Buying a bike as a foreigner

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darkhelmet

Pack Dog
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
241
Reaction score
0
Location
Roaming southern Africa
Bike
Honda XRV 750 Africa Twin
Hi all,

in june this year I made a wonderful trip to south africa. I rented a bike and wandered around for a bit. And now I want more...

The idea is to go from South Africa to Tanzania, by bike of course, to pop around at a friends place for a beer or two, and head back to SA via another route.

There's two ways to get hold of a bike for the trip:
buy one at home and ship it forth and back ($$$)
Pros
familiar with bike
can be customized exactly to my likings

Cons
Shipping is expensive
will need carnet to drive around (can anyone confirm?)
takes lot to get organised and clearing the bike can be a hassle

Buy and sell one on the spot in SA
Pros
Bikes in SA are generally cheaper than the are over here in the Netherlands
No shipping required

Cons
Finding a good and reliable bike
takes a bit of time to buy one, but perhaps even more to sell one

But the most important one? Is it possible for me to own and insure a bike as a tourist? Will I be able to take it out of the country?
 
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