The 800% was the requirement for a UK registered bike using a carnet issued by the RAC in the UK, going into Egypt. And then the RAC want to keep 10% of the 800% as their fee.

Use an RSA registered bike and you can use the RSA AA. Then only needs 200% deposit and you get it all back bar the fee.

For me at least this made cape town north feasible and cairo south not.

Yeah, we'd love to be able to ride from Ireland all the way down for sure.





So, you're saying here that going from Ireland to cape town with an RSA registered bike from Ireland wouldn't be feasible?

Then that would mean buying a bike in cape town and heading up to Cairo?

Not quite. If you have an RSA registered bike in Ireland you might be fine. However that might be hard to sort as i you need to be in RSA in person to carry out the purchase and registration process.

There's a great thread on here on the process but it is basically:

1. Get registered personally in RSA so you can buy the vehicle (need proof of address in RSA)

2. Buy the bike

3. Get vehicle tested (equivalent to UK MOT, but done on change of ownership rather than annually)

4. Register the vehicle in your name (equivalent to UK DVLA) - the registration number changes with ownership so you need a new number plate

5. Get Police permission to take the bike across borders

6. Get the carnet issued with the new reg.

(I skipped step 1 by buying the bike in my brothers name as he lives near Cape Town - i then just got a letter of permission from him which gave no problems).

So in short you could go to RSA, buy a bike, ship it home (but this may cause issues as you are then importing it - at least in the UK there is no period of grace) and them start you trip. Starting in Cape Town may prove easier though.

Other thing to read up on is the latest carnet position. In UK the RAC pulled put of the market i recall which opened up other cheaper options ( ADAC?). Again threads on here on this - i dont know the latest as i used the RSA route

When you say "So in short you could go to RSA, buy a bike, ship it home (but this may cause issues as you are then importing it - at least in the UK there is no period of grace) and them start you trip. Starting in Cape Town may prove easier though."......

buy the bike from where and ship it home? I would either like to buy the bike in Ireland and drive to SA, or buy the bike in SA and drive up to Cairo. Whichever is the easier method overall.