After approx a month since having bought it, Chopperpilot's and my calendars aligned this weekend, he drove up from the spruit to Beitbridge and I drove down from Harare to BB.
First two pics:
Chopper showing me the bike is soopa 100s and good to go, pappie!
Third pic:
I dug out my old, dusty riding gear, not even been washed since I went sleepy time in the gravel nearly 2 yrs ago!
Paperwork etc was in readiness and due to time being tight, I rented a trailer and a buddy and on friday 11am we set off from harare.
Fourth pic:
A Scooby cannot drive past a fuel station.
Fifth pic:
We pulled into Lion & Elephant motel around 6pm, 7 hours to do 500km. Those that have done it will know that the road from Harare to Beitbridge has a bad surface, and lots and lots and lots of buses and trucks, progress is slow!
Sixth pic:
After one or two beers
and a good rump steak we turned in early for the night. Next morning we left at 5:30 and were at the border by 6:30. My buddy dropped me off on the zim side and went to go find the one tree in beit bridge to park and wait under. The heat for 7 in the morning was amazing, literally breathtaking
zim side I was through in 10min, walked over the bridge for the first time in my life and then the SA side confronted me. this pic is about 1/4 of the immigration queue that I joined! I told Chopper that I'm gonna be stuck a while and he should chill at a Musina ultra-city until I let him know I'm done. at 10am (yes, 3 hours of queuing in the sun) I gave him the all clear. Very nice to meet him & Swambo and they brought me the most beautiful thirst quenching cold water on the planet!!!
Unfortunately due to me wanting to get the export/import process started ASAP there was little time for pleasantries, I wish we had time for a cold one together, chat bike stories and enjoy! but it was not to be and on to business. Those that know him will know that Chopper is super organised and diligent. paperwork was 100% in order and I was amazed at every little detail and work that he did to make sure the bike is absolutely perfect when handing over to me! Chopper, waardeer!
Having offloaded and said goodbyes I promptly joined the wrong queue based on wrong information from SA customs official. When I got to the front of the queue an hour later, still sweating like a hog due to blistering heat and standing in the sun, the official there said I can't do the export myself, need a clearing agent. lekker man. went out, got an agent, and submitted Bill of Entry. that was around 12pm. The SARS system was down, so it was a waiting game, can't proceed till the system is back...
Around 4pm I started wondering where the bike and I were going to sleep that night, since clearing/imports close at 10pm on the zim side.
Anyhoo just after 4 system came online and we proceeded with clearance on SA side. went more or less smoothly and I pillioned the clearing agent (I had awesome Arai helmet Chopper gave me and agent had niks!) over to the zim side, arriving there around 5:30pm.
Warra warra warra, only finished paying duty and stuff at 8:30pm.
Then had to rush to some dodgy place in BeitBridge town about 10km from the border to submit paperwork for the final clearance certificate.
Still with agent as pillion, at 9 at night, navigating BB with trucks and buses tearing past us, I was more than a little afraid for my life
Made it to the place, submitted papers, have to come back tomorrow to collect, they open at 6am.
Pic 7 and 8:
It was 9:45pm and I was knackered. pillioned the agent to his place, then got lost 3 times trying to find the only 5 star motel in BB where my buddy found us place to stay for the night. Yes that's 5 star, for BB, it even had aircon, and a toilet!
Next morning go back to the place of last night where I handed in my application forms. Oh no, today we're processing these somewhere else, go there
Get to that joint, there's like 30 applications on top of mine. Being an 8hour drive to harare and me hating to drive at night in zim i knew i had to make a plan....
I chatted with the station supervisor and told him my wife is pregnant and I need to get back asap, he put my application on the top of the pile
Two hours later (!!) got the doc I needed, and hit the streets, scooby on boost! It was about 9:30am. Pulled into harare just about 5!
And that's how you get a bike from SA to Zim
For this machine, so worth it!
Have to thank Chopper for all the time and amazing effort he put in to this, helping me every step of the way, from a month ago, and doing so much more than I could have hoped for, what a legend
Topic: Leaving the realm of the bikeless :) - more piccies added june 25 (Read 3103 times)