Magadan soft bags stolen in Mongolia, what now?

[AdamTours]

Hi guys,

so I have been traveling through in Mongolia with a set of relatively new AdvSpec Magadans when my mate and I stopped in Sukhbaatar for the night. The hotel Selenge there has a fenced, though not locked yard away from the street, and as the bikes were parked right under our window relatively out of sight, I thought it would be reasonable to leave the outer shells of the Magadans on the bike over night. Turns out this was a big mistake, as they were gone by the morning.

Out in the boonies in Mongolia, I thought my mate was the sucker for having come with vulnerable hard cases, but his locked hard cases were still there today morning. For some reason I thought that something that is not more valuable than a shopping bag for someone who is not an enduro afficionado would not be particularly tempting loot, especially given that it was covered by an inch of caked mud on all sides, which was the second reason I did not take it up to the hotel room. The first being that it took me too long to securely strap it back on each time.

Anyway. The fact that nobody spoke even a little English at Selenge hotel in Sukhbaatar did not make things simpler, but once they understood the problem a nice man came along with me to show where I could try to find some sort of improvised replacement. We shopped around an open market for around an hour until I found two “Samsonite” (obviously not authentic) branded polyester bags with handles that were big enough to fit the Magadan inside bags with my stuff. I also bought a roll of clothes line. With the help of some straps I had, the straps we used to secure the bikes for transport in the container, the clothesline, and the ingenuity of the nice man, we tied the bags onto my motorbike, trying to carefully avoid them from touching the hot exhaust and melting or catching fire. I was quite nervous if the improvised construction, which would have been more at home on a pack mule than a motorcycle, would hold up, but it did not budge for the next 350 km. I also prayed at the border crossing that the customs officers don't make me open it, because it would have taken another hour to remount.

So I am in Ulan Ude now, and I am looking for a better solution. I don't want to stay here for more than 24 hours, so I think that eliminates the option of ordering new Magadans. Does anyone have any ideas if I can buy some bike real bike luggage here, or else know a good mechanic who can improvise something decent for me? Ideally it would be good enough to drive through Russia. I am thankful for any pointers.

Cheers,

Adam