Red Square Moscow

Hi there to 1 and all,
Me and the mate are planning a trip to Russia in October, im going on the Gs and for his sins he is going on a GSXR, poor lad I hear you all say!!!
We have heard plenty of bad rumours etc, has anybody done this trip, or ventured into Russia? If so any help, advice or tips would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.

Russia is fine. Just try and stick to the rules, be humble to anyone in an official looking hat.

Its similar to Morocco re the bike - You buy insurance at the border, just take your licence and registration with you. You will get a customs form for the bike at the border. You will need to get a visa before you get there. Its a bit of a process but I get my invitations from www.visalink.ru, then you send your invitation plus visa application, plus money away to get processed (I tend to use the Edinburgh consulate as it is faster than the one in London).

Legal alcohol limit is ZERO, so do be careful with that. The only option to going to a russian prison if you have even one beer and get caught is buying a special limited edition ticket to the policeman's ball, currently running at about US$1500 around Moscow (might be a little cheaper in the boonies)

The last few years has seen a huge bike boom in Moscow, and Friday night and Sat night have all sorts of bike gatherings. The local bikers will take to you like a brother. Try the main street (Tverskaya) at midnight or out in front of the main University building at MGU.

Have a talk to Tony P on the HUBB ... you should be able to find plenty of his posts on http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/northern-asia/ ... He is in Uxbridge half the time and Moscow the other half and sometimes rides an F650 between the two.

Fuel is generally about half the price of here. Moscow is expensive (or very expensive) for everying else. Road atlases are pretty abundant and inexpensive these days especially for european Russia. I would advise at least one person in your group to try and learn some basic Russian. And all of you should learn the Russian alphabet. Its only 31 letters, and many of them are the same as our alphabet anyway. It will make a HUGE difference and you should be able to learn it completely in a day if you are serious.

By October, you wont have a lot of time before its too cold ... It may already be flirting with pre winter light snows in October in Moscow ... or it may be 15 degrees.

Also the Russians ... they are great people but typically have a cold gruff exterior. The shell is pretty thin ... if you give them half a reason to like you, then you will drown in hospitality. Do not be put off by gruff exteriors cause they really are only skin deep.

Finally have a read of Adrian Scotts book, The Road Gets Better from Here (PM me for details) and the Mondo Enduro diaries.

would use the borders higher up like M9 from latvia near Rezkne? not sure on that spelling it goes direct into Moscow Watch out for the ring road and fit a bigger horn. You can use the Belarus crossing which is abit more imposing, I think but it depends they'll all want to play with you till they get bored and your no longer exciting.

Read Petcul trip into russia he posts here

Temp vehicle import doc can be filled in at the border, insurance is a con but you'll need it. Booking hotels reasonably straighforward and you can also use couchsurfing for cheap accomodation

October..... would pack extra warm clothes

PS if the weather is stable in the summer and you get a good run, you could probably do it in 4ish days... best of luck

You may get snow in October so have adequate clothing. Stay away from the home made voddie - it is lethal. If you need any help my wife is Russian and will help with any docs etc. Red Square is magnificent and you must visit the Kremlin

norfolkbikerlad said:

Hi there to 1 and all,
Me and the mate are planning a trip to Russia in October, im going on the Gs and for his sins he is going on a GSXR, poor lad I hear you all say!!!
We have heard plenty of bad rumours etc, has anybody done this trip, or ventured into Russia? If so any help, advice or tips would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

I went across Russia in the late 70's / early 80's on the Trans-Siberain express, travelling with some friends. This was still in the time of the USSR, so before 'Russia' broke up.

It was all fine.

I have been several times since, on business. Everything has been hunky-dory, in fact very much easier than it was way back when.

Half of Russia seems to be in London, disguised as Poles, so it won't be crowded.