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French bike in Spain... help! French bike in Spain... help!
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Trip Paperwork Covers all documentation, carnets, customs and country requirements, how to deal with insurance etc.
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 30 Sep 2005
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French bike in Spain... help!
If I buy a bike with french plates in Spain, what should I try to do about registering it?

try to re-register the bike with spanish plates?

keep the french plates?

Try to register the bike in the US (my permanent residency?

Also, what about insurance?
thanks for any suggestions.
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  #2  
Old 5 Oct 2005
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Nothing . Keep it French .. and insure it for you as a main driver. That's all.

Otherwise ,triying to put spanish plate to a foreign vehicle is a bloody nightmare you are not even aware of. Really ,I gave up in a couple occassions.

Also , now in Spain , any foreigner can drive any foreign-registered car (even that ITs not on its name) , as long as its not spanish. I mean , I -as a Spaniard- could NOT drive your French reggd bike , but you as a foreigner (even that you are not french ) can perfectly. The law tries to enforce Spaniards to pay duty for their imported cars.

So , as long as your bike is insured .. you can freely use it.

Javier.

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  #3  
Old 5 Oct 2005
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Thanks for the info. That leaves me with the problem of getting some insurance for it. It is right to assume a spanish company won't want to insure it, especially since I have no legal residence/visa in spain? If so, is there an international plan offered by some company in Europe?

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  #4  
Old 10 Oct 2005
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Quote:
Originally posted by AndyJ:
If I buy a bike with french plates in Spain, what should I try to do about registering it?
I think you will be buying a whole lot of problems. It's bad enough trying to register a bike in another country if you are not a legal resident. Foreign rego multiplies the problems.
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  #5  
Old 10 Oct 2005
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Andy, under EU insurance regulations an insurer in country x can only insure a vehicle registered in country x. In your case this means you would have to get French Insurance. Without being resident there or having a French address I think you'd have a big problem getting insurance in France.

Can I repeat the earlier advice about registering previously registered vehicles in Spain. It is a nightmare and will take you months and cost a fortune in Jestor fees-Don't even try to do it yourself. Even when you succeed you'll have the same Insurance problem added to which only Residents or people registered as non-resident individuals (NIF & NIE) can own a Spanish registered vehicle.

If you're determined, why not register the vehicle in the US and run it on MA plates?

Regards Q
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  #6  
Old 10 Oct 2005
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That's an interesting idea, I was waiting to see if anyone would mention it. I was sort of assuming that it would be more complicated to register the bike in the states, but perhaps that's not the case. Anyhow the bike was very inexpensive and I agreed to buy it off an american friend here who had to unload it here in Spain on short notice. He had registered it at another friend's address in France and suggested I just keep using the same (fake) address. I don't know how wise and/or feasible this is. However as long as I am in Spain, are the authorities here really going to know whether my French reg. is legitimate?

I emailed knopf tours about the bike and they told me they would insure it for 60 euro/month, which is pretty expensive.

I really do need something to ride to my job here...working illegally of course.

Thanks for the input, keep the suggestions coming. I suppose if the paperwork and fees are too big a hassle I can just sell the bike in france...
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Old 12 Oct 2005
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If the guy is your friend why not ask him to insure it for you? If there is somebody living at the address willing to forward the documents to you you can even do it on the net.

Don't forget to attach the insurance certificate to the bike. You'll get a new one each spring.
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  #8  
Old 12 Oct 2005
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The friend who sold me the bike is an American who now lives in poland...I don't know the people at the french address where he registered it. I think it was a hostel actually.

Don't the insurance, title and the registration have to be in the name of the same person? Or do you mean someone in france could just take care of the paperwork for me and register/insure the bike in my name?
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Old 13 Oct 2005
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Hi Andy. The one good thing about Spanish insurance is that anyone over a certain age can use the vehicle legally. in otherwords insurance covers any driver-in my case over 40 but if you pay more it can cover younger drivers/riders. I don't know if the same applies in France but if it does that could be your answer.

Cheers Q
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  #10  
Old 16 Oct 2005
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Hi, I'm new to this forum, so bear with me. But I live in France and do relocation work, so hence know a bit about vehicle paperwork.

If you are buying this bike, you will need to get the 'carte grise' (little bit of grey paper) re-done at a French prefectural office and give in your paperwork - ie. utility bills etc to give you an address of some sort!

The bike needs to be sold with the carte grise crossed diagonally with 2 lines and in between the two lines you need to have the owner write in 'vends le xxxx (date)' it will also be necessary to x-reference this date with the documentation the owner has picked up from his 'mairie' (town hall). With these bits of paper you can then go to your prefecture and re-register the bike in your name. Without this done, you will have 'stolen' the bike and any traffic penalties will go to the original owner (not a bad thing but!!!)

You will probably (I'm not sure about bikes) need a CT (Controle Technique - or MOT/WOF) done by the previous owner within 6months of him selling the bike to you. This is a new law in France to ensure all second hand vehicles are up to standard!

E-mail me if you need more info!!!

Kira

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  #11  
Old 20 Oct 2005
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No, rego and insurance don't need to be in the same name. This is the case for my partner's bike, registered in her name and insured in mine.

In the Alpes-Maritimes you can register vehicles by post and no proof of address is required. The application form is an affidavit at the same time saying you live at your address. Nothing to stop you from leaving it the next day. Not sure, though, if this works for non-EU citizens who are not French residents. If it doesn't: you can take up residence in a tourist residence and get the owners to certify that you are living there. Worked for me for another formality.

There are huge differences in insurance premiums depending on where a French bike is registered. Take a rural address in a place like the Massif Central and save hundreds.

French insurance co. will demand to see your licence, so you may come unstuck there.

There is no CT for bikes (yet).
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