Hey guys, im new to the forum and i just wanted some advice on where to go/what to do and how much its going to cost. I currently live in Australia and im planning to go on a motorbike trip (hence why im here) up through asia and possibly into russia if funds permit. i was planning to go with one other person but i am unsure if its more/less expensive to go solo, and wether this outweighs the fact that you carry twice the gear.so heres the trip basically.

(bear in mind that this is only preliminary and i dont really know about boder restrictions ect and if you can go from one place to annother)

Brisbane
Darwin
Ship Bike to east timor
Indonesia
ship from Mendan (Indonesia) to Malaysia
Down to singapore
Back up into thailand
Laos
Vietnam
Elsewhere?

after that im unsure weather to go into china (if i can) and then maybe even russia if i can make it that far. im not afraid of camping infact i prefer it if possible. have you guys got any tips or ideas for me? i motorbiked around thailand in 2010 and it was the best fun, but i didnt really plan it because it was relativley easy. Thanks for any help you can give me!

Hi Vandolizm,

Welcome to HU. Your question is too large for me to easily answer. However there is a lot of information on this site that will answer most of your questions if you use the search function in the upper right hand corner of the home page.

Your basic plan sounds good to me. Unless you're rich I would focus on Indonesia and southeast Asia as there are a lot of great places to go. It is expensive to ride China since you have to hire a guide, and people who skip China going to Russia from SE Asia usually ship from SE Asia to Vladivostok via Korea which is expensive.

There is plenty of cheap lodging along the way through Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos which would be cheaper if you split the cost with a riding partner. If you plan to camp then that isn't the case. My advice is to spend some time reading in the trip planning section and ask more specific questions or attend a HU travelers meetup, or send away for one of Grant and Susan's DVD's on moto travel for more detailed info.

Kindest regards,
John Downs

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South America and back on a 250 Super Sherpa Minimalist Adventure http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=831076

You´ll most likely need to have the carnet for getting the bike to Indonesia (and possibly Malaysia as well, if you ship it in – land border coming from Thailand is reported easy, so could probably be done without). You could ship from Oz straight to Singapore or Malaysia, but then you´d miss Indonesia, which I´d say would be a great loss.

The very short summary should be something like this:
- Indo, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia & Laos all do-able, and highly recommended, too, but take your time, there´s just so much to see and do in each of them.
- Burma, Vietnam, China with your own bike – very hard, complicated and costly (Burma = practically impossible!).... so I´d strongly advice to start with the countries first mentioned, and then when you´ve done a bit of touring there, you´ll probably have a much better idea, if you want to give those harder ones a try... but I can almost guarantee, that it won´t be easy!

(Vietnam you can do separately if you fancy, by leaving your own bike somewhere, flying to Hanoi, for example, and renting from there... and I hear some have also done something similar in China, but I really don´t know more about that)

I personally think I´ve done several of the best biking trips in my life in that area, and I´ve never ridden in Burma, Vietnam or China. It´s a shame, that they´re so tough to get your vehicle into. But the good news is, that there are still many, many wonderful places accessible in that region!

And also: spend a few days browsing this very site, as the topic of travelling by bike around SE Asia has really been a common one here.

Hey everyone, thanks for the great replies!

Yeah i know its a pretty vague question, and it covers allot of area, i was just hoping for some general advice, and some help on where to look. ivebeeing snooping around for most of the day, and it does seem like china is a bad idea, too much money. i was hoping to spend less than 15000 dolllars total, and i was also looking into couchsurfing(CouchSurfing - Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time) if i cant camp. basically i want to make it as cheap as possible, without sacrificing allot of the fun in the trip.

Theres a whole lot of information on the site, but im struggling to find people that are doing it in the same direction as me in recent years. Ie, going from australia to indonesia or east timor, not the other way around. but i did find some useful information on shipping companies that ship to that area from dawin. would the journey by sea (me a freind and the bikes) take that long? im unsure and ive never done long haul travel via boat before. i found somewhere that it said it was 800AUD ish to send the bikes on a plane, and around the same price to ship a bike and a rider by sea, is this true, or are these posts to old to be still relevant (i think they where from 2007). is there much point in waiting around for a bike in the country im visisting? what are the advantages of air freight over sea freight? also am i better off buying a bike in indonesia or east timor, rather than shipping one over? because looking at the import duties in australia, it looks like it may not be worth bringing it back.

My original plan was to buy one of these: F650GS DAKAR
http://www.redbook.com.au/bikes/rese...&Ridx=3&eapi=2


which is what this bloke rekons: http://www.panomoto.com/index.html

my only worry was that it is chain driven, and i didnt know if i was better off with a belt or shaft driven bike. or even if i could get away with buying a big touring bike for a little cheaper, and have a bit more confort.

also whats the go with carnet's, i am aware that ill probably need one, but the bond money that you have to pay is a little unclear. i have to pay 100% of the purchase price in australia refundable when i bring the bike back home? or am i wrong, how does the money system work?

sorry for the 100s of questions, i figure im better off being prepared so the trip doesnt go down the drainpipe earier than expected.
Thanks for the replies in advance

Regarding camping most people find that in South East asia its simply not worth the effort given the cheap accommodation available pretty much everywhere.

If you get to Russia you might find it handy.

A simple rule of thumb (though there may be some exceptions, but not many): there are no international ferry lines in that region any more.

So when you want to go from one country to another, and there´s sea between them, expect to put the bike on a cargo boat, and yourself on a plane, or in some rare cases, a passenger boat (those might still operate on the strait of Malacca, for example – or if you´re really lucky, there just might be a proper ferry, but use it quickly, before they shut it down again; the situation with those is ever-changing!)

