Hi from Albania,

We shipped our bikes from Bangkok to Istanbul a couple of months ago. When taking the bikes out of the crates we noticed that a strap had been put across the steering head of Audrey's F650GS but didn't think anything more of it (it was a long day of getting the bikes out of air cargo with lots of running around). Recently we discovered that the VIN on the steering head was damaged, presumably by this strap. Fortunately we had presented my bike for inspection first and they just waved Audrey's bike through so we had no hassles at that border. Now of course we are nervous at every border crossing and I am sure we will need the numbers inspected when we return to Canada at the very least in order to get the carnet refund. We will be shipping out of Frankfurt with Motorcycle Express in August and it is of course possible for the German authorities to perform an inspection as well.

Ideally we would have had a police report filed in Turkey so that we would have something to prove the bike was damaged in transit and not stolen. But that would have had to be done right at the airport and is no longer an option. Somehow I think going to the police here in Albania wouldn't do us a world of good.

On my R1200GS the VIN is repeated on the frame but I haven't been able to find anything on the F650. Does anyone know if there is a second location on the F800/F650 for the VIN?

Any suggestions for helping us rectify this situation would be appreciated.

__________________
Ekke Kok

'84 R100RT 141,000 km (Dad's!)
'89 R100GS 250,000 km (and ready for another continent)
'07 R1200GS Adventure 100,000 km (just finished Circumnavigating Asia)
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

www.ekke-audrey.ca