Minsk vs. Jawa / Planeta / Jupiter / Dnepr

[DavidZweig]

Hello,

Does anyone have any familiarity with these Russian/Soviet bikes? I have been in Minsk for a number of months and now I'd like to drive to Syria. Foreign bikes (German, Italian, Japanese) are much more expensive than these 'local' bikes. Looking on irr.by (small adds in Belarus) any of these bikes in fairly good shape (from the early 90s) can be had for less than $300. But I don't know which one is most suitable for such a trip.

**UPDATE:** I've put the aproximate range of prices for the different bikes for anyone intrested.

The contenders are:

Minsk: made here in Minsk. 2-stroke 125cc. Made mainly for export and used in many countries. [$150-$250] [Sometimes newer four-stroke models with chinese engines can be found for higher prices, upto $600]
Jawa: made in the Czech republic. Was the largest motorcylce plant in eastern europe during the soviet union. 350cc 2-cylinder 2-stroke. [$350-$600 ?]
Planeta: Russian 350cc single-cylinder 2-stroke. [$250-$400]
Jupiter: As above but twin cylinder [$250-$350 ?]
Dnepr: Made in Ukraine. 750cc 4-stroke based on an old model BMW. [$250-$600 ?]
Urals - some of these for sale too.

Obviously a good bike should be:

>fairly reliable and tough
>not use too much fuel (20km/l or better?)
>Can cruise at at least 55mph
>not have bad vibrations when cruising, and not to noisy (makes you tired too..)
>Have parts available easily available where I am going.

I've heard that the Jawa is the best bike. It also seems to fetch the highest prices here.

I've made a sepate thread in the 'Europe' forum about the route I'll be taking.

Thank you for your responses

David