This will sound very naive and soppy to all you RTW trippers up to the eyes in mud and TIR carnets but here goes.
I've been poodling around Europe since March 2005 and never had the bike back in the UK, so no MoT and I've just picked up a monthly insurance wherever I am. Does DVLA get upset when the road tax does not get paid. Do local cops ever ask for an Mot?
Also, I am going to be Italy for the next year. Any recomendations for Insurers?

Sorry to sound so wimpish.

ROAD TAX.
This is only payable by UK registered vehicles using UK roads. So you are clean on that one. A UK registered vehicle temporarly out of the UK (see below) should be declared SORN as it is not using UK roads

BUT - did you SORN the vehicle? This must be done at the time an existing Road Tax expires (or surrendered for refund) as an alternative to paying for more UK Road Tax, and again when an existing SORN expires a year later. Accumulating fixed penalties for failure. Notices get sent to the Registered Keeper address in UK.

REGISTRATION.
Technically if you take the vehicle out of the UK for more than a certain time (can't remember right now but think it is a year) it should be regarded as Permenantly Exported and the registration surrendered and cancelled. This means the registration you would be travelling on would then be invalid and therefore not acceptable under the Geneva Convention (yes, that one ! - it also includes recriprocal use of visiting private vehicles among signatory states) as that says the vehicle must comply with regulations in the originating state. But how the f**k would a foreign cop know if the registration, for which you have the V5 and possibly other documents, is invalid? Insurers views might be different - they love to wriggle out of paying using any technicality.

MOT.
Tricky one this. I believe it is not a requirement outside the UK but UK Insurers might expect otherwise. Under the recriprocal arrangements there is no obligation to take a local technical test to comply with local vehicle construction and use regulations. Some countries (France for instance) do not even have their own version of testing or MOTs for bikes.


DVLA websites, and links to other Gov sites, tells what they think (or would like) the position to be.

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