I am planning to purchase a bike in UK and ride thru western Europe. Going to need green card insurance for 90 days. I have read here that its only 22EU per mo. in Germany (but not available for a bike from GB)and wondered if there is a source for that kind of temporary insurance in Great Britian at a similar price. Or is it wiser to insure while at home in the US and bring it with me.
Also, How is the rain in July in North Western Europe......? Thanks KB

Ken,

Short period insurance policies are expensive here in the UK.

Germany is a good place to buy bikes as well, especially BMW's of all kinds. Try this link:

http://www.tourenfahrer.de/tf/

Germans like their touring bikes to be fully equipped, so you should not have too much trouble finding something with panniers etc. Language may be a barrier, try here for a glossary of common bike parts in different languages:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tech/mcglossary.php

Buying in Germany may be the way to go, although in general, Germany is more bureaucratic than the UK.

My girlfriend is German & owns her own R80GS - let me know if further translation is required?

Steve

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Hi KB, Im starting to plan a trip of my own and wanted to do the same thing as you. Buy my bike in the UK and sell it on the way out. If you could share any info you have so far on what needs to be done and the best way of doing it, it would help me out alot. Thanks for your time.

W-D-L

Wet.

I suspect you really wanted to know what weather to expect, no? To the best of my knowledge summer in NW and central Europe is a hit-and-miss affair. Unpredictable.

Re Green Card: you don't need one, strictly speaing, although it helps.

I don't know how this works in the UK, but in Germany and France yiou only pay proportionately for the time you own the bike. So, if you buy a bike and sell it after three months you pay a little more than a quarter of the annual premium. What you paid more is refunded.

See previous discussions on how to register a bike in various EU countries.

Germany: next to impossible.
France: piece of cake, but a little dearer.

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Hi W-D-L,

I am very confused by the number of people that seem to want to come to the UK to buy a bike to start a trip around Europe. It is very strange as we who live here in the UK seem to constantly complain about the higher prices of bikes and cars due to the extra taxes we have to pay. This even goes to the extent where many people who live in the UK go into europe to buy cars to import into the UK due to the savings that can be made. These are what are now called 'Grey Imports' due to the lack of direct dealer support, ie it's not been bought from a UK agent.

If you are planning to start a trip in europe my advice would to be go there first to buy the bike, then if you want to end the trip in the UK you could look at selling the bike here and getting more back for it than you would doing things the other way around. The British government love to tax anything and everything to the hilt and then trying to find ways to charge extra for anything slightly unusual.

I priced a Fiat Doblo up about 18 months ago both here and in Spain and the Spanish version was a higher spec vehicle and was about 40% cheaper than the closest one in the UK.

If you really want to buy here by all means go ahead, I am definitely not attempting to stop you, but I thought you should be aware of the stupid prices we have to pay here.

All the best.

Rev Chris.



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Skin Is A Canvass - Tattoo It!

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Skin Is A Canvass - Tattoo It!

KB has already completed his european trip. He had a great time BTW.

I think many people choose the UK because of the language & the lack of red tape compared to some other countries. Second hand bike price differences between countries have pretty much disappeared now, so no real benefit of one over another.

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My photos: www.possu.smugmug.com