Touring on borrowed bikes
 

Our plan (3 Aussies) is to have 3 beemers pre-purchased in London for us and ride down to Syria, back up thru Turkey, ferry to Sochi, round the Black Sea and back to London in 6 weeks.
I now realise that it'd be pretty well impossible to register the bikes in our names ( no UK drivers lic., no fixed address etc. etc.), so they will be in the name of the guy buying them for us. We'll have green cards in our names and will use TIP's as required.

Now the BIG question..... How much trouble will we have trying to get these bikes across borders when they're not in our names. What other paperwork may we need?...

Inside EU I dont think it will be a problem, you´ll just need some written authorisation to cross borders, green card, etc. Done that many times.

But outside EU, places like Turkey, Syria and former Soviet Union, well I havent tried, but I would think it might be a big problem. They probably will not speak english at the border, so how do you explain them what your plans are?

I would contact the embassies or consulates of those non-EU countries that you plan to go to, and ask them. Would be good if you can get some permission from them to bring with you, and show at the border.. I would imagine that getting such permission for each country might be a huge hassle.

Ive actually crossed borders in southern Africa on a rented bike (rented from SA, then on to Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe & Zambia) and I didnt think it was possible before I tried. Not easy, but possible in the end! I would think Syria & former Soviet Union might be a lot harder, though.

travelling on a borrowed bike
 

Thanks for that reply. I was thinking of getting authorization from the owner translated into the 4 or 5 main languages (Arabic, Russian, Ukranian etc.) to show at borders. I see my main problem crossings to be Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine and maybe Bulgaria and Romania.

I'm still many month away from the trip......... but planning is everything!

any further advice will be appreciated

I got insurance from Bennett's too.

N YOUR NAME!!!

I don't know why you coundn't enlist the help of Epson. He's a very flexible and creative fellow. Choose a good paper.
Scanning a correct docuemt and then making changes where needed makes sense to me.
I'd only plan to use it, re-making yourself and bike, when it's really necessary.

Mr. Epson, eh?? Funny! I really need to remember this....
Lorraine

That will all change of course.

travelling on borrowed bikes
 

I'll try re-emailing the DVLA for their requirements to register a bike. On their site they ask for UK drivers license, proof of insurance and about a dozen pieces of proof of address.

For other peoples interest, if we go the borrowed bike route, the 'Green Card' must have the owners name and address and up to 2 riders can be named on the schedule. (just this minute got a reply from knophtours).

I'd certainly rather be legal, but having Mr Epsom along sounds good.

This HUBB thing is really good!

private party vs. dealer
 

I got my bike from was a cop he was able to grease the skids?

I am no expert in this area but I don't think the rules have changed a great deal, if at all, in the past few years. They are to try to stop money laundering (so cash deals are limited to a max of £3000 I believe) and to ensure that vehicles are correctly registered and not being used for crime, including terrorism - there are literally millions of illegal vehices on the road in Britain if you believe the press.

Anyway, if you can show an address where the vehicle is "normally kept" (as Mollydog suggests) - evidence for that address can include things like bills for that address (gas, electricity bills etc) - and you can show that you are entitled to ride (here I am not sure at all, but I would have thought that an international driving licence would be OK - this is definitely one to check with the DVLA) + that you have insurance cover for the UK then I reckon it is "on".

Mollydog,
I don't think that any strings were pulled for you - it is a beauracratic delight, this national registration system of ours and it just needs to have all of the paperwork in order and a bit of patience on the part of the buyer. Who you buy from makes no difference; both parties have to do some paperwork but it is the seller who has to tell the DVLA what is happening (or they continue to be responsible for whatever that vehicle does, including any fines involved) - all part of trying to ensure that vehicles are accounted for.

The national computers are very linked up (increasingly so) and the records of what is insured are checked against what is registered to be on the road. Automatic number plate recognition cameras are now in place which tell the cop car via a downlink as soon as the camera identifies a vehicle which does not have the right to be on the road - the cameras are both static (such as the London congestion charging type) or mobile, fixed at the front of a mobile policecar or in vans parked on the side of the road - a few years late, but very much on the lines of 1984!