There is a lot of really good information at the link posted at the top of this thread.

I just finished about a week of riding around the Eastern (European) end of Turkey, including Istanbul, and I enjoyed my time there immensely. I posted some comments about my experience in this thread: Notes from a September 2011 ride through Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece.

I was unaware of the different speed limits for motorcycles (lower than the posted speed limit), and I rode at the posted speed limit everywhere. Although I saw police by the side of the road from time to time, no-one ever stopped me.

Be aware that the toll motorway system requires that you buy a 'toll pass' (an electronic thing) BEFORE attempting to enter the toll road system. It is not always possible to buy this pass at the entrance to the toll roads.

I also found that the other drivers in Turkey were very aggressive, very selfish, and, to be honest, downright dangerous. You have to be fully alert at all times, expect the unexpected (translation = expect to be killed) from other motorists, and not assume that pedestrians will wait until you pass before walking out in front of you to cross the road.

Although the country is great - certainly one of the nicest countries I have ever visited - I think I can safely say is is easily the most dangerous country to ride a motorcycle in that I have ever visited. Turkish drivers make the Italians look like Germans by comparison.

Michael

Does anyone have any advice on speeding fines in Turkey.

My wife and I both got stopped earlier this year by the police in Turkey. They were very polite as they gave us both tickets and told us they could be paid in any bank or post office. To cut a long story short we ended up in the central post office in Istanbul and were told they could not take our money at the registration number on the ticket was not Turkish!

I have tried to email the Turkish embassy in the UK but got no reply.

I am now concerned about going back as I would rather not get stopped at customs with outstanding fines!

Any thoughts?

I usually save the bill until out of the country but do not pay.
Did so two times so far in Turkey without any trouble at borders (been allowed out of the country and next time no problems getting in again).

__________________
I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood ...

Very useful information about the new speed limits. The police used to set up the radar traps in a normal car/without any signs/, stopped by the road and after a few klms. is the official police check point, where they stop you.Never argue with the turkish policeman. It seems that they do not have a centrelized police computer system, so there is no problem if you not pay the bill, leave the country and come back again.

WRT speed limits:

I received a 140 Turkish Lire fine for doing 96kmph in an 88kmph zone. This is straight from the cop and written on my ticket. The road was a two line bidirectional highway, straight and flat, not a town or anything else on the roadside but trees.

I was not shown a speed gun or any sort of electronic confirmation, but if he just guessed, I think he was right on the money.

I rode around western Turkey in 2009 and got pulled for allegedly speeding about half a dozen times [i lost count]. All of them i don't think i was and received a ticket for about 140 lira on the last one which pissed me off so went to Greece instead [Kos]. I was all for not paying it but the wife worried too much. No checks made when leaving on the ferry, and no doubt no checks made on re entering Tukey. Great country/people, shite police.

I have heard of this, but where then can you buy these Toll Passes if not at the entrance ?
How will one know if you can get one at the entrance or not ?
J

Hi all,
We are currently in SE Asia and our next plan is to ship the bike to Turkey from where we will (sloooowly!) make our way back to the UK .
I was browsing through the Turkey, Traveller Information page and noticed this -

Roadblocks managed by "Gendarma" (military police) or by the army are frequent at the entrance or exit of urban areas. In these blocks the control is on personal and vehicle documents. For foreigner riders is mandatory to have (always) Passport or Identity Car, Green Card Insurance and Carnet de Passage and Bikes Registration documents. You cannot leave the country if a vehicle has been registered on your passport unless you are ready to go through the difficult procedure of bonding your bike in custom.

A couple of questions if I may.
1. Being a UK Passport holder travelling on a UK registered bike, am I required to have a valid UK insurance policy (we have been out of the UK for 3 years so far and have no insurance) or can I purchase insurance locally in Turkey?
2. Regarding the CDP .. Where is this information from? The UK issuer of the CDP (Royal Automobile Club) has no mention of a requirement for UK registered vehicles to have a CDP for travel in Turkey and so far I have not found anything on the web either.

