I'm going to start this thread to answer questions you may have about owning a motorcycle in Europe.

Can a non EU citizen buy a bike in Europe?
The answer is yes, at least in Ireland. So far, I have purchased in excess of 20 bikes for Americans and Australians without a problem.
There is no sales tax in Ireland, thus making the whole process even simpler.
The motorcycle is usually titled in your name within 3 weeks of purchase.
I will use my address to register the bike.
Good reliable bikes can be bought here for around 1,500 to 3,000 Euro, more if you want to go upmarket.

Insurance?
Insuring a bike within Europe is not a problem.
This is a copy of the email I got from the insurance company.

Registration.
Reg (motor tax) in Ireland is 88 euro/year. There is no MOT or any kind of inspection.

Drivers license.
Any non EU license is good for up to one year in Europe.

Purchasing a bike.
The Irish form of Craigslist is called DoneDeal.ie - Ireland's biggest classifieds site. Most private bike sales are traded on this site. Texting/calling from a foreign number (non Irish) is not recommended.
If you see a bike that you like, send me a PM with the link to the bike and I will try and set up a deal.
As soon are you make up your mind you want to buy a bike, I take a deposit of 500 euro via paypal. As soon as the deal goes through and both parties are happy, you paypal/wire me the balance. All very easy.
I will then collect the bike, title it in your name and store it.

My services.
I will negotiate on your behalf as soon as I receive a deposit.
I will then collect the bike and title it in your name.
I will store the bike and, if necessary, have my mechanic get the bike trip ready.

My fee's.
I started this as a free service but, it is now eating into my free time so I have to start charging a fee to cover my expenses.
Picking up the bike I charge 1 euro/mile round trip. A 200 mile one way trip here can take up to 5 hours. This includes an inspection and, if needed, a phone call to the buyer whilst I'm actually beside the bike.
Title transfer is a flat 10 Euro.
Reg will be 10 Euro for a renewal.
Storage fee is 30/month.
The store is a 5000 sq foot insulated and very secure warehouse.

I have an onsite freelance mechanic who will handle anything that need's to be done to the bikes before you arrive. You are also welcome to use my well equipped workshop should you feel the need to get your hands dirty.
Well stocked motorcycle stores are only a short drive away.

Our location.
I am located 15 mins from Cork Airport (ORK) Cork Airport - Welcome to Cork Airport
My premises is a short walk from the beautiful town of Kinsale. Kinsale County Cork Ireland

There are a number of ferries a short drive away, both to the continent and the UK.
We offer airport pick up from Cork airport and arrange accommodation for you if you require it.

I hope this answers all your questions.
Our goal is to give the rider from overseas the chance to explore our beautiful country and the continent without having to go through the stress of shipping or the expense of renting.
Our goal in the future is to provide riders from overseas a place to buy, prepare and store their bikes and treat my place like a home from home. With an airport only 15 mins away, a 12 month riding season, except for the odd frosty morning, a ferry port to the continent only a 20 min ride away, my location is perfect. Brittany Ferries - Ferries to France from Ireland
I will also do a bike buyback should you decide to sell your bike after your trip is over.
This option is great for a rider wanting to do a once off 2-3 week trip around Europe.
Buy the bike for say 2,000 Euro and sell for 1,500, you have a bike for less than 40 Euro/day, even less if you decide to stay longer.
Sharing a bike between a few friends is also a great way to keep costs down, as switching names on the title is no big deal and can all be done within a few weeks.
Please don't hesitate to contact me at the link above - (click on my name) - if I can be of assistance.
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Update on insurance for European bikes ridden by nonresidents of the EU.

We have already insured several motorcycles using HU Bulgaria
So far, all that's required is the bike titled in your name, a copy of the title and a copy of your drivers license.
All transactions have gone through very smoothly with zero issues.

If your dream of riding though Europe on a motorcycle has been dashed because of high rental costs, major shipping headaches, we here at motofeirme have the solution.
Secure storage for a very reasonable fee.
15 mins from a major airport.
Ferries to the continent only a few hours away.

Join our page "motofeirme" on facebook for daily updates on securing the storage and pictures of the motorcycle coming in and out.

https://www.facebook.com/motofeirme

Motofeirme purchased it's 30'th bike last Sunday night in our first year of operation.
For 2014, I hope to pass 50 bikes.
We have a new barn being erected, lockers for your gear, super secure and fully insulated.
The Honda Transalp has proven to be the most popular bike of choice for the solo traveler and most of them have been leaving the the yard for less than 2,500 Euro prepped for travel.
Trading within the group has already started and bikes are changing hands between members.
As the business gets more established we will have onsite living quarters and a campground.
I would appreciate you people spreading the word in forums, clubs, facebook pages etc and would also appreciate feedback on how to make the business more attractive to potential clients.
If you know of people shipping bikes from the USA to Europe we will be more than happy to store them or add them to our selling inventory.

Some of the happy riders presently riding around Europe on their own locally puchsased motorcycles.
Join our facebook page for more pics.

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https://www.facebook.com/motofeirme
http://motofeirme.com/

I will be in Europe in mid September and would like to purchase a motorcycle. A Suzuki V Strom 650 would be idea. I've been trying to get in touch with the guys in Cork regarding their great service to our community. The phone number listed on the Facebook site doesn't seem to be working. As I am new to the site, I can't send PMs yet. Looking for suggestions on how I can get in touch with these guys or perhaps someone else has a bike for sale.

