Where in europe is the best to buy a bike
 

Hi all, i am doing my RTWOMB, Round the World on Multiple Bikes, I've already done South East Asia on a Suzuki GN125, Couple of rentals on the way to India, where i'm presently crusing around and will be heading to Europe around May 2012 for my Mothers 70th.
Now i will need a bike to do Euopre and Africa, any ideas of which country would be the best for buying/insuraning a bike, oh and I'm from New Zealand.

The obvious answer would be the UK but from what I can gather it is difficult for non-EU citizens to get insurance here so it might be easier elsewhere.

That's the main drawback, apparently insurance companies aren't too happy with non UK driving licences.

Other countries don't really make life much easier , since they require residence status before you can register a vehicle under your own name. (Italy is a total nightmare for example, no idea about other places in south europe)

As I mentioned the other times that this topic has come up (hint!) ...I had a great time buying and registering a vehicle for export in Germany. It was all fairly straightforward, and if I had wanted I could have got an export plate valid for up to 3 months (maybe more, I'm not sure). The plate comes together with an insurance policy, so you're pretty much set to travel after that. There's also a fairly good market there, sellers all appear to speak english and the yearly roadtest is quite strict, so bikes tend to be in good condition.

Hope this helps, let us know.

G.

Check out mobile.de and AutoScout24.de, the two largest websites for used cars and bikes in Germany, and of course http://ebay.de. Posted prices tend to reflect more the wishes of the seller than actual market price.

Ok i probably should have mentioned, i lived in the UK for a total of about 6 years. I was a motorbike courier for 4.5yrs in London, this means i have a Uk licences, i also have many friends in the UK whom i could probably use for addresses, maybe even insurance. Also have uk bank account still.
I have been told by people here in Goa that Spain may be a good bet as some UK people do runs there to buy as even with the ferry trip is 20% cheaper than in the UK, is this true?
I had heard there where issues in germany if you are not a resident?
Also i will probably take the bike back to that country , in a year or 2, to resell before heading to North/South America., so buying for export/import is not really relivant
Enjoy your ride
Blair

buying a bike in Spain
 

Bik prics in Spain are higher than UK, thn you have to pay a transfr fee to have the bike in your name, typically 10% of book value not what you paid for it!
also you must chck with the SUMA (tax office) as any Multas (tickets or fines) travl with the bikes Matriculation or reg numbr untill paid...go on, ask me how i know!

Hope this helps!

Martyn

I'd go for France if you have an address you can use. Maybe a slightly higher price for a bike but no problems insuring if you have an EU licence, but more importantly non of the hassle with continuous insurance, mot or road tax or any other kind of annual registration. (at the moment - anyway)

Why go further than the UK in that case?

Go where you speak the language and know the market.

so you are saying france have cheap international insurance? and there is No Mot or road tax? interesting not many countries let people away without fees.
The probablem for me buying in France is i do not speak French, from what i gather this means I would have difficulty getting any sort of fair deal.


"Why go further than the UK in that case?

Go where you speak the language and know the market." Turbocharger

This is the most likely option i just thought i'd ask in case there was something better.
Thankyou everyone for the advice
Enjoy your ride :mchappy:

I didn't say anything about France having cheap insurance. Just that you only need an EU licence to obtain it. France does not have annual road tax or any other form of annual registration renewal and there is no MOT for motorbikes at the moment (although I believe it is being considered for the future)
Generally speaking bikes are a bit dearer in France than the UK and both car and bike dealers seem less willing to negotiate from the advertised price. You do have to pay a fee to transfer ownership.
But as far as I can tell. You can buy a bike in France, transfer ownership, insure it for the EU and then take off round the world without giving the French equivalent to the DVLA (DRIRE) a second thought. Many years later when you're ready to come back, you make a phone call to your insurance agent and you're legal to ride back into Europe.

I don't know what the law say about non local driving license, but there are a few other things you might look at. How well does the local insurance companies cover with the greencard (international insurance) - which can end up saving you a bit of money.

In some countries the insurance company does not greencards for anything but western europe.

In regards to prices, I would say either the UK or Germany.