The Royal enfield website recently published this notice,
I thought this info might be useful to people here.

http://www.royalenfield.com/app/IN/private_imports.asp


Private Imports



Over the past few years, a number of Royal Enfield enthusiasts from other countries come to India and buy our Indian models. Subsequently, they import the motorcycles to their respective countries. A number of them buy the motorcycle here cause they feel it is cheaper this way. During registration of those motorcycles in their country, these individuals need to provide various documents and modifications to conform to the specific Ministry of Transport guidelines in their country. The Indian models do not conform to those guidelines and so they are left with a motorcycle that cannot be used, not to mention lots of good money wasted. If only they had bought the motorcycle through our official distributor in their respective country.

The following points outline some of the factors that need to be considered in order to evaluate what is involved when you carry out a private import. The scenario is as per the current terms and conditions prevailing, but you should be aware that legislation is constantly changing in these countries to prevent such imports.

- Indian motorcycle models are different from EEC/UK models and will not pass a Ministry of Transport (MOT) test.

- Export models are not sold in India. The Indian model motorcycles cannot be registered in any other country other than India as it does meet the statutory norms prevailing there.

- All UK/ECC specification motorcycles comply with Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) and have VIN plates. From June 2003, all models of bike not previously imported into the UK/EEC must have a WVTA with the consequent VIN plate and Certificate of Conformity from Royal Enfield.

- A motorcycle that does not comply with the UK or EEC rules may not have valid insurance, thus leaving the owner liable to an insurance company refusing to pay out on any claim, including third party liability.

- Royal Enfield will not be liable for registration, compliance certificates or any documents whatsoever, which may be required for the private import of our bikes and it will be purely at the risk of the buyer.

__________________
Red Bull
Ride safe, ride far, ride often,,,...
http://theroyalenfieldbullet.blogspot.com/
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hari_iyer_s/my_photos

The Royal Enfield web site is worth a look to enjoy the work of the marketing department.

The Bullet 350: ‘aristocratic black & gold livery and a thumping engine beat remind listeners they are in the presence of automotive royalty’

Beautiful.

The Bullet 500: ‘a scud on wheels’, ‘an electric starter that enables you to go ballistic at the touch of a button’, ‘Newton would have had a tough time explaining this one’.

Priceless.

Also if you see there are profiles of people (Enfield riders)
This is something I find very interesting ,
For exp check out >>
http://www.royalenfield.com/damansidhu

like these there are many profiles out there and its fun to read people's travelogues. Except that those travelogues are only on RE bikes and mainly India centric.

__________________
Red Bull
Ride safe, ride far, ride often,,,...
http://theroyalenfieldbullet.blogspot.com/
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hari_iyer_s/my_photos

has anyone managed to import into the UK since the legislation came into place ?

I hope to ride a bike back from Nepal to the UK then register the bike in the UK and use it. But it seems Royal Enfield have put thease rules in place to stop people making a profit from the economy. I however wouldent call my adventure to make money and would just want to travel !

If anyone has any info please let me know !

Nice site !

I know that this thread is a bit on the "old side", but I was wondering if "Funkyorange" had any luck finding more details regarding the Enfield import from India.

One line of thought. I know that this has been done by a prior work colleague who travelled to Europe to live/work for a year. They purchased a US spec. vehicle (BMW) from the factory, retained the documentation "certificate of compliance", used the car for the year and imported it as a "used" vehicle with all appropriate documents.

They still needed to go through a RI (registered importer, only for US), but all of the physical attributes of the vehicle and documentation were "US approved".

You may be able to BUY a UK/EC approved bike from the factory with the "certificate of compliance" included. Yes, you will undoubtedly pay extra, but the import will be less of a headache...? or maybe not!
Ciao,
Zbike

I am no expert in this topic, but my memory of this legislation when it was announced a few years ago was that Whole Veh type approval is for the manufacturers to import 1000's of bikes without further checks.

The point is that you can take any vehicle (e.g. kit cars are a classic example) to a MOT station and get single vehicle compliance testing, for a fee of course. All that stuff about left/right hand dipping headlights come under the test, blah, blah.

Therefore, go ahead, ride a RE back to the UK from India, modify as necessary (catalytic converter ???) and get it tested for compliance (but don't quote me because I may have it completely wrong - someone in the Dept of Tpt help me out here )


Dave

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Dave

That is also my understanding of the situation. You can get extra back-up by booking an inspection at a vehicle test centre before you get back to the UK, and keep a receipt etc for the booking. That way if you get pulled you can say that you are on your way to get it inspected.

To be fair if a cop pulls you over and you say 'I just rode this back from India and I am on my way home to strip it rebuild it and get it UK registered' they will wish you luck and wave you on 99% of the time...

An SVA test is not carried out at a normal MOT station but at a special test centre. Anyone can take any bike for an SVA in order to attempt register it. It costs around £250. The problem with the Indian Enfields is that they need a lot of money spending on them to make them compliant with current EEC regulations. New exhaust, new tyres for starters. Together with the cost of the SVA you've already spent the cost of purchasing an officially imported one.
From comments on this forum it is not possible to obtain a carnet for Pakistan with an Indian registered vehicle although I believe it may be possible with one purchased in Nepal.
It's a romatic dream to purchase and ride an Enfield all the way back but sadly international politics and EEC legislation have conspired to make it rather unviable.

__________________
If you think you are too small to make a difference you have never spent the night with a mosquito.

Hi

Sorry for hijacking an old thread. So far I've found out some great things from this forum but I was wondering if anyone had any experience to help please.

I'm living in India for the best part of a year and I'd like to buy a RE Thunderbird 500cc to ride while I'm here and then export back to the uk.

It looks like I'll have to ship by sea, hoping to get a quote shotrly. And looks like I'm going to have to pay duty and vat on shipping as I won't be here for a year.

My next step will be testing with VOSA for the MSVA. However this is where I'm a little stuck. What will need to be down to get it UK legal? I know the speedo will need replacing or modifying but I'm worried about emissions. Can anyone advise on the modifications that will need to be done. I don't want to have to pay too much but more importantly I want to know that it won't be a gamble.

Next I'll need to register it and get a uk license plate I guess. But am I dreaming that I'll get that far.

Hi
I don't know if you have succeeded so far bringing bullet to uk, but because i am in the same process and was here by chance so just registered to post this reply. You asked for UK bike emissions? Right. I asked MOT garage yesterday and they confirmed there is no emissions test for motorcycles in Uk for mot purpose. Kindly get back to this forum when you can and let us know whats happening.

Hi shootsingh,

Sorry for pulling up this thread after such a long time. Was anyone successful in bringing a used personal RE from India to UK?

I am worried about the emissions

Check the SVA manual,

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...al-msva-scheme

Emissions and exhaust stamps are on the list. After SVA there are no tests.

Andy