Question for the bits
 

I am looking to purchase my next bike either in France or in England , I saw on Ebay a comment next to the bikes saying "collection ONLY " can someone explain this.
Thanks

I'm guessing it's the US equivalent of "for pickup only" meaning that you have to pick up the bike or arrange for pickup yourself, i.e. they don't offer shipping services to other cities or countries.

It means simply that you have to collect the bike when you pay for it.

Or put another way, delivery to you is not an option.

It's the standard way of buying bikes this side of the pond, although I don't know how you do it where you live but guess it's pretty similar but just worded differently.

Bike
 

Thanks for the reply , here in the US we do buy and have it ship anywhere especially on Ebay , I was just worry that was bike for off road only or restricted use. I didn't decide yet where I will be buying my bike but England seems to have a good market for used bikes , since I am French it should not be a problem to tag it , now the next enquiry will be the carnet de passage as it seems cheaper in France VS England.

Having lived in France, but now back in England, I found that secondhand bikes are much cheaper in England
We moved back in 2010 so the experience is fairly recent.

But if you are registering the bike in England, or France, then you do need an address in the country.
I'm unsure what your reference to tag means.

Exactly so, but there are bike delivery services (that are also advertising on UK ebay etc) which will act as a courier service i.e. they will collect a bike from one address and deliver it to another, for a price.

USA jargon for the registration/act of putting a number plate on the back - correct?
(two nations separated by a common language).

Bike
 

As for tag in my limited but always improving US English it does mean registering a bike and get a license plate. I do have an address in France I can use .

In the UK all motor vehicles keep the number plate they are issued with when first registered throughout their life no matter how many changes of owner so the bike should have a number plate and registration document, if it hasn't steer clear.
You only need to pay for a tax disc, registration to you if the vehicle is kept or used on the road when it must also be insured and if over three years old tested, MOT roadworthiness test that is.
I don't know about France but carnets are an expensive pain in the ass in the UK compared to Germany where a fixed deposit seems to get you one from the ADAC.

https://www.dvla.gov.uk/dvla/vehicles.aspx

bike
 

it maybe worthit to buy a bike in Germany ....

For the UK you want a bike with v5 and mot if over 3 years old. The v5 is the registration document that ties you to the bike. You need a UK address to transfer it and you need it to transfer it to another EU plate with the least hassle. Mot is a road worthiness inspection. No mot and you cannot ride away. A ukcarnet is expensive.

I'd pick Germany for bike choice and ease of paperwork then France if you have a local address and only use the UK if language will frustrate you in Germany. UK is not set up for travellers or cheap. Sad but unlikely to change.

Andy

Or, perhaps buy in Ireland
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...e-europe-69311

Where there is a ready-made solution regarding the pitfalls involved in buying, as per the link above.

This thread has moved on to the eternal subject of insurance - the word insurance means all kinds of things to various people, but the link above contains a solution to the basic issue of obtaining the legal minimum insurance cover, for riding in Europe anyway i.e. the (in)famous green card.

There are many more threads on the insurance angle in "trip paperwork".

Bike
 

Thanks Guys,
I greatly appreciate the help , I am going to look into Ireland and Germany , I looked in France but my 3 choices of bike seems difficult , if 2 up an XTZ660 easy to find but if two bikes I cannot find newer( 2010 ) DRZ400 or DR650 it seems like they stop to sale these a while back . Too bad I could buy all accessories here in the US for fairly cheap.

Euro exhaust emissions regulations killed off sales of those bikes a few years ago.
In general, new bikes now need to have fuel injection in order to meet the ever more rigorous regulations that come out of Brussels.

bike
 

Thanks for letting me , I couldn't find any info about the end of the sales of these two great bikes