A good question.
It did make things very easy and routine at each border using a carnet. Even if the officials didnt know what it was, its an offical looking document for the bike which they never seemed to question.
As long as my passport was stamped in/out and the carnet was stamped in/out i was good to go.Over simplified a little but the point is -no need for temp importation certs etc.
HOWEVER having the carnet meant that i was unable to sell the bike in South Africa and had to bring it back to get my deposit from the RAC.
I have read posts on this site that that say catagorically you do not need one for the west coast. As I, and the people i was occasionally with, had one it would be difficult to confirm that.
If i was planning to bring the bike back home I would get one.
If was planning to leave it/ sell it. I wouldnt.
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