Vladivostok to EU mid 2014
 

Hi all,
I am thinking of doing a trip from Vladivostok to Europe mid 2014. From Australia it would be best to travel via South Korea and than take the ferry to Vlad. However, after just watching The long way Round, once again I noticed that the camera man had to buy a new Russian bike for which they paid something like $1200. This would possibly be cheaper than freighting my own bike to Russia. In that case it would be just a matter of going to Vlad. with some throwover panniers and riding gear and start the journey. Local bikes can be fixed easily and cheap. I don't know if it is possible to ride out of Russia into Europe. If not...even if the bike is dumped it is still a lot cheaper than crating your own bike back to Aus.

Anyone out there with any experience in this. anyone interested? Riding buddies? I have placed message on the hub to the Vladivostok members but without any reply. I have no idea if how many members there are over there if any.
cheers
Richard

Hey Richard ... long time no speak.

No one in Russia rides Russian bikes except old farmers - usually with side cars attached, and with a dog or the wife in the rig. Russians don't consider them to be "bikers".

All the russian bikers ride either Japanese, European or US bikes. You MAY be able to buy cheap chinese bikes in Russia.

You can buy an Izh planeta 5 (as per LWR) if you really want, but it will break down every 300 km (also as per LWR) and use 2-3 times as much fuel as a modern bike. It may, or may not start for you each morning.

Any bike can be fixed easy and cheap in Russia. All mechanics seem happy to take on a broken bike and work till they fix it, often without charge for foreign bikers. The only question is do you want that happening once in your trip, or 30 times?

If you are cool with breaking down 30 times in 30 days, then the Izh is a possibility for you. Otherwise, save yourself the grief. Its an all asphalt highway across Russia now. You can take a goldwing a ZZR1400 or an R1 on that highway. LWR is a decade old. Its completely out of date in terms of info and ideas.

You cant permanently take vehicles across customs borders unless you pay import duty. So bringing a Russian registered bike to Europe will mean you either have to import it, and pay all the import duty (I doubt you would get an Izh into the EU as an import because of its emissions), or you have to take it back to Russia.

I would guess your best bet is to freight it to South Korea and then ferry to Vladivostok.

Hi Walter, Good to hear from you again and thanks for your input. I got a message from the Moscow community who directed me to a bikes sales site and you are right. Mostly western bikes and at he same price level as here or Europe. I Visited Russia and Mongolia this year and loved it. This trip was the first ever without my own bike. I started in Singapore traveling by train/bus to northern Thailand and rented a Kawasaki there , later I ended up in Saigon and bought a small Honda which I sold a month later in Hanoi. Then train into China and the Trans-Mongolian to Irkutsk-Moscow- st Petersburg and on to Amsterdam where I collected my other bike which is always parked there. Did a Euro trip before retuning to Aus. We need to catch up next time. Cheers Richard

Richard,

Have a look at my website (below) and FB page (in my footer) for more info on riding across Russia. I am still doing it almost annually. Then drop me an email (if you still have it) and I will advise you on travel there. There is great adventure to gbe had, but you do have to get off the trans siberian highway.

[url=http://www.sibirskyextreme.com/]Sibirsky Extreme

Thanks Walter, I emailed you back but it ended up in the general HU mail. next week I will be getting a F650 GS and sell my 1150GS. If nothing comes out of it I will use that bike. Perhaps change later to a good Dakar version.
I studied your site and most of the links. a lot of good advise.
where are you residing at present.
regards richard

I am also looking at getting into Vladivostok however, from Japan. (Would send my bike from Sydney)

Are there any key benefits/disadvantages between Japan or S.Korea as the ferry point?

