Motorcycles needed in Mongolia, tax ded. contribution
 

Hi-

I help sponsor an Oxford PHD student researching Corsac foxes in the Mongolian steppes. Once they radio collar the animals, they use motorcycles for tracking the foxes and are running into problems with their old machines. I am seeking donation (501.c.3) of a couple of reliable motorcycles for this important work, from tour operators or overland travelers or??? Jed Murdoch is a wonderful dedicated researcher and needs help.

His work work can be seen at
http://www.canids.org/canid-db-show-full.php?item=118
and
http://www.wildcru.org/research/ecol/mongolia.htm


Thanks for you help or any leads you have for this important work,


Nathaniel M. Pulsifer,

1027 North Weber Street

Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80903

(719) 448-0314 Phone (719) 633-7347 Fax

While not an expert on the subject, I would think that locally available bikes would be a better option than newer high-tech motorcyles that travelers or tour companies use.
Riders for Health covers maintenance issues better than I could hope to explain.
http://www.riders.org/en/html/logistics.php

While Russian and Chinese bikes you can buy in mongoila will break down, they can also easilly be fixed. They also run on the more easily available low-octane gas (A mongolian biker out of gas turned down my offer of assistance becuase the gas I had on my BMW was an octane level too high for him).
If a modern Japanese or German bike has electrical problems and it is weeks for spare parts to arrive. So, unless there is a maintenance crew on standby, the locally available bikes would be a better choice in my opinion. The money to buy a bike can also be gathered from multiple donors and sent to Mongolia easier than searching high and low for available bikes.

I don't write this to put you down or reject your idea. I just wanted to give you another option that may be more (in my opinoin) realistic.

Good luck!


[This message has been edited by Chris in Tokyo (edited 27 July 2005).]

Nathaniel:

I think Jed would be best off using the IZH Planeta Russian bikes that are available locally in Mongolia. They are very basic two-stokes. There are thousands of them in use throughout the countryside, and thus many herders can fix them and find spare parts.

Any other type of bike would be difficult or impossible to find spare parts for in Mongolia, and no locals would know how to fix them.

Here's a website for the Planeta: http://www.izhmoto.ru/eng/planet

-Scott