Juju Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 I'm struggling to find out how to import my Yamaha US motorcycle. Yamaha say they can give (I use the term "give" loosely for £70) a letter to say it is now a legit UK import originally from the US but not a Certificate of Conformity. All the help stuff on the internet say useful things like "if your vehicle is a US import it is too complicated to go into here" !! Surely someone else must have imported a no EU vehicle at some time?! I don't think my Franglais is up to a phone call the the prefecture! Can anyone pleeeeeeease help me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizfjr Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Juju,I had a similar problem. Bought a bike (FJR1300) three years ago. It came from an official dealer, but they had sourced it from an importer. When I went for the CoC to Yamaha UK, they said they had no knowledge of the bike: it wasn't showing on their database. However, for £75 they were prepared to send me a CoC. There was nothing to say that it would be anything other than proper CoC, though I havene't pursued it.In the end, I have now bought a GTR 1400 instead, which I made sure came with its CoC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 JujuThe key to importing a bike into France is always going to be type approval and for that, a certificate of conformity is essential. Whatever Yamaha UK tell you, a 'letter' from them saying the bike was imported into the UK has no validity whatsoever in France.. Bikes manufactured after 2003 come with an EU type approval CoC which means they can be registered in France without any further inspection or modification. Earlier bikes must comply with French national type approval, and as it happens, official UK imports will nearly always do so.The problem arises with bikes that were manufactured for the Japanese or US home market and subsequently unofficially imported into the UK or France. The key elements such as emissions,radio suppressions, lenses/reflectors differ for Japan/US, so they do not comply with French technical standards. That means the bike has to be submitted for a single vehicle approval inspection (réception de titire isolé) at your local DRIRE (equivalent of UK VOSA) and any necessary modifications carried out before the bike can be type approved for use in France.To do this, you must apply to Yamaha France for an attestation de conformité. They will check the manufacturer's records to see how 'near' to French spec your bike is. If it is near, then they can issue a partial certificate of conformity together with a technical notice outlining the differences which you then provide to the DRIRE. Those differences may well need additional tests, eg, an independent emissions test at UTAC Paris to see if it falls within the approved range for the 'nearest' model. If the engine's power rating is over 106bhp, then it'll need to be restricted down.If your bike has no equivalent French approved model, then Yamaha France can't issue any documentation - the ultimate showstopper....As you can see, it's a complex process, possibly hit or miss, and it can be expensive. The UTAC test alone is understood to cost in the region of 400€ plus the cost of the return trip to Paris, etc. Then there's the 86€ for the DRIRE inspection, plus the cost of the fitting E-marked headlamp/lenses, radio suppression kit, etc.....Generally speaking, it's often not worth the hassle and cost - but at the end of the day, that's your decision. At least you now have some idea of what's involved.PS: Trying to avoid the hassle by keeping a non-approved bike on UK plates is not an option either - big fine, and they confiscate the bike too....[:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nell Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 My other half is considering importing a classic car from the USA, but trying to calculate the overall cost is a bit of a nightmare. Has anyone done this or can anyone throw some light on the subject. He knows that if the car is over a certain age then we should only have to pay 5.5% import duty and no Vat (Is this correct??) Thinking about the CoC... We are talking a British car, but an American import (Triumph or MG). What are the implications here??Any advice/comments welcomedNELL [8-)] [8-)] [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Same situation as above. British cars designed and built for the US market have a technical specification that is different to that in France. That means they normally have to go through the same single vehicle approval process with the DRIRE- with the same potential hassle and costs.However, if the car is over 25 years old (or over 30 years old as from 1 January 2008) then you have the option of contacting the FFVE (Federation Francaise des Vehicules d'Epoche) for an attestation (basically a type approval waiver) and registering it as a voiture de collection.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nell Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Thanks for the information Sunday Driver....Kind RegardsNell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Brings back memories of when I was involved in a Rover club. An member who was British but had lived for many years in Australia decided that he wanted to return to the UK and bring back his Rover that he had bought in Australia. He contacted the British Embassy who told him that he could provided it had an 'E' sticker. His did not. However, I had a couple of spares (could be bought for 4p from dealers) so I sent him one. He put it on the car and it came in to the UK without any problems.Now France I think would have been a different kettle of fish.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted November 8, 2007 Share Posted November 8, 2007 [quote user="Sunday Driver"]Same situation as above. British cars designed and built for the US market have a technical specification that is different to that in France. That means they normally have to go through the same single vehicle approval process with the DRIRE- with the same potential hassle and costs.However, if the car is over 25 years old (or over 30 years old as from 1 January 2008) then you have the option of contacting the FFVE (Federation Francaise des Vehicules d'Epoche) for an attestation (basically a type approval waiver) and registering it as a voiture de collection.... [/quote]Sorry to be a pain SD, but does this apply to all U.S. cars or just those that have (or have had) a French equivilant (an old merc, for example)? I wouldn't mind a potentially cheaper classic from the US - you can always dream...I've seen some classic cars for sale in the US that are described as the Euro model, don't know if they have been imported there from Europe privately or not. [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 The FFVE concession applies to all classic vehicles regardless of their original country of manufacture.For any US spec vehicle, you would need to change things like the lenses (different colour in the US) in order to comply with the code de la route and therefore to pass the CT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bones Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Well I didn't know that: sounds like (another) good excuse to own a classic! The only thing I worry about is driving kids around in them: really should be looking at something with abs and airbags... [:(]Damn responsibility!Cheers SD. [B] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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