Exploring Tashkent & Motorbike Maintenance

I wonder why Tashkent gets so less attention compared to the three major silk road cities in Uzbekistan. It was a lovely place  for any overlander like myself looking for a place to crash and rejuvenate for a few days.

Most days were spent on foot exploring Tashkent via their subway system which was like a Art Museum. I could not help but keep stopping at random station just to have a look at the architectural beauty of its station. A clean city and most times I was just walking around randomly at parks

Cosmonaut Theme Station

Beautiful Dome Architectural Ceiling

Not sure ... Modern Art in Subway Station of Tashkent

Also, for a biker, this was the only reliable city to get any maintenance done to the bike in the entire country of Uzbekistan. A quick message to my saviour Sergei from back in Tajikistan Anzob tunnel for a meet up was quickly drowned in sorrow. 

He was going overseas for work that week and I would miss the chance to catch up in his home city. Still, he gave me the run-down how to get bike parts in the city which was quite interesting on its own.

First off was to track down the Auto-market or bazaar which has every motor, car, tractor, bus, truck, bike parts shop jammed into a size of a football field with some unknown system that took me time to decipher. 

Eventually I found the area where bike parts were sold and then it was the issue of getting the right parts. I needed sprockets, chain, engine oil, fork oil, brake pads, spark plugs and probably some things I was not even aware of.

Bike Parts Shop in Tashkent .. I kinda forgot the name since it was in Uzbek letters

Replenish Parts 

Great Owner that help me identify the correct part type 

The second issue was that the bike parts shops like any other country in Central Asia, only sell the parts and don’t have the mechanic to tinker with the bike. The master as the call them (mechanics) was at another place and after much translation, I got a contact for a bike pit called Moto_Garage13.

Somehow between translation, google maps and some local directions, I managed to find the unmarked Moto-Garage and the boyz. They did a great job servicing my front forks, changing sprockets and even welding back my hole ridden exhaust. 

Absolute master works I would say as I hang out with them the whole day while they worked on the bike. Apparently, they had training in Russia for bike maintenance and most bikes in Uzbekistan was so niche that only a few mechanics were available.

@moto_garage13 - Tashkent

Patched all the Exhaust Holes 

Front Fork Oil Change & Service 

After major maintenance was done, I did a day trip the next day to Chimgan Valley and somehow notice that my exhaust guard protector was missing. Probably dropped off somewhere (It has already dropped off a few times but those times I noticed and picked it up from the road). This time it was gone with the wind, and I returned to Moto-Garage hoping something could be done.

A custom-made exhaust protector was carved up from scrap metal, and upon my request, they carved up their Instagram ID onto the protector which makes it even more special to me.

@moto_garage13 - Tashkent

A photo with the Boyz which help fix up Bragge

Travelled on: July 2024