and I finally decided to turn back and go the way I'd come when the snows arrived to Yushu.

    Pictures in the link below.
    https://drive.google.com/open?id=1C6...0b5jS6CSl1kmUG

    I'll add one more picture dump later of the return journey. This was really scenic because of the fresh snow on the mountains, but difficult at times, because of the temperatures and the snow (roads were clear but this was my first time riding with the snow driving into my visor and the cold fingers. Made for great pictures though. I will add those later.
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  8. #8  
    motor maniac ShuBen's Avatar
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    Wow, the X2 has seen with you much more than with me. I am happy it serves you well and my improvements make the difference.
    Good to see you became a good experienced rider. When you took the bike over I was afraid you wouldn't make it alive back to Shanghai 😁
    RESPECT!!!

    Ride on! Wish you "All time rubber down"

    Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
    SWM RS500R, R1200GS LC
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  9. #9 Re: Chengdu- yushu, Qinghai 
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    Quote Originally Posted by ShuBen View Post
    Wow, the X2 has seen with you much more than with me. I am happy it serves you well and my improvements make the difference.
    Good to see you became a good experienced rider. When you took the bike over I was afraid you wouldn't make it alive back to Shanghai ��
    RESPECT!!!

    Ride on! Wish you "All time rubber down"

    Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

    Cheers, actually, I think I just crossed over the 18,000 km mark so 50/50:)

    Yes, the X2, your former X2, was like a tractor- it went up most things. It reached 5050 metres without a hiccup, despite having a carburettor. I was just thinking to myself, how I'll describe this bike as "an utter beast", after that mountain pass and the engine cut out. I free-wheeled for a while, started catastrophising (ie "shall I ditch the bike and walk down?") I was starting to panic (a litlle). The thought occurred to me after a while that I might be out of fuel. I turned the petcock and the bike fired right up. I was so releived. I hadn't topped up that morning. More Mea culpa.. I had extra petrol in a can at that point, just incase...
    I would like to ride with buddies in future when off road, I think :).
    The bike is infact a beast, the only limitations being the obvious need for wrenching and the small gas tank.
    hmmmm....

    Re. becoming an experienced rider.. I'm in Wales atm with family and have taken my compulsory basic training. I'm doing the full bigger displacement bike test next week and the week after. Training is good I think. I taught myself how to ride a bike in China, and have the injuries from this. Anyway, I look forward to getting back to China shortly to get more off road training...
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