Thanks in advance for your help, I hope we aren't going to be having any more bureaucratic flies in the ointment!! :-)

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RTW Jan 2009 - Aug 2012. Currently in Europe waiting for the next ride
www.takingthelongwayhome.co.uk

Hi there Mehmet thankyou all for contributing to this thread I will be travelling around Turkey in September October of this year and will be flying out to Austrailia for a three month trip. I have heard that it's possible to leave your bike in the shed at customs (storage area) in Istanbul do you have any idea of the cost of this as I am wondering if it will be cheaper to leave my bike fly to Oz and hire one or if the cheapest option is to ship my bike?
Any advice you (and others ) can give will be much appreciated.
Keep Upright Bill

Thanks for the reply Mehmet ... you have confirmed what I thought. Now on to the next hurdle ... getting the bike shipped from Bangkok to Turkey ... Hopefully not too much of a problem and we will see you on the road soon
Just re-read your reply ... "In addition, you can do your customs clearing purposes yourself and get it stamped on your passport page.Tıme needed is 1-2 days.Dont keep your crate in customs warehouse longer as stocking rates are very expensive.
Be here the same day your crate arrives is recommended"
Does this require an empty passport page or just a bit of space for the stamp? I would have had one spare page in my passport, however, because I wouldn't pay the bribe for the exit stamp to leave Cambodia the Customs guy stamped my last empty page rather than stamp a partly used one!!!!
Thanks
Kev

__________________
RTW Jan 2009 - Aug 2012. Currently in Europe waiting for the next ride
www.takingthelongwayhome.co.uk

I would seriously recommend researching Aus if you haven't already... we were there for a month while the bike was in transit from the USA to Malaysia (Nov 2011 - Jan 2012) ... bloody expensive!!! Just my opinion, great country and people apart from the costs.

__________________
RTW Jan 2009 - Aug 2012. Currently in Europe waiting for the next ride
www.takingthelongwayhome.co.uk

@thehappywanderer
****************

You can keep your vehicle in Turkey for 180 travelling days.
If you are retired, 360 days.
(must be confirmed written by the Turkish Consulate in your home country)
Days kept parking under anex.7-8 discluded.

If you want to keep your bike in Turkey for a while and exit Turkey, you have 2 choices.
ANEX.7
ANEX.8
Here is the link for copies of these application and commitment letter forms in Turkish and English.Please read carefully.(Printed by our government)
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?no...50604798466126

1-You can park it at the customs parking area maximum for 30 days(each time you apply).Price is 8 USD.per day.If time exceeds and no extension is made, it will be sold by the government.
Applications must be made by ANEX-8 form.

2-You can keep it in an official specialty biker club,private garage for 178 days.
If time exceeds,bike has to be sent to customs area...
ANEX-7 must be used for this application with garage warranty/club warranty stamp and registration details and must be confirmed by the closest customs management...No such a garage is available here yet who has the ability for formalities and can speak english and can take the risk...

@panhandle1300
Generally an empty passport page is required for enter and exit stamps.Probably you will meet a biker friendly guy in customs(most of them are) and enough space on a passport page for 2 stamps will be ok.You have acceptable excuse.(away from home country since a long time)

In all guide books,information is not current and up to date as laws are changing very fast here after accepted by the government according to EU.laws main head lines.

Anymore questions always welcome.

Best Wishes

Hi Mehmet,

We will also have to fly back home for a few days and leave our bikes (2 small 125cc) in Istanbul at the end of September.

When you say: "2-You can keep it in an official specialty biker club,private garage.For parking in our clubs closed garage,it is 5 USD per day.Time limit is 178 days." One of your clubs is in Istanbul? We could leave the 2 bikes there for 3/4 days? We need to aplly to annex 7 a lot beforehands or it is a fast preocedure?

Thanks a lot and best Regards,

Romain

Can someone clarify for me?

I intially thought it was 90 days in a fixed 180 day period as the evisa application is for that period. But now I read that it is an ongoing 180 day period ie you count back from now or upon exit from Turkey.

Let's say I exit Turkey end of January after a 90 day stay. When will be the first date I can return for another 60 day stay?

I found a 90 in 180 calculator, begun by a guy who overstayed because he didn't understand the rules until a policeman at exit customs explained them

Link:
90/180 Day Calculator

I'm not so sure about his date calculation method - see under his "About date calculation" menu tab because I thought that the day of arrival
and departure (at whatever time) were both included

Neverthless the calculator is still very useful.