Buying Used Bikes in West Africa
 

Hey everyone,

I'll be doing a bit of traveling around West Africa and would be looking to buy a bike. I am just wondering what is the best country to find high spec, reasonably priced bikes? I would probably be starting off in SL or Liberia so if not those two then any countries in close proximity?

Also a few of my riding buddies have asked me to tell them if I find any cheap bikes that would be worth shipping back. Is there many high spec bikes found for cheap in West Africa or would prices be similar to home (UK) ?

Bikes that you can register (and would want to use) in Europe are not the norm in West Africa. In fact, when you run into locally-owned, Europe-worthy bikes they often turn out to have been stolen in Europe and imported illegally. Legal imports are usually ridiculously expensive, at least by my US standards.

I knew a guy who was importing used Japanese bikes and selling for a reasonable price in Accra. I don't know whether he's still in business, but I could dig out a contact for you if you're really serious about this--not if you're "just wondering." Others have recommended the KTM dealer in Lomé.

Hope that's helpful, and wish you good luck.

Mark

I saw bikes for sale in the countries listed below in West Africa that were higher spec than the 50-225 cc Indian/Chinese imports that are abundant. I don't know about the prices, and I haven't visited Sierra Leone or Liberia.

In Senegal, there is Fara Moto. Check out their Facebook page. Note, the location on their Facebook page looks different to iOverlander.

In Côte d'Ivoire, there is CACOMIAF. Check out their website.

In Togo, there is KTM. Check out their website.

That's three stores I know of in West Africa, and there's probably more that I don't know. The choice in West Africa will be very slim. If there's flexibility in your plan, South Africa offers more choice.

There are benefits to buying a local (well, Chinese/Indian import) bike that is lower spec and smaller cc. Bikes, parts, and mechanics are everywhere, which is not the same for higher spec bikes. Much cheaper too!

On the UKGSER.com website there is a thread detailing the adventures of a couple of gentlemen and follows them from the Congo to South Africa. One of the bikes was a UK registered BMW R1150GS and the other was a locally bought Suzuki EN125.

It is this thread: https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/491947-Gael-warning-in-the-Congo?p=5264642#post5264642

There is a follow up thread for the Suzuki which takes it from South Africa up the east coast of Africa to Tanzania.

It is this thread.

Both threads are good reads and give good descriptions of life on the road together with some bike content. There is also a starter thread called Gael Warning in West Africa But that doesn’t feature the Suzuki.

Hi Mark,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. My friends were hoping there might be some bargains out there but that is obviously not the case if the import duties are so high. No worries.

Many thanks for the information. I guess I will buy the bike in Senegal. I like your suggestion about buying local bikes for repairs and parts and will definitely look into it :)

That's an incredible thread. I have spent the last few hours reading it. Much appreciated.

Hello:

Mark gave you a very good answer in post #2 above.

The biggest problem you will encounter attempting to import a motorcycle to the UK (or to any other first-world country, for that matter) is that a motorcycle sold in one region of the world (e.g. Africa, USA, Asia, South America) will not be labelled as meeting the exhaust emission requirements in any country other than the one it was originally shipped to by the manufacturer.

This is in part due to variations in emission control regulations from one country to another, and in part (a large part, I suspect) a very convenient way for the manufacturers to put an end to grey market imports of vehicles.

There are very few countries that have harmonized their emission control requirements. Canada and the USA have, which means a vehicle sold in one country can (usually) be imported to the other. Even in Europe, despite the great efforts of the EC to harmonize everything, there are a lot of barriers to importing a vehicle from one EC country to another.

Michael

Guys, I'm the "Drumacoon Lad" who bought the EN125 Suzuki in Congo Brazzaville and rode it to Tanzania, via South Africa. Buying the bike was simple enough and I had no major issues taking it through the borders. A small bike is fine in that part of Africa, however a road bike is not ideal for gravel roads, but that's what the locals use. My bike was Chinese built and the build quality was excellent and it never let me down in 20,000. Happy to field any questions. Glad you enjoyed our GSER threads.

