Hi Wanted:

I think that the best approach to take is to be extremely honest and straightforward on your customs declaration.

State that the goods are personal effects intended for temporary importation only, that you plan to make a long motorcycle tour, and will be exporting all of the goods out of France (either at the conclusion of your tour, or when you ride out of the EC).

Attach a manifest listing what the items are to your customs declaration. This way, if the French customs people wish, they can attach the manifest to a temporary import document that you can then have stamped out when leave the EC. You may also want to attach a copy of your passport data page and local driver licence to the shipping documents, this supports your claim that you are a tourist who will only be in the EC for a limited time.

I suggest you speak to a customs broker in the country you live in to get some advise about how to properly document your shipment. If it is properly documented, and the contents are in fact 'used personal effects for temporary importation only', then I doubt that you will have any difficulty with French customs.

I don't recommend that you try to 'fake it' by labelling the stuff as a gift or anything like that... I think that would only lead to raised eyebrows followed by imposition of duty and taxes. Just be 100% honest, because what you are intending to do (temporary import of personal effects of a tourist) is something that is not normally taxed or dutied in any way.

Michael