shipping a bike from NZ to Indonesia

[froston]

Hi folks,
I'm planning to get to NZ and stay here for a while, get a job, buy a bike and travel around this beautiful country. After that i wanna continue in South east asia, maybe get to india or nepal.
Things i'm worryied about: can i get a carnet de passage for a new zealand bike as a non New Zealander (i'm from Germany)?
has anyone shipped their bike (preferably by boat) from NZ to Indonesia? How much should i calculate? whats the customs like?
cheers
frosty

[twowheels03]

I doubt shipping from NZ to Timor/Indo would be viable cost wise, Probably get bounced NZ - Melbourne- Darwin - Dilli. Be cheaper to ride via OZ, or sell the bike in NZ and buy one in Indo. You could also get smacked with VAT/GST when you get the bike home unless you owned it for more than a year. If you don't have a visa for NZ...good luck with the work thing.

[froston]

I am applying for a working Visa. i dont think its gonna be a hustle.
I am just worried that things get more complicated in indonesia like getting the bike registred and get a Carnet de passage. And get a solid bike at all. i am really keen to explore SE Asia on a bike but i dont wanna sell the bike everytime i cross a boarder and get a new one in the other country.
going through OZ would be an option, but i doubt i would save a lot of money because of the long route and since i already travelled the route from melbourne to darwin (by car, years ago) i'm not really hyped. especially because theres thouthands of kilometres without any curves...
how about air shipping? is this an afordable option? how much do I have to calculate?

[twowheels03]

Buy a bike in Kupang.....Mike at Hotel La Hasienda

Might know something then no shipping....no carnet !!!!

[PanEuropean]

Frosty:

I've never imported a motorcycle into Indonesia, but I have imported a few aircraft (during the course of my job), and let me tell you, the Indonesian Customs people are a massive PITA to deal with.

The country gets a lot of money from import duties - and, at the same time, they protect their own manufacturing industries with heavy tariffs. Motorcycles are manufactured in Indonesia, so, it's reasonable to expect that you would get taxes and duties assessed at the time of import (don't expect the local customs folk to understand what a carnet is).

There are 250 million people in Indonesia, and every one of them owns at least one motorcycle. I suggest you just buy a bike locally - get the salesman to register the thing in his own name - and go riding on that. Once you are ready to leave, you could sell it in 30 seconds for half of what you paid for it and still be way ahead on costs compared to importing and exporting your own moto. Not to mention the advantage of easier access to parts & service if you are riding a local machine, and that you will "blend into the crowd" better on a local machine.

Michael

Michael

[froston]

can i get a carnet for an indonesian bike? because i actually want to keep on visiting other countries in SE Asia
can someone recommend a good indonesian webside for used bikes?

[wheel story]

Hi,

Greetings from Indonesia.

i just finished my trip, from Indonesia to Europe, i had to send back the bike by cargo, no problem when i sent it from Netherlands, but a big headaches when arrived in Jakarta - Indonesia.

we use Carnet and still the custom insists we need to pay this and that.

if you want to visit Indonesia, the best way is to send the bike to Malaysia, then crossing to Sumatra (Pematang siantar) by ferry.

this year i will visit NZ, so i send my bike from Bali to NZ by Limajari cargo, they really helpful in handle cargo. the prices also acceptable.

cheers,

Originally Posted by froston

Hi folks,
I'm planning to get to NZ and stay here for a while, get a job, buy a bike and travel around this beautiful country. After that i wanna continue in South east asia, maybe get to india or nepal.
Things i'm worryied about: can i get a carnet de passage for a new zealand bike as a non New Zealander (i'm from Germany)?
has anyone shipped their bike (preferably by boat) from NZ to Indonesia? How much should i calculate? whats the customs like?
cheers
frosty

[froston]

hi
so malaysia is a lot less customs struggle than indonesia? what about timor leste? would that be an option, to get the bike send to Dili and than head over to the indonesian part of timor and then get a ferry to nusa or bali? whats the border like between timor and indonesia?
cheers
Frosty
PS when are you going to NZ? maybe we can go for a ride together

[Keith1954]

Hi froston - please revisit twowheels03's post (above), which for your ease of reference, follows below:

Originally Posted by twowheels03

I doubt shipping from NZ to Timor/Indo would be viable cost wise, Probably get bounced NZ - Melbourne- Darwin - Dilli. Be cheaper to ride via OZ, or sell the bike in NZ and buy one in Indo. You could also get smacked with VAT/GST when you get the bike home unless you owned it for more than a year. If you don't have a visa for NZ...good luck with the work thing.

He is almost certainly right. Shipping into Dili will needs be via Darwin NT, as there is no other shipping option, as far as I am aware.

Even though Timor-Leste is not officially affiliated to the Intn'l Carnet System, the customs officers there, in Dili, still like to stamp a carnet before they will easily permit your bike to enter the country.

Regarding the land border crossing between TL and Indo:

On the Timor-Leste side of the border:

1. First stop – go the frontier booth, fill-out a departure form and persuade the officer to accept it and stamp your passport, if you can wake him up.
2. Then backtrack slightly to get your carnet stamped out of the country by TL Customs.
3. Have a brief interview with the frontier guards – for me that consisted of a gang of three outwardly friendly men, who seemed a bit bored with their lot in life. A smile and an exchange of a few jokes seemed to warm things up and do the ‘let me pass through’ trick.

On the Indonesian side:

4. Get your Carnet stamped into Indonesia by Indo Customs.
5. Complete an entry form and get your passport stamped in. NOTE: make sure you have your entry visa beforehand
6. Get interviewed by the Indo Army. Not sure why?
7. Get interviewed again, this time by the Indo Police. Not sure what this is all about either?
Then .. you will soon be into West Timor, Indonesia.

