I posted this in the Europe forums earlier, but I’ve just realised that’s probably the wrong place, so trying here. Sorry about that.

I’ll need to ship my bike by train from Vladivostok to Moscow in August and I understand that it’s not possible to reserve in advance; you just have to turn up with the bike at Vladivostok station, pay and leave the bike.

But how soon is the bike actually put on a train? Always the same day? Or can it wait around for days/weeks until there is available cargo space?

If anyone has actually done this I’d love to hear their experience, good or bad.

Thanks in advance.

Anecdotal reports I have memory of are that it's the same day - they can always find space for a bike on a train. Of course there could be exceptions, and I hope anyone who has done that can weigh in either way.

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IIRC they classify bike as dangerous goods now so you need to remove battery and drain fuel/oil.. at least that's what people who went through were telling.

I've not shipped via train in Russia, but shipped via truck three times (from Moscow to/from Irkutsk, Chita, and Almaty, KZ) with PEK (https://pecom.ru/). From Vladi I'd imagine that train would be better, but if you hit snags there I would check out PEK, who knows, maybe they handle trains from Vladi as well. Typically it took 10-11 days enroute, but their estimates were always accurate. I would guess that Vladi would be a fair bit longer.

Service with PEK was always very impressive--their terminal in Moscow is open 24/7, and they'll crate the bike for you. The only pain is that you have to drain the fuel and disconnect the battery before shipping, but as long as you plan around it, no big deal. I would also put most of my gear with the bike (tools, etc.), never had any problem with theft. Prices were reasonable, I forget how much.

Thanks for the truck suggestion. For some reason I thought that bike transport by truck is illegal in Russia, but that may just have been a dream. The more alternatives the better.

Well, it is illegal if you don't drain the fuel and disconnect the battery! They're pretty strict on enforcing that.

Vladi-Moscow is kind of a push by truck, but I highly recommend the truck for slightly shorter distances--worked great for shipping to Irkutsk, Chita, and Almaty. But AFAIK PEK is a "logistics" rather than just a trucking company, so they might well use train for all or part of the journey for any shipments to Vladi, so I would definitely check them out.

Hi Russki Guzzi,

Please send me an e-mail to alex.nikonov [t} rusmototravel.com and I will send you all details, timing and pricing re shipping bike by train, truck and other ways

Its all possible, every year we ship bikes by train from Vladivostok to Moscow after Trans-Siberian and Road of Bones Expeditions

- Train goes every 2 days (15 times each month)
- You can secure place for a certain day by sending inquiry to transport company 1-2 months in advance
- There are 3 types of train, 7-8 days, 11-12 days and 25-30 days, different rates for each
- Need to have almost empty fuel tank and take off contact from battery
- Transport company will make crate for the bike
- Insrurance is available

Feel free to ask other questions

Just an update on our experience pre pandemic. August 2019. We were able to put two bikes in the guard van on the Ullanbaataar to Moscow train, all due to failed water pump, however it caused chaos in Moscow as they stamped our bikes as luggage not transport on the Russian side.This meant they were liable for import tax.
Two days of visiting various customs offices later we were free to collect them with just an admin charge. The customs in Moscow were really good and apologetic that their officer at the border was such an idiot!
However, they had to construct a new procedure to deal with us and only one officer had the authority to sign the paperwork in Moscow. Fortunately his holiday was the previous week so only a two day delay. Still, we got a BBQ and accommodation with one of the officers and an official hat to apologise.

They explained that next time ride or push your bike over the border but don't leave Mongolia with it on the train! Too much paperwork. however, the Mongolian version of the Trans Siberian train is much nicer than the Trans Siberian. Great food and the bikes were roll on roll off.

You can put it on the train in anywhere in Russia and from Moscow to Vlad or Irkutsk may save crushingly boring and dangerous Russian roads. The guys at the warehouse in Moscow speak some English and pack your bike well - we saw some French bikes ready to ship. We would consider this when we head back to finish the BAM road.

Alex at Russmoto is definitely the guy to give advice and helped us greatly with our trip.