purchasing a bike in Libreville, Gabon
 

Hi,

I am going to be in Gabon from mid-May till mid-June and would like to avoid spending several thousand to ship my bike there (if even possible). Would it be reasonable to plan to purchase a motorcycle in Libreville within about a week or ten days of arriving, and to re-sell it before leaving? Or does anyone know if it's possible to rent a motorcycle there, and for approximately how much money? I plan to stay within the country between Libreville and Franceville, or other places where the roads are of decent quality, so the fanciest setup shouldn't be necessary.

Thanks! I have travelled by bike extensively in the U.S. but not abroad, so I don't know if this question is totally idiotic, but hopefully someone else has experience in Gabon who can fill me in.

Also, the only contact information for mechanics in Libreville, for Wild Rider, seems to be outdated. The website and email no longer work. Does anyone know of the contact information for anyone else there?

-Vera

Imho, except for expats, nobody is going to have big bikes.

If I were you I'd get a two-stroke Yamaha DT (175, I think?). They have them all over the place and they're great little bikes.

Thanks eljulian! Great to know they're easy to come by. Looks perfect for my purposes.

Anyone know how hard it is to resell them? Obviously not looking to profit but also hoping not to lose TOO much money in the buy/sell flip, especially as a non-French-speaking foreigner...

These small bikes are all over, but not in Gabon. There are few motorcyclist over there and motor-garages are far between.

In Gabon bikes are more expensive than elsewhere. Nanfang 150cc in Cameroon was 410.000 CFA including insurance. In Libreville we could not find such a bike at all - there were crappy (that we have learnt later) Tondas DT 150 for 800.000 CFA ex insurance or Yamahas 150, for c.a. 1.500.000 CFA. On top of that the insuring bike in Gabon is as far as I remember c.a. 100.000, while in Cameroon it was 20 or 30k.

But do not worry - if you want, you will buy a bike in Libreville. There is simply not wide choice and high prices. After the purchase the only thing you need is insurance, which you can buy in Axa, opposite the museum on the shoreline. We were told we need also some kind of technical check paper, but we have ignored it and nobody cared about it later (bikes travelled to Brazza, where we have sold them).

Cheers!

huh that is interesting... maybe I will try to get to Cameroon first. but hopefully if the prices are high in libreville that also means I can sell it back high in the same place and not lose too much money. thanks for the advice!

So how was it? Where did you find your bike?