One of the difficulties of the guidebooks, for example, is the fact that usually they´re written for backpackers, not overlanders, who travel with their own vehicles. So when they speak of a "ferry", it might mean anything from proper car ferries to some small speedboats unable to carry any cargo.

Ideally you want something with a car deck, but this is Asia, so they´re good at improvising, and if there´s some way to load (and unload) the bike, and you´re very good at persuading people, then it might not be unthinkable to transport a bike with some other kind of ship. The weight&size of your bike might also affect here. But can you make travel plans based on something like that, is another question? Guess it depends on how much time (and patience) you´ve got!!

The two cargo shipping lines, that have probably been the most important means to transport bikes between Malaysia (Singapore), Indonesia, East Timor, and north Australia in recent years, are the Perkins Shipping line (Singapore-Dili-Darwin) and Cakra Shipping´s small cargo boats (Penang-Belawan, Sumatra). I´m not really sure about Perkins, but Cakra shipping I´ve used myself, and it did not require crating the bike (that is also something to think about, when you need to send as freight). The bike was just lifted on top of other cargo, mostly onion sacks.

I had the carnet, and never had any problems with the customs in Indonesia, but I heard of several people, who had had more than their fair share of worries importing their bikes temporarily (even though they had the carnet, just like me!)... so it might be a good idea to use the sort of ´well worn path´, at least when choosing your point of entry to Indonesia.

edit. Carnet-info here (and also from the AA of your home country – a place, that you´ll need to get in contact anyway):
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tri...#CarnetExplain

Something more from the region here:
MOTO1 - Matkalla

Hello and welcome to the forum !.

In 2010 I'd shipped from Darwin to Singapore then looped South East Asia to the edges of where you can ride without limitation. By that I mean I was on a 1150GS (Pig) and they just don't allow bikes bigger than 200cc into Vietnam or China ( OK, they will with escorts etc, but that's outside of a tight-*rse budget).
You must have a Carnet ( easy to get via AAA etc) and you must be patient at border crossings, but for everything else it's a dream come true on a bike.
From SEA I continued right to Europe, and this year did the Artic Circle so you can do it, just plan ahead.
Like the other comments say, Indonesia and Phillipines are also a great stop, but my plan is to see them on the return loop in 3 years or so.
From what I've seen there is no perfect-bike for such a trip, so the best one is the one you are sitting on and make the best of it.
If you need more detail etc you're welcome to email bergrider at hotmail dot com.
Cheers and ride safe !

I'm in the middle of my trip in SEA! Here's my recent experience!

Accommodation is cheap, and it's good to have a least a fan if you've been in your gear all day in the heat and 90% humidity (I'm a fan of ATGATT though). I found the humidity/temp drops off around Hua Hin / Bangkok, but also found a lot more budget accommodation so hasn't been worth camping.

It's also not worth the cost of taking the bike into Singapore. You'll need the local ICP+Insurance+Autopass card (S$200-300?), and anywhere you park it costs S$1.30/day, and you also have to worry about the ERP tolls in the city center. Awesome food though.

Also, skip Jahor (the entire state), it's just oil palms! Best idea would be to take a bus down to Singapore from Melacca and avoid that horrible southern part of Malaysia

My bike (DR650) with luggage attached and filled with some gear was only $1600 to ship via Qantas freight from Darwin to Singapore, it was 180kg total but the volume cost was calculated for 450kg. If I was doing it again I'd ship from Brisbane and it would knock about $500 off the shipment cost because the bike has to go back there anyway (Jetstar don't carry dangerous goods). Darwin is the most expensive place I've ever been (in fact, that applies to all of NT) so the less time you spend there the better. For me it saved 5-10days of accommodation in two of the most expensive cities on my route compared to sear freight. On the morning of my flight I dropped off the bike at the airport and it was in Singapore the day after I got there, but I stayed a week anyway!

I went with the DR650 too because it's a known cheap, reliable bike with a huge amount of aftermarket parts. I bought it brand new and rode it to work for 12 months before I departed to get to know how to service it and what bits I wanted to improve. In total I've spent around $12000ish (bike purchase + parts - selling old parts) and now I have something that suits me perfectly and is far better than what I rode out of the shop. You don't see a lot of high mileage DR's being sold like you do with the BMW's however, that's a risk I've taken I guess

The Carnet is pretty easy in Australia, the only confusing part is the bond where you pay the "insurance" type. If you look up the AAA carnet site there's a number you can call and they can answer your questions, I did this about 12 months before leaving and they're all very helpful. The total cost for the carnet for me was $940 because I took the insurance type. I don't think I get any of that back though.

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http://ryanbeales.blogspot.com/

hey mate i am in the middle of a similar trip.

I'm from perth and am headed for cambodia/laos.

my route so far has been perth - darwin - east timor - lindonesia (island hopping til Bali) - Singapore where i am at the moment.

i shipped my bike from darwin to dili with perkins freight ($400) and flew with air north ($250) as you cant go on the boat with your bike unfortunately. perkins were a decent company to work with and it was all pretty straight forward

yeah you will need a carnet, mine cost me $950 of which i get 250 back. is was pretty easy to get from the RAC.

i havn't camped at all since oz and sent my camping stuff home from bali.

once you are in indonesia it is pretty simple to get around with the ferries between the islands

when i got to Bali i put my bike on a ship and flew to singapore. (do not use nominasi cargo under any circumstances)

regarding your choice of bike my opinion is that a 650 would be to big. I am on a CT 110 postie due to funds but i think the right bike to take would be a 250 road/trail such as maybye a xt250 or similar.

good luck with the planning and hopefully i might have some more usefull info when i come home in mid Jan.