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I have to say that the ride reports that Simon and you wrote cemented in my mind the plan that I have been developing for a while - especially the photos of the wildlife, people and landscapes. I have got to go back to Africa.

Yeah it seems like a mess and not worth the hassle.

Hey there! Your thread was fantastic and really motivated me. Initially I was just going to drive around Sierra Leone and Liberia but after reading your thread I've decided to do a trip from Senegal-Cameroon.

I think I will be buying a smaller bike locally after doing some research. Hoping to go Senegal-Gambia-Guinea Bissau-Guinea-Sierra Leone and then after a few weeks in SL go Liberia-Ivory Coast-Ghana-Togo-Benin-Nigeria-Cameroon.

I am worried about my mechanical skills which are non existent in the event of a problem. I was thinking about getting some of my friends to educate me in the basics of fixing my bike as I think I would be in trouble otherwise.

Mechanical skills
 

Hiya ADP

If you read my blog (I am the bmw r1150gs rider in Gael earnings) you will see that lack of mechanical skills is not an obstacle to progress. That would be especially the case if you buy a local bike as, as others have said, most roadside mechanics will be able to fix them.

Regards

Simon

If thinking of buying a bike in Senegal, it may also be worth considering buying in Gambia as it is an English speaking country and negotiations may be less complicated than Senegal, unless your French is good. As Simon said, buying a bike the locals use makes it easier to get it fixed as you travel around. I'd recommend bringing luggage and tools with you, as it can be hard to find even a top box in the local markets. I used soft waterproof panniers and a Givi top box and a waterproof bag to go behind the rider. Top boxes are useful, as a secure dry place to keep valuables and documents. A small tank bag or handle bar bag is handy for passport, driving licence etc for police checkpoints. Also consider what navigation you will use and make sure you have all the mounting components with you. If unsure about doing mechanical repairs one option is to go to your local repair shop before you leave and ask to watch as they service a bike. This may also assist you in deciding what tools to have with you. Cheers Jim

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That's some great advice, thank you.

Would you know which GPS is best suited to West Africa?

Hi Simon

How often did you break down? I am worried about getting stuck in the middle of nowhere and getting myself into bother!

What Sat Nav did you guys use? I'm having difficulty finding one that covers West Africa

I used a Garmin GPS and loaded maps from Tracks4Africa(T4A). They are not too expensive and they covered all the roads I used. Also includes info on accommodation, petrol stations, bank etc. Also well worth downloading the iOverlander App to your phone. This has lots of information for travellers in a map format, with comments added by previous travellers. When talking about phones, both Simon and I had 2 phones, our our own phone and an additional one into which we inserted a local SIM. We used the extra phone to generate a WiFi hotspot and then connected our main phone to this WiFi, to gain access to the internet. This meant that one of the first tasks on arriving in a country was to buy a SIM. Best not to buy at the border, but wait to get to the first main town and ask the locals which network is best.

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Best read the blog....[emoji6]

But to summarise, the ‘middle of nowhere’ is more a concept of our imagination. In reality people live in these places...for example, when the bike stopped dead towards the mid point of a 300 km dirt road in Rep of Congo, I managed to arrange help and spent the night sleeping on the examination table of the infirmary in a village without electricity or running water. Got this mechanic to come on the back of a small Moto from 25 kms away to try to diagnose the electrical problem
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7564de5c9.file
But to find out how it all ended, recommend you check out the full blog...


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Simon, great photo. Particularly like the look on the face of kid with the red tee-shirt.

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Sorry if this is a stupid question but can any Garmin GPS download the West Africa maps or is there certain types of GPS that are limited to certain regions?


That's amazing, I'll check out the blog in more detail.

Did you always carry cash for situations like this? I am wondering what sort of money should Ihave on hand? Don't want to carry too much if possible but wouldn't want to get stuck for cash if there were no ATMs for miles.

