Albania 2025 - Dirt Bikes and House Hunting

After the trip to Tunisia earlier this year, I called into a mates place near Portsmouth on the way home. Vague plans were talked about to visit Albania with dirt bikes. The main reason was Gareth wanted to go house hunting and also wanted to play in the mountains there. At the time, this was just a chat and I came home, got back into work/life mode and generally forgot about it. 

In April, Gareth & I were talking again and the Albania trip came back up, so a plan was set in place for the last couple of weeks of June. Various options were thrown into the pot, 1. Ride two 690's there and back, 2. Put 690's into Gareth's van, drive there and then ride around. At about the same time, a 2013 KTM 450 Six Days came up for sale not too far from me and at a reasonable price. So I decided to go check it out. 

Why? I have been asking myself the question again as to how I should travel around the world. The options in my head are; KTM 690, KTM 500, Land Rover Defender, Sail boat. All very random and each with their own issues, challenges and pleasures. As part of my options tick box process, I decided to buy the 450, (which has the almost the same engine design as a 500, but there is more of them), and ride it for a bit on a longer trip. This also saved me having to strip down the nav tower off the 690 as it won't fit into Gareth's van with it on. 

So further discussion with Gareth, we eventually settled on taking my 450 & his 300 two stroke to tour around Albania for two weeks in his van, he can then go house hunting and we have some spares to hand and a back up if anything untoward happens. 

Once that was decided, we started looking at Albania itself. I re-read all my blog posts about the trip Lucy & I did back in 2017. This provided a good backdrop and so route planning went into action. Loads of GPX files were downloaded from Wikiloc, online research showed a lot of beautiful places and a vague plan started to come together. We downloaded the latest Trans Euro Trail file and cobbled together a route plan to tour the country. Further discussion outlined Gareth's house hunting criteria and the plan was sorted as much as it can be. 

We booked the ferry to France and got to servicing the bikes and sourcing spares, tyres etc for the trip. As always, the main costs are the transport to the country and the spares for the bikes. Once there, food is cheap, fuel is about the same as the UK and as we plan to wild camp for the most part, so accommodation will be cheap. But it's cheap enough anyway there. 

Our final plan is for me to drive to Gareth's place with my 450, we load both bikes into his van, drive to the France ferry. then share the 24hr driving to Albania. We'll get into the country, find somewhere to park up, sleep, eat, then go biking/house hunting for two weeks, before returning to the UK. 

Whilst we will have access to the van, and thus some riding without the luggage etc. I'd like to trial the idea of living on the 450. I've written another post about the actual bike itself and where things have got to so far. If things don't work out, I've learned something and I can sell on the 450 without too much hassle, especially now it is fully serviced and set up correctly again.

At this stage though, I'm only doing the things needed for the Albania trip. So additional items like a powered Garmin GPS cradle, 5v USB charge point, luggage attachments and some under bar mirrors have been added. For a longer trip though, it'll need a better saddle, the suspension serviced, the headlight replaced, a bigger fuel tank and a small screen/nav set up. All things which have already been done to the 690! 

The main reason for considering a 450 is the weight and ability of these bikes over the 690. Simply put, for the hassle of changing the oil more regularly, I get to travel through more wilder places on the smaller bike because of its set up, durability, weight and its capability. 

These bikes are more rugged than the 690 and less complicated in terms of electrical components. They are also so much easier to pick up and recover. The engine is well proven with several people riding them around the world. Although to be fair, it will require a rebuild at some point which is a significant cost. But now, the 690 is at that stage too with its high mileage and history. 

Hey ho, we'll see. There is still a whole summer to go of distractions, contracts and commitments before I'm forced to make a decision either way.

Going For a Little Ride...

So for many years now, I've been wanting to ride a motorbike around the world. It almost happened a just before Covid, but got put on hold for various reasons, the majority of which were other peoples ideas and plans that I agreed to at the time. What can I say, it felt right at the time.

I reckon, so far, I've travelled to around 56 countries. Mostly for work, sometimes for fun and others just to tick a box in my head. There are 195 countries in the world apparently, so I'm a third of the way through that list. 

Since 2024, (and the end of the whole world closure because of the very dodgy Covid situation), I've been working towards selling up everything in the UK and finally setting off. I've almost completed all of my contractual obligations at work. I've handed over all of my volunteer roles to others and all I have left to do is decorate the house and choose my mode of transport. My thinking is that my family history shows most of my family passed on around their mid 60's. With modern processed food, (ie full of preservatives that I've been eating for years now), I reckon I might scrape it out until mid 70's ish. So that gives me around 15-20 years left on this little blue ball. I've worked pretty much since I was 12, so a long time. Its time to go have some fun. 

