Is some form of MC insurance required to keep customs officials happy in north Asia?
 

Myself and two friends are travelling by KLR from Vladivostok to Europe, departing Vlad sometime in late-June 2013. None of us bothered to get insurance in British Columbia, the province we call home, as it won't do us any good outside of North America (plus we are doing this trip as cheap as possible). Then I saw a post the other day about insurance docs required to keep the Boys in Blue at bay and had a brief moment of panic. I was hoping motorcycle registration, International Driving Permit, passport, visas, Letter of Invitation etc. would be enough to cross borders with an MC. Does anyone know what kind of documents are required to enter Russia at Vladivostok (by sea, dealing with Yuri), enter Mongolia by land, Kazakhstan by land, Azerbaijan by sea etc. My KLR is high KM and I'm not worried about getting any money for it if something happens so if I can do this trip without insurance then that is what I would like to do. I just want to make sure I've got the requisite paperwork to cross borders. Thanks for your time.

Insurance you need is 3rd party insurance (i.e. to cover injuries to the other party if you cause an accident, not coverage for your self/bike). If you are having Yuri Melnikov help you with customs, ask him about insurance too. If I remember right, you have to have Russian insurance before getting your bike from customs in Vlad anyways. Most other times you can probably get insurance for the respective countries at the border.

Thanks for the heads up Chris.

Safe travels,

Beaudin

hello
shipped my bike to vladivostok last may.
yuri organised the insurance, about 50-60$ for 3 months, 660ccm bike.
he said he needs it to clear customs.
I asked yuri what it covers and he said something of a few thousend dollars.
more like one of the alibi-insurances, but better than nothing.
when reentering russia from mongolia at tashanta, no one asked to see my insurance.
sushi