Trading/selling a European motorbike in India
 

Hi everyone,

Completely new to this so hoping someone can help us out!

We are traveling to (North) India in April 2017, by motorbike from the Netherlands to India via Iran and Pakistan.

We haven't bought our bikes yet and we would like to trade our European bikes for Royal Enfields once we get to India, and ship the Enfields back to the Netherlands. If we don't manage to trade our European bikes we are also willing to sell them to a bike shop or individual. All of this obviously means a lot of sorting out, and we are obviously reading up on and taking care of the rules and regulations on the way and also ways to get the Enfields to Europe (we know about the vintage regulations and such).

What we HAVEN'T been able to figure out yet though is the procedure regarding registering European bikes in India.

Would be great if someone knows a thing or two about the following:

1. What types of motorbike brand are popular/in high demand in India and would thus be smart to take with us (i.e. I can imagine a vintage BMW is wanted over there whereas an Enfield is more common and this less in demand, and you can get BMW's here easy).
2. Is it possible to register a foreign / European bike in India and if so, what are the costs? I.e. if it's impossible or terribly expensive to do so (aka if an Indian person would not be able to use or afford the bike) then it wouldn't be of any use trying to trade or sell it over there and we may have to ride ours back.
3. Any contacts for reliable dealers/shops in India (preferably Delhi, but other cities in the North or even Mumbai would be ok too) and/or of motorbike enthusiasts would be much appreciated! Perhaps we can set something up in advance.

Thanks ever so much!

I though India required Carnets. If so might that not complicate things considerably.

Then also they require carnets or some sort of difficult paperwork and significant fees to take indian vehicles out of India. Was a story a while ago where someone gave up on taking an indian vehicle out because the fees were astronomical

Apologies for such a negative reply to your first post but almost certainly impossible, your bikes will need to come into India on a carnet de passage and sorting that out plus import duty will be several times the value of the bike and a bureaucratic nightmare if at all possible. If you like the idea of riding Enfields buy one at home and ride it out there and ship it back.
Your timing is also a bit off, the journey out there will be very hot and you will arrive in or near the monsoon which will not be fun, the best time is to leave Europe late August/early September and arrive in India in November after the monsoon.

Thanks for your replies, figured it would be a hassle either way. There's just so much info and different stories we didn't know where to start.

That said, we've read a few stories where people have shipped Enfields out though - with a lot of bureaucratic trouble, granted, but possible. But judging by your replies you're actually saying buying an Enfield (new/second hand/vintage, whatever's needed) as a foreigner and shipping it back home is absolutely impossible? Or is it just very hard and very expensive?

Mind you, the Enfield is only half of the story. If it's really impossible to buy let alone ship one then that's too bad, but we'll just fly home without one. We can buy one back home minus the hassle (but also minus the story :)). The main thing on our minds though is whether or not it's even possible to sell aka leave behind a European-registered vehicle IN India. We've once driven a Mercedes to Gambia for someone to start a taxi career with, so even if we can't sell the bike we would maybe be considering giving our bikes to someone that needs it. But we would of course only do that if it's in any way possible for an Indian resident to register a foreign bike. Any info on that?

Cheers!

PS. Know about the monsoon and high temperatures on the way there, but we figured if we leave early April and arrive early June we'll have the first part of the monsoon but not too bad and we want to head into the mountains first anyway - certain parts of which of course will be closed again from October onward, which is why November isn't really an option.

Hi,
Another option is to sell your bike to another travellor who goes back to europe with it. But again I guess the carnet de passage will be the problem because it is personal.
Probably somone knows a solution for that?

My reply relates to taking your European bikes into India, you must remove it again or they will not let you leave the country. It is possible to buy there although a foreigner cannot register a bike in their name there are ways around it.

I also would not want to sound negative, but..

The purpose of the carnet system is to prevent foreign vehicles staying permanently in a country, that has high import taxes (but you can make a temporary import using carnet). India is one of the few countries, where carnet is literally mandatory, and there are no ways around it. You will need to leave a bond to the carnet issuer back home, and if you sell/leave your vehicle in India, that will be a breach of the carnet agreement, that you have signed in order to get the carnet issued. So your bond will naturally be gone. And you may well get a lot of other problems too, like being unable to leave the country (although I can´t remember if they put the bike on your passport - my trip to India was almost 9 years ago). It is highly likely to be a nightmare on every front, not my idea of fun. That said, you should be able to ship the vehicle back home from India, if you want... that will certainly introduce you to the country´s bureaucracy, but it is possible, I´ve sent out of Chennai by air to Bangkok in 2008. Plan to stay there for shipping for at least 4-5 days.

Buying there, I have not done myself, but I understand it should be possible (..."semi-legally").

Thanks everyone, sounds like a no-go in India then. How about Nepal for all three matters (selling / buying / shipping)? We are open to moving further up North.