Of course as I write this post, we have an orange twat in the US trying to start a war with Iran/China/Mexico and everyone else in between. We have Klaus Schwab, Bill Gates and their multi government cronies trying to lock down the entire world for their personal gain and to satisfy their horrible globalisation ultra control needs and we have the UK being sold off to anybody with a ounce of coin and zero morals, whilst its society sinks into the mire of radicalism, racism & selfishness. There is all the radicalised military training camps, the wars in Sudan, Ethiopia etc which have closed off a large part of North Africa.
So world stability isn't the greatest and if any of the above come to desired fruition, I've no doubt I'll end up stuck somewhere unplanned and maybe even with restrictive funds, which could seriously hamper having any fun!

Meanwhile, in the land of hopefulness and positivity, (in my head I mean!). I've been researching and making plans. I have a vague route in my mind, which I've committed to map images below, mainly for reference as opposed to reality. I also mapped out the No Go areas in the world at the moment, (Red = No Go, Orange = No roads), and I've been collecting a lot of country by country info into one really big Excel file aptly named 'Overlanding Stuff' (Last count was 67.5GB of data). 

Within that file, I've split the world into continents, then countries. Then for each country file, I've downloaded GPS map images, visa/permit info, places to visit, real time blogs/reports and Facebook based info that is relevant to whatever country. I hope to use some of the many off road routes available o the internet, such as the Trans Euro Trail, the Trans Morocco Trail and whatever I can find.

Sticking points at the moment are the idea of a Carnet de Passage. This is a worldwide vehicle insurance scheme. Its really expensive and only needed for certain countries. Kenya & India are two examples. There are two parts to the insurance. One part is the bond payment, usually a fixed amount and based upon your vehicle value at purchase. This is held by the issuer and you get it back when you shut down the Carnet, provided they haven't had to use it. The other is the cost for each country you add to the Carnet. Now, for Europe and a lot of Africa. You don't need one. You buy third party insurance at the border, which is often worthless, or you do without and travel as carefully as you can. 

Another sticking point is one that has a lot of variables. Which vehicle to take.
My last trip was in my Landrover Defender. This was a deliberate choice. I wanted to see what travelling for a long time in a 4 wheeled vehicle was like as its been a long time since I did that. It's easier than on a bike in a lot of ways, but more expensive at borders etc. (It's the same price for the Carnet as my bikes and the Landy all cost roughly the same amount at purchase). It is also more restrictive as to where you can go, even with a 4x4.

Bikes give you more freedom. That sense of freedom is important to me when travelling. You experience the world first hand. The wind, the temperature, the rain, the smells etc. Its more dangerous and exposed, so it heightens your awareness of your surroundings. Bikes are also easier to fix or get them to somewhere to be fixed. You also carry a lot less kit.

Measured against that thinking is questions about fitness. Riding a bike takes effort. It takes an amount of fitness that you do not need, sat in a metal box. Your responses need to be sharper, you need to be mentally stronger, you need more stamina and you need more control over your emotions.
Things like navigation, problem solving etc, there are no hiding places to chill and relax whilst you try to sort something out. You can't carry as much food or water and fuel capacity is much smaller. All of which mean you have to stop more often. That leads to interaction with locals. This is both a positive and a negative. But either way, it takes energy. 

So, the final question actually becomes a simple one. Cost vs Practicality. A bike makes absolutely no sense when all the variables are calculated. The positives of a 4 wheeled carriage outweigh the difficulties of a 2 wheeled vehicle every day. 

Yet a bike would still be my choice. That sense of freedom and the effort required are some of the reasons why I want to do it that way. My innate stubbornness, the need for that sense of freedom and the idea that I'll be a stronger person because of facing those difficulties, actually makes me choose the more difficult path. Life is rarely easy, when it is, most of the human race loses focus, forgets the why. I'd rather not follow the trend I see around me in this so called 'civilised first world civilisation'. So, bike it will be. Now which one. The 450cc, 115kg version or the 690 150kg option?

I have the rest of this summer to decide, but at the moment, the 690 is winning in my head as I've already done a lot of trips and miles on it and know it intimately. It is also already set up as I want a travel bike to be. But 115kg bike weight is a powerful incentive as picking up 150kg + luggage is a painful experience multiple times a day! 

Oh, and decision made, I sold the 450! 😀

KTM 450 EXCF Six Days 2013

Yet another project bike to play with. I've been thinking about a KTM 450/500 as an adventure bike base for awhile now. I tossed up for a long time between the KTM 690, 500 & 450 before eventually settling on the 690. I've now completed 60k miles on that 2014 690, so I can say quite easily what its pros and cons are. 

The 500's are really hard to find and when I have found them, they have sold within a week, usually before I can get to go see them. Their selling price also seems to start at around £4500. Whereas 450's are much more common and cheaper. 

