Motorcycle insurance on older bike in Russia
 

I am planning a RTW ride from Dublin to Vladivostok - North America the spring of 2016.

At a recent HU meeting in Ontario, someone mentioned that I would have problems getting insurance on my 2003 BMW 1150 GS motorcycle at the Russian border as it was over 10 years old.

Is this really the case? Have the Russians changed their policies on the temporary import on older vehicles. i.e. motorcycles?

I have already spend a lot of time and money getting the GS prepared for the
trip and would therefore like to know if I will need to find another bike for the trip.

Brian

I'm sorry for not responding sooner, but I didn't have any specific information. However, I've just gotten back from a short trip with a guy on a 14-year-old Yamaha (I forget the model name); he's had no problem getting insurance in Russia or bringing it in as temporary import when it was more than ten years old.

It sounds like the person who told you about not being able to get insurance was misinformed...

3 Belgian guys on older BMW R100GS' had no problem getting insurance on Monday this week when I crossed the border with them

Perhaps I misunderstood then what the gentleman from the HU meeting was talking about. He was emphatic that for his trip across Europe, Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia that he had to upgrade his bike for the trip to a more recent model.


Perhaps he was referring to a restriction on his motorcycle travel insurance policy ?






www.ride4adventure.com

Who knows? My bet is that he was just misinformed, there are many misconceptions about Russia on this forum. Plus he probably wanted a new bike anyway...