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Monty's Magical Mystery Tour

4K views 49 replies 16 participants last post by  joeyalessi 
#1 ·
Ladies and Gentlemen, I use the last term loosely ;)

Welcome to another addition of travels with Monty. This year is kind of a mystery what going to happen. I did have this huge elaborate plan to see the Balkan states for the summer. Though its beginning to look more and more like that plan wont be followed, at least not entirely.

I still am planning to leave Ukraine, about, April 1, weather pending. I will head south for a while, while keeping in touch with my partner here in Kyiv for news of a project I am working on. In the mean time I plan to explore some of Romania and Bulgaria!

No matter if my original plan to see the Balkan states works or if this project gets the support we are needing. I will be bringing you guys a summer of motorcycle riding!

So stay tuned for more info, otherwise enjoy the show! In the mean time pop over to my blog http://www.travellingmyrt.com/ and check out some of what I have been up to this winter.
 
#2 ·
will be looking forward as always to live vicariously through your travels. Don't forget when you take pictures to keep the female scenery in mind for some of us older dudes LOL younger ones probably like to see them as well.
 
#6 ·
Well the last few week and a half have been crazy. Planning my upcoming trip while going to business meetings trying to promote this project for the summer.

Anyways a few friends that live in Western Ukraine had bought an old 1986 VW Transporter and wanted to come to Kyiv as a test drive.

Well they made it here. We went out got some food and went to a pub for some live music.

He went to go home the next day. He got about 90km from Kyiv and called me saying he was broken down. We arranged a truck to come get him and bring him back to Kyiv. His wife and sister-in-law took the train back to their city and the next day we attempted to diagnose what was up. After tinkering around all morning we did everything I have the capability to do at my garage. So we found a guy just 200-300 meters up the road, yes its up hill to get there. Nobody was around to help us push and the mechanic refused to come help us tow it. So I hooked the warrior up to it and started off. We were going, slowly but still going. Then the road got a bit steeper and I just couldnt get any traction. The back tire kept slipping.

Finally we gave up on the idea.


We finally got a tow to the mechanic and had a huge argument with him. He was telling us its the fuel line. We told him it cant be the only issue because we had a new 3 foot section of fuel line and ran it to a new can of diesel and still the problem exists... Needless to say he finally told us to leave.

We found a new mechanic and called another wrecker to come take us there. Left the truck there, much more professional outfit, and came home.
 
#8 ·
Ok guys I know its been a while and you might be asking yourself, self, why isn't Monty travelling yet?. That is a very good question.

Well I will tell you a little more about whats going on. I have been in Ukraine for about 18 months now. In this time I have noticed a huge gap on info for things to see and do, in English, in Ukraine. After making this comment in passing to a few people one of my friends approached me with a project. To spend the summer travelling around Ukraine documenting the sights and create a travel app!

So at the moment I am in Kyiv working on this project, the logistics along with a website and a Facebook page, which all will be coming out soon.

I also want to use this opportunity to do some personal things like work on making videos. I have never tried this before and just got my camera. So please excuse everything. This is more of a test for me just to see. Hopefully it will get better and better as time goes.


Anyways stay tuned! I have to leave soon to get a proper visa so I will spend a few weeks in Moldova exploring drinking wine and practicing making more videos!
 
#13 ·
Well a quick update on whats going on. I had to make a quick trip to a city not far from Kyiv to talk with the guys that are going to work with me on developing this travel app for Ukraine.

After that I had to go to Moldova to get a little more appropriate visa. Leaving Ukraine did not go well at all... I got to the border and the Ukrainian border guards were demanding I show American insurance for the bike... When I asked why things didnt go well. The boss man there started screaming at me and doing his best to degrade me. Demanding I show proof of American Insurance. When I told him I dont understand American Insurance is worthless here things got worse. Then he starts screaming YOU UNDERSTAND ME! YOU UNDERSTAND. At that point I was really upset but just thought well you wont win an argument with this guy. So I finally just said no I dont understand but I will go... I left went and printed off American Insurance for the bike went back the next day and all went relatively smoothly.

