TYNE AND WEAR METROPOLITAN FIRE BRIGADE
EDINBURGH T0 CHERNOBYL MOTORCYCLE RUN JULY 1990
After the Chernobyl accident my brother and I, both Firemen watched the Chernobyl Firemens children in hospital with cancer. Short of drugs and with little help from the outside world, so we thought, lets take a bike and some sweets over to them and try to raise some money to show we care.
Now we are not blokes you see in the MCN that tour around the globe at the weekend doing 10,000 miles a day, we are Mr Average, we like bike's, have had them for years mostly 250 and 400, and we have done the odd long trip. Edinburgh to Newcastle 120 miles, so we plan:
1) Can we get into the USSR.
2) What size and type of bike will we need.
3) How do we carry the sweets.
4) Can we sit on a bike for that distance.
After alot more planning, nearly 2 years later we are ready.
1) Entry into the USSR, the General Secretary of the F.B.U., Ken Cameron, obtained visa's for us. That was good news as we were told that solo motorcycles are not permitted entry into the USSR.
2) We looked at all types of bike on the market and we decided it was between the Honda Goldwing and the Kawasaki Z1300, so we set off to the Le Mans 24hr road race to test them, both had what we wanted - great power, able to travel long distance at high speed in comfort day after day, a bike that could take two men, all their clothes and a trailer, full of sweets, camping gear and all the spare because there is no backup van. Both the bike's were good but the Kawasaki was away out in front at high speed, so that was the bike for us.
3) We had seen trailers on the road mostly with Goldwings and it was clear we would require a large one. So we sent off letters to the manufacturers to ask for a loan of one and Tom Wilkinson of Glassfibre Mouldings, Clitheroe gave me a ring and offered to make one, and what a trailer it was. Made in fire engine red, it was 6ft long, heavy duty with large wheels for high speed use. Next he took the bike and made the towbar.
4) So can we sit on a bike for up to 5,000 miles, we had to find out and in August 1989 we took the Kawasaki off through France and into Spain, the weather was great and the bike was smooth and comfortable so we could do it.
The Kawasaki is big and it likes to eat back tyres, with careful riding I could
get upto 6,ooo miles from it, but what about the roads, with help from Mr G. Wilson of the B.H.F. who set up a tour of the USSR. We gained information about roads, insurance bike security and lots of other tips.
The list of spares was huge tyres, intertubes, cables, everything that could snap or burst. Using advice on the state of the roads we went for H rated tyres. Many companies helped us, The RAC gave us free european cover (not the USSR), P & O free ferry crossing. Endsleigh gave us free personal insurance, and Pennine Windows a double glazing company gave us the money for the petrol. Many other companys also helped, "Welches of North Shields" gave the 5,000 sweets free. So we are all ready.
EDINBURGH TO CHERNOBYL MOTORCYCLE RUN
My god it's time to go, it is 9am on Monday the 2nd of July 1990, the weather is
warm and the sun is out, so off I go to Kawasaki, Newcastle to pick up the bike.
Kawasaki Newcastle have given me all spares at cost, and, a free service. I thank them for the work and I set off home. My first thought is they have given me the
wrong bike, it is so smooth, this was no ordinary service. Back at my place
Whitley Bay, the trailer is put on and the sweets put in, now it's off to Edinburgh
for the launch, going up the A1, I test the bike to see how it will pull the trailer,
and at what speed it starts to snake, It is ok up to 80mph but much above that and it
starts to go, but I find I can still nip upto 90mph for short blasts to overtake,
On arrival at Edinburgh the bike and trailer are put into the Fire Station ready for
the start on the 4th at midday.
To travel in the USSR you require visa's and booked accommodation, this is done
through Intourist in London. Our visa's were sent from the Russian Embassy to
Intourist, they then booked our accommodation through Moscow. Now in Edinburgh I
gave them a ring to ask why both had not yet been sent out to me, now the bad news,
Moscow tells Intourist solo bikes are not allowed in, and so will not book any
accommodation for us, and Intourist will not hand over the visa's to us without
booked accommodation. The run is off so we will go to the Russian border and hand
over the sweets, after all the work, only one thing to do - get drunk.
Wednesday 4th
We set off from Edinburgh, what should have been a nice short trip down to Newcastle but it was rain all the way.