Klass, I got a hold of wheatwhacker by sending a pm to motofeirme on FB, he replied quickly, I would try that.

I bought my bike a couple of weeks ago with wheatwhacker's help. Because I was already in Europe, I flew to Ireland and bought the bike in person, but stayed at motofeirme and did some minor work on the bike before I left. Irish beauracracy is surprisingly easy to deal with, and with wheatwhacker and motocamp's help I had it insured in a couple of days. If you're considering touring in Europe, I can highly recommend this service.

I can be contacted directly by,

Email sfadvmoto@gmail.com
Text/call 415 742 1639 from the USA (free call/text for USA residents)
Text/call +14157421639 from outside the USA.
Text/call +353868894663 (Irish number, international rates will apply)

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https://www.facebook.com/motofeirme
http://motofeirme.com/

Klass7 left motofeirme last night bound for Russia on his new to him Honda Transalp.


Here he is seeing it for the first time




And ready to take off

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https://www.facebook.com/motofeirme
http://motofeirme.com/

Hi all just another plug for Martin and his services.

It is fair to say I haven't been the easiest person for Martin to deal with having be extremely indecisive throughout mainly because this is my first trip of this type.

Martin has been extremely patient throughout and has helped me beyond anything I could have expected.

He does charge, but for the service he offers it is cheap. The bike I happened to buy was delivered back to his shed by the previous owner so he got me on facetime on the phone and walked me around the bike, started it and rode it around his yard! There is no way could buy with the confidence I did without Martin's help.

He goes above and beyond what you would expect and you can tell he has a real love of helping people get on the road

Now I just can't wait to get on the road!

Hello! Me and my wife just knew about you when planning a motorbike trip around Black sea.
We are from Brazil and will be at Europe next august. We would like to use your services to buy and keep two motorbikes for next trip and keep them for future ones. Our next trip is a long loop around black sea crossing places like Poland, Ukrania, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Albania, Slovenia, Austria and Germany. I'm telling the places just to have more information about green card, we don't really care about insurance for our bikes except third party ones.
Can we have the bikes on our names? Looking forward to hear about you. Best regards

Picking up your bike on Sunday

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https://www.facebook.com/motofeirme
http://motofeirme.com/

Hi Wheatwhacker, this is my first post - hope I'm doing it right! Your service sounds like just what I need! After flying out from home (Australian citizen) I am planning a 6 month ride through various European countries and also some non-European countries - starting late April 2015.

My first question is whether a bike purchased through you in Ireland can be ridden through to all the European countries (subject to insurance) including Croatia, Greece and Hungary and also non European countries such as Turkey, Iran, Morocco and Mauritania?

I am thinking the bike may have to stay within the EU. Is that correct? Maybe there is some way around this - perhaps a carnet? Anything else? My plan would be to return the bike to Ireland for resale then fly back home from there.

Regards, Gordon

Hi Gordan.
You are free to take the bike anywhere in the world you want as long as the bike in in your name, which it will.
Many riders have been to Russia without any issues.

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https://www.facebook.com/motofeirme
http://motofeirme.com/

Is this a one-business thread, or can others chime in?

Foreigners can buy a vehicle in Estonia, BUT you need a local resident to go on the registration as a "responsible user". You'll still be there as the owner, of course, and you can put several people as allowed users on the reg.

No regular/annual vehicle tax at all, you just pay the registration fees.

Inspections are issued for up to 3 years on newer vehicles (up to 10 years old), for 1 year after that. Would be quite difficult to actually fail an inspection on a bike.

Insurance - hard to say exactly, but for me liability-only was ~40 euros for 8 months. Includes free green card (valid throughout most of Europe).

Almost all classified ads and most used-bike dealer offers are visible on mototehnika.ee - motorcycles and powersport vehicles, or auto24.ee - new & used vehicles for cars. It's also possible to import a bike from elsewhere in the EU for not much money - mobile.ee is a local front-end for the EU-wide mobile.de site and will quote you a final price with delivery to Estonia.

I'm not a business doing this, just providing useful information.

Slightly off topic but: how does one buy a bike off of a returning traveler [ saving 2 shipping's]?
NA change of ownership usually has hurdles [ safeties inspections, signature there, and TAXES]. The plate usually belongs to the old owner?

Can one get a green card, or insurance?

Separately:
Can one bring a bike to Europe and then register it in Ireland?

Thanks

I'm not familiar with the rules governing registration of vehicles in Ireland, so please take my comment below as just 'food for thought'.

I suspect that the biggest problem one would face when bringing a vehicle sold outside of Europe to Europe and trying to register it there would be proving that the vehicle is compliant with European emissions and safety regulations. Emission regulations (and hence certification of the vehicle that it complies with emissions regulations, as evidenced by a sticker on the frame that is put there by the manufacturer) are different between Europe and (for example) North America. Although the differences may be quite small, what is acceptable in one jurisdiction is not acceptable in the other.

There are also other smaller regulatory issues to contend with. For example, the headlight beam pattern, whether it is a headlight designed for left hand drive (North America) vs. right hand drive (UK), the colours of turn signal lenses (red is acceptable in North America, but not in Europe), and even whether or not the turn signals remain illuminated as running lights (marker lights) when not in use (acceptable in North America, not acceptable in Europe).

All in all, I think your effort would be frustrated by inability to have the North American vehicle pass a safety and conformance inspection in Europe.

Michael