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Buying and registering a MC in Germany Buying and registering a MC in Germany
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Trip Paperwork Covers all documentation, carnets, customs and country requirements, how to deal with insurance etc.
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  #1  
Old 17 May 2010
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Thanks for that excellent summary. I'd like to add a few points:

As you pointed out, you need to decide in advance how long you want to register it for. The rego can not be extended.

Apart from Russia there are rumours around about other countries not accepting export plates. One of them is, amazingly, Italy. I think I read this on the ADAC web site.

I also seem to remember reading on an official German site that the vehicle has to be exported from Germany within a fairly short period of time. Perhaps somebody can check up on this and either confirm or deny.

Last, this process includes the official cancellation of the German rego, meaning that if you intend to return the bike to Germany you will face large bureaucratic hurdles in re-registering it, especially if you don't speak German. This will affect the resale value.

Good point about the TUV inspection to avoid buying a dodgy bike. Once you are outside the German speaking countries police are very unlikely to take an interest in it, though.
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Old 18 May 2010
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Originally Posted by beddhist View Post
... countries not accepting export plates. One of them is, amazingly, Italy.
I think this has nothing to do with export plates. The issue you refer to pertains to a different kettle of fish, namely short term plates (rote nummer). Though red plates are sometimes used to transfer vehicles from Germany to neighboring countries, they are not universally accepted. Especially Italy is clamping down on them.

I glooked up a few references that talk about this:

Nicht mit Kurzzeitkennzeichen nach Italien | Autosieger - Auto-Magazin
Kfz-Kennzeichen (Deutschland) – Wikipedia

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Originally Posted by beddhist View Post
I also seem to remember reading on an official German site that the vehicle has to be exported from Germany within a fairly short period of time. Perhaps somebody can check up on this and either confirm or deny.
Again, this applies to red plates. Export plates, in contrast, may be used for a year anywhere, including Germany. That is what the vehicle reg office told me a week ago. They might not really know about problems with Russia, but I'd trust their advice regarding Germany.

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Originally Posted by beddhist View Post
Last, this process includes the official cancellation of the German rego, meaning that if you intend to return the bike to Germany you will face large bureaucratic hurdles in re-registering it, especially if you don't speak German. This will affect the resale value.
Sounds like a valid point, although, with copies of the original German papers, re-registering a cancelled vehicle should not be too much of a problem for a native.

Yes, a native helper would be a great help with all of this.
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Old 18 May 2010
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ghorian, all this is very helpful, thanks, could you explain what "temporary" (red) plates are, and how they're different from export plates (I can't read your German links...)? I'm wondering if the sources I've seen (or I myself) may be confusing the two.

Also, as part of the explation, are the export plates obviously visibly different from normal German plates (I assume they are, but want to check).
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Old 18 May 2010
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Originally Posted by motoreiter View Post
are the export plates obviously visibly different from normal German plates
There are Two kinds of short term plates.

1. the "red plate"



Usually, dealers stock a few red plates. For a yearly fee, the red plate covers short term registration for any otherwise unregistered vehicle. Red plate use is restricted to vehicle relocation, testing, and a few other things. Use of a red plate for a given vehicle is limited to a few days (I don't know exactly how many). Red plates may or may not be legal in neighboring countries.

2. 5-day short term

Those plates are similar to the red ones, but limited to one-time use. Their usage is similar. Short term plates MUST NOT be used abroad.



3. Export plates



Those are the ones this thread is about.
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Last edited by ghorian; 18 May 2010 at 19:38. Reason: wrong image replaced
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Old 18 May 2010
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very helpful, thanks.
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Old 19 May 2010
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Thanks for clarifying that. I've been away from Germany for too long, obviously.
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