So as I mentioned in my other thread, today I've had to scrap my plans to visit Iran and the Caucasus as I'm apparently considered an undesirable by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Instead, (and with only two weeks to plan) I'm leaning towards a trip through Eastern Europe. My main interest is the Balkans, although I'm also keen to see Belarus and the Baltic states.

I was thinking about starting in Latvia, heading down through Lithuania to Belarus, then Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, all of the Balkan states and Bulgaria (in any order).

That might be a bit ambitious for five weeks so I'm considering cutting it down to the SE regions, but what I really need is advice on a starting point.

I'm going to have to buy a bike, would prefer something around 500cc and air-cooled (single or twin), preferably a cruiser or possibly an enduro bike but would happily ride a CG125 clone if necessary. Kickstart is a big plus. Key caveat is CHEAP and rough - preferably under 1000 euro. I can take care of a rough bike but am doing this trip on the super cheap.

Can anyone recommend a city where I can buy something cheap and register it easily as a non-EU resident? At worst I'm considering starting in Munich where a friend can register the bike for me.

I don't want to start in the Balkans since I don't want to be riding around with numberplates from a disliked country but could conceivably start anywhere in Eastern Europe and just wing it. Turkey or Greece is another option, if the Greeks don't set all of their vehicles on fire in the next 14 days.

Any tips on routes, destinations or bike shopping/registration would be much appreciated.