Hi, I am not sure if Korea has a preference over Japan. I know some people who arrived from Vlad and continued via Korea to go to Aus. Also a friend of mine shipped from Bris to Korea and took a ferry from there.I will be visiting him next week and get more details of him. To me it does not make any difference. it depends a lot if there as savings one way or the other. Not sure if you need a carnet for japan.
anyway lets keep talking on this one.
Although I have always owned big BMW's (R100GSPD- R1200GS- and now R1150 GS) I plan to use a smaller bike this time and bring less gear. I just purchased a used F550 GS to see if I like it. Thus far I rode 1200 km (purchased earlier this week in Sydney) and rode it back to Brisbane. Handling and power are good and fuel consumption is amazing at 27 km / ltr
keep taking
Richard

Hi Walter
What is a good source for getting some maps for the route Vlad-Moscow?
cheers Richard

Richard,

I have also been looking at Japan vs. Vladivostok for a bike to be sent from Sydney mid 2014.

With regards to carnet in Japan what I have found is that the general consensus seems to say that unless you are arriving by ferry (from Russia or Korea I would assume), in which case you can use a C5014 form of temporary import, then a carnet is required.

Although I had originally penned Japan as my first stop, I am now considering a shipment direct to Vladivostok if possible in terms of cost as it would also allow me extra time to explore Central Asia while the weather is still favourable.

Would love to stay updated on your plans as perhaps if things line up, there may be an opportunity to share freight costs?

Hi,

I am also from Australia (Melbourne) but I will most likely be buying a bike in Ireland.

I am looking at going either way Vlad to Europe or reverse. What time frame and starting date are you looking at?

If I was going Vlad to Europe i'd be looking at early-mid July for about 2 months going all the way to Ireland maybe via Georgia/Turkey and avoiding the stans due to visa hassles? I can get my bike on a container going to Vlad in early July.

This would be my first big bike trip and given the remoteness i'd rather not do it alone.

Cheers,

Tom.

Daze - Unsure if that was directed at me but will answer from my point of view just in case it was.

The first leg of my trip I actually intend to be in India around mid/late September and am also quite interested in Central Asia hence the route and June start date.

Initially I was looking at shipping to Japan, riding there and then the ferry to Vlad. But this may be scrapped in interest of time and cost.

Another option I am trying to read up on now is also shipping to South Korea and then the ferry to Russia (The name escapes me, but its an island I believe) where the bike can either be ridden to the ferry in Korea or also sent by truck.

Happy to work with other plans if a group can be assembled for the Aus > "that part of the world" freight though.

Hi There,

Early planning stage for the same trip coming from the US. June 2014 may work better for me. Prefer to ride it with other rider. Let me know if interested.

Yigal
NH-USA

Hi, The reason for either going via Korea or Japan was that (I was told) it is very difficult to ship from Australia directly to Vladivostok. If someone knows about a direct way, all the better as it will save a lot of costs. June would be the a better time as the weather would be optimum. I travelled though from Beijing to Ulan Bator to Moscow last June and it was neither hot nor cold. Riding with a small group would be good although one does not necessarily have to stay together. Two by two would be great but who knows a larger group would work fine as long we all enjoy the same pace/route etc. In '97 I went from India to Europe with two friends. In the end we found it cheaper and less hassle to fly the bikes from Brisbane to Madras. By Ship often appears cheaper but is often subject to many charges. When we flew the bikes the were place on an aircraft pallet with plastic wrap around them and that was it. (drain the tank and disconnect the battery- Malaysian Airlines) In reply to Daze 55556: if sending by ship it could be a month from go to collect or perhaps more)
cheers Richard

Richard,

The best paper maps are available at bookshops and modern fuel stations in Russia. They may be oldish and out of date. There is a lot of road construction going on in Russia.

The best electronic maps are available here: http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/43.1096/131.8855, and accessible on GPS here:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...eet-maps-64135

I've had a look and it appears really expensive to get a bike from Australia to Vladivostok

These guys want $2800 one way
Vladivostock Russia

I reckon I'd be better off buying in Europe and selling for a small loss.