Yes you should always have some cash but note that there are working ATMs in all the African cities and most towns, or else someone willing to change USD to the local currency, so it’s easy to top up during your travels.

I usually carried reserves in various places on bike/person.


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These T4A maps can be loaded on a range of Garmin GPSs, using the Gsrmin software. Probably worth researching Garmin map loading and looking at the Garmin motorbike GPS models. I uses a Zumo 550 model and later a BMW Navigator 5(made by Gsrmin and similar to the Garmin 660 model).

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Thanks for the responses thus far lads.

I was hoping to go late December but its not looking like land borders will be open by then. It gives me more time to prepare though

Hi all, some very familiar names in this thread

Need to look up Jimmy (can't remember his handle on here) but he and 2 friends bought bikes here in Cote d'Ivoire (Stephen, no to Cacomiaf!!!). At the time one of my team bought them on his behalf and he eventually rode them back to the UK

They were brand new 3 Chinese bikes, you'd need to ask him how good/bad they were and issues of taking them into EU/UK. We had a hitch this end with registering them but it worked out with a bit of scare tactics!!

Occasionally I see neighbours here in Cote d'Ivoire put their foreign bikes up for sale, if you're interested I could let you know!

As for cash, get a trouser belt with a zip in the back, I've never used GPS here, TBH it doesn't help, some people who came to stay here were sent up a 'B' road where they went through hell but the GPS sent them that way despite my mentioning it would be easier & quicker to do 2 sides of the triangle of 40km which eventually took them over 8h!!!

Message me if you need assistance, been here for years, now living (& was working) here

Hi Chloe (Creer). Hope you are keeping well [emoji3]


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Bought Chinese bike Cote D'Ivoire, BMW F650 GS in Benin
 

Hey, just to add my 2cents.

I bought a 125cc Chinesium powered motorcycle out of the box in Cote D'Ivoire (Boake to be exact, as they come down from Burkina Faso, so are cheaper the further north you go in the country.) I had never motorcycled before (August 2019). I rode it 3000km until Benin and then sold it and bought a F 650 GS (October 2019), which I shipped to Gabon and rode to South Africa (needed a bigger bike for Angola and Namibia). I am still on my GS, which has Nigerian paperwork (despite being bought in Benin, long story), in Botswana, having done 19,000km on it since then :scooter:

There's loads of Chinese bikes in CDI, and Togo. For big bikes you will need to try Ghana, Nigeria or Benin (but Benin will probably involve some type of cross border importation from Nigeria).

It is incredibly easy to buy a bike. It is a mission to register it (especially a brand new box bike). You will have to speak very nicely to the vehicle licencing department in whatever country you choose to buy the bike, or make a plan with a bike dealer. You will need the carte grise (vehicle registration) in your name before you can cross any border. Although, having a local bike and local papers, makes all the Carnet nonsense redundant (thank goodness).

I have got the details of the licencing department in Boake if you need, or the incredible guy who got me the BMW in Benin. Just send me a message if you're interested in either.

Just to add to the useful post by fleur du desert, unlike their experience it was very easy to get a (new) bike registered in Congo-Brazzeville......a temporary registration document was arranged by the dealer, and the finalised one came some time later. Jim may be along to correct me, but I don’t recall him having any problems on our route south to Capetown as a result of the temporary registration document.


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Yes, the temporary registration document from Congo Brazzaville, valid for 6 months, allowed me to enter Angola, Namibia and Botswana and back into Namibia. I left the bike, a Suzuki 125, in Namibia for 6 months and I then got the full registration document DHL'ed to me in UK, before I returned to collect the bike. With the full papers I then toured SA and Lesotho and again left the bike in SA for 6 months. In January last year I returned to SA and went to Botswana, Zam, Malawi and Tanzania. Sometimes there was a query at a border between my Irish passport, UK address and bike papers from Congo but it was always resolved quickly. And of course no Carnet was needed.

By the way you can have a very successful trip in this region on a 125cc bike and even escape a charging elephant in Botswana. I did 20,000km touring these countries without issues.

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