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Importing Motorcycle from USA to EU (France) Importing Motorcycle from USA to EU (France)
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Trip Paperwork Covers all documentation, carnets, customs and country requirements, how to deal with insurance etc.
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  #1  
Old 6 Oct 2018
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Smile Importing Motorcycle from USA to EU (France)
Good morning all!

I will be moving to France with the US government and will have my 2015 Yamaha SR400 shipped in my household goods.

I am having a hard time figuring out if my specific bike will be compliant with EU law regarding motorcycles (no phone number on the Yamaha France website).

I am not temporarily importing my bike, I am moving over there indefinitely.

Can anyone point me in the right direction regarding the steps that will happen when I arrive and the bike needs to clear customs? How can I be certain that the bike will be legal in France?

It's a Yamaha SR400 2015 which is also sold in the EU, I just don't know if there are any modifications that are made to the bike in order to be street legal over there.

Thank you in advance for the help!
joe
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  #2  
Old 6 Oct 2018
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Importing Motorcycle from USA to EU (France)
Am sure someone with more specific info will be along but my understanding is you will be fine if you have a certificate of EU conformity for your bike, which would either already be in your bike paperwork, or available from Yamaha.

If not and you were bringing it to the UK you’d have to get specific single vehicle approval test (i looked into importing a bike from the US). As this relates to EU rules i anticipate France will be similar.


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  #3  
Old 7 Oct 2018
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If your moving there permanently then you will become a French citizen. As an immigrant you could be allowed to import a vehicle ... check with the French embassy.

In Australia where people have imported vehicles the distributor of said vehicle have uniformly refused to supply documents that verify the vehicle compliance with local laws. Their reasoning is they have paid for the tests to verify compliance at some cost, that cost is passed on the buyers. If they supplied the documents free then they'd loose custom.

EU = metric speedo ... not miles. First failure.
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  #4  
Old 8 Oct 2018
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Originally Posted by Warin View Post
EU = metric speedo ... not miles. First failure.
Not necessarily a failure at all. I have a BMW registered in the UK that has a speedo in kilometres not miles - no issue at all. I can’t see it being a problem in France the other way round unless you know differently.
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  #5  
Old 8 Oct 2018
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Originally Posted by Temporaryescapee View Post
Am sure someone with more specific info will be along but my understanding is you will be fine if you have a certificate of EU conformity for your bike, which would either already be in your bike paperwork, or available from Yamaha.
I talked to Yamaha in the USA and they are only able to provide a certificate of conformity for US law. They said I need to get one from their European counterparts. They were not able to find any contact information for Yamaha in the EU email or phone in order to get a cert. of conformity for EU law. Any recommendations?

Would I be able to unpack the bike from my household goods and register it temporarily as a tourist/whatever until I can gather the necessary paperwork?

Thank you in advance!
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  #6  
Old 8 Oct 2018
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Originally Posted by Warin View Post
If your moving there permanently then you will become a French citizen. As an immigrant you could be allowed to import a vehicle ... check with the French embassy.
I will be working with the US government so I will remain a US citizen (on diplomatic status) so I won't be immigrating into France, just working there.

Does that change how I would go about importing the bike?
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  #7  
Old 8 Oct 2018
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Here’s the global site: https://global.yamaha-motor.com/

I suspect asking them would be the right place to start as they could confirm if the US and EU models differ.


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  #8  
Old 9 Oct 2018
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Originally Posted by joesal View Post
Does that change how I would go about importing the bike?
Probably. Yours is not a 'regular' case. I'd talk to the French embassy. Even they may not know. But they may be able to find out.

----------------------
A bike imported here and they used on Australian roads must have a speedo in kmh .. unless it is a vintage vehicle. A rental bike I had in the UK had its kmp speedo converted to mph .. I would have thought that was a requirement in the UK.

There does come a point where it is simply easier to sell your bike at 'home', and buy another one there.
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