I got into Moldova and wanted to find a place to set up my tent and relax for the night after the last day and a half.

I had some work to do on the bike so found a little river in a small canyon to stop in set up the tent and get out the tools and get to work. The front fender is mounted to the same spots as the stock fender. Well one of those broke. Along with a third mount I had that held the rear of the fender in place.

So while driving on some back roads I found a place where people dump trash and low and behold about 12 feet of some kind of bailing wire. So I picked it up and took it with me. At the campsite I made a new rear fender mount with it by twisting it together. Then also riged up a way to hold the old broken fender stay. I posted a little collage of pics below to make it more understandable. So far 150 miles later all is well.

When I get back to Kyiv will have to look into a proper fix
 

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#14 ·
Well guys I have been in Moldova a little over a week now. I did get a visa so soon I will head back to Ukraine. I would of headed there already but the weather hasnt exactly worked with me. They got a good 4" or so of snow here. All the trees were green with leaves and now the majority of them are laying on the ground from the weight of the snow. So I have tried to use the time to relax and do another video.

Not a whole lot to report at the moment. Hopefully in the next could weeks the travelling will start and i can update things for ya as I go!

In the mean time check out the little video I made and give me any feedback. Its the second video I made and not the greatest but its fun to try to learn.


 
#16 ·
Ok Guys I will try to update you quickly on whats going on.

This travel app I am making for Ukraine is taking way more of my time than normal so I am not sure how often I will update but will do my best to take you through it.

So I went to Moldova to get the proper visa I needed to stay in Ukraine for the next year. That is where my starter died... I found a used starter off an XV1600 in Odessa, Ukraine, about a 4 hour drive away. In Eastern Europe they have a website where people can post that hey I am driving from point A to point B tomorrow at noon if anyone wants to come I have a free seat and you pay me a little money.

So I found a guy who was going from Chisinau to Odessa in the morning then back in the evening! Perfect I contacted him and we agreed on the price, round trip for about 10 dollars. The border crossing went smoothly and we arrived in Odessa. He dropped me off at the train station and I meet the guy with the starter and then waited for my ride to return to Chisinau.

I am not sure what this guy was doing but on the way back I noticed at the border crossing is was loading his passport with money... The back of the car was full of boxes... I have no idea what the **** he was bringing back. I didnt ask and he wasnt telling. I was worried but he had clearly done this before and everything went smoothly.

I put the starter on and it fired up!!!

So I made my way back to Kyiv.

So now I am in Kyiv with Natasha and we are preparing for our trip around Ukraine this summer. Finding a spot on the bike for a passenger and out things along with tent and sleeping bags has been challenging...

I think I have it all dialed in so we decided to go on a 2 day test ride near to Kyiv to see how things go.
 
#17 ·
So we loaded up the bike and headed out of Kyiv. Our first stop wasnt far so after about an hour of driving we stopped here.

This is the Osten-Sacken Estate or what's left of it.


built in the 1800's it traded hands for a while before being pillaged at the beginning of the Soviet Union for being so extravagant. Then after WW2 it was pretty much left to rot



From there we kept driving until we reached the edge of the containment area for Chernobyl.
This is as close as you can get in your vehicle. You can go further on special tours though not with your own car.


The post where the guards are waiting


Then we headed south again to a unique place. This is an old granite quarry that has filled with water. They have brought old things out and put in the water to make an underwater museum. So if you can dive your welcome to come to Ukraine now :D


This is the edge of the lake but you can see how clear it is


From there we headed to the town of Korosten. They have a museum there that is an old command post dug out of solid granite. We got there a little late so couldnt go through it though....



Tons of military equipment as part of the museum


We were plesantly surprised by the park in the city center!
Just beautiful and the river passed through it.




After a quick pizza for dinner we headed to our final destination to set up camp.

