Storing motorbike in foreign country for couple of months
 

Without discussing this subject with regard to specific countries, is it in general possible during our motor trip, to store our bike in a country we travelled to for a couple of months (at a private person, motor dealer, repair shop, storage facility, etc), fly back home and return to the visiting countries after again a couple of months to continue our journey?

That way we safe a lot of time on roundtrips and can continue where we stopped the last time.

Is this a doable scenario with regard to regulations, laws, bike ownership, etc?

Very hard to find any information on this so your help is much appreciated!

The answer is that sometimes it’s possible, although rarely totally legal. Countries don’t want you importing bikes permanently without collecting duties and ensuring they conform to local safety regulations. There are lots of different definitions of the word “permanently.”

For that to be useful you’re going to have to get specific about what countries you’re interested in. In conjunction with naming countries you’ll also have to be specific about how long you hope to leave your bike—some allow 3 months, some 6, some 9; some don’t allow you to leave at all without taking the bike with you; others have bonded customs warehouses or other means of suspending the passage of time for a while. And some make it illegal, but don’t do anything to stop you.

To proceed on the basis of something like this being “generally possible” would be a bad idea. Probably what’s why you’re not finding the information you’re looking for; the whole question is off-target. You can easily find information on specific countries, including what is legal and what’s actually possible.

Hope that’s helpful.

Mark

Thank you for your quick reply.

I mentioned 'in general' because we are not sure where we will end up as we would like to do this about every three months (so three monts of travel and then 3 months back home). But I fully understand it is hard to answer questions like these in general terms.

On the first run we would want to store the bike in either Turkey or Iran. I will try to find info on these specific countries.

Thanks for your help.

Simon Dippenhall has done this quite a few times, he had a leisurely ride down the west coast of Africa, leaving the bike a few times, flying home, then continuing later. He then rode up the east coast doing the same. I think the bike is somewhere in the Balkans at the moment?

Simon has also toured Syria and Iran so would be a useful person to talk to, I'll copy him on this thread.

Thanks Tim. It’s all down to the specific country and time period, in my experience.

Yes indeed - country-specific. For example - Brazil links your TIP or carnet to your passport so you cannot leave a bike/vehicle. Argentina doesn't (we left our vehicle in Buenos Aires for a week when we had to return home briefly (residence visa requirements for me).

Exactly, it's down to the regulations of the individual country (which may change if they make allowances for interrupted journeys due to covid - not all do though). You have to consider it - as the OP says - "with regard to specific countries".

There was a story (on here I think) not long ago of a bloke who had accidentally overstayed his Chilean visa, and the customs authorities permanently confiscated his expensive BMW when he tried to leave the country. Don't take the chance. Find out.

Without mentioning specific countries - or at the very least, regions (e.g. Western Europe, North Africa, Central America, etc.) it is impossible for anyone with first-hand experience to give you a useful answer.

In principle, leaving any object (vehicle, motorcycle, watch, cellphone, whatever) behind in any country without declaring on the way in that you will be leaving the object in country will be a violation of customs rules.

Countries allow tourists to bring possessions (vehicles, objects) into their country on the understanding that those possessions will be exported when the tourist leaves.

In practice, you can leave a vehicle behind in most countries that do not generate specific paperwork for the vehicle at the time you enter the country. By 'specific paperwork', I mean an entry document that lists the vehicle, or an entry in your passport linking you to the vehicle. I know someone (I know them really, really well... :) ) who has left a Canadian registered moto behind in Europe every year for the past 10 years.

You need to be discreet about it, which means putting it into private storage somewhere. You also have to make absolutely certain that the vehicle will never be used by anyone else when you are out of the country... if it is used by someone other than the owner, it is probable that full import duties will need to be paid without possibility of appeal.

In Western Europe, it's generally not a problem. Similarly, in Canada or the USA, it's also generally not a problem, although it is not permitted (not legal) in any of those locations.

Once you get into South & Central America, or Africa, it's almost impossible to do so without being caught and getting hit with heavy penalties.

This information is NOT correct. Many people store motor vehicles in South America, especially in Uruguay, Chile and Argentina where vehicles can get TIPs of 12(I believe), 6 and 9 months respectively and no mention of the vehicle in the rider's/ driver's passport on exit at the airport.

An aside. The Eurasian customs union (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia) allow vehicles in for 12 months.

Chris, thanks for that correction about South & Central America... sorry about the incorrect information in my original post.

Michael