Pecha72: Apreciate your sharing :)
It is true that a cheaper bike will set you off with less for the carnet. I am also looking into cheaper bikes. The good thing about a GSA is that it is almost complete and there are not need for many modifications (Time and cost), but it is more expencive to buy and might be a higher risk if it get stolen during your trip - a world wide covering insurance can be difficult as it seems now.

Route is planned something like this, but I guess it will be changed some during the trip. Also in each country there will be some domestic roadtrips to explore highlights. Basically it is only Iran which requires a carnet on this trip and I guess that it might be a good idea to have a backup plan in case I don't get in there with a carnet.. :)
RTW 2012 - Google Maps

I´m sure the GS1200 is one of the best bikes for long-distance touring. But once you´re outside the Green Card-countries, the bike itself will most likely be uninsured. Or maybe some other policy could be found for North America, but can be costly (don´t confuse this with 3rd party insurance, which is a different matter, I´m talking about only the bike itself here). And while I´m not a person who´ll rely on insurance on basically anything, its value could make me a bit nervous. I´d much rather take that risk with a bike, that costs about half, for example. But of course it will be important to go with the bike you are happy to go with. Just remember, if bad luck strikes, you risk losing it completely.

The route you have there on Google maps, I´d probably not bother with the carnet, as there are ways to get around Iran in case that it won´t work out.

(But do note, that Iran is (or at the very least it was, 4 years ago) an absolutely fantastic country to visit. The locals are just amazing. Even it the future doesn´t look very promising, I would want to return there some day. I´m really hoping there will be a non-violent solution to the current crisis).

Our trip, including Iran in (Nov. 2007), here:
MOTO1 - Matkalla

Noticed on your map it stipulates a carnet is essential for Japan. I've read that you can get in on the Sakhalin ferry without one. Want to go next year via Russia on the TSH so whether to get one or not is a big decision!!

Basically i have recently traveld to pakistan from UK and i didnt take a Carnet, but the problem starts from Turkey to Iran border, you need a carnet for iran, so i spent 13 hours on iran border i met lots of agents selling me carnets on the border for 1000euros, i finally haggled one agent down to 650euros and i went straight thru trouble free, Carnet is very important otherwise you will have the world of trouble which will ruin your mood to continue the trip, now theirs a way around it, if anyone can get a hold of hungarian or polish carnets dummys ofcourse you got your self a ticket to heaven, i met three european guys at the border of iran they had ''FAKE'' Carnets and they swimmed thru with no hassle unfortunatly i lost their contact numbers as i lost my phones in pakistan, wounder.... hope this helps....

It is my understanding from own experience, and following the forums, that Iran could somehow be possible without carnet (but can be a hassle), for Pakistan it is simply better to get one, and you positively will not get your vehicle to India without carnet.

And think twice, before you fake carnets on this route.. due to security reasons I once had to spend a night at a police station in Pakistan. Right next to my room there was the cell for the detained people, at least 50 of them behind bars in a very small space. I remember thinking I'll do my best, so that I will NOT end up locked in there with that crowd!

Oooops ok why did you get locked up in pakistan??????

I didn't. We spent too much time in Dalbandin, where we met another traveller, that we could not arrive in Quetta before sundown. So we looked up the nearest village from the road (Nushkin), and either there wasn't any accommodation to be found, or sometimes they don't take foreigners in that region, can't remember which one. So ended up spending the night at the police station. Nothing very dramatic about it.

Ok in regards to the carnet, do you know if its checked internationally, in Iran or they just look at it stamp it and tear it off, a few years ago on here people used a man called Mr Carnet, who had forged Carnets, and they had no issues, it just sucks leaving all that money as security, besides i have no intentions of bringing the car back, i just need to cross the Quetta border smoothly....cheers mate

Mr carnet
 

Hallo, I'm new.
I will travel till Australia from Spain if I can manage to have meet mr carnet, I have already read about him but can't find any contact. Someone can help me please?
Thanks

Im in need of a "creative alternative" to an official Carnet de Passage to get out of India and into Pakistan. I have an Indian bike, in my name, and need to go through pakistan to get to Kyrgystan (via china). I will not be returning to India with bike so dont want to spend all the cash for an official carnet because I would lose the deposit. If anyone knows anyone who can help with this please message me. Or if anyone has a recently issued Indian carnet that they could scan and email me that could help too. Thanks!

As for visas - some countries won't give you a visa if you just turn up at the border and some only require visas from certain nationalities, and occasionally some nationalities can only get the visa by personal application to the embassy in their home country, so there are no rules and you have to check the requirements of each country well before you set off.

Never again with a Carnet !!!
 

Hi,
I travelled 2002 - 2005 with two Carnet de Passage across Asia and India - two carnets, because after only 3 days I had a crash in Latvia with a drunken car driver (after midnight): broken legs, 7 months rehabilitation and then buy one more BMW R 80 GS, and of course one more Carnet.
Only in India I had problems with the custom - not for come into the country from China / Nepal, but only to get out to Pakistan across Wagah-border (Arimtsar / Lahore); there they have a very properly border procedure, even with daily parades, no exeptions possible:
They did not want to let me out of India, because my carnet was valid only one year, but my second start to travel (with a fine new Carnet) was in January 2003, 3 1/2 years before.
I told the custom officers, that of course this Carnet is still guilty, because I must bring back this "old" Carnet with a EU-custom stamp and only then I will get back my 3000 €. All my trying (also offering some money) did not help, I had to let back my bike in India - where it is standing and waiting for me until today!!
And back home in Germany, of course I did not get back my deposit money from the german auto-club ADAC - I had to wait and write and wait, etc. until 2013, then finally I got my money back, 14 years after I made the deposit of 3000 € to the ADAC (of course with no interest money!!)
Therefore never again with Carnet!! - also because I am no longer inhabitant of any country; I am a traveller for the coming ten years; the world is my home (and the roads and garages!).

Norbert Berentz
- actual in Pointe-Noire (Congo - Brazzaville), looking for an angolan visa!

I don't know if this is helpful, but after hearing lots of horror stories about massive Carnet bond payments I finally went to the Oman Automobile Club to ask specifically what I would need to put down to take my '13 Ducati Multistrada GT through Iran.

The answer was 700 Omani Rials which is around US$1,800. Not a huge burden when you consider the other costs of a serious transcontinental trip and that the bike carries a value here of around US$26,000.

Also, is it possible to get your bond refunded as soon as you leave Iran and send back the Carnet paperwork to the issuer, freeing up the money for the rest of your trip?