Buying a bike in Europe as a foreigner
 

Hi All,

I have been doing much research on this and can't really find the best option. My husband and I, who have American and Pakistani citizenship want to buy a bike in Europe and ride it back to Pakistan. We have family in England and Germany. I know Germany has the export registration, but England would just seem to be easier with the language barrier. Would anyone know the easiest way for us to buy a bike and register it/tax fees, and get it out of the country and legal to ride back through the continent?

Thank you all in advance for any advice on this!

To buy and register in the UK is easy as long as you have an address to register it to but insurance can be a problem if you are not a resident, Ireland is an option and there is a member here who facilitates this and apparently insurance is less of an issue.

I presume that you both have Pakistani passports which would be useful as US citizens have a problem getting Iranian visas.

The best time to leave is early September, much later and it gets rather cold in eastern Turkey and Iran and earlier it is pretty warm.

What do you plan to do with the bike when you get there? It I believe possible to cross Iran without a carnet de passage for the bike but if it is a temporary importation into Pakistan you will need one there. I am not sure of the process if you wish to permanently import it but something must be possible as there are loads of Ford Transits originally from the UK being driven around Islamabad as mini buses.

Hopefully someone will be along with more information and to correct me if anything I have said is out of date, it is a while since I rode across to Pakistan, do I need to say make sure you ride up the KKH when you get there?

There are a couple of members here from Pakistan who might be able to advise about the bike.

About buying in Ireland here.

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...d-heres-104163

Thank you for the information! We do not have Pakistani passports but are trying to work on this Iran Visa issue today, and yes, we have already done the KKH!

A couple things you'll need to look into:

If you're a Pakistan citizen, how do you prove it if you have no Pakistan passport?

Are US passport holders welcome in Iran, even on a tour?

Yes you can buy a bike through motofierme in the Republic of Ireland. You'll need a Carnet de Passage to get it into/ through Iran and Pakistan. Where will you get it? Should you get it into Pakistan, what will you do with it then?

Consider riding through to Central Asia and crossing a small part of China to Pakistan. China will require joining a tour. China visas are apparently currently only available in your home country and require biometric information. Azerbaijan land borders are closed for entry. Currently Russian 72 hour transit visas seem available for some nationalities in Tbilisi, Georgia(Country :D ). For US passport holders too?

Visas to enter by land: Do you need to apply for these in your home country? eVisas are only for flying in, I believe.



My plans for this winter/ 2024: India and side trips to Nepal and Pakistan. I have a German passport (everyone loves Germans abroad :clap: :innocent: ) as well as a UK one (less popular, especially since Brexit, but still OK in parts of the ex-Empire like Pakistan and India) and am resident in Bulgaria, just west of Turkey, where CdPs are cheap and easy to get if you're a resident and the vehicle is registered there (mine are).

I'm probably going to fly to India (again) and buy an Indian bike to explore some more. Am also likely to fly to Pakistan for a quick (fortnight?) ride in the KKH region on a rental. Why: Don't have to bother with getting visas from my home country to enter by land (can fly in with an evisa), save myself the torturous (people say) ride in a convoy to the KKH from the Iran/Pakistan border and don't have the (huge!) hassle/expense of shipping the bike out in order to get my CdP deposit back. I'll miss Iran. Am ambivalent about that: Maybe I'll enter there and loop back to Turkey at some point in the future on/with my own bike/ CdP.

PS. Mark: There's still a Ford Transit manufacturing/ assembly plant in Turkey. 90% of vans in Georgia/Armenia/Azerbaijan are 2 wd Transits from Turkey. The rest are Mitsubishi Delica 4x4s from Japan. Are the Islamabad Transits from there, maybe?

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...352#post630603

The above applies to buying in UK. I also read a post recently that suggested Ireland could be a good place to buy as they don't have annual roadworthiness inspections (hence, none to expire while you're abroad).

So my husband has a Pakistani passport, I have an ID card as I just got citizenship last year and have to wait 4 more years for the actual passport. We are full time residents of Pakistan and plan to bring the bike home with us here....we are still working on this Iran visa issue for me, we have an agent looking into it and trying to get it....I should have a slightly better chance of getting it because I do have the Pakistani ID card. We'll see though, send us good vibes for that visa lol!

Your trip sounds awesome and we really want to do India as well on the bike but alas, our Pakistani citizenship might be an issue for them! We'll cross that bridge when we get back from this (hopefully) Europe trip!

Thanks for the information!

Wishing you all the best for your visas. I believe that's the easiest hurdle to cross. Getting a Carnet de Passage for your UK/ Ireland/ Germany/ wherever vehicle is likely to be a bigger headache/ expense along with permanently importing said vehicle into Pakistan. Flying in and buying locally will be easier by a factor of X, where X is a very large number. Please keep us in the loop in this regard.

Yes, the import issue is going to definitely be expensive! But it is almost impossible to find a good adventure bike here without having to import it! And yes the Carnet is already a pain! We are trying to vlog everything and will vlog this trip and try to put out a video on all the paperwork issues. Our YouTube is @Nicole_and_Mo.

I wonder if member Omie who is also in Lahore can give any advice?

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/members/omie