I’ve been invited to visit a friend in Iwaki, Fukushima in August 2013. I was looking into flight costs and wondering whether or not to go, when a friend of mine said to me “why don’t you ride a bike back”.
So I’ve been scanning HU posts of information. Chris of Japan, if you read this it would be nice to hear from you, but that doesn’t exclude anyone else or any helpful advice.
So I wondered what would be the possibility of buying a Honda Africa Twin or xr650l within a few weeks and heading home. Sat here in England I imagine that
(Because they are manufactured there) Japan is full of good quality second hand Hondas’ weighting to be snapped up for a little money? Naive perhaps?

I have done several long distance bike trips, the biggest was a 4 month solo trip to Mongolia two years ago. I have read that it is not so difficult to go from Japan to Russia but I have already ridden in Russia. I only got as far east as Novosibirsk so I wouldn’t be disappointed by the challenge of riding home through far eastern Russia. However. The real gem for me would be to try and come home Vietnam Laos, Burma, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey into Europe. Has anyone done this route before?

This post is to kick-start my brain and get an overview of possibilities and problems.

So my questions go something like this:-

If I buy a bike in Japan I will be exporting it a few weeks later as I head home in either direction. Is this possible to do and keep the bikes Japanese registration?
I will need paperwork for the bike to cross boarders. Perhaps I can ride it home and send the registration back to Japan for my friend to record as destroyed?

The Russian route would not require a carnets for a Brit on a British registered bike, is that also true for a Brit on a Japanese registered bike?

I have heard that some countries do not allow bikes over a certain size, does anyone know if that includes the countries above?

I know that I will need some form of carnets for the second route. As I haven’t used one before I’m still unsure of how they will work for me as I am buying the bike in a foreign country. Do I buy the carnets in Japan or England and am I destined to loose whatever money it costs me, as the bike will not return to Japan?

Thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read and reply.

Rich.