motorbike advice

thanks to tomongolia for information!

Mongolia is the last heaven frontier for motorcycle addicts.
The vast steppe, desert terrain, snow caped mountains, lakes, almost no paved roads and friendly nomads,
make it one of the most exciting off road countries to travel through.

The legal minimum age for driving is 18 years. Drinking and driving are strictly prohibited, be aware at your speed many controls!
READ for more information drive own vehicle advice

BEFORE TO CHOOSE SUCH WAY OF TRANSPORTATION PLEASE READ::
even not updated you will find some interesting information:
mountainbike expedition and silkroute.org

EQUIPMENT FOR RENT AND BUY IN UB ( Dell , saddlebags, light sleeping bag, stoves, GPS, tent ...)
7Summit Shop à UB
motorbikemongolia
and also big choice in the department store

RENT MOTO AND EQUIPEMENT IN KHARAKORIM
rent moto in Kharakorim

The challenges
Mongolia is not a country to develop your riding skills.
Unlike western countries there is little to none suitable infrastructure for motorcyclists.
You should be an experienced off road biker, have some knowledge of fixing and maintaining bikes in the field.
There are no decent maps and no road signs, so you should have good navigation skills.
Finally you should have the proper attitude in case things go wrong, the Mongolian environment is unforgiving.

All these challanges make Mongolia the most exciting country for cross country motorbike tours.
Here are your options.

The Tour option
There are a few tour operators offering motorcycle tours.
These tours are well organised. They come with guides, cooks, and most important a support vehicles.
You will get to meet other enthusiastic bikers.
The tour option makes it possible for less experienced bikers to enjoy the trip.
http://www.bikemongolia.com/ have motorcycle tours throughout the summer.

Your bike
For those bikers doing the cross Asia route, Mongolia is just one country on the route.
It is a straight forward procedure to enter Mongolia with your bike, as long as your bike paper documentation are in order. There is no need for a "Carnet" (special passport like document for vehicles). There are no limitation on where you may ride in Mongolia. You are not required to obtain a local driver license as long as you have an International driver license from you home country.
If there is a long line of vehicles at the border crossing, it might take a long day to get through, the process is slow.

Renting a motorcycle
There are very few bikes to rent, the price is about $130 per day, this is a reasonable option for short rides only.
Drive Mongolia have motocycles for rent.
Some bike sellers will rent for less for about $30 per day, if you place a deposit of the full price of bike.

motorbikemongolia et cheketours.com

UB driving.
Don't try driving in UB. Get out of town as early as possible.

Buying a motorcycle
Not an easy option, and in some cases may end up as an expensive adventure.
Few riders follow this option.
* Price: the lowest you can get a decent bike is for $900. Average would be around $1200 - $1500. You may try a used bike for less, but than you should be able to check it yourself before buying.
* Models: The most common is the Russian IZH Planeta 5s. The Planeta (in the picture) is a 350cc, single-cylinder, 2-stroke with kick-start and a “rocker” gearshift. The advantage of the Planeta is that where ever you go, you will fined the local guy with spare parts and know how.
There are Japanese bikes of better quality you may consider, like Yamaha and Honda. The new Chinese models are the cheapest, but they are useful for city trips only.
* Accessories: Bring with you what ever you have. You can fined everything in Mongolia, but it is time consuming.
* Selling: You have the disadvantage of being in a rush to sell before you have to leave.
The only option is to sell for half price or less of what it cost you.
* Markets: There are only a handfull of bikes at any given time on the UB market. There are 2 markets in UB selling motorcycles Shar Khad's Tsahlai, known as the Car market and Uguumur market
* Translator: Only few sellers in the market can speak a few English words. Ask your guest house to arrange a translator to join you.

How to buy a Chinese motorbike? You can find 125 and 200 cc Chinese motorbike for around> 800 to >1200€. You can buy in some shops in UB and to markets of major cities. You can sell the motorbike when you have finished your trip in same places you can buy motorbikes. It’s really more easy to buy or sell a motorbike if you are with a Mongolian as it’s hard for the deal and to have the papers (this can take several days). You can also check local web sites likewww.unegui.mn for the price arrange and conditions.
Chinese motorbikes aren’t good quality, but if you buy it new this will reduce a lot of problems. Nomadic can repair them. They need only around 4 L for 100km.

Bike Registration procedures at the police station
1. 1 Bring your passport and driver licenses
1. 2 Pay registration fee
1. 3 Pay for registration ID
1. 4 Present proof / contract of selling/ buying of bike
1. 5 Present motorcycle import customs documents
1. 6. Present motorcycle original registration documents
1. 7. The seller and buyer have to come together to the police station to register

Petrol- oil - tools
Cost: about 3,900MNT per liter JULY 2024
Stations: they are not obvious, ask around for Benzene (local term for petrol), in most cases it is just a pump on the road side.You will find eac 150km petrol
Oil: take with you some oil, you will need during the trip!
Tools: you must have some good tools to repair if necessary, you can rent to Ckeke tours (with GPS, coking equipement…) Take with you some strong adesive to repair the motorbike!

Distances from Ulaanbaatar
To the south - to China (red on the map) about 750Km (only about a third of the road is paved)
To the north - to Russia (green) about 350Km (Paved through, parts of the road need repairs)
To the west - to the Altai mountains (blue) about 1100Km (most of the road is not paved)

More and more the roads are paved… you might expert to make 50/50 paved and running track during a trip in Mongolia

Travel insurance: Make sure your travel insurance covers riding motorcycles.
(Some free travel insurance provided by credit cards companies do not cover self driving)