Thanks very much Mark. Yes, I seem to be talking about two different things. I wondered if there was one policy that covered the bike and rider and third party. It appears not?
Thank you also for info about where my US buddies can get their green card. I'll seek out Dooby.
Cheers
Ron

Hi Ron:

The insurance coverage that is available for out-of-country motorcycles (e.g. a USA plated bike in Europe, or a Europe plated bike in the -stan countries) is limited to liability only. No theft, no injury, no collision... just the minimum legally required third party liability coverage.

For personal medical coverage during international travel, you generally need to get that from an insurer in your home country. It's possible that you could get it from an insurer in a foreign country, but that would be complex and probably far more difficult to arrange than getting it from an insurer in the country you live in. It sounds to me like you have that figured out already.

In western & Central Europe (this means the EC countries, many but not all EC candidate countries, & Switzerland), you can get what is called "Green Card" coverage that is valid in about 20 countries. But once you get into and east of the former Yugoslavian countries, you generally need to buy insurance at the border of each individual country at the time you enter. In many cases (former Yugoslavian countries, Turkey) this is a fairly straightforward and well-understood and well-documented process, but as you get further east, less up-to-date information is available.

If your bikes are UK-plated, it is possible that you might be able to purchase additional coverage from the existing UK insurer to cover liability as far east as the Turkish border. After that, you're on your own at each border crossing.

Michael

That is really helpful, thanks Michael.