Importing a bike from the UK. My experience.

[Bugsy]

'E' marks should be on all headlight units on modern vehicles from within Europe, both left and right dipping, as this photo shows.

That alone does not make a UK headlight legal in France. Hence the need to change.

[IMG]http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/Bugbear2/P1000228.jpg[/IMG]

Its not rocket science [:)]

.

[Mr Wiggy]

The E mark is on ALL light lenes irrespective of being Head light tail light or indicator lenes. If it has no E mark then it quite simply does not comply with the regulations and is therefor Ilegal.

On the subject of BMW Speedo's, my 1991 K75s has the clear marking for both MPH & KPH and are clearly visible even at night.

[Sean Clarke]

This has all been very helpful as I'm about to move to France with two bikes, one car, two cats and almost forgot one wife!. One bike is a couple of years old and the process seems fairly clear (?). The question I have relates to the other bike which is a 1985 Honda XBR500. Due to it's age and improbability of getting a C.o C. how do I go about using it legally there either by registering or continuing to run it on UK plates? Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Bugsy]

Probably not much help with a 1985 bike but Honda France have recently changed their system.

Honda have now farmed out the branch that deal with importation of motorcycles, the new direct number for this service is : 01 49 93 65 64.

Suggest you give them a ring for advice direct.

Good luck.

[BIG MAC]

What's the rules re bringing in my 55 Plate FZS1000S? I think it's about 130bhp?

[mickthe bike]

Does the CoC for my bike have to be in French or is English OK?.

[Sunday Driver]

If your bike is post 2002, then you obtain an EU Certificate of conformity from the UK manufacturer/importer.  The certificate and it's data is presented in a standard EU format, so English is OK.

If your bike is pre-2002 then it doesn't meet EU standards, so it must have French national type approval.  You obtain an attestation d'identification from the French manufacturer/importer which will be in French.

 

[BIG MAC]

I just checked....my bike is listed at 149 bhp is that going to mean I need to keep one of my little 600s for France duty?

[Sunday Driver]

Contact your French insurer first and ask them if they'll issue cover for an FZS1000S rated at 149bhp. If they will, then contact Yamaha UK for an EU certificate of conformity.  When you get it, you can use it to register the bike directly at your prefecture.

If they won't, then it's the 600....[;-)]

 

[Langers]

Very interesting and heartening that it all seemed fairly simple, but I can't help feeling you were lucky.

I wonder if you can shed any light on this issue for me - I will be relocating to France early next year and wish to bring my Yamaha FZ1 with me.  However, I can't see any for sale in France save for the FZ1 Fazer and I wonder if this is because my bike is producing 150 PS and I seem to recall that they have some restrictions on maximum power in France.

Are you aware of these restrictions and does this mean I can't import a bike if it exceeds that allowed by French law?   Or does one restrict it and then derestrict it after registration?

Hope you can shed some light on this.....................

Thanks

 

[Mr Wiggy]

Please read item on Restrict the power, by Dave Tiler, it may convince you NOT to do what you are sugesting!!

[PaulX]

Hello all - first post on here.

Back in 2007 I bought a new BMW G650X from the BMW dealer in LaRochelle.  Due to the exchange rate it was actually cheaper than buying new in the UK!

At the time I was living mostly in Spain but using our house in Dept 17 part of the year, so having it registered and mostly kept in France worked out fine.

We moved back to the UK in 2008 and I reregistered the bike in the UK. We still have the house in the Charente.

Now … I have a CoC and the original Devis from BMW LaRochelle. In fact the bike still has the original French headlight and the Speedo will read in Kmp or Mph.

So … If I wanted to bring it back to France and re register it on to French plates would that be dead easy ….? Is it just a case of getting a Frecnh Mot (ITV?) and a bit of paperwork ..

Thanks

Paul

[Sunday Driver]

No problems.  You will need the same documents as when you first registered it here.  No French MOT required for a motorbike.

 

[mickod]

Hi Bugsy,

Thanks for your post, really helpful.

I'm currently trying to import my Yamaha Fazer into Paris from Dublin.

I'm brought all my paperwork to the local Impots yesterday to get my

Quittus Fiscal but the lady said I needed to be a French tax resident.

Was this the same in your case? Are you a tax resident in France. I have

an electricity bill with my name on it, but my company is in Dublin,

and I get paid into an Irish bank account, so I'm not on the French tax

grid. They then told me to go to customs (somewhere called Accueil

Standard) as this is where I had to go to pay duty on the bike, but when

my girlfriend rang up (she speak better French then moi), they said

that's only for bikes outside the EU.

I'm very confused, and

really scratching my head on this one. I'm off the road now as I presume

I can't get insurance with a French insurance company without having

the bike registered in France.

Appreciate any help you can give me!

best regards,

Mick O'Donnell

[Bob T]

If your main home is in France then you must be a French resident.