Tom

Hello Tom
Always best to stay away from these type of companies as they charge a premium over everything you could do yourself anyway. This is the reason that most people opt for Korea or Japan. There is more trade ,to and fro going on between the latter two than between Aus and Vladivostok.
In this case it would still be far cheaper to freight the bike from Aus to Europe; ride to Vladivostok and go back by train to Moscow (9 days ) and ship back from Europe (or leave it there for the next trip. next week I will see my old riding buddy who shipped to Vlad last year and ask him about the cost etc.
Cheers Richard

Richard,

I have a couple of Japan shipping contacts I will contact during the week and ask them for pricing structure.

Will post up outcome here

Is this something you would potentially be interested in sharing costs is if we are both aiming for June?

I have been keeping an eye on some other threads too, and it seems other than this thread there is a possible 20ft container with a 4WD also heading that way similar time but doubtful how much extra room they would have (also no replies in that thread)

Thanks Walter, a great help
cheers

Yes ofcourse I am interested in sharing- During the HU meeting in Brisbane I spoke to a guy who wanted to ship his 4WD - but did not get his name

Is this the meet in Dayboro a few weeks back you are referring to? I was there also.

Anyway, will reply here once I can get some quotes.

Yes that is correct- at Dayboro

I found an Australian company called Bikes Abroad, they quoted $800 each way to Busan, South Korea then advised getting a ferry to Vladivostok.

Ivan told me they had done this many times and his agent in Busan can arrange all the paperwork including booking the ferry which is about $400 US return.

At this stage I still think I'd be better to buy a bike in Ireland and either sell it at the end or store it.

There is a guy in Cork, Ireland called Martin (Wheatwhacker) who runs a FB page Motofeirme which facilitates foreigners buying bikes in Ireland.

Lots of good reports about him on HUBB and ADV.

Just more to consider...

Tom.

Hello Tom,
Interesting and worth considering, I know that there are many travellers going west -to east rather than East-West. Two things needs to be found out about.
1/ I already have a motorcycle in Europe(R1100RS with GS handlebars)which has served me very well during the last few years. ( To buy this bike was cheaper than the shipment to Vlad.)
I was born in Holland but only have an Australian passport so legally speaking I am a foreigner in my own country of birth. For this reason the bike is registered in a friends name (who helped me buying it) It is parked at his house and he looks after it for me.. However , transferring I my name is a problem as you need to show your Dutch drivers licence and need to have a registered address (all Dutch citizen are registered as a citizen of their local council, they even have to de-register and re re-register if the move from one place to another.
This is European law. If this guy in Cork knows away around it that would be great.(Ireland has the same laws- EU laws)
2/ Although you don't need a carnet in Russia we would need to know if the motorcycle details are stamped in the passport. A friend of mine got into trouble a few years ago because the passport and motorcycle permission papers did not match up. Wether it is possible to sell the bike on the other side or to dump to bike(if need be ) I am not sure of. To me it does not really matter if I ride east-west or the other way around. Altough I wanted to linger a bit in the European summer.
cheers

Richard,

I will clarify with Martin regarding registering the bike.

I was of the understanding that if you had a visa to enter Russia that was all you need?

I haven't heard about having bike details in a passport before?

I am very flexible with direction and timing, my main issue is I'd prefer not to do long stretches solo for safety and logistical reasons.

My first preference is to hit Ireland late May and head east through France, Spain (family) nothern Italy, Croatia and get to Russia via Turkey and Georgia.

There is another group sending bikes via a shipping container to Vladivostok arriving in early July for 2 months my hope would be to join up with them fora couple of weeks and leave the bike in their container to be sent back to Ireland and either store it or sell it.

If the container falls through I guess I'd get the train back to Moscow and make a mad dash to Ireland. Dump the bike and head home.
That is the preferred plan but happy to be flexible.

Tom.

Hi Tom
I have found Mike and sent him an email
Not sure if the bike goes into the passport- for example in Turkey bit always does. My friend had a separate document for his bike but it had a different expiry date. When he tried to leave he found out it had expired. Of course the document was in Russian bit you sort of could make out the dates though.
The route is fine by me. This year I travelled the northern route to St Peterburg (train) zo south through the Stan's would be interesting.
cheers Richard

For Russia all you need is your passport, visa and bike documents (v5) you get a temporary import document when you enter and hand it back in when you leave, I think it lasts for 3 months before you either have to renew it or leave the country. Also you should get insurance when you enter, although when we did it last year we did not and only asked once through your the trip for it ( gave the guy our English insurance details and after a while he got bored and moved us on ).
There is no stamp in your passport that links to the bike details, no carnet needed either.
This is the same for Mongolia if you are going to travel through it on the way.

