Buying a motorcycle in Ulan Bataar?
 

Following on from Lionbreeze's thread; can anyone advise me on buying a solid motorcycle in Ulan Bataar, one that will carry me back to the UK via Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Europe.

This is only an idea, but means I'd be able to travel through Mongolia on a tighter deadline, so is rather tempting!

So, how much should I be looking to spend and what should I look out for?

I was in UB two years ago, the only bikes I saw for sale were the primitive 2-stroke Izh (if you watched Long Way Round, they bought one of those for their cameraman after his BMW lost its brakes). Light, simple but not very reliable, that's what I gather.

But as I've said, I did not look around for western bike dealers - it may be worth to do at least an internet search. I saw a bunch of Europeans on rented KTM's near UB. Maybe the rental company would be willing to part with one of their bikes?

Novosibirsk in Russia has a large inventory of used bikes, mainly japanese. you would be starting quite close to Mongolia (by russian standards).

let us know what you came up with!

well, I may have gotten carried away a bit when saying "a large inventory":

In 2005 I visited the large motorcycle shop in Novosibirsk and I was impressed with the amount of used bikes they had in the yard - i would say 15-20, mostly japanese, anything from crotch-rockets to cruisers to transalps.

if you are seriously considering this approach, drop me an email and I will try to get more info regarding the bike shop. It may be worth trying to establish some contact with them via email, they could at least tell you what bikes they have and the asking prices.

you can PM me at: snailster<at>lycos.com

BMW Dealer in Krasnoyarsk
 

Should anyone ever wish to get their BM serviced, or wish to buy one. The dealership for central Russia is in Krasnoyarsk. However don't expect them to have a full stock of parts.

Ken
www.kenandtoni.com