When I went through, in September 2011, the whole frontier crossing process - from start to finish - took just over an hour. No doubt it could be a bit longer, if you have to queue at any stage, which I didn’t.

best

Keith

[twowheels03]

Originally Posted by Keith1954

Hi froston - please revisit twowheels03's post (above), which for your ease of reference, follows below:



He is almost certainly right. Shipping into Dili will needs be via Darwin NT, as there is no other shipping option, as far as I am aware.

Even though Timor-Leste is not officially affiliated to the Intn'l Carnet System, the customs officers there, in Dili, still like to stamp a carnet before they will easily permit your bike to enter the country.

Regarding the land border crossing between TL and Indo:

On the Timor-Leste side of the border:

1. First stop – go the frontier booth, fill-out a departure form and persuade the officer to accept it and stamp your passport, if you can wake him up.
2. Then backtrack slightly to get your carnet stamped out of the country by TL Customs.
3. Have a brief interview with the frontier guards – for me that consisted of a gang of three outwardly friendly men, who seemed a bit bored with their lot in life. A smile and an exchange of a few jokes seemed to warm things up and do the ‘let me pass through’ trick.

On the Indonesian side:

4. Get your Carnet stamped into Indonesia by Indo Customs.
5. Complete an entry form and get your passport stamped in. NOTE: make sure you have your entry visa beforehand
6. Get interviewed by the Indo Army. Not sure why?
7. Get interviewed again, this time by the Indo Police. Not sure what this is all about either?
Then .. you will soon be into West Timor, Indonesia.

When I went through, in September 2011, the whole frontier crossing process - from start to finish - took just over an hour. No doubt it could be a bit longer, if you have to queue at any stage, which I didn’t.

best

Keith

Almost the same for us just over a year ago....The Timor side had no clue what to do with the paperwork, basically we filled it out and showed him where to stamp. The Indo side was much more organised, all happy and no mention of any "Fees" !! Glad to be out of Dili and moving that's for sure........

[froston]

thanks a lot for all the replies. though it's not really making the decision easier wether to take the bike from new zealand or just getting one in indonesia. furtunately there is still plenty of time.
I am a little afraid that i wont find in indonesia what i am looking for and have to stick what i can get. but maybe that is a lot less struggle than to deal with all that paper work and shipping costs. its just a pity that i am not able to take the bike across boarders as i want to keep going after indonesia. on the other hand i heard you can get good japanese enduro bikes in thailand...
i will need to have a good think about that.
cheers,
Frosty

[Snakeboy]

The average speed achived most places in Indonesia will be 40-50 kms/h because of totally chaotic traffic and jammed roads and thus you will not need any big bike there at all. A 250 will be an ideal bike for Indonesia and the sturdy 150 roadbikes Hondas or Yamahas that many locals ride in Indon will be quite good and suitable as well. Plenty of parts and knowledge available. A bigger bike than a 250 will most places just be a hazzle in Indo. Belive me - I rode 13 000 kms there last year on a Tenere 660.

Yup - in Thailand you can get a lot of bikes as Kawasaki, Honda, Triumph and Ducati has fabrics there and assemble many of their models there. Many rentals - especially in northern Thailand and also relatively easy to by on in your own name. And if you have on thai plated bike in your own name its easy piecy to take it across borders to Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia.

[froston]

i was acually thinkin about gettin something between 250 and 350 (also in NZ), preferably an older japanese enduro. like a honda XR, Yamaha XT or Suzuki DR (I have worked on the 600 version of these bikes before and know a little about them). are these easy to get in west timor? if worst comes to worst i'll take what i get...but a little bit of suspension and some off road wheels would be nice

[Keith1954]

Originally Posted by froston

i was acually thinkin about gettin something between 250 and 350 (also in NZ), preferably an older japanese enduro. like a honda XR, Yamaha XT or Suzuki DR (I have worked on the 600 version of these bikes before and know a little about them). are these easy to get in west timor? if worst comes to worst i'll take what i get...but a little bit of suspension and some off road wheels would be nice

I don't know too much about West Timor. I stayed only in Kupang for a couple of nights whilst awaitng the ferry up to Larantuka, Flores.

Kupang, is a reasonable sized city (pop. 350,000), but I suspect larger displacement bikes (in excess of 150 cc) might not be in plentiful supply. But obviously you should check-out what twowheels03 says about Mike's local knowledge at Hotel La Hasienda.

Another good bet to look into buying something half decent in Indonesia, with probably a little more choice (including larger cc machines), would be on the island of Bali, particularly around the Denpasar area.

It would be a pity if you had to by-pass Indonesia; try and find a way to ride across if you can. Too many overlanders tend to skip Indo, which is a shame, because it is like no other country in SE Asia. I'm glad I took the trouble to ride through. Looking back, it was one of the highlights of my whole trip.

[Snakeboy]

I have to agree with Keith1954 above here. From my trip from Norway to Australia I have to say that Indonesia was one of the highlights if not the highligt of that stretch! It would have been a shame to miss out that fantastic part of the world.
I also would think that there isnt much of bigger bikes in West Timor. I met 3 indonesian riders which 2 of them rode Kawasaki klx250s on the Flores island - but they came from Java. So I think Bali or Java is the right place to search for a bigger bike than the locals ride - eg bigger than 150 ccm.

If you get a bike in Java or Bali you can always ride east to Lombok - Sumbava - Flores and from Flores (Labuan Bajo) you can take a ferry over to Sulawesi, then from Sulawesi over to Jakarta and then over to Sumatra and do a big loop there and then return the bike to Java/Bali. It will easily keep you occupied for 2-4 months.