Hello everybody,
i´m playing with the idea to buy a small motorbike (125cc style) and drive that thing from Gabon to Namibia (preferred on "main roads" and not hardcore offroad;-)) or the other way around, starting around March next year. I am wondering where in this region is the best place to buy one and where it is easiest and fastest to register it and get paper stuff done (and what paperstuff does it need exactly).
I would travel with my national drivers license along with the international DL but i don´t have a "real" motorbikelicense. I wonder if it would bring me in trouble anywhere (bribes...) or do they just don´t care?
I already found some very helpful information here about South Africa (thanks!) but i´m not planning to go there and it sounded a bit complicated and time consuming.
I´d be happy about every hint- thanks a lot!
Chris

Have a read of this, page 11 onward. You'll see I flew down from UK to Congo, my friend Simon already had a bike there and I bought a local bike, 125 Suzuki, and we rode to Namibia, Botswana etc. I'm sure this can be done in other countries.

Send me a PM if questions.

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showth...e-Congo/page11

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I'm Drumacoon Lad on the GSer forum, where the RideReport is hosted.

This photo is the bike in Lesotho, after a tour of South Africa.

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To add to that, the stretch from Gabon to Congo Brazzaville is a difficult road (250 kms of dirt IIRC) if it's at all wet as it would be in March so Congo-Brazzaville is a better starting point as Jim found.


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Hi Jim and Simon!
Thanks for posting the link to your trip. Cool adventure!
As i understand, your dealer in Brazzaville was doing all the necessary paperwork for Jim? That´s sounds quite easy to me (which i would like).
Regarding my concerns about the fact that i don´t have a motorbike license (but a normal one of course) do you have information if this could bring me in trouble?
Thanks also for the hint about the Gabon-Congo stretch.

The dealer did all the work except insurance which was very easy. Jim can say more.

Whilst my driver's licence was sometimes asked for, I don't recall anyone checking what classes of vehicle were covered. I used an IDP (International Driving Permit).




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I don't know the exact rules about riding a 125 bike without a motorbike licence and it may vary from country to country. What I can say is I only remember being asked once or twice for a driving licence, and I had an international licence for riding a motorbike with me. At borders the focus is on passports and bike documents and sometimes inoculation certificates. The time when you might be asked for a license is in a roadside check by police, but of course a keen policeman at a border might also ask for a licence and examine it closely enough to notice it does not cover a motorbike. You need to decide what level of risk you find acceptable. I have found myself at times without insurance, either by accident or omission, without incident but that situation may not be tolerable to others. You might also want to consider if any insurance you obtain would be valid, if you do not have a license for riding the vehicle.

As for the bike documents, the registration document and registration plate was obtained by the dealer in Congo and took a couple of days. This document was in fact a temperary document, valid for 6 months. This temperary document was sufficient for border crossings and has now been replaced by a full registration document, again sent to me by the dealer.

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In Southern Africa, when stopped ba the police, nobody was interested in my IDP. The officers always wanted to see my card license, which is in German. Apparently they were only interested to check the validity dates, but not for which vehicles it was valid.


@ Jim:
Did you have any problems carnet-wise when entering Namibia?

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Namibia was interesting. We didn't have carnets. At the border we were only offered a TIP of 14 days. With some persuasion we were given 28 dsys. We wanted to leave our bikes for 6 months or so in Namibia. When we arrived in Windhoek we contacted customs. They pointed us at a customs agent. The agent explained it would be necessary to temperarrally import the bikes into Namibia. This we did, paying 16% of the value of the bikes. Neither bike was expensive which helped, and we were told we would get the money back, when the bikes left Namibia. So far we have not got the duty back and it seems we may not. Hope this helps.

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I went back to look at my IDP. It shows five categories of vehicles including trucks and trailers.

My helpful post office who issued this have shown me as entitled to drive all these classes which is certainly not the case in reality.


So that may be useful knowledge for you.

Generally I found my IDP was accepted and on one occasion (Ghana or Nigeria) it was insisted on when I offered my UK driving licence.


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Thanks so much everybody for support! Great information!

@Simon&Jim: I checked my expired IDP (issued in Germany) and that one is working with pictograms which makes it very easy to find out what i´m allowed and what not.
As Jim says, i guess i have to decide for myself if i want to take the risk.
Since i´m not fancy buying an expensive bike and being told at the first roadblock that i´m not allowed to drive it and that i must continue on foot i think i might want to post another thread here. Maybe somebody who drove under such circumstances can tell more. To this point i´m uncertain if this a smart idea.
But regarding the paperworks i know what i need to, which is great. Cheers!

@Vaufi: Also thanks to you! The german card license also has pictograms. Same problem here.

If it´s getting all to complicated i maybe must consider my plan B and use the bicycle (i´m allowed to drive it)

Have you considered passing the test and getting an official driving permit?

I did. It´s 1500€ or so. I would have to take theoretical lessions again and of course practical training. The latter i´d happily except but not the price and lessions again.
Anyways. Cést la vie i´d say. Could be worse. As said, if it´s not working i skip the motorbike plan and consider paln B and C.

Cycling is good for your health
and it's a lot cheaper

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Very true. Thanks Vaufi