Another old granite quarry.


The mosquitos were killing us. As I tried to move the motorcycle out of the way my foot slipped on the gravel and I fell over... nobody hurt but was frustrating. Picked the bike up dusted things off. Then set the tent up and jumped in for the night


That was day one. It went well. The rear suspension seems to be set firm enough. The XV1600 starter is a little weak. I dont know if its because its used or what. But I would say 30% of the time it wont turn the motor over. I have taken it apart and cleaned it and the brushes look new and all electrical tests I can do and the armature come back good so I dont know. I have a used warrior starter coming but the shipping is not going as planned. Hopefully have it in 2 weeks time....
 
#18 ·
When we woke up we had a fight with about 10 million mosquitoes but made it out alive!

First stop was the stone village just 35 km up the dirt road. It has been wet fairly recently. The main road was sand and gravel was no problem the last 3 km was sand, dirt and mud...


Legend has it this was a village at one time that made a wandering traveller mad by refusing him food and shelter. Turns out this traveller had some connections to god so he had their village turned to stone.



From there we stumbled across another even larger granite quarry! We didnt explore it much just marked it on the map and kept going.



Once on the road again we came across this church built in 1757. The wood you see on the outside is like siding and is replaced but the main log structure is the same


We drove around and saw a few more things. Some interesting some not but ended the night at an old granite quarry not far from Kyiv


This one is rather developed into a tourist attraction but on a weekday its empty!




The next day we packed up and headed for Kyiv.

About 15km from my garage I lost all my lights on the tach and speedometer and my turn signals... I tried to trouble shoot it on the side of the road but gave up. Once back in the garage the trouble turned out to be the wires going to the horn had broken and shorted to ground. I dont know why they decided to keep 12v to the horn all the time. If the 12v was switched then I wouldnt of blown a fuse immediately, at least not until I used the horn again,
 
#20 ·
Hey guys! Sorry I havent had a chance to update this much. We have been going now for 5 weeks and 8,000km.
We had the time to put together this fun little video of some of the things we have learned in that month :)

Enjoy

 
#24 ·
HAHAHA Ohh man you guys kill me!

Well Natasha does have a single mom :) Anyways its Ukraine I promise if you come here I can introduce you to more beautiful women than you can shake a stick out. Now whether you can snag one or not well thats a different thing. :)

I know a lot of you dont have Facebook but I THINK you can look at Instagram with out an account if you like
We try to post at least 1 pic there per day. https://www.instagram.com/ukraineinsideout/
 
#26 ·
Hey thanks! Dont forget to tell all your friends about us! We have been trying to get some of the big companies here in Ukraine to sponsor us but so far no luck. At the moment here its real popular to play on the heart strings of the Ukrainian Patriot and say all these things about bringing glory to Ukraine. But so far none of the businesses here want to put money where their mouth is and help us out to bring some much needed GOOD attention to Ukraine!

The more followers we have the better chance we got!

Quick shameless plug
If anyone want to flip a couple dollars in the hat. We recently started a go fund me page. I promise more videos featuring Natasha in the future!
https://www.gofundme.com/UkraineInsideOut
 
#29 ·
Well guys I will try to update some things this week we will see how it goes.

I am currently in Ivano Frankivsk for the week working on uploading things to the app we are creating. Hopefully by the end of the week I will be sending the app to a few people for download and testing just to see how that goes. If it all goes well then it wont be long after that it will be live!!!

Anyways I finally changed my rear tire. It was a Michilin Pilot Road 4. I HIGHLY HIGHLY reccomend it! I got 21,000 miles out of that thing, though I should of changed it at 20,000 :) Anyways I couldnt find, or afford, another so I ended up with a used battleax T30 tire. We will see if it will last the summer...
 

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#30 ·
Just passed 2 months on the road! Its been fun but a lot of work also with this app... Anyways here is a little video we made.


We have a couple more in the works that should be a little more fun we will see how it goes.
 
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