buying a bike in europe?
 

is it possible to buy, license and insure a bike in germany, or anywhere else in europe without eu citizenship. I am a canadian tourist who wants very badly to get on a bmw, somewhat legally. any info or references would be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
bobby

Welcome. This subject has been discussed extensively. Please search the forums here.

My understanding is that the UK is the easiest place to do this. As a bonus for you, they speak English. (I'm assuming you're not Quebecois.)

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

thanks so much peter for the info...
bobby

How did you go with trying to sort out a buying etc in Germany? I am an Australian thinking of doing the same sort of thing. Also wonering if I can bring the bike back to Oz at the end of the trip (without getting massively taxed). Damn shame I don't have an EU passport!

An American friend bought a K100 with my help last summer. Registering the bike in his name was easy as he had the use of a UK residential address. Insurance should not be too hard in the UK with UK registered bike.

Beware of taking a bike back home to OZ - for you to do, that exact model must have been previously/currently imported legally in to Australia - check out beforehand. Can't help on the import tax question though?

If you need a UK residential address for insurance purposes, let me know.

It maybe beneficial if you could pass yourself off as a Kiwi to avoid the various taxes levied on Australians over here?




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Getting insurance for a UK registered bike is VERY hard for a non-resident. Buying is easy if you have a UK address to do a C/O.

I am frantically trying to arrange insurance now... here are the sources that I have uncovered and am trying to see if anyone will insure me http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/frown.gif If you find out something I don't please let me know...

Association of British Insurers (yet to contact them)
http://www.abi.org.uk/

Specialists in UK insurance for Australians/NZ (waiting on response)
http://www.duinsure.com

Tip - sort out insurance first and the rest will be easy!

Cheers,

Paul

Hope to have some positive advice soon http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

OK - update...

Short version is: The UK is a very unfriendly motorcycle touring place! Don't attempt to buy a motorcycle in the UK for touring.

1) No insurance companys in the UK insure non-residents
2) Insurance companies outside the UK will only insure outside the country of registration, unless it is on a tourist plate.
3) The DVLA (http://www.dvla.gov.uk) inform me that they do not provide the ability to register a bike as a tourist (so this make the above not an option).

If someone can prove me wrong I would be very happy.

(Note: UK bikers your goverment needs a kick up the ^%&^%)

True! insurance is a nightmare in the UK. Here is my suggestion based on a trip I made last year.
Get a UK resident to buy the bike and reigister it in their name.
They put the insurance in place and insure you as another driver. Takes a bit of pressure but they did it, don't deal with the person on the phone - try to get someone like a supervisory person,or an underwriter. The persons answering the phone invariably do not know much other than if the caller askes for this - say that, if it's anything else, take a name then forget about it.
This worked for me. They provided a green card for europe and I was able to get break down and recovery insurance through the RAC which I used in Salamanca - no problems. 4000 miles later back in the UK arrange for the sale of the bike by the same trustworthy person.
One other thought is to contact the German Automobile Club. They do Green Cards on a monthly rate which is the bare minimum you need to operate in Europe. You will need get the registration document to them somehow in advance. I'll be in Germany in late May,if I can help get back to me jcorker@seascape.com
Good luck.

Hi there,

I'm a Canadian leaving next week for exactly the same thing. I am buying my R1200 GS in Germany, registering it as a non-resident for the purpose of export, getting full insurance, and then off on my trip for a year.

Bike: Highly recommend you contact Stefan Knopf (Knopf Tours) or email some of the fellow Germans on this site. They have all responded with gracious offers to help me find a bike. Stefan has been amazing help, and he also offers other services like tours, b&b, and insurance. You can also find bikes on the German autotrader site www.mobile.de. The advantage of buying a bike as a non-resident of Germany is that you are exempt from the VAT (16%) if you buy from a dealer and you register it as "for export".

Registration. Several Germans have checked, the dealer and Stefan have confirmed that I can register the bike for export. Once registered, I must leave Germany within 12 days and the bike cannot return (unless you re-register it at a cost and inspection. Find that info on another topic about paperwork)

Insurance. Knopf tours is arranging ADAC insurance which is their version of CAA/AAA. A good thing to have if you read what it offers. Finding insurance from a European company was impossible unless you are a resident. No insurance company in Canada would offer it. It came down to two companies, Motorcycle Express and Sunrise Insurance. Both of them were extremely helpful, and basically offer identical plans. They offer just liability (green card) or full comprehensive, theft, and liablity. Also, they have passenger and accessory coverage. My rate was very fair for a year's coverage. You can pre-arrange the paperwork, then finalize it when you acquire the bike and within a few days, you/they fax each other and you are ready to go. The very mininum you have to have is the liability green card.

Shipping back to home. I'm not planning to do that, but it costs about $1000 Cdn. to get it to Florida. I don't know about emissions compliance for Canada.

Good luck with your travels. If you want to see about meeting up on the road with another Canuck, email me at jimlimultimate@yahoo.com. I saw that there is also another HUBB rider from Canada heading to Europe, as I'm sure there are others - check the Travellers topic.
"Wrist cocked, Head up, Pegs down"

Nice & comprehensive post Jim. I'm sure the info will be useful for others following in your footsteps.

I'd just like to point out that http://www.mobile.de./ has been bought by Ebay. It is linked into the Ebay system and as a consequence it now costs money to post ads there. There are now less offers and prices have gone up (more dealers).

A free alternative is still www.motoscout24.de.

Have a nice trip.

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

thanks guys, i will post new info as i go through the process in germany.
brd

Does anyone know how prices on used BMW's in Germany would compare with in the US. I got my 1979 R100T in good condition for $2000 here in US and put another $1000 into it, now she's perfect. Anyone think I could get a good used BMW in Europe for $3000-$4000us ?

Sure would be nice to not have to deal with shipping.

Try www.motoscout24.de

Unfortunately only in German.

Hans

Thanks Vaufi.

It looks like it is indeed possible to find a good used BMW for cheap in Germany.

uc

Hey Jim,

How about an update?
Did the bike registation go as smoothly as anticipated? How about the insurance, how long is it good for and what are the costs?

I'm leaving in 3 weeks to do the exact same thing, straight to Germany to find a bmw and off on my trip (though im thinking 2-3 years.....
Would love to hear how it went.

Im searching the websites right now and am impressed with the available bikes for cheap....


thanks
g


[This message has been edited by Universalcat (edited 19 May 2005).]