Import motorcycle to Cairo -my experience
 

My experience shipping my motorcycle to Cairo for information for would be travelers. YMMV as always.

It’s as miserable as they say. I was told customs, in their incompetence, allowed someone with forged documents to steal 20 new Mercedes Benzs last month so the process is even worse. Four days of waiting, running around all over, fees left and right. Imagine for your annual vehicle registration it took 4 days, logging 100 plus miles, visiting 50 plus offices/windows/booths, fees/payoffs totaling 50 plus times, shouting and lots of waiting, talking to 100 plus people. These are NOT exaggerations.

Customs scatters my items packed with motorcycle all over. Big ‘problems’ with my very basic first aid kit, tiny tube of grease, you name it. This after they totally wreck my shipping crate. Bike in mangled crate hauled off for X-ray. Bike hauled someplace else. On and on and on.

Costs:
Carnet from Boomerang USA - $1,200 (plus $11,000 deposit)
(2015 BMW F800GSA)

Shipping from UK (MotoFreight, who is great) £1,300 ($1,750)
Fixer in Cairo ($800)
Paper from Auto Club Cairo E£ 1,140 ($65)
Customs fee for personal goods (tent, tools, boots, etc shipped with motorcycle) $120 (this was illegal and not required, but welcome to Egypt)
Plus figure $150 for Uber, hotel

Government closed tomorrow (Friday), so hopefully collect my motorcycle Saturday


I’m not going to recommend (or name) the fixer (who came recommended and supposedly does a lot of imports) due to the extra customs fees I’m not happy with.

FYI, YMMV and good luck

I hear your pain. So welcome among those that experienced this first hand!

Lived in Cairo for almost 5 yrs and also had this kind of fun, but not only, luckily. Once I filmed this non-sense with my phone, I was given hell. Egypt custom is the worst, but then Egyptians are just great people, you’ll enjoy every minute of it until you cross the border again. When I left they mistakenly shipped my Defender to a different country... Fun fun fun. My advice is to wash this down with cheap domestic beer, enjoy good meat at Charwood’s in Mohandissen, and above all, avoid the ring road by all means. Enjoy your hard earned ride!