The day I got back on my bike to finish navigating the globe

IMI member and motorcycle enthusiast, Timothy Angus, took on the world on a Suzuki V-Strom 650 but his journey came to an unexpected end. But he jumped back on his bike to finish his adventure…

After a crash in Beyneu, Kazakhstan I had to fly home and get fixed, stopping what had been the trip of a lifetime. But I always wanted to get back on the bike and finish what I’d started.

After rehabilitation and six months of getting the bike home and the selling all the off road bits to return my Suzuki V-Strom to normal service my wife said: “We can’t tell people we have ridden around the world, when we have only done 90% of it – can we?”

We waited for the right moment and booked flights and a hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan. The flights were cancelled as Russian airspace was off limits, so I rebooked with Turkish Airlines, to fly via Istanbul. We decided to go to Baku as that was to be our next stop after Kazakhstan. As luck would have it a few other Brits were heading there as well, namely Hamilton, Norris and Russell!

A week in Baku, watching the F1 race and many trips to the cargo terminal to extract the bike from customs and we were on our way.

One issue was the insistence of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that all land borders were closed. As indeed they were. So how were we to get out without flying again? Thankfully the Azerbaijani Authorities knew what the British Embassy didn’t – that non-nationals could leave by road but not re-enter. We felt sorry for the miles of trucks we saw at the border who were trying to get in. We made sure we had plenty of fuel when we left as it was 50p a litre in Azerbaijan. A bit of a difference from the nearly £2 a litre back home at the time.

At the intersection of Europe and Asia

Heading to Tbilisi in Georgia we stopped at the Tekla Palace Hotel. My wife’s parents stopped in the capital in 1956. They bought a car in the UK and drove it to Kuwait!

Georgia gave us great roads. We always avoided motorways on this trip so we could see the real countryside. Crossing into Turkey we headed around the black sea coast, avoiding the touristy places. Stopping in Trabson, we stayed at the Bayrak Grand Hotel. Very grand it was, but in an area somewhat run down. Still, we were made very welcome for only £59 with breakfast. Fuel prices were increasing as we headed west, and having paid £1 a litre in Georgia we were paying £1.30 in Turkey.

Crossing into Bulgaria, and staying at the Hotel Boris Palace in Plovdiv, we walked around the town with its steep cobbled streets and roman amphitheatre at the centre. After a further stop in Sofia we crossed the border into North Macedonia where we had to pay €51 for a green card, the most expensive of our trip. Stopping for lunchtime drinks in Pristina in Kosovo we crossed into Albania.

Here we travelled over the Albanian Alps, more locally called the Mountains of the Accursed! Imagine the Stelvio Pass but for over 100km with more dangerous bends, no crash barriers and shrines to dead young men every few miles at the side of the road. We were very glad to reach Lezhe where for just £36 we were made very welcome at the Ambassador Hotel, having ridden 395km that day.

Onto Montenegro and our best stop at the Hotel Ponta Nova in Budva. A great small hotel, nice food, a rooftop swimming pool and a minute from the clear seas of the Adriatic. What’s not to like.

A busy day of border crossings saw Greece, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina come and go before arriving via a small ferry crossing (€2) in Metkovic, Croatia. A couple more days riding saw us cross borders via Slovenia into Italy where we stopped at Hotel Friuli, in Friuli. This is the only hotel I know of to have its own Royal Enfield dealership on the ground floor. Onto Lake Garda for some excellent roads. Our evening meal by the lake was enlivened by a sudden lake storm, which threatened to blow all the umbrellas away.

New friends

More great Italian roads and a brief stop at the Givi factory in Bergamo where they did a quick technical adjustment to my panniers while I waited, and for free! Then we crossed the border into Switzerland, and unlike previous visits I was not asked to pay for a road pass. More great roads, stopping in Solothurn to stay with friends Manuela and Percy. My wife Sue had met them in a hotel in Kazakhstan while I was in the local hospital after the crash. They had taken care of her as I had the charging leads and her phone was dead. What was a 30-minute conversation became a friendship, and it was great for me to finally meet them and thank them for their kindness.

We then crossed the border into France, which was over a small village bridge with no customs, where we travelled visiting friends in the south and western parts of this great country. Avoiding the Brexit chaos of Calais-Dover we opted for the Caen-Portsmouth crossing with no dramas. Arriving home having done 4,969 miles to total 42,562 in total.

On this leg we had crossed 15 countries, and not once was I asked for my International Driving Permit, which post-Brexit we’re now supposed to buy and carry around. I had no mechanical issues and no punctures. Some of this is down to preparation. I had the bike serviced and new tyres fitted, and had the chain and sprockets plus head bearings done. These were advisories on the last MOT and had last been changed in New Zealand so they’d lasted well. The other is that well known legend of Japanese reliability. This may explain why I have kept this bike eight years and have a 22 year old Mazda MX5!

What’s next you might be wondering? Well last time we rode across Canada and turned left for the USA. Air Canada do a deal to fly you and your bike on the same plane so what if we fly back and this time turn right to Alaska. Don’t be surprised if there is another instalment?

Catch up with the first part of Tim’s adventure

Timothy Angus MIMI is a Senior Sales Executive at Eden Mazda

If you’ve had a journey that has changed your life or made a lasting impression, email james.scoltock@thinkpublishing.co.uk to feature.