Hey gang,

My partner and I are nearing the end of our ride from Australia to Europe on our beloved Honda Postie bikes.

At the conclusion of our trip we'd love to ship the bikes back to our home country (New Zealand) but given the cost and the well-traveled state they are in, we'll probably have to put sentimentality aside and leave them somewhere in Europe.

We're already at a point where we are being careful with our dollars (thanks Europe) and are hoping to dispose of the bikes the most financially beneficial way possible...

The bikes are still both running and somebody would probably be happy paying a few hundred dollars for them both. If we were to import them (to the UK for example) and sell them we would also be able to retrieve our $500 deposit from the Australian AA that we paid when we bought our Carnets.

I've had a look at the UK importing procedure and it looks rather time consuming.

My main question is: If we import the bikes to the UK, we pay the VAT (6% of value?) will that provide us with enough documentation to sell the bikes in the UK and retrieve our Australian deposit or will we need to have them registered on the road in the UK first. The bikes are Australian models so have speedo in Kms and are held together in a few places by zip ties and electrical tape. It would not be worth our time or money to get them legally roadworthy for the UK, but it might be worth somebody elses.

If anyone else has any ideas for this situation we'd love to hear them. Are there any countries in Western Europe that have lenient/cheap import requirements? Yes, we'd love to ride them home again....unfortunately finances don't allow :/

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