Moto Trip Mongolia: A Ural Adventure Across the Steppe

A week-long, 700-kilometer, all-inclusive, small group motorcycle trip across Mongolia riding out May 21 – 28, 2022.

Table of Contents

Does this moto trip have your attention?

Good. Because this is the adventure of a lifetime. We would know, we’ve done it. In fact, Meanwhile in Mongolia founder Breanna Wilson designed it. And she did it with a little help from some of the coolest local friends and fellow adventurers in Mongolia, of course. This is Moto Trip Mongolia.

While we don’t want to give away the goods about how epic this motorcycle adventure is, we can tell you this: this tour is raw, gritty, and will push you to your limits and back. It’s an adventure in every sense of the word and that’s exactly what makes it so rewarding and such a unique way to experience Mongolia and everything this incredible country has to offer. It’s one hell of a feeling to ride 280 kilometers in a day by way of a vintage Ural, in a pack of some of the most rad human beings on the planet. (We told you it was cool.)

Self-driving Mongolia is no easy task, especially on a motorcycle. Roads can be challenging, navigating without cell phone service can make you lose your mind, and not speaking the local language can cause frustration like you’ve never experienced before.

Moto Trip Mongolia takes the pressure of planning and executing your adventure away so that you can live in the moment – they’ve done the annoying leg work for you, and they’ve planned an experience better than you’d ever be able to create on your own. (We’ll just say it pays to know people in Mongolia.)

From the route to the local homestays with some of the coolest nomadic herders you’ll ever meet, they’ve packed the essential gear (and given it all a little boujeeing up), hired the best translators and mechanics, and have planned everything for the perfect motorcycle adventure across Mongolia.

Join the Adventure

Experience Moto Trip Mongolia for yourself

Join Moto Trip Mongolia, a week-long, 700-kilometer, all-inclusive, small group motorcycle adventure across the steppe May 21 – 28, 2022.

Join the Adventure

The Bikes

Moto Trip Mongolia uses a small fleet of vintage Russian Urals (cool, right?) that have each been given a full makeover. And while these bikes are known to be temperamental (which is exactly why you never want to do this adventure on your own, or with a company you don’t fully know or trust), they’ve been given all the love and care they can handle.

And when all that love and care fails (Mongolia adventures are not easy on anything), there’s a mechanic and array of spare parts at his disposal ready to repair whatever Mother Mongolia has thrown our way. Each night, every bike in the fleet will get a once-over and tune-up to ensure you’re as ready as possible for the next day’s adventure. There’s bound to be issues with these bikes, but the Moto Trip Mongolia team is there to make sure you’re back in the saddle as quickly as possible.

It’s all part of the adventure.

If you don’t know much about Russian Urals, or if you don’t know how to drive a motorcycle, that’s not a problem. Since these bikes can seat two, you just need an adventure partner who does – that way you just sit there and look pretty in the sidecar and enjoy the ride.

Ural Mongolia

The Trip

Moto Trip Mongolia starts and ends in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s often misunderstood capital city. It’s a place we clearly know and love, and have a few things to say about. (Don’t worry – you won’t be riding in the capital where traffic can be a nightmare, the tour starts from a secret spot outside the city limits so the group can get the show on the road – quite literally.)

This first day is the longest of the trip, and one that quickly acquaints you with the ins and outs of your bike. As you follow your two adventure pros west, you find yourself eventually turning off the paved roads, where you’ll be free to throttle your new favorite adventure bike across the steppe.

The homestays – or maybe we should say, ger (yurt) stays – throughout the duration of the trip will all be simple and authentic, just the way we like it. While electricity will be provided by solar panels or a generator (a luxury!), don’t expect Wi-Fi or cell phone service, running water, showers, or real toilets – it’s a latrine toilet world out here, baby. Get used to it.

Living among your new favorite nomadic families in the remotest corners of the steppe, you’ll spend your time off the bike helping out with chores, learning about the local herder way of life as much as possible. This trip is as cultural as it is adrenaline-filled, so if you’re looking for a motorcycle tour that has you simply sitting your ass on a bike all day clocking kilometers on the old odometer (something you didn’t have to travel all the way to Mongolia to do), this experience isn’t for you. That isn’t what Moto Trip Mongolia is about.

The Friday to Friday trip includes a welcome dinner, one day of test rides on the bikes and six days of riding and adventuring. The first and last days of riding are the most intense, while the rest of the trip will go at a more relaxed pace. You’ll ease into Mongolia time and nomadic life in no time.

And in true Mongolia fashion, you never know what adventures will pop up along the way – anyone down for a camel ride?

Motorcycle Mongolia 2021

Necessary Motorcycle Experience

You’re probably thinking: what kind of experience do I need to join this motorcycle tour across Mongolia? Well, truth be told, not much.

While you are required to have a motorcycle license from your home country as well as an international driver’s license for both autos and motorcycles, these bikes, the route, and the daily mileage are all designed to welcome riders of all levels. So, while new riders, and even non-riders who don’t mind sitting in the sidecar the entire trip, are able to take part in the adventure, for safety reasons you do need at least some experience on a motorcycle.

Because these bikes can’t go above 60 kmh for an extended period of time without burning the engine out, this trip isn’t a high speed race. This is a low and slow ride. Once you see the condition of the roads as well as the off-road routes through the steppe, this will all make much more sense. These bikes aren’t plushy new cruisers, they’re used out here because they’re durable and reliable, and that’s what we love about them as well.

Fuel and repair costs are all covered during the trip, but it’s good to note that there’s a zero tolerance policy when it comes to anyone who acts reckless and doesn’t use their best judgement on and off the road.

The Moto Trip Mongolia team takes this adventure, and the safety of each rider, very seriously.

What to Pack

Riding out in late May, the weather this time of year across the whole of Mongolia is mostly pleasant, with the chance for one last snow for the year. Nights do get cold, and winds are still coming down from the mountains, so don’t underestimate the powers of good, solid layers out here. Layers are your friend in Mongolia.

During the trip, the Moto Trip Mongolia team provides all the other essentials (including baby wipes and hand sanitizer) for every aspect of the journey and each overnight stay. From meals to fuel, they worry about the details so you can worry about the adventure.

What’s Included

The trip includes all meals, all accommodations, fuel, a translator, mechanic, and an emergency vehicle.

The trip does not include motorcycles helmets, riding gear (boots, motorcycle pants), personal water filters/drinking jugs, sleeping bags, travel medical insurance (required), and flights.

You will need a motorcycle license from your home country for this adventure, as well as an international driver’s license with the motorcycle license portion checked off to drive one of the Ural motorcycles during this adventure. Passengers do not need a motorcycle or driver’s license.

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