It's definitely possible to get temporary insurance in Moscow, but I've had one or two places refuse to issue it for a foreign bike. Where is your bike being stored in Moscow?

I've never found a place offering insurance on-line, although I've never looked very hard either.

Don't laugh, but I haven't a clue where my bike is! It's with a friend of a friend in a warehouse ... and perfectly safe. I've visited it a couple of times, but couldn't begin to tell you where I was.

Anyway, thanks for your reassurance. I'm not going to worry unduly. The problem only occurred to me because at the time I had my little mishap, we didn't have any insurance at all. We had arrived at the border after 6pm and all the foreign exchange booths were closed - so we had no local currency to buy insurance, and they didn't take dollars or credit cards. Anywhere else, one would worry ... but this is Russia and no one is particularly bothered about third party insurance until you actually hit someone else. So we just rode on to Velikyie Luki and assumed that we would be able to buy insurance there ...

Of course, by the time I arrived at our hotel, I had a broken leg and, since I wasn't going to be riding any further, I didn't bother with insurance. Unfortunately, Velikyie Luki is a smallish place. Roynie went into town and found that none of the insurance offices there would sell him a temporary policy. However, since we were stuck at the hotel until I could arrange transport for my bike and only a couple of hundred km from the border, the (extremely kind) owner drove Roynie back to the border so he could buy his insurance there.

I've just had an almost criminal quote of €364 for two months' third party cover from Alessie, so I guess I'll just wait until I get to Moscow.

I'll let you know how I get on.