A friend of mine is looking for a new bike and has seen this nice 1100 Monster on Ebay, serviced by the wonderful @nelly of Cornerspeed. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152972724645?ul_noapp=true Has anyone been through the process before of registering a bike; is it long and boring and a lot of money? I think @Exige may have done it before, maybe with the Bayliss? Thanks.
I see many bikes here in France with foreign plates where they are advertised for sale with everything that is needed for Franch registration. Quite often there is something amis. If it was ready for UK registration then why would the seller not do it first?
A bit like those vehicles sales that list a fault and claim it's a quick fix, if it was that easy they would have done it to help the sale and not hinder it.
To much of a coincidence this bike, it's a few miles from me and my work mate bought an American import off a customer we were working for last year, he has been trying to get it registered for months and has given up, so many problems with conformity papers, I don't know the full details, but can confirm the first owner hardly ever rode it and had it shipped over when he moved back to the UK. Having said that, there is a possibility it's a different bike, I'm not at work until next week otherwise I would do some digging. Steve
Don't forget that any US sourced bike will not have a European certificate of conformity, and will therefore be subject to single vehicle importation arrangements/inspections. If it has been brought up to UK spec then I would assume that these have all been done, but why would anyone then stop in the procedure?
I am about to get an MOT against the Chassis number in a couple of weeks and then apply for a registration. There are 2 schools of thought on this that I have found. @Chris had a nightmare with the DVLA and others say it's simple (depending on the age of the vehicle) but say my Bayliss should be simple being a 2009 bike. I am a lil tentative about it all
I went through this with my Multi I brought back to the UK from South Africa. It was a mission until I got my head around the system in the UK. A few pointers. A Euro certificate of conformity is required. I got mine from the Ducati dealer I bought the bike from. It has to be an original document on a manufacturer's letterhead. Original registration certificates and proof of payment of any duties are also needed. I also had a South African police clearance document to prove it wasn't stolen. The DVLA declined this doc and actually contacted the SAP and SA registration authority for confirmation, they were a complete pain in the ass A Nova inspection involves things like speedo in mph, abs inspection etc. A MOT will not qualify. Also required. Once all this is done the bike can be registered, it will be given a plate that matches it's year of first registration. In my case I also had to prove I had owned the bike for more than 12 months abroad. (I think it was 12 months) Once I got it registered I could not sell it for a further 12 months, if I had the there would be a tax implication on the value of the sale. If you need a chat about it drop me a message and I'll call you. Good luck Andy
That last bit makes some sense as I've been watching folk bringing back small cc two strokes from France and they are always sold as "Nova fee's paid". I've always wondered why the vendors (often companies like Unit 5 Moto's) don't simply register their products to get easier sales - now I see why!
I am going through the process now. I am shipping my H-D from Saudi Arabia to the UK due to my contract running out and my return home soon. I am at the stage of organising a shipper and gathering information on the bike as I am not its first owner. I am glad to have read that MK Drew has already done it I will probably drop you the odd stupid question now and again as I get stuck if thats ok. I have so far bought the correct head light for the UK and a set of exhausts. I am having to have a new card made for the speedo which reflects MPH, the one thats fitted is KPH only. I have also check my VIN number and it breaks down to a European specification bike but I will try and get a letter of conformity from the dealer, thats a good piece of information thanks MK Drew.
I've brought cars and bikes in and it's do-able. MK drew has given a good run down on the process. If you've got a CoC then it should be straight forward. If not you can get it inspected which is nothing to worry about so long as you've done the light, speedo etc. On many bikes the headlight is no different, cars dip to the right or left. Also nowadays you can switch between Km and miles on the dash. Simples. If the bike is from Europe the Vat should have been paid. Outside Europe you'll have to pay it. Fair enough though.
Your welcome to contact me if you need help bud. You must be a brave man riding a bike in Saudi. I spent some time working in Riyadh and Jeddah, I wouldn't even drive a car there with those nutcases on the road!! Another quick pointer. I had my bike in a storage container whilst I went through the registration process. I could insure it on foreign plates, but because I have a British driving license I could not use it on UK roads on the SA plates. As crazy as it is if I had a foreign driving license I could have ridden it! The UK market for bikes has a bit of a negative attitude to imported machines, it drops the value regardless of how clean the machine is (my Multi had 18 000 touring miles on it) It was spotless, had never seen bad weather or been dropped, scratched or damaged at all. I traded it in on a new Scrambler and got about 15% under book value for it, that was a sad day.
Do modern bikes still have aligned headlights? 10 years ago I had a Suzuki that did, but I honestly thought those days were over.
As mad as this reads I have more near misses from other road users on my 1098 in the UK than I do on my bike in Saudi. I did contemplate selling the H-D and not bringing it home but the second hand market is so bad in Saudi I would get more money for it if I set fire to it. I kind of like the bike now and think its worth keeping, my wife owns a H-D Fatboy so to keep her happy I might aswell join in as it will keep her happy.
Anyone help me out with this. A guy wants to sell me a bike that started life in Australia he bought this bike and then sent it to Germany where he lives. It is now registered in Germany with German plates. If I buy it how easy is it to register in the UK if I can what do I need from him? I am also confused over the duty issue will I have to pay or not? When I read the government website it would appear I have to pay duty due to not owning it for six months. Many thanks in advance for all your wisdom and knowledge as it is greatly appreciated.
Can the speedo that is in Kmh have a stick on mph overlay like all the Japanese imports used to have? The ducati s4 has been mot’d in the uk before but it’d kmh clocks Ta
Recently completed Uk to France import. That was a steep learning curve and also within Europe! What I would say is, you must really want the bike, it has to be a bloody good deal. Luckily UK insurance was still valid while my bike was processed, though it was time limited (3months in a year, max 1 month at a time) French insurance I found would only cover for a max 1 month, then they expected French plates.. Certificate of Conformity is the starting point, there can be difficulty with this and there are some rogue places offering CoCs, best go direct to manufacturer/importer. Importing from ROW to UK, dont expect to be riding the bike legally anytime soon.
Anyone interested in registering an imported bike to the uk, this was my experience with a Japanese import that had been in the UK over 10 years before I purchased it unregistered. https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/registering-an-old-unregistered-bike.36852/#post-638572 Steve
