I was just looking at the title document to my New Jersey registered bike last week and musing about the "pink slip" name as part of it is set in a pink (a kind of faded red really) box. It got me to wondering whether this was some stylistic hangover from all "pink" documents in the past. I've no idea and didn't think to ask anyone but if it was only a Californian thing then perhaps not.

Regarding RW's original problem with Russian customs I wonder if it's because they expected to see some large impressive looking document (UK registration docs for example are folded A3 size) rather than the fuel receipt lookalike that US titles resemble.

Hey guys this thread is of interest to me.
Ill be driving my car through russia & europe, starting late august.
Im now starting to question my paperwork.
I have two pieces of paper from the West Australian Gov with the Words "Licence and motor Injury Insurance Policy"
This is what we consider our ownership of a vech over here. (renewal of rego)

Anyway i went to the Licensing center today (a Gov Dept), and i asked the lady if i could have any details on the owner ship of my car, proof of ownership.
And she laughed at me and said your renewal of rego papers are your ownership papers !
I explained to her that i /we know that, but the guy at russian border crossing wont know that, anyway she couldn't help me.

anyway i dunno what to do ? will these papers be good enough ?
surely other west aussies have gotten through using them ?

Graham

I cannot answer your question but know the document you mean as my UK registered BMW was issued with one when I shipped it into Freemantle and think you might have a problem with it. I suggest you repost it in the trip paperwork and head it something like "Western Austalia registration document advice needed", this is actually the wrong section for this question and it might be missed.

Thanks Mark, will do.

now you're taking nonsense, there is no American law forbidding you to carry a vehicle title

Does this piece of paper have the vehicle's license plate, VIN number, and your name on it? Then it's fine.

Russia is part of the Vienna Convention, and while they will want originals of the documents at borders, they can't very well demand documents that simply do not exist in the jurisdiction where the car is registered. For comparison, in Estonia the only paperwork a car has is a light-green piece of paper, a third of an A4 sheet, with the car's owner/user's name, technical details, and stamps/signatures for the annual technical inspection. I've crossed the border in a car with just this paper (and Russian road insurance) - but Russian-registered cars have a lot more paperwork associated with them.

Hi Again: I am the guy who started this thread with my questions about Russian entry requirements with a motorcycle. I had made up my mind to never revisit this thread due to some over the top comments, especially by a Brit who took me to task for a typo while making the most abominable mistakes himself. However, I happened to click on a shortcut to this thread while coming to Horizons Unlimited for some research on another topic, so -- I'm back. Anyway, now that I've been through Russian customs with my VStrom a few times, let me share with you what I learned.

First: Thinking I needed my title, but that a copy would not do (as it had in all other European countries) I had my wife make a high resolution copy of my original title and email it to me. Then I went to a high class computer company in St. Petersburg and had them make me a very official looking copy of the title on special "paper". More about that in a short while. But, as American's know, you don't want to travel around with that title. Although not illegal, losing it would create a big hassle when you got ready to sell the bike. Also, I don't finance my vehicles, but it seems to me that financial offices hold on to the title until they are paid.

Secondly: And this is key, I had a Russian friend write out a note explaining that Americans use a "Registration Certificate" which is our "Vehicle Passport" and which we must show the police if stopped. This note in Russian seemed to be exactly what the Russian Passport Control needed.

Next, a problem: In Illinois, where I live and where my bike is registered, they list the license plate number on the Registration with the prefix MTY for motorcvcle. For example, my license number is listed on the Registration as MTYCR....., however Illinois does not put that MTY prefix on the vehicle's plate itself. This confuses hell out of the people at customs, and they don't really much like you trying to show them that it is on the annual sticker we attach to the plate. I ran into the same problem when taking the bike into Turkey, Romania, and some of the former Yugoslavian countries.

Showing the Customs Agents the marvelous copy of the title I had made mostly just confuses them. There are too many numbers and they don't match the Registration. It is better not to do that if you can keep from it. Just show them the registration if you can.

If I had it to do over, I would have photo shopped myself an official looking document with all possible information on it, had it laminated, and pulled it out to hand to Customs. They will want such things has bike weight, kilometers on the odometer, bike color, and who knows what else they might decide to ask. Also, it all depends upon the border you are going into or out of, and they each seem to have a unique form they are trying to fill out.

They wanted to go through everything on the bike, but they were doing exactly the same thing to every other vehicle. The man and woman doing it asked me things like if I had a Kalashnikov rifle or a bazooka in there. All tongue in cheek. Then they started asking about my medical book. I tried showing them my medical insurance cards, but they insisted they wanted my medical book for the ambulance. Then, they discovered my medical kit. "Ah, Medical Book"!

So, a long winded post. Praise to those of you who waded all the way through it.

Ron

Glad you made it back.
Great review on the process to how to get into Russia with your bike.
Thanks for posting.
I think I am ok on this one no typo errosssss

I and other members did point that out in the first place

The Brit.