Importing a bike from Italy?

[big t]

Hi Guy,s N Gals, Ive been offered a bike that was brought in from Italy but the guy says that the paperwork has been lost!! Does anyone know if this will be alot of hassle getting it registered in the UK? Its a 98 Honda 600 trail bike & i can buy it for £400. thats all he knows about the bike and i haven,t seen it yet so have no idea of what model it is. I will be going to see it next week and was wondering if it was worth the hassle getting paperwork sorted? any help or advice with this would be much appreiciated: cheers T

[Redboots]

Get the VIN number and see if you can find out if its stolen...

Its probably way too much hassle to import though.

John

[craig76]

Originally Posted by big t

Hi Guy,s N Gals, Ive been offered a bike that was brought in from Italy but the guy says that the paperwork has been lost!! Does anyone know if this will be alot of hassle getting it registered in the UK? Its a 98 Honda 600 trail bike & i can buy it for £400. thats all he knows about the bike and i haven,t seen it yet so have no idea of what model it is. I will be going to see it next week and was wondering if it was worth the hassle getting paperwork sorted? any help or advice with this would be much appreiciated: cheers T

I looked at importing an Alfa GTV6 from Italy. The process is much more complex than in the UK. This is my basic understanding of the situation.

Non residents of Italy are not allowed to register a vehicle in Italy without a permanent address. However, they can buy to export and will be issued with a export or scrapping certificate, a homologation certificate proving it was approved for sale in Europe and also a temporary paper export plate, valid until the car leaves Italy or for 48 hours, whichever comes first.

Italian registration plates are the property of the issuing authority and must be surrendered when the vehicle changes hands. If not, the registered keeper is liable for tax on it from now until evermore. I suppose the exception to that rule would be if its been reported as stolen and not recovered. If it still has Italian plates on it and your seller is not Italian or at least a resident in Italy, then he does not have the legal rights to sell that bike.

Apart from have to source RHD headlights which isn't always possible, it sounds like too much hassle to me.

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by big t

Hi Guy,s N Gals, Ive been offered a bike that was brought in from Italy but the guy says that the paperwork has been lost!! Does anyone know if this will be alot of hassle getting it registered in the UK? Its a 98 Honda 600 trail bike & i can buy it for £400. thats all he knows about the bike and i haven,t seen it yet so have no idea of what model it is. I will be going to see it next week and was wondering if it was worth the hassle getting paperwork sorted? any help or advice with this would be much appreiciated: cheers T

A general rule of thumb I apply for myself when buying is that if the seller of the bike cannot show that he is the legal owner then it is not worth the potential hassle: "Let the buyer beware" is the idea - still the basis of UK law I think.

[big t]

Thanks for your replies, i reckon the bike could be an xr600? from his description. I still got the good ol 3aj yam so i think i,ll give this a miss! Cheers T

[Hustler]

Originally Posted by big t

Thanks for your replies, i reckon the bike could be an xr600? from his description. I still got the good ol 3aj yam so i think i,ll give this a miss! Cheers T

Well done, I'd totally agree with that.
Paperwork is replaceable if everything is legitimate, so therefore something isn't right so simply walk away, which you have done.