southern Africa on a rented bike
 

We are going to travel through different countries in Southern Africa, and bring a motorbike with sidecar. But our eldest son will join us for 6 weeks, and we are thinking of hiring a bike for some weeks for him. Now the question is: Do you know any bike-rental-firm in South Africa that does allow you to use the bike in neighbouring countires?( f.ex. Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia.) What with car-hire, do they have the same restrictions? Until now, the only possibility seems to be to hire a Hertz-car (expensive!!)- better ideas?? Thanks , we are leaving 1 of sept.

I had the same problem in South Africa about ten years ago. I had shipped my my bike and a friend came over for 3 weeks. Hiring a bike turned out almost impossible (especially when you want to take it to the neighbouring countries). In the end I bought a small delivery-bike Honda CB 250 at a bikeshop in Johannesburg. I agreed with the shopowner that he would buy it back after the trip. He also did most of the paperwork to get the bike registered on my name.
Taking it to other countries off course is no problem.
It worked out very well and costed only a fraction of what it would have costed to hire a car.
Small delivery bikes are very popular in the big cities, but finding a cheap bigger bike may be more difficult. On the other hand, a 250 cc bike is not really a problem in these countries.

Peter

5 years ago, I had the same problem. I ended up with Tours for Africa in Johannesburg.
They allowed to take the bike into Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland. In 1995 they rented out only BMW K 100, at a hefty price of 80$ per day with unlimited mileage.
They charged me for every scratch or dent when I turned the bike in.
Their Adress is:
Tours for Africa
168 President Street
2001 Johannesburg
They have a website, but I can´t find right now.

Enjoy your trip, its a great region.

Werner