Vladivostock or Japan back to Europe (Moscow)
 

I'm currently planning my overland London - Tokyo for this summer taking in some great highlights (Pamir etc). Looking at ways to get the bike back. I know putting it on the official Trans Siberian (Vlad to Moscow) is not allowed.

Are other trains / freight trains an option? i.e. breaking up the journey?
Would there be road freight options?
Would sea be best. Either Japan or Vlad to Western Europe.

My thoughts are that there should be a way to get the bike back to Moscow whilst I fly / train and then I can ride it in the last few thousand to finish off my trip without the vast expenses of air freight.

Thoughts / experiences welcomed

where did you hear that it is not allowed to ship to moscow on the trans-siberian? I have never heard that.

if you check on the train's websites it says cars and motorbikes are strictly a no. Please tell me if you know better

Time to make a travel agent earn their commission?

Have a look at How to plan & book a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway bucketloads of info. I'd be asking them the question of how to get a bike and person back from Vlad to Moscow. Or do the trip in reverse - train to Vlad and bike it back to Europe.

Mitsui were/are using their own trains for Vlad to Europe, so you maybe able to get something in Japan. Ask Mitsui in Europe for who to contact or maybe they can sort something for you - you would have to go to Japan for loading into a container.

Groupage in a container from S. Korea to Europe will be very easy to organise, weekly? ferry to S. Korea from Russia. Air freight from Seoul is also very easy.

on this site people have posted about putting their bikes on the train quite frequently, although IIRC they were going to/from Irkutsk or other places a bit further west than vladi.

Motorbikes, quads etc in summer, skibikes in winter are regularly shipped by rail from Moscow to/from major cities going east, all the way to the pacific.

However they usually go as freight on freight trains - not on the passenger trains.

This means sending them in advance of yourself and collecting after your arrival - maybe days apart.

If you are in a hurry it could be quicker to ride it. A long boring ride along the Trans Siberian Highway, but there are opportunities of divertions for interesting sightseeing or challenging riding.

why stop at vlad??????
 

you could and in my opinion, Go to Japan ride around for a bit as you are already closer to home... Fly bike to the U.S and ride to halifax in Canada and ship home from there..

This is Only to stop you travelling back on the same boring route.

Have fun

I'm doing round the world east to west then north to south, starting Late yes late around August 2011 to arrive in Vlad b4 last ferry leave for Japan.

surely that would cost a fortune $1,000 US + before I have even thought about me!

likewise
 

i too am planning a trip leaving ireland this summer (end of June), riding to volgograd and up through kazakhstan, mongolia and back into Russia (Ulan-Ude). My options are to continue up and do the road of bones into Magadan, which leaves me in a quandary as to how to get the bike home (expense is my issue, not time as i've quit my job). Or, failing that, I just blast home through Russia from Ulan-Ude and forget the road of bones. If anyone knows any sensible ways of getting a bike back to the UK from magadan, let me know.

Yes. You ride it!

The airport has no international flights - freight or passenger.
The port mostly serves shipping to/from other Russian Pacific ports only.
The nearest rail is Tynda about 2,500 miles away on the BAM where you might get it on a direct train as far as Moscow, then 3 days ride to UK.