Selling a U.S. registed motorcyle in the E.C.
 

I’ll be traveling from Asia to Western Europe on my Suzuki DRZ400 this summer. I’m checking about the possibility of selling it in Europe. Can a U.S. registered motorcycle be registered in the E.C.?
I’ve spent untold about of money and time preparing my bike for this trip, but so far, I’m looking at least $2,500 to ship it back to Hawaii. This is money better spent on preparing for my next ‘Project bike’
Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Mahalo

Joe,
Maui Hawail

BTW, I tried finding info on 'serch' W/O luck

The easiest thing would be to sell it to another US resident who wants to travel. Provided you can change the rego without having to produce it at home...

The DRZ is being sold in the EU, so in principle it's possible to sell it here. In France this is relatively easy: you write to Suzuki France with your bike's details, they send you a form to fill in, you send it to them with a cheque for about 150€, they send you a certificate of conformity with which any French resident can register it here. Takes about a month.

In Germany you have some additional bureacracy to deal with, including a visit to the tech inspection.

In most countries you will probably have to make minor mods, like replace the headlight, if it's a sealed beam. Speedo needs to be in km/h.

I've tried selling a foreign rego BMW here and nobody would touch it. Had to register it in my own name first. A trailer I sold straight out with German rego...

If you have time an alternative could be to break it up and sell the juicy bits on Ebay. Seems to work particularly well in Germany. This may yield a higher profit than trying to sell it in one piece, plus no bureaucracy. (You throw away the frame.) Illegal, of course, but nobody will care.

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

In Eastern Europe it may be easier (depending on the country). I saw a US import Kawasaki Ninja 500 sold in Romania. It passed inspection with no problems, no need to modify lights/speedo, so it might be something to look into.

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Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius - William Blake

You could sell it easily in the UK. Mph clocks mean its an easy switch - put it on ebay or sell it to one of the many 'grey' dealers here as they are very familiar with the procedures. You would get more for it if you register it in the UK yourself first - a lot of private buyers just won't want the hassle, and a dealer will know that too so he will offer you less even though its an easy process for him.