On the KTM forums and in general chat, the 450 has a shorter bore stroke and as such is a bit more punchy/revvy than the 500. They are also raced a fair bit in the UK, so finding one that hasn't been thrashed to within an inch of its life is a challenge. 

The one I've just bought seems to have been reasonably looked after upto its last owner. He didn't register it and says he just rode it with his son in the local woods. Who knows for sure. The bike showed some of its lack of short term care with some kind of sticky clay/chalk stuck to all the metal and a generally grubby look about it. But underneath that, it looked pretty good and at £2500, seemed a sensible price given what it needed.

Once I got it home and stripped down, I found the following; It hadn't been serviced, washed or fettled for maybe the whole year of his ownership. It had the wrong air filter in, both brake discs were heavily worn, the rear calliper piston is missing its ceramic cap, (the bit that butts against the brake disc). Both brakes and clutch haven't been bled in a long time, so the fluid is knackered. The front wheel has a hell of a ding in it and the rear shock lower bearing had gone. 

However, the engine & suspension was sweet. It started on the button, it soon warmed up and sounded nice. It felt perky and responsive, which made me think that the recorded 220 hrs might be about right. The suspension clearly needs a service, but it was plush, with both rebound and compression feeling about right for my weight. The plastics weren't in bad condition for a 2013 bike and were the original ones. Engine and frame numbers all matched to the V5 and no dodginess was found with an online vehicle check. 

I had to buy some of the parts for this service which cost around £250, but things like discs, fluids, replacement bolts/nuts and various other parts, I had in a box from the days of owning the 350 EXCF's. I ended up taking about three weeks to strip, clean and sort each problem out. I changed out all the fluids, filters and replaced the missing air filter cage and installed the correct oiled air filter. A fresh spark plug went in out of habit. Next up was to strip out the swing arm, check all the other bearings and re-grease as needed. As I stripped down the wheels to replace wheel bearings and brake discs, I found the front rim with a slight buckle. The tyres and the mousses were in reasonable condition though, so no cost to replace these, just re-lube the mousses. 

The lower rear shock bearing was next. After a good hammering session to get the old spherical bearing out, the shiny new one that replaced it made the suspension even better. At the same time, I cleaned and checked the rest of the shock out. At some point, I'll send both front and rear suspension off for a proper service, but it can wait for now. I'll just change the fork oil for some fresh stuff. 500 ml of 5w oil and an air gap of around 120mm apparently for my weight. 

I took it for an MOT before replacing the rear shock bearing and it passed with two advisories. the dink in the front wheel and the rear shock bearing, no surprises there then. 

Next up is to change the fuel pump filters, the rear calliper piston and seals and the fork oil. Then I'll get it insured and taxed and off we go for a play. I have a 15 litre fuel tank in the shed for this and whilst it was stripped down, I tried it on. It fits really well. So long range trips are sorted already!

The plan is to make sure it is all sorted, then do a couple of weekends of trail riding with maybe some camping/touring in the Lakes. Then a Wales weekend camping trip and in June a trip to Albania with a mate who is house hunting over there. So we'll see how it goes and what mods I do to the bike to test out whether it will be a good platform for longer trips. 

2025: Post Trip Report

I've been back in the UK for about a week now. Everything is unpacked and put it away until the next trip. The Landy has had a service which has included all fluids & filters, auxiliary belt, rear brake pads and some minor little bits. It now needs two new rear tyres, so that'll get sorted soon enough. The first couple of days back in the UK were spent at a mates place, drinking a lot of wine and whiskey, then planning trips to Albania for the summer!

I'm really impressed with how the Landy has behaved as a vehicle for this trip. Its been over a lot of rough ground, some long stretches of tarmac and lots of ferries. It's just soaked everything up and kept on ploughing through though. I feel a bit of a camper van conversion coming on for future trips! There are pro's and cons to using a 4x4 vs a bike. Here's what I think... 

The Pro's;
1. Easy to park up anywhere and crawl in the back for a sleep, so less accommodation needed.
2. Carry more kit.
3. More comfy and easier to travel over longer distances.
4. Less tiring from a concentration point of view.
5. Weather protection.
6. Travel slower.

The Cons;
1. More expensive at borders, ferries etc.
2. Can't go as many places as on a bike.
3. More conspicuous. (Its a big thing to hide in the mountains or a forest).
4. Needs more kit in terms of maintenance, management etc.
5. Harder to repair in remote places.
6. Travel slower.
7. Less sense of freedom as cooped up in a metal box and no feel of air, weather etc.

In the meantime, costs for the trip work out at around £2500.00 all in. There was 7600 miles covered in total over the six weeks, so roughly £3 per mile or £57 per day.

