To carnet or not to carnet.
 

This is Caron - girlfriend of the lovely Giles and the one who broke her hand in Sudan. My cast came off yesterday in Nairobi and I'm looking at buying a BMW 800GS to complete the journey on. (Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa). I'm being told that I can do this without a carnet as it would have Kenyan plates and would be classed as a local bike. Does anyone know if this is true? I'd need a yellow card apparently. Then the bike is in such good nick I'd like to ship it home. Anyone know anything about reregistering in the UK? Easy? Any catches like having to own it in the original country for more than a very short time? Thank you.

Hi Caron
If the bike has never been registered in the European Union then importing it can be tricky. You need to get it ' type approved ' and the process for this generally means taking it physically to BMW UK and getting them to certify it is an original machine. They can issue you with a certificate of conformity : if it conforms : if it doesn't you may need to modify it to meet EU standards. For example if it has been modified to 1000cc from it's original 800cc then BMW can say it doesn't conform and you would need to revert it back to 800cc to get it certified.
Then you have to get the import done and I'm not sure what the exact rule is for vehicles beyond a certain age. There is a point after which it isn't a big deal as it may be viewed as a classic machine and therefore not VAT or liable for import duty but you would need to check that your bike falls into that category. In any case you will need to provide all the original registration paperwork and a bill of sale to make up the set of documents you need.
Take a look at thsi link and you can read first hand from HM Customs what the rules are.
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP...E_PROD1_025676

Good luck

you can get TIP's (Temporary import Permit) in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Moçambique,Zimbabwe but am not sure if the South african customs union-i.e. Botswana,Namibia,South Africa will except a Kenya registered bike without a carnet (not the european ones at least).
You might try entering from Moçambique via Swaziland and on to South Africa. Borderofficials had never heard of a carnet when i was there, on 6 occassions (last one 4 years ago though....)

another possible direction
 

this not even worth 2 cents

BUT, my plan is to borrow (or even get your hands on your own carnet for a short time) then scan/photoshop a fake. its been done by RTWers before and will be again.

pros and cons: simple>>>all are irrelevant EXCEPT: for the fact that this stunt could mean you get to spend the rest of your life rotting in a cell.

MY PLAN: is to leave the US with a fake US carnet heading south through SA then South Pacific then finally to where in actually NEED a carnet (Africa). I plan on bringing a small fake book (that will look real offical) that i will make and carry with me. This fake book i will get stamped at every border in and out and say i need the stamp for MY country back home. make up some terrorist/heightened security BS if i need to. but the point to this pointless story is that it will be obvious by the time i get to SAfrica that i have no intent on selling the bike.

who knows this helps

if you need more details feel free to email me

take care
WIESE

800gs
 

I had no idea there was an 800GS; or is this only something you can find in Africa? Have any photos you can share?

I'd get the carnet. The old better safe than sad adage works here. Don't counterfeit.

And please tell us about this mystery bike: BMW 800GS

There IS an F800GS COMING - currently not yet available though. What she's probably looking at is an old R80GS. OR not... who knows :)

...or maybe an R80 G/S even ;)