Japan - Russia - Croatia.
 

Hello Everybody.
June 9th we will set off from Yokohama through Russia via Estonia to Croatia.

Can anybody offer advice on crossing from Russia to Estonia.

I have UK passport, EU Green Card, Russia Insurance , All Registration documents and ownership documents and the bike is Japanese registered. I plan to register in Croatia once we arrive.
Can anybody see an issue entering the EU from Russia with the bike as temporary import?

Has anybody any experience with Russia - Estonia border. Waiting times, which is the best crossing?

Thanks for your help.

Tamara and James.

There are basically two crossings. One up north, and two-that-are-almost-one down south.

The northern one is Ivangorod-Narva, and it is usually very congested. It is on the main road from St Petersburg to Tallinn, and crosses a bottleneck bridge across the Narva river that's right in the middle of the cities. On the Estonian side there is a staging area outside of town and an online queue system, with preferential access for motorcycles. You still have to register online, but you can usually cross even in hours that are shown as unavailable - 10 minutes for every hour can be used for the priority motorcycle queue.

From the Russian side, there is no online booking - you have to join the live queue. Maybe you can go right to the front of the queue on the motorcycle - depends on how annoyed the other drivers are, and if the Russian border guards are being mean that day.

South below Lake Peipus, there are two border crossings close to each other: one in the town of Pechory/Petseri (on the Estonian side the place name is Koidula) which is usually much less crowded. The last bit of road to the border is a toll road, so you will have to contribute some money to the Pechory municipality in order to leave it. :P

Then there is Shumilkino (Luhamaa in Estonia) on the Pskov-Riga highway. I would not recommend Luhamaa unless you want to skip Estonia and go straight to Latvia.

If you have ownership paperwork for the motorcycle in English, the Estonian border guards should let you in, no problem.

Cheers
 

Thanks a lot

I think I will take the toll road if it saves a lot of time. Thanks for the advice.

Unfortunately my title papers are in Japanese, however my name is printed in English......matching my passport.
Will take my chances.

You can get an English version from the registration department.
In fact, you might need one for customs leaving Japan.
You are supposed to get a number plate that has the Japanese converted to alphabet characters.
registration certificate like this:

https://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image...85c3fb890c.jpg

Overseas use plates look like this.
The picture shows both the domestic and overseas plates, but you don't have to put both on. I only used the overseas. I recommend this as you will have to return the domestic plates when you deregister the bike in Japan after you leave so you aren't billed for taxes.
This can only be obtained from a company called Komatsu Jidosha Kogyo in Tokyo. If you are leaving June 9, I recommend you call them RIGHT AWAY. Otherwise, you will not be on time.
TEL：(03)3474-0211 FAX：(03)3474-0436
(No website, no email)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8_vlv80MVT...2013072306.jpg

Registration
 

Hi Chris. Thanks for the photo. Good news is I have the plates in Latin
Letters and the pink registration from your pictures. I just don’t have the original ownership document in English (A3 title document) . But looking and reading closer both documents show the same info so guess the pink is supposed to replace the original while travelling. Finally clicked why I had to get the pink slip......
Good to go....... cheers and worried a lot less now.

Yep. That's right. The pink slip is a replacement for the Japanese language registration document when traveling.
You are (probably) set to go!

If you want to meet some other travelers before you go, there is a travelers meeting near Mt. Fuji on June 2.
https://www.facebook.com/events/567365813641050/
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...086#post584622
I will probably be there.

Fuji
 

Thanks for the Heads Up.
Coincidentally we plan to climb mount fuji (weather permitting) on the 1st June so will be around the corner from the meet.......... Our climb is out of season so we wont go above the snow line and if it rains we wont go at all.
Should see you on the 2nd.
James