Hi everyone,

I am currently working in Sierra Leone. My contract ends in February 2014 and I am planning to ride back to France by the west coast.

I will be buying and shipping a motorcycle end of October during a 10 days leave in France, receive it in Sierra Leone in November, work and train on it for 2 and a half months then leave early February.
The bike will most probably be a fresh out of the box 2013 KTM 690 Enduro R. I don't really want a used motorcycle as this is my first big trip and I want to avoid surprises as much as I can. Plus I will be using this motorcycle for commuting and hiking in France for a few years so I want to start with a clean machine.

The big question is: under which tax arrangement do I buy and ship the bike?

For now I can see two solutions, alhough I don't know the details and feasibility:

1) Buying the bike normally in France, paying VAT there, register (and insure?) it there, then ship it to Sierra Leone under temporary import. The bike will have a French License plate, it should stay in the country for less than 90 days before I leave, and when I get home there is no additional paperwork to do.

2) Buying the bike for export, not paying VAT in France, but pay it here, then at the end of the trip import and register the bike in France but this time since the bike will be used, pay a lower VAT according to a used bike price...

Any advice, personal experience or suggestion is welcome. Bureaucracy here in Sierra Leone is pretty hopeless, I cannot really expect anything from them.