Import Restrictions - Timor L'este
 

Hey guys,

In the planning stages of a (currently indefinitely delayed) overland trip from Oz.

I've been looking into the Darwin - Dili crossing and am having some confusion on the temporary import of our bikes into Timor L'este.

We will both have Carnets, and intend to ship the bikes and fly over to meet them in Dili. I have been reading a restriction that Timor only allow import of bikes no older than 5 years. My partner current rides a 2013 bike.

I am wondering, is this actually going to be an issue, or is this restriction intended for permanent import meaning our carnet will avoid any trouble with customs?

Thanks in advance for any information (hoping that I'm just worrying over nothing).

Stay safe

Liss

I have not heard anything about that. When I crossed into East Timor in 2015 I had just met a bunch of people from the Czeck republic who came the opposite way and they were all on old vehicles like Trabants, polski Fiats, old eastern european twostroke motorbikes like MZ or whatever the brands were. Their vehicles were all much more than 5 years old. Some of them maybe 50 years old.

But its 5 almost years ago so things might have changed of course...

When I was in Indonesia for the HU meeting in 2017 I met many folks coming from OZ via Timor Leste on bikes older than 5 years.

Maybe the key word to look into here is "import". There tends to be a difference between "import" and "just passing through". I don't claim to actually know the situation there but it's probably worth a bit more digging since you're not actually permanently importing the bike.

Back to the Past
 

oh... MZ motorcycle ;):scooter: You just referred to my childhood. At the end of the communism era it was produced in the "red part" of Germany with capacity of 150 or the bigger one with 250.
The 2nd available bike in East Europe was Java 350 (2cyc.) made in CzechSlovakia.