Thursday 5th
Off down the A1 we wanted to stay off the M1 because of all the lorries most of which do well over 70 mph, and with us riding at 60 mph, the max permitted in the UK, it was along trip down to the Dartford Fire Station with rain most of the day, and strong winds blowing, the trailer is all over the road at one point we were down to 4Omph.
By Friday morning the rain was off and the sun came out, it was a short trip down
to the ferry, we were at the front of the queue lots of people in cars were pointing
at the trailer, with one last phone call to Edinburgh we were told we could go into
the USSR by car (get lost). We left the girls at the Fire Brigade HQ in Edinburgh
still trying to get us in. We would go overland to Warsaw (Poland), and go to the Soviet Embassy there.
Now in France with warm and light winds, we stock up with food and lots of beer, it's so cheap here. We camp at St-Omer.
On Saturday the rain is back and it's 2 hours before we can leave the tent, by 12am we are off on the road to Ant~erpen the roads ~re very sli.pery and bends are hard work and slow. At the Antwerp Fire station the lads are great they gave u~ a meal locked the bike away for us, and took us into the City for a beer and a look at the night life but watch, some of the girls are really boys?
Monday 8th
Out through Belgium and into the Netherlands their roads are very quiet and straight, the bike just glides along. Into Germany my first dream shattered, pulled off the road to look at the map, must be on the wrong road, where are the fast straight autobahns? We are on this 2 lane road with more bends than straights with only a few spots of hard shoulder and 3 lanes. Our choice is the inside lane with heary lorries and east German mickey mouse cars going at less than 60 or pulling out and having a merc coming up your back end at 120. Stopped at camp site and tried the German beer, just one or two.
Monday 9th
The sun is out now and it's very hot back on the road, on to West Berlin, put up at a Fire Station and the bike is locked away, we tried the night life!
Now Tuesday stopped at the Berlin Wall and then went through into the east, it looks like a different planet. We leave the Berlin ring road and take the side road to Poland we remember about the roads as told in MCN and it's true, we were sliding in the dry, by midday we are in Poland, roads are ok. We ride down to Wroclaw the Pols lack two words in thier vocal - "Give Way " in Poland it must say "pull out" because they do, so beware.
On Wednesday we are just about to set off from our motel when I notice my clock has been stolen off the hike.
Thursday 12th
A nice ride upto Warsaw, at the Embassy we are told we are to be given new visa's if we get pictures, at the railway station we meet lots of tourists who have been robbed and beaten up. So take care it is Polands new sport "rob the tourist". Now armed with our visas but still no accommodation we head for the border. The trailer now has a bad squeek. As we near the border there are up to 50 cars at petrol stations, so take a spare can of fuel.
Friday 13th
At the borderthere is over a three mile queue, after three hours we are told just to go to the front,- so we give it a go, at the gate the guards take one look at us and wave us through, this can't be right. Here we are in the USSR with no accommodation, bikes not allowed and we were not searched? As we stop to buy some roubles the first sign of things to come, bus loads of Russians at the border get off to look at us.
There was an interpreter. They obviously were expecting us. We stopped the machine and within five minutes there were over two hundret people, men, women and children around the bike. The Exchange Building was next to the Car Park which was full of Russian buses on their way back from Warsaw and people had just flocked to have a look at us. I was terrified at first, with so many people so close to the motor cycle. A big lad moved forward who could speak some English. He pointed out to the 'G.B.' plate and said Bulgaria, I said "no Britain". He gave me a black look "United Kingdom" "no", "London" 'no" shook his head 'no". We had to give up. We could hear him talking to the crowd and said Bulgaria. As we started the bike the crowd jumped back because the electric start hasn't caught on there yet and we drove off.
The first big headache was their alphabet though we had maps of the Soviet Union. They were written in the English alphabet. We could recognise nowhere on the signs. Eventually we stopped at the Russian City of Brest and got some help from the Intourist Hotel and we set off for Kiev. It was a beautiful summer's evening. The roads were almost deserted. Everyone who past stopped their cars and pointed. On the way to Xiev we stopped at a City called Lutsk, soon people were around the bike. This time they were not quite so friendly and many people tried to pull things off. It took a threat of violence to keep them off. I decided that the bike should not be kept outside overnight. The manager of the Intourist Hotel solved the problem of bike security by opening the front doors into the lounge. We parked the motor cycle and the trailer just beside the reception so people could see it. What about F.P. and us firemen'?
