Selling a Honda Goldwing in Europe?

[gopdebeek]

I am shipping my 2003 Wing with 7500 Km on it to Europe this spring and may be interested in selling it. Can I sell a Canadian registered Honda Goldwing in Europe or are there specific countries I can and can't do that?

[PanEuropean]

The problem is not that your moto is registered in Canada (although that presents some considerations of its own, such as payment of import duties), the primary problem is that a North American specification motorcycle doesn't meet the EU regulations for a whole variety of requirements, such as lighting, engine emissions, etc.

Honda (and all other auto and moto manufacturers) build fractionally different motorcycles to meet the vehicle regulations - sometimes called 'homogulation' - of different countries. A headlight that meets North American requirements won't meet European requirements, and vice-versa. Likewise, an engine or fuel system that meets North American requirements won't meet European requirements, and vice-versa.

The differences are, in some cases, very tiny, but it is probably prohibitively expensive to make an EU vehicle conform to NAR regulations and v.v.

So, your best bet would be to try and sell the bike to a North American (ideally a Canadian) who wants a 'ready to ride' bike that is already in Europe.

Michael

[Walkabout]

An interesting concept, which crops up elsewhere for bringing bikes back to the UK from North America when purchased over there.

Anyway, while agreeing with PanEuro's summary, I would say that it is worth a try, especially if you consider selling into the dealer network who can handle the issues that PanEuro outlines.
Obviously, there are a lot of countries in Europe compared with where you are coming from; the issues are national regulations but based on minimum standards laid down centrally by EU rules and regs. So, they vary, but they are not insurmountable with a bit of effort I believe. I hesitate to try to spell out what they are for the UK right now because I am not up to date, but it has always been possible to get a vehicle registered for the road here by following what are known as "single vehicle type approval" rules.
The headlight can be corrected for dipping left/right hand & all the regulations were not retrospective legislation, so older vehicles do not have to meet the newer regulations - just search for the London Emissions Zone (LEZ) for more about that!!

There again, the bike is good to go to ride on the RHS of the road, so a sale in mainland Europe may be totally feasible.
And, a Goldwing is a collectable to some folks, so it is just a matter of finding the right customer; that is why a dealer may be interested, but that is less likely if you turn up wanting to sell it just as the first snows are falling and the ice is on the highways.

[MooN]

I know little or nothing about Goldwings, but if a bike developes more than 100 horsepower you can't sell it in France. though there's no mot equavalent for bikes in France (yet!) so that wouldn't be a problem the buyer would have to go through the homologation process which is typically burocratic & long winded. Can't help with other eu countries.