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    Albania

    Surviving the Balkans on a KTM 890 R and 1290 Super Adventure R



    Five countries, 3000 kilometres, two dirt bikes and one hell of an Adventure! With only a handful of GPS waypoints, Adam and his mate Efthymis find their way through the Balkans in five days.

    Riding two standard KTM Adventure bikes, the 2022 890 and 1290 Adventure R, the boys are carrying minimal camping gear, have no planned routes and not a single hotel booking between them.

    Their journey is governed purely by Adam’s GPS, which is set to track the shortest distance between waypoints and include any unpaved roads. This is the exact method Adam used to create his Adventure film series ‘MOTONOMAD’ which you can see here: https://gumroad.com/ariemann1

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    View 37 Comments

    37 Comments

    1. ARiemann1 on

      Thanks for the comments everyone, it's great incentive to keep creating when people appreciate the content as genuinely as you do. Also, for those concerned, there's a couple of things I'd like to address …

      Albania and it's people …
      Like all of the Balkans – Albanian people were really friendly in the few instances we interacted with them at fuel stations etc. As for the scenario at the Sheperds camp, you simply had to be there. The actual origin of these guys as well as their agenda was unclear. There was some uneasy conversation unfolding and we simply made the call to leave.

      Bears and wolves…
      Yess, I'm a total sissy and fish out of water in this department. Didn't help that one of the dogs at the sheperds camp was badly injured from Wolf or Bear attack the previous night. I also found another sheperd closer to town, locked inside his car with a light flooding the area around his car to deter them. We were 100% in active bear and wolf country and it was obvious the local people in the area locked themselves indoors at night.

      Tyre levers and hectic schedule…
      We started this trip in the north of Austria the second I finished filming the 2023 890R video with KTM, which was a Sunday evening. I was prepping the '22 890 (which I rode in this video) whenever I had 5-min up my sleeve during the shoot. KTM had some tyre levers for me to borrow but I simply forgot to pack them. As for the hectic schedule, we were only able to loan these bikes for 5-days for this film as KTM needed them back for their Adventure Rally in France. We had to have them dropped off at a dealership in Athens on the Friday of that week.

      Drone shots…
      I do all my own drone shots with the help of tracking modes. There is no cameraman, I set up all ground shots with tripod etc.

      Thanks again for the support everyone, I really appreciate your feedback of my films, it helps keep me grinding away out there to bring these productions to life. I love it but it's also really hard work to maintain this level, so feel free to subscribe and share this video … it'd be a great help!

      Adam

    3. El Raff on

      So accordingly to you an adventure rider is someone to ride like you guys Hahaha what a fucking joke… Ok took me 10min of your video to left this crap… Ride safe👍😂

    4. Pitou Phat on

      Gosh ❤! Who else is such a lucky person and enjoys adventure life like him. That's what other men wish for but can't do 😂 just stay home and watch him ride

    5. Srki on

      I'm from this region and your video has made me smile, tear up and laugh out loud and most importantly, thankful for you putting this together! Thank You!

    6. MiNo77 on

      Why did you skip Macedonia? Macedonia was created for cross-country driving…perhaps the best in the Balkans…The people are wonderful and everyone will help you… don't bypass Macedonia… peace, brothers… you were great 🙂

    7. Mechant Loup on

      Wolves or a bear “attacking” a motorcycle duo with engines running and headlights bobbing, moving at a brisk pace? Ah, city boys in the wild.

      No. Just no.

    9. AvadaVendetta on

      "You're an itinerary rider, I'm an adventure rider"
      "I made a list of GPS points and input them in as way points" Mate ur an itinerary rider

    10. hmfernandes1 on

      If you book a hotel you're not a adventurer, but you can use a GPS and be sponsored with unlimited resources…
      Ok.
      Sorry that I have to break it to you, but anyone is a adventurer as soon as you step out of bed.

    15. Kamen Kachev on

      There is a bulgarian saying: "He who is afraid of bears does not go into the forest". You would have been perfectly fine to sleep anywhere next to that albanian mountain road… Do a longer trip next time, Balkans have a lot to offer!

    16. george boro on

      Epic journey.Meeting friendly people like the gentleman who fix your tyre reminds me a lost childhood memory of our dads fixing our bmx tyre!God bless you guys!Keep riding with safety!

    23. RSan on

      Who would help you in Austria as a Citizen from Croatia? Aaa sprichst du nicht Deutsch? Keine Zeit, Geht nicht, strafee ooo polizei fick euch …

    25. Marco Hercante on

      Nice ride however I need to share the following message with you. There is something that seems disturbing to me. It is possible that my point of view is completely wrong from yours. Nevertheless, this is how I perceived it and I must say it was not positive at all.

      Did those shepherds do anything to humiliate you publicly? Did they show harmful intentions towards you or your bikes? Did you give them a chance to tell their story publicly?
      And why do you put such a big emphasis on "Albanians" when you say sharing a tent with them?
      If you want to trust your instincts that is fine and you should do so but who gives you the right to pick 5 random guys and make them the bad guys in your story besides the wolves and the bears? Whatever their story is, you took it, shredded their identity, and created some garbage.

      I did like your video up to the point you started to talk about those people who are working hard for their food. At least that is all you showed us, isn't it? And also the words F*** and Albania are not very nice to share with your followers and the rest of the world. Albania is a country with a rich history and not a single country can be cursed like that.

      If you are searching for adventure, I advise you to be humble in every country you go in. You never know who you will meet and at least you show the correct example and inspirational messages to other adventure seekers among us.

    34. Mam Para on

      Possibly one of the best adventure riding vid I have ever seen. U sir are a genius. (ur buddy made me laugh big time). Thanks

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