The breakdown is:
Fuel: £1016.00
Food: £246.00
Ferries: £371.00
Tolls & Tunnels: £60.00
Accommodation: £89.00
Sundries: £215.00
Total: £1997.00

On top of the above, I also used about £500 in Tunisia. I withdrew money at a cashpoint in local currency, (Dinar) on two occasions. It is a cash based economy and virtually no receipts. I didn't bother to record my spending details whilst there to be honest. I also came out with a small amount of currency for my next trip there, which is a bit naughty as they don't allow any money back out of the country.
A full tank of fuel at 70 litres worked out around £38.00. Food was around £4 per day for me there and that was because I shopped at their supermarkets as opposed to local markets which would have made things cheaper. Their insurance was 80 Dinar for 14 days. It's a set rate for every vehicle as far as I could tell. 

Since I've been back home, its either been frozen, windy or really wet, so I've just gone back through the blog to look up some names for the films and found that Blogger has had a few melt downs whilst I've been writing the blog and posting via a phone. This is the third time this has happened. A lot of the pictures are all over the place, different formats & sizes, weird spacings, etc etc. And they were all taken on the same phone and uploaded via the same phone. Another computer based oddity. 

On top of this, I normally don't bother to allow comments on the posts as it often turns into a SPAM fest of utter crap. Blogger seems to have ignored the settings for this and allowed a load of both abusive and  sales shite. So, this may well be the time to look at other platforms once I've done the final posts for this trip. Time will tell. Its a shame as Blogger is an easy platform to use, but since Google took it on, they aren't supporting it properly it seems. 

2025 Trip Films

 As I gathered a lot of footage as I went, I've created some films into a montage of photos and film clips in a trio of films.

1. Italy & Sicily

2. Tunisia

3. Sardinia

Hope you enjoy them. Just follow the links to the YouTube page and watch at your leisure....

Sardinia: Day 6

After checking the engine oil, I left the field this morning. Once back on the main road, I decided to follow the coast north to go see if the Corsica ferry was running. There is no website for this particular ferry that I've found, so the timetable remains a bit of guesswork.

After Porto Torres, which is a main shipping port as well as a ferry terminal, there is a long line of sandy beaches running up to Valledoria. From there rocky headlands take over and the road turns inland.

I turned down to go look at Isula Rossa, which I remember as being a pretty place. The foundations are still there, the red granite, the fishing port, but it's become a heavily regulated tourist trap. I left within 10 minutes.

Cala Sairraina is old school. One cafe, a beach, red rocks and blue sea. Perfect. It was also completely empty and silent for the time I spent there. There is a lovely place for sale on the way down to the bay, but no details are on the card. 

At Capu Testa, it's possible to see the Isles des Lavezzu and the southern coast of Corsica. The chalk cliffs below Bonifatu in Corsica are home to the WW2 German U Boat pens. They were dug out of the cliffs and an old walkway still exists to go wander through them. 

The Isle Lavezzu are a reserve for protected marine and wildlife. You can get boat trips out to them from either main island and the scuba diving is stunning.

This part of Sardinia's coast is where the granite boulders can be seen. Wind and water carve them into fantastic shapes. The continue up the Corsican coast and generally form some beautiful crescent moon bays with white sand.

The ferry wasn't running until the end of Feb, so Olbia was next call. I followed the coast up past Fortezza Monte Altura near Palau. There is plenty of land and property for sale up around this area, I suspect it'll be expensive with this being a heavily touristic area. But there is no doubt that there would be worse places in the world to be. 

I passed through San Pantaleo, which is a bit of a climbing spot. Nice big granite rocks sit above the town. They stand out for miles. From there, it was a winding drive down through boulder fields to the coast and the huge bay where Olbia sits. 

Once at the ferry port, I managed to sort an overnight ferry to Livorno for 110 euros. Leaving at 22.00 and arriving at 7.00am. So food and entertainment required for another night on a ferry. 

To kill a couple of hours, the lowering sun caught the light on a huge line of cliffs. So I went to investigate. It turned out to be the island of Punta Cannone. It's basically a limestone oblong sticking out of the sea. What catches the sun is the steep lines and ridges of its too half. Impressive faces that must have some great routes on them. I also wandered around a couple of marinas looking at boats again. 

Sardinia is a beautiful place. It's much easier to travel around than Sicily and the weather has been kinder whilst I've been here. The two biggest positives are the complete lack of rubbish in every corner of the place and the clean public toilets.  Sardinians seem to take genuine pride in their island which is great to see. The rest of Italy could certainly learn a lesson here me thinks. 

Their wine is good too, so is their charcuterie,  but I never got to try much of their cheese for some reason. Hey ho. Another trip one day.