Next we were taken to their finest restaurant. They like to listen to the music while they eat. Next day the rain had returned. The queue at the petrol station was 60 to 70 cars long. We had a great fuel problem, and decided just to try our luck and moved straight to the front of the queue. We were shown to the front of the petrol pump. This was only for V.I.P's. The weather slowly deteriorated. Remember this was the day we were going to Kiev. As we made our way through the towns with heavy lorries it was impossible to stop without a very large crowd gathering. We would have to stop in the countryside. The rain continued off and on for the rest of the day and it was late evening when we arrived at the City of Kiev.
We were met by a Fire Brigade Committee. They made a great fuss of us and after half an hour of hand shaking and back slapping they took David off in their car and I followed on the bike. They took us to the best Fire Brigade accommodation. We parked our motor cycle and trailer in the Fire Station and spent four days with the guests of the Kiev Fire Brigade - we did not go on to Moscow, because the Kiev Fire Brigade asked usto stay with them, and we had come with sweets for the Chernobyl children.
On the second last day we went to Chernobyl. God what a site. Woods all around dead what a bloody mess - that night still more vodka. On the last full day we went to their hospital. For two years we had planned and schemed to get there. Never before had a motor cycle from Britain travelled to the Ukraine and Chernobyl. In the hospital we found many children, some bald, most dangerous1y ill, some dying. Here we were facing these children armed only with 5,000 lollipops. To see their faces light up when we gave them sweeties was worth every mile and a very sore bum. In my life I had never seen so much pain and I had never been in such a position to cause somuch happiness. For a short time all the hard work to get there was put to one side. They dived at the lollipops squealing with delight. This is something I will remember for ever, and it warms my heart to know that motorcyclists in Britain had gone thousands of miles and caused so much happiness.
Photo:
Inside wall
of the Chernobyl
Pleant.
10 m of concrete.
Monument to
the fireman who
went in to turn
off the value--
his body is still
inside.
This was a personnel choice of two keen motor cyclists who wanted to try and help their fellow man. That evening as we drank their Russian beer with our hosts and a little bit of vodka we prepared ourselves mentally for the trip home. Ihe next morning it was time to go. We were taken onto the Fire Station. Our motor cycle and trailer had been cleaned down to the last nut and bolt. We were so embarrassed. Why should people who had never met us go to such extraordinary lengths to help us? All we had to offer was a few tee-shirts to these enthusiastic firemen who had done all this work. Our hearts were breaking as we pulled out of Kiev. It was an emotional farewell. Everyone told us they wanted to give us all they could and as it turned out they supplied all the petrol, accommodation and food for our return trip to the border. We left our interpreter in Kiev and relied solely on the friendship of the firemen.
As the fire vehicle sped off in front the pot-holes and bad road conditions were hard on the bike. It was thanks to the power of the Kawasaki that we managed to keep up.
We stopped again in the City of Lutsk and spent a beautiful evening with our hosts in a top hotel.
Once more we were off, this time off for the border again without an interpreter. We were given tremendous courtesy and respect and shown through the border. Speeding across Poland we stopped for a coffee and a tea-break and camped overnight. The next three days were spent travelling through Germany, Belgium and back into France. The motorcycle never missed a beat.
At Calicali we bordered the ferry and the officials asked us how the trip had gone. We could not begin to explain the adventure.
This over we set off for home on the Al. When we reached Newcastle we stopped overnight and set off for Edinburgh, Scotlands beautiful city to a wonderful reception. It seemed like a fairy-tale.
With the bike looking as if it had just travelled around the corner with its magical cargo of happiness I shook my head in disbelief. We had brought such happiness to so many children, most of the children are now dead.
They never did forget us. In September, 1991 the Chernobyl firemen travelled here to the United Kingdom and were the guests of the Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade. We went out of our way to make them welcome.
In April, 1992 I went with some of the firefighters including the Chief Officer to Moscow and the Ukraine. We spent one week as their guests, went to the Chernobyl site, and had a wonderful time. On our return visit to Moscow we paid our respects at the graves of those firemen who fought the Chernobyl fire. It's still not the end. I have plans for another motor cycle trip using the Ukraine Fire Stations. The motor cycle adventure is not over - it surely has just begun.
BRIAN STUART
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