Temporary Importation of a Motorcycle into Countries of the
 

Hi,

I am planning to ship my motorcycle from Canada to Poland in about 2 weeks.

How long am I allowed to drive around with my canadian registration plates around Europe, and especially Poland?

thanks,

Paul

Legally probably 6 - 12 months.

In practical terms there probably is no limit: the bike is not recorded in your passport, so there is no way of knowing.

There IS a limit on how long YOU can stay in the EU, but you can easily leave and re-enter.

A neighbour here keeps his NY registered car in France permanently and has done so for years.

The main thing is: make sure you have a valid Green Card (proof of insurance).

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

Don't quote me on this but now Poland is in the EEC i think there rules will be no different than the rest of the european union,So i would not worry aboout Polish rules being any different from the rest of the the EEC members,

There are Polish m/bike sites i don't know any off hand but i think one was called ridepoland,or comeridepoland try a search engine, if you fine the site ask them for some details.

London bubble

Paul:

I've shipped my Canadian moto to Europe 4 times in 4 years, and only once did anyone care about how long I was going to stay - that was when I entered Europe via England.

The biggest concern you have, if you plan to leave the bike there "for a while", is to get the Canadian licence plate renewed for as long as possible before you go to Europe. In practice, most provinces won't renew a licence plate without proof of insurance, and you will (quite logically) not be putting Canadian insurance on it if the bike is in Europe. So, get a nice fresh licence plate sticker on it before you export it.

Also, call up the CAA and get a white, oval 'CDN' country sticker to put on the back of the bike. Not only is this required by law, but it will really help you as far as people being courteous to you when you are confused in traffic.

Make sure you have the European "Green Card" insurance document with you when you actually import the bike into Europe. My experience has been that the European customs guys don't give a hoot about the motorcycle itself, they just want to see that you are properly insured. The importation is strictly a paperwork excercise - show the waybill, show the registration, show your passport, and show the insurance. No-one has ever bothered to go and look at my moto - they just look at the paperwork in the office, then stamp the waybill as "customs cleared". Then you go and get it.

PS: If you are visiting Poland, buy a good lock and security chain for your moto. This year's slogan for the Polish tourist board advertisements in rest of Europe is "visit Poland, your moto is already here." http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif