Buying and registering a MC in Germany

[ghorian]

I was asked by a fellow from Australia how to go about this. He plans to buy a bike in Germany and travel around Europe for a while. I did some research and this is what I came up with.

You want to avoid all the red tape, which would require you to become a formal resident, get a valid address, a bank account and such. For a tourist, the way to go about this is as follows:

Anybody, citizen or not, can register a vehicle for export. You will get an export plate (Ausfuhr-Kennzeichen), which is valid for 1 year, during which you may use the vehicle in any country.

There is no obligation to actually export the vehicle, you may go abroad and come back, and you may sell it again in Germany if you wish.

Not all insurances will deal with export vehicles, but there are some that will readily insure you and the vehicle. The vehicle registration office can point you to a suitable insurance agency nearby.

If you use the vehicle for less than 3 months, it is road tax free.

If you use it for more than 3 months, you have to pay road tax. Not much, I gues less than 50 Euro. You should announce the export license duration in advance when you register the vehicle. If applicable, the folks at the registration office will prepare the paperwork for tax matters. You need to personally show up with these papers at the tax bureau to settle tax matters, this will cost you a few extra hours. Finally, you need to pay the tax through money transfer. No other payment method will do. If you don't have a German bank account, you can go to any bank, pay the amount in cash plus a small fee and the bank will do the money transfer for you.

Another complication arises if you want to visit one of the countries that require a "Carnet De Passage". This would be countries in the middle east or north Africa, for instance. It is possible to get a carnet for a to-be-exported vehicle, but I won't cover the details here.

Finally, when you buy a bike, make sure its inspection sticker is valid throughout your planned usage period. As a foreigner, you don't want to deal with vehicle inspection (TUV) in Germany. If a dealer offers you a very good price on an uninspected vehicle, ask him to get it inspected before you buy. It should not raise the price of the bike by more than, say, 60 Euro. If he refuses or asks for more, don't buy, there is something wrong with it.