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Europe Topics specific to Western and Eastern Europe, from UK to the Russian border, and south-east to Turkey.
Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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  #1  
Old 31 Aug 2008
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Touring Europe
Greetings all ... I am new to this forum, and this is my first post.

I am a US resident ... planning to tour Europe in Spring '09 for a few months ... will be touring UK, France, Germany and Spain.

I've got a Honda ST1300 here in the US, and one option I'm considering is to transport my bike to Europe, do my touring and then return it to the US.

The second option (and the one I'm leaning toward) is to buy a bike in Europe (probably UK), use it to tour Europe, and then stash it with friends in the South of France.

Any advice from experienced tourers would be most appreciated.

Thanks
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  #2  
Old 31 Aug 2008
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If you buy a bike in the UK, you will need to register it at a UK address, ideally a friend. The documents will take a few weeks to come through after your purchase. You may have trouble finding insurance in the UK as a non EU driving license holder although not impossible and I've seen posts on here about that.
The main downside to buying in the UK is that you will need to keep the road tax and MOT (technical check) up to date or declare it off road every year.
If you buy in France you may pay a bit more to buy a bike than in the UK, you will still need an address in France and you may still find it awkward to get insurance but after that there is no road tax or technical check for a bike, so nothing to keep up to date apart from the insurance when you want to ride it.
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  #3  
Old 31 Aug 2008
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rentals
We have rode Europe 3 times for 2-3 weeks at a time. Each time we rented. We looked at buying and shipping the bikes home. It was not worth it.
We rode 5 - 6 countries each time. Than walked away without any worries about paper work or where to leave them. Or how to sell them. We ride harley's so it was easy to find a Harley Dealership that rented.
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  #4  
Old 8 Sep 2008
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chungo
hi all

iam new to this forum ,and am looking to tour Europe 09 .Trying to find out if you can hire bikes in europe and travel country to country please suggest websites if any one knows any.
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  #5  
Old 8 Sep 2008
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how much does it cost to rent a harley davidson in europe approximately.
Last edited by Chungo; 8 Sep 2008 at 11:33. Reason: didnt read write
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  #6  
Old 14 Sep 2008
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If you're spending more than a couple of weeks touring Europe it pays to ship your bike. It is easy to find new friends to stash it with during trips home.

Our bike has been here nearly 3 years and we have about 18 months and over 50,000 km. on it in Europe. We bring a new annual sticker for the license plate each year we come back to Europe.

Insurance can be easily gotten with ADAC (Auto Club of Germany) or through Knopf Tours (Knopf Motorradreisen). 22 Euros/mo. if you walk in, but you need a German address which Knopf will give you if you go through them. We already had one.
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  #7  
Old 15 Sep 2008
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harley hire
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chungo View Post
how much does it cost to rent a harley davidson in europe approximately.
Hi, I know of one Harley dealer in Spain that is part of the harley rental scheme. There must be dealers all over europe who rent out bikes and maybe you can get to them thorugh the spain website below

Harley Davidson Costa Blanca Spain

I dont know about taking a hire bike out of one country to another though .

Lee
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Old 16 Sep 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chungo View Post
hi all

iam new to this forum ,and am looking to tour Europe 09 .Trying to find out if you can hire bikes in europe and travel country to country please suggest websites if any one knows any.
BMW MOA : Global Touring - to Europe

bike hires all over Europe + more info/ links
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  #9  
Old 18 Sep 2008
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just an idea
I'm military stationed in Germany. You could always buy a used bike off a military guy, do your trip, and then sell it. I dont know of all the legal aspects of registering a vehicle for civilians, but may save you lots of money. I just recently bought a motorcycle for my Dad to tour on when he came over because it was more economical than renting. Here are 2 newspapers that regularly have bikes for sale. Good luck and enjoy the trip.


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  #10  
Old 9 Oct 2008
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Spring.... be aware that if you're going anywhere near the Alps that a lot of the passes will probably be still closed.
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  #11  
Old 18 Oct 2008
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If You buy a bike in Belgium.
You probably also need an adres for the insurance but that is al.
No technical control.
And maybe a postbus is also ok.
I'll ask it if that is enough.

Have a nice trip.
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  #12  
Old 22 Oct 2008
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have abike for sale us bmw r12gsa
hello about to finish my europe trip and want to sell my bmw r12gsa w/8500 miles for 13,500 has everything u need and can drop it off south of france for u. check out my site with this for sale ad
Selling my BMW R1200GS adventure
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  #13  
Old 4 Nov 2008
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I guess renting is an option. There are a couple of firms in london who will hire you a bike.
Chungo if you contact 'dockgate 20' in southampton they will rent you a harley, I suspect it will be in the hundreds of £s though.
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  #14  
Old 8 Nov 2008
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I've rented for 6 of the past 7 years (one year was a no-show). As I approach retirement and will have more time available I'll be shipping a bike over to keep there. I can store the bike and insure it (Green Card) for a 4 month block for about the same amount of money as a week's rental fees.

That being said - if you're only going to do two or three weeks, renting is the no-hassle way to go.
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  #15  
Old 12 Nov 2008
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Hi,

I'm doing my first overseas tour in Europe next year and have bought a '95 Xj900F from a bloke here in Australia. It is in England and was only 650 pounds so for three months of use, I don't even really care if I get my money back at the end.

This is obviously the bargain basement end of the spectrum and involves a fair bit of trust, but a bit of digging around proved useful and compared to hire or even a rail pass, very economical.

Hope you have a good trip whatever you decide.
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