Does anyone have experience of the Minsk D4 125?
 

I am sure some here have experience of the Minsk 2 strokes beloved of travellers in Vietnam where they were and possibly still are available outside of any Hanoi and Saigon backpackers hostel but is anyone familiar with the latest D4 125cc model?

Although Minsk is a Belorussian brand they look like another Chinese made Honda CG125 knockoff which means the quality can range from utter junk through to perfectly good, I know my Chinese built Honda XR125 is Honda quality so anything is possible. I ask as they seem to be the only motorcycle sold in some Central Asian countries and could end up as my next travel bike.

D4 125

Some decent trucks are made in Belarus, so yeah anythings possible. If there's lots of them around then the quality is less important since you'll have access to parts easily and mechanics who know their peculiarities.

With a carb, kickstart, and a OHV motor you should be able to keep it moving forwards if nothing else :) Are there no Honda cub based bikes available where you're going?

Lukashenka threatened to jail the MD of the Minsk motorcycle factory a few months ago because the bike was too Chinese and not Belarussian enough.
So as long as you don't get a recent bike it will probably be fine.

I have asked in several places about small Japanese bikes in Central Asia as they would be my preference but the answer seems to be no which is a shame.

Yeah, but a Cub-based bike from one of the more reputable Chinese manufacturers would still be good (albeit a bit slower than a CB/CG clone)