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Europe Topics specific to Western and Eastern Europe, from UK to the Russian border, and south-east to Turkey.
Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



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  #16  
Old 31 May 2007
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Airhead, i am interested in renting a bike 'privately' while in Germany attending BMW days July 6-8 and then ride Eastern Europe till the end of July,

make me an offer!

Andrei.




Quote:
Originally Posted by airhead View Post
friends from overseas,
if you are planning to come over to germany/europa for a motorcycle tour and look for a motorcylce, on a private base i have a few airheads (ready-to-go) available.
tell me what you plan, i will make you an offer.
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  #17  
Old 25 Jun 2007
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Moto rental

[QUOTE=airhead;89105]
Quote:
Originally posted by doubleplay:
[B]Being a US citizen and having no residency in Belgium or Germany,can I buy a new or used motorcycle in Europe travel for 4-5 months and sell it back?

if you (somebody else) are still looking for a bike (especially an airhead) to buy or rent in central europe, sent me an email.

regards...
-=airhead=-
(http://le-chais.de.vu)
airhead,
I would like to rent a an airhead (800 cc minimum) for 23 days beginning Aug. 18, 2007. What would the rental cost be?

-=3brick=-
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  #18  
Old 26 Jun 2007
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US bike in Germany available at end of August

I have a 1998 R1100RT and I will finish touring Europe August 29th. This bike will be cheap for sale or rent.

The bike had a small spill in Sofia 10,000 km ago but has been working well ever since. Some fairing damage, small cosmetic stuff. Doesnt look brand new but thats not necessarily a negative.

It will have about 65,000 miles when I am finished but the bike runs goods and I change fluids on schedule.

Put on a new set of Metzeler ME8800 Marathons in Budapest last week. New fluids in Croatia a few days ago. New brake pads in Rome today.

Its a great bike for touring Europe either 1 or 2 up...

It is currently titled and registered in Texas. Send me a PM.
We can transfer title on my return to the States..

Last edited by OnALark; 4 Jul 2007 at 19:49.
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  #19  
Old 2 Mar 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by airhead View Post
friends from overseas,
if you are planning to come over to germany/europa for a motorcycle tour and look for a motorcylce, on a private base i have a few airheads (ready-to-go) available.
tell me what you plan, i will make you an offer.
airhead, tell me more...
I'm looking for a bike in Croatia, could you help?
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  #20  
Old 2 Mar 2008
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Location: NYer living in Finland and traveling through Europe
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Not sure how relevant this is as this thread is quite old and the question has changed a bit...

I researched buying a bike in Europe and found it to be too bloody expensive. It was cheaper for me to buy my bike in NY, ship it over and if I so desire, ship it back for less than it would have cost here. My bike was used when purchased, but I was comparing it to comparable bikes in Europe.

The other benefit of doing it the way I did, was I bought the bike a few months before I left and had plenty of time to ride and tinker with it to get myself super comfortable with it.

my $0.02
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  #21  
Old 3 Mar 2008
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Wile E could well be right, as bikes are cheaper in the US. I'm not sure about other countries, but I suspect you could ship it and then sell in the UK on the way back without losing much at all. People here are reasonably familiar with registering foreign bikes as we get a lot of US and Japanese greys. Otherwise, if the UK is on your route, I still think we have the easiest process for it - and for most of us, the easiest language to deal with.
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  #22  
Old 15 Feb 2012
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I need to register a DR 650 I'm purchasing in Europe .

Have any info ?

Cheers, Dan danvelo1973@yahoo.com
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  #23  
Old 16 Feb 2012
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buying bike in Germany and getting carnet for it

Hi everybody,

From what I read so far, it seems impossible to buy a bike in Germany and get title in my name if I'm not a resident.

While for touring around EU, having bike in a friend's name is sufficient, going outside EU would most likely require all the papers to be in my name.

I understand that having export license plates is probably the best way to go about this, but what about countries that require Carnet? Since having export plate implies that the bike won't be returned to the country of origin, I doubt anybody would be willing to issue a Carnet for it.

So the question is, what would be the best way to get a bike in Germany for a trip to Africa or Middle East? Has anyone done this?

What are the documents, steps involved and approximate cost, if possible at all?

Is there a less painful way to do this starting in some other country in Europe?