Cheers


Mark
www.bamriders.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

Mark, thanks for that.

Richard - I'm am told the bike can be registered in my name at his address in Ireland. This can also be done in the UK.

I will be putting my name on a spread sheet located on post number 29 here...
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...2014-a-70639-2

Lots of people heading that way next year.

Tom.

Hi Tom
Spent some time with my mate who did a trip via Vlad 2 years ago. (Near lake Baikal broke his leg and had to abandon the trip) Cost to Korea was expensive and so was the ferry trip to Vladivostok. best is to start in Europe. perhaps buy a bike in Ireland as this can be done i have found out. In Bulgaria it is poss to get green card insurance. Perhaps a route would be to Turkey and the Stan's to Mongolia and than go either to Vlad for the sake of it and sell the bike there (if that is possible) or put bike and self on the train to Moscow and ride the rest back to W Eur. Cheers richard

Sydney to Russia, Mongolia, 'stans, Turkey, Europe, 2014
 

Hi there,

Glad to see this thread on here. I'm looking at the same trip, also from Sydney. I'm from the States, but traveling around Oz at the moment on a KL250 I bought here. Looking at shipping to Japan or Korea and ferrying across to Russia, doing some of Mongolia, back to Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Europe.

Would definitely love to start this trip off with another person or small group just to get going, or meeting up periodically.

Thinking of leaving Sydney in May or June. I too was considering buying a bike in Russia (Ural sidecar anyone!?), or shipping my Sherpa.



Thanks,
Elisa

travelbugblues.wordpress.com
elisarw@gmail.com

Relevant Thread
 

Here's a thread about shipping costs that might be useful. I just wrote to this company asking for a quote. I'd prefer to fly the bike, but if it saves over $1,500AUD....

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...th-korea-58218

It seems that there are more people interested in doing this trip. I am planning for being in Vlad in the beginning of June as that would have the best weather all the way through. Would be good if we get a group together to share the cost.

I visited my mate who has done this 2 yeas ago at great expense. If it comes down to costs, it would be cheaper to start in Europe and even to train the back to say Moscow. As it was my mate had a mishap and broke his leg just past Irkutsk. The bike had to be shipped back to Aus. That trip cost him $10.000 but that included to transport the bike back to Vlad and in a container to Aus.

There are definite cost savings in numbers. I don't care either way. Ship my own bike via Korea or japan to Vlad or buying a bike in Ireland (see above) and starting from there.
Cheers Richard

Hi guys , it has been e few weeks. is there any further interest form other persons to ship to Vladivostok. I checked out the link supplied with regard to the chap who flew his bike to Korea. When you add up all the costs the AUD 2800 end to end is not all that bad. (from Sydney) Often there are many charges at various places but this is an all in price. Need 7 bikes though to make it worth while.
Departing around June 1 from Vlad gives the best weather conditions.
lets hear it
Cheers Richard

Hi Guys
I have received a very favourable quote for LCL transport Brisbane to Vladivostok for around AUD 800. (using a (guess) size of an 1.6m3 crate.) This is delivered into Vlad. other cost to be added at the other end , but have a contact which has done clearance before.
Sailing time 21-28 days
It has been confirmed that the best departure time is during the first week of June
Richard

Perhaps we need a single threat
 

Hi
I have noticed several threats re Russia and overlanding to Europe.
Perhaps there is someone who can put that in a single threat for departure early June from Vladivostok and/or Aussies wanted to combine shipment ex Brisbane at around $1000 direct to Vladivostok. I am travelling a lot at present and would have difficulty maintaining fast contact
regards
Richard