Air freight my motorcycle to Frankfurt

[slowriding]

Let me see if I got this customs thing sorted out. At Frankfurt airport German customs will issue a Temp Vehicle Import permit of a specific length of time, say 6 months for my motorcycle. But I want to keep the bike in Europe longer so I can return and tour for a few years. If I go ride in France and Spain for a couple of weeks and go back to German customs, can I close my vehicle permit by stating I am going to Ireland? When I return to the EU after Ireland do I have to find a customs office and open a new permit whether I have been gone a week or a year? Are there systems in place to verify a vehicle permit is in place if I am pulled over by the police in any of the EU countries?

[Tourider]

The Republic of Ireland is a member of the European Union and the North is part of the United Kingdom which is also, for a couple of years at least, part of the European Union.

[slowriding]

Tourider, thanks, my error. Substitute for Ireland, any non-EU country.

[kawazoki]

And your bike is registered in ??..... As long as you haw insurance policy no custom official in Germany are going to issue temporary import papers for you`r bike...no need for such papers.. from my own experience as of last year with Serbian plates and couple of years back with US plates.

Hope this helps..........safe ride

[crisidsto]

Actually, there are rules, but nobody checks, or is able to check.
Usually you can't overstay 1 year in EU countries, but it's hard that someone can tell you that you did it, unless you do it (telling them, I mean).

For example, if you leave your bike for 5 years in Italy, nobody can say for sure or demonstrate that every year you did not went for a 1 day trip/border crossing to Switzerland and back, as there are no stamps or papers involved at Italy/Switzerland border

[dooby]

Originally Posted by slowriding

Let me see if I got this customs thing sorted out. At Frankfurt airport German customs will issue a Temp Vehicle Import permit of a specific length of time, say 6 months for my motorcycle. But I want to keep the bike in Europe longer so I can return and tour for a few years. If I go ride in France and Spain for a couple of weeks and go back to German customs, can I close my vehicle permit by stating I am going to Ireland? When I return to the EU after Ireland do I have to find a customs office and open a new permit whether I have been gone a week or a year? Are there systems in place to verify a vehicle permit is in place if I am pulled over by the police in any of the EU countries?

Slow,

I presume you're flying your bike using Lufthansa myAircargo?

You don't need to do temp import, Lufthansa land crew is very skilled and they know how to deal with paperwork for overlanders who're flying their motorcycles. You're ariving on tourist base so no need for temporary import.
Because there is no fixed computer system yet to control the flow of vehicles when they get third prty liability insurance, if you're coming from a US state that is allowing you to renew your registation online (like Virginia i believe), than you can keep your bike in Europe for as much as you want.
Third party liability insurance is the only thing you need.

Safe travels and if you need any help with your plans in Europe let me know.

Cheers
Dooby

[kawazoki]

Little correction.... Lufthansa land crew has noting to do with you`r bike except unloading it from a plane..German custom is in charge and you haw to deal with them in order to release bike as they do inspection and VIN verification.

Safe ride

[dooby]

Thanks for the heads up Zoki, yes customs is always sorting the paperwork to release the bike from warehouse and inspecting/checking VIN chasy numbers.

What I meant to say is that Lufthansa land crew has long experience in cargo department, and will not direct people like some other airlines have done in the wrong direction, creating problems with temporary importing and causing more complications with customs that are not neccesarry.

cheers
Dooby

[slowriding]

The state I live in does have online registration for my motorcycle. I hope this all runs smoothly when I get there in July. Thanks for all the comments.