Thanks
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  #24  
Old 29 Aug 2012
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If anybody needs help buying a bike in Europe, contact me here or at sfadvmoto@gmail.com

I am based in Ireland, bikes here are cheap and I can supply a registration address and storage. I can also get paperwork sorted to get the bike in your name.
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  #25  
Old 30 Aug 2012
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G'day mate,
Quick query, from Ireland how hard/much is it to get bike back to England?
I've been to Cork and loved it. Perhaps I will now come again...
Cheers
Tom
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  #26  
Old 20 Sep 2012
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Buying a bike in Europe

I live in CZ and here the proceedure is very strict and there is no way around it which I think is similar for most European countries.

1. You need a permanent home address or you register it in a friends name and address but then he will be held liable for any road offences and fines.
2. You need a residents permit for that country for registration purposes
3. You will have to go to the police station to re-register bike into your name and address. You will then be given a new number plate(providing all the below has been provided).
4. You will have to get bike insurance again you need a home address
5.You will have to get the bike road tested at an approved test centre (called a STK here)
6. All of the above has to be done at the same time to complete the whole process which will require a lot of form filling(not available in English) and waiting in long ques.
7. There are age restrictions regarding engine size and if restricted or not so find out first.
8. A valid driving licence for that country, USA might be a problem.
9. Might be easier just to rent a bike!!!!!

Good luck
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  #27  
Old 20 Sep 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Bon 865 View Post
G'day mate,
Quick query, from Ireland how hard/much is it to get bike back to England?
I've been to Cork and loved it. Perhaps I will now come again...
Cheers
Tom

It's a ferry ride; not too far, but if the Irish sea is rough then it can feel like an eternity
If you look at the menus in this website you can find information about which routes are currently active (ferry companies have a habit of moving the ferry ships onto new routes if the cash flow is suffering).
You can also get quotes for carrying bikes, cars, whatever.
AFerry.com - Book Ferries to France, Ireland, Holland and all European ferry tickets
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  #28  
Old 20 Sep 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RoadTrekker View Post
I live in CZ and here the proceedure is very strict and there is no way around it which I think is similar for most European countries.

1. You need a permanent home address or you register it in a friends name and address but then he will be held liable for any road offences and fines.
2. You need a residents permit for that country for registration purposes
3. You will have to go to the police station to re-register bike into your name and address. You will then be given a new number plate(providing all the below has been provided).
4. You will have to get bike insurance again you need a home address
5.You will have to get the bike road tested at an approved test centre (called a STK here)
6. All of the above has to be done at the same time to complete the whole process which will require a lot of form filling(not available in English) and waiting in long ques.
7. There are age restrictions regarding engine size and if restricted or not so find out first.
8. A valid driving licence for that country, USA might be a problem.
9. Might be easier just to rent a bike!!!!!

Good luck
The UK system is not too different, except for point 2 (but that could be equated to the need for a valid visa for some nationalities) and point 8 (visitors to the UK have managed to purchase vehicles in the UK on the basis of their home country riding/driving licence).
There is a load of information about the UK in particular (and particularly the insurance "catch 22" issue) in the forum "trip paperwork".
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  #29  
Old 29 Sep 2012
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German export plates

fellow german motorcyclists
I am set to take ownership of my 2013 BMW1200GSA.

my question is how long can you get export plates? the BMW dealership will only give me them for 3 months,i need 6 to 8 to do my africa trip.

My Norwegian friends say a year, but i can not find any info on lenngth of time. the Dealership is holding firm on that 3 months. Can I take it to an license bureau and get it extended to 8 months, before it has expired, like on day of purchase?


(I am buying it thru military sales, it is a US spec bike, I am a US citizen, working here but heading home),by the long way down.

Danke!
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  #30  
Old 18 Dec 2012
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As far as I can fin out it is not possible to visit a country buy a bike ride it and then sell it. for the following reasons
1. Your driving licence has to be recognised in the countries you are visiting
2. You need a permanant resident address and residents permit for non EU citizens to enable you to register the bike and then get insurance.
3. The bike will have to be road tested and new number plates issued for the new owner( need an address).
4. Even if you could register the bike selling it is another problem as you have to de-register it and then re-register it in the new owners name so you have to be in country to do that.

The only option is to try and find someone willing to register the bike as the owner for you but then they are liable for all the traffic fines etc.....

Just easier to rent a bike
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