I am looking at alternative methods of shipping/ transporting motorcycles to the Russian border with Mongolia.
I have looked at putting the bikes on a train, air freight and also in a lorry ( crated) .
All of these are either very expensive or in the case of the train, not easy to organise.
So my next thought was put them in a van and drive them across Russia. Obviously if you either drive a vehicle, or ride a bike over the border, the paperwork is much the same. Vehicle registration document, Driving license, Int Driving license, insurance and temporary importation document.
My idea was Van with 4 bikes, 2 people drive the Van out. Other 2 fly. Meet up, have 2 weeks in Mongolia, then the 2 that drove out fly back and the 2 that flew drive the van back. That way the trip involves 3 weeks away. Sounds simple!
But. How does it work at the border, is it OK to have a van with 4 bikes?
I have looked, but cannot find the answer. Has anyone done this or have an idea where I can find the answer.

Regards Neil

It is possible.

As mentioned you should have all the paperwork related to the bikes, with the bikes.

For good orders sake, I would also take along passport ID page photocopies of the registered keepers (the people on the V5 documents).

You should also have a dated and signed letter from each owner (signature matching that in his passport, name matching that on the V5) saying you (or whoever will be the driver will be at the border) have permission to transport the bikes from the UK to Mongolia across Russia.

It should be enough to have it in English. It used to be compulsory to have it in Russia, officially translated, but I believe the law changed earlier this year. It may be wise to still have it all translated into Russian, even unofficially - border people will have english speakers, local cops en route will most likely have none.

You will also need the similar letter for whoever is driving the van, if the van is not in the name of the driver.

You will also need similar effect letters for the trip back (as it will be a different driver) for both the van and for the bikes.

Do yourself a favour and cross at the border from Latvia to Russia, as they are likely to give you a lot less hassle that if you try to enter the Customs union via Belarus.

If you want to drive a van from UK to Mongolia in a week, you are going to have to be at the wheel at least 18-20 hours a day, or maybe even 24/7 ... just rotating drivers while the other sleeps. Its a long way and the two in the van will be truly shagged when they arrive. The smart guys in your group will choose the drive back. At least they will be fresh for Mongolia.

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Thank you very much for the advice and reply. It is approximately 4000 miles from Ijmuiden to Barnaul, I have ridden and driven in lots of central European countries, but never in Russia, I assume from your reply the driving speeds and conditions are much slower in Russia. How long do you think it will take to cover this distance?
Regards and thanks. Neil

Well on the highways, traffic police are everywhere. Speed limit is 100 km/h on divided roads and 90 km/h on non-divided highways.

But thats not your main issue. You are often stuck behind slow moving freight trucks with no opportunity to overtake (solid white line in the middle of the road). Again police everywhere on highways patrol the white lines vigorously.

Passing thru towns, speed limits drop to 50 km/h.

Its not just Russia, even going thru Poland always takes twice as long as you think it will.

Barnaul is still about 500 miles of twisty road from the Mongolian border.

I think you can do it in a week with two rotating drivers and being on the road, I reckon, 18 hours a day from the UK, just saying it will not be fun at all in the van ... just bear that in mind.

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We did a trip to Kiev and experienced the over zealous Police. Also you never achieve what you think should be your average speed. I guess we should be allow 10 days for the drive.
As for stopping at Barnaul, we have to leave the van somewhere and from what I have read that part of the road is more suited to a motorcycle.
I first read of your exploits reading the Sibirsky Extreme. It was from looking at and reading that that encouraged me to want to travel further. We did the Indian Himalayas self supported and part of my inspiration for this trip is your website and also reading about the pace of change in some of these countries.
I cannot contact you directly through a PM, but would appreciate it it you could PM me.
Thank you very much for your advice.
Regards Neil

You should be able to PM now ... there is a threshold of 5 posts ... you now have 5 posts

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It will be very interested to read this story



Preparin documents in Russian will be essential.