Buying a bike in Europe

[idb]

I'm making plans to go to next year's TT.
That's the one on the Isle Of Man.
In the northern hemisphere.
Next to Britain.
It's the Centennial year you know.

Anyway, my ultimate plan is to fly to Italy, find a bike, ride it to the TT and bring it home.
Finances may not allow but I want to look into it anyway.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on buying a bike in Italy/Europe, whether there are any issues that might arise from riding it through other countries and what is involved in bringing it home?
What is the most comprehensive site(s) for finding bikes for sale in Italy/Europe - something like Bikepoint?
I have several options that I'd like but I have no idea what they are worth.

Oh, and by the way;
I'm making plans to go to next year's TT.
That's the one on the Isle Of Man.
In the northern hemisphere.
Next to Britain.
It's the Centennial year you know.

[zadok]

You'll love the island. I just bought "History of the T.T 1907-2000" Goes for about 4 hours. Brilliant. Going to the T.T was the highlight of my 1981 trip to the U.K.
The bike bizzo sounds expensive, but who knows (not me anyway). Hope you pull it off.

[MisterD]

Just as long as your bike is registered in one European country you can ride it wherever you want, you just need a sticker to denote your "home" country so that'll be an "I"...

[Sniper]

Yep, Im not sure on the importing, but be careful, I know they won't allow newly imported RHD cages on our roads so you might just have to flip the handel bars over. (pt)

[James Deuce]

Yep, Im not sure on the importing, but be careful, I know they won't allow newly imported RHD cages on our roads so you might just have to flip the handel bars over. (pt)

Not as P/T as intended unfortunately. The headlight unit needs to dip to the left in NZ. They will make you replace it or modify if pinged.

But back to the main question, Ducati and BMW both do Fly/buy/ride/fly&ship deals. Check their websites out for details.

Drink less red wine idb, and you'll be able to afford a tastier sickle. :)

[awd]

Sounds a great idea. I purchased a bike when I lived in Italy. To own a vehicle over there you have to be a registered resident, you also then have to pay taxes. I got round it by having my flatmate legally own the bike, the Carabinieri advised this option. I could insure it and rode it no problem, in all the EU countries. The next hassle was selling it in the UK and having to get it deregistered in Italy. Took my ex-flatmate about 5 months to wade through the paperwork and red tape, but until that was done I couldn't get it registered in the UK either.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the hassles again. Although having said that bikes are a lot cheaper in Italy than anywhere else I bothered looking in Europe.

[idb]

But back to the main question, Ducati and BMW both do Fly/buy/ride/fly&ship deals. Check their websites out for details.
Advice good!


Drink less red wine idb, and you'll be able to afford a tastier sickle. :)
Advice bad!

Cheers Jim

[Troll]

be careful when you ship it back to nz

gst to be paid on the bike based upon purchase price and shipping cost

also make sure that the freight includes clearance at the NZ end

otherwise you may find the bill to handle the bike out of the container will cost almost as much as the cost of shipping it to nz

[idb]

Hmmm.
It all sounds pretty hard.
I wonder if I could get one of the local second-hand importers to arrange one for me as well as all of the shipping & paperwork?

[emaN]

Hmmm.
It all sounds pretty hard.


it isn't.
i'd buy a UK bike,go to TT,travel europe,back to the UK,ship out from Swansea etc...

bought mine back with me last year - alot less hassle than i expected!

hopin' and savin' to go back for IOM 07!!!

[Colapop]

Juan is coming out here fromthere shortly (among countless others it seems) and looking to sell his bike/s maybe you could contact him. I think there's an MV and something....

[sAsLEX]

gst to be paid on the bike based upon purchase price and shipping cost


How come? If a pommy git comes over does he have to pay gst on all his stuff in his container? Its not like he is importing the bike, he is just returning home with it.

I liken it to going overseas and buying and using some leathers and then bringing them back, you wouldnt need to pay gst then. But if you bought them ebay and had them delivered here then you do pay gst tax duty and whatever else.

Seems like we get taxed more and more but never get more for our tax.

[SVrunner]

Heard at weekend another option:
go overseas
buy bike
ride bike
dismantle bike
send to NZ as parts
reassemble bike
no tax as second hand parts.
Could be something to look into.

[terbang]

Saw some reasonably priced Ducati when I was living in Switzerland and I could buy as I had a permit (shame I didn't cos I was poor) as its no permit no buy there. Had me Bandit there and the swiss allowed me to keep it on me NZ plate as long as I carried the appropriate paperwork around and stuck a little "CH" sticker on the rear guard and I could go where I liked on it.. Happy about that as Swiss motorbike plates are a hideous monstrosity. I was stopped by Rozzers all over europe more out of curiosity on the plate (it was a German rozzer that pointed out to me the small silver fern type holograms on it that I hadn't noticed).
You definatly have to pay the GST back here and they can put a small sandblast on the headlight for compliance Etc.

[idb]

Juan is coming out here fromthere shortly (among countless others it seems) and looking to sell his bike/s maybe you could contact him. I think there's an MV and something....
Cheers.
I've already PMed Juan about the TT, I'll ask him about that.

[idb]

it isn't.
i'd buy a UK bike,go to TT,travel europe,back to the UK,ship out from Swansea etc...

bought mine back with me last year - alot less hassle than i expected!

hopin' and savin' to go back for IOM 07!!!
That might be the way to go, but I thought Italian bikes might be a bit cheaper in Italy.
I doubt that I'll be getting anything new (if it happens), I don't know if that makes any difference.

[idb]

So....has no-one got a Bikepoint-type website to point me at for Europe?

[Keeper]

be careful when you ship it back to nz

gst to be paid on the bike based upon purchase price and shipping cost

also make sure that the freight includes clearance at the NZ end

otherwise you may find the bill to handle the bike out of the container will cost almost as much as the cost of shipping it to nz
get a tax rebate when you ship it back from europe, one of them tourist rebates

[Posh Tourer :P]

So....has no-one got a Bikepoint-type website to point me at for Europe?

There isnt one. They all use ebay. There are a couple of sites in the uk, that you can probably find by going to somewhere like google.co.uk or uk.altavista.com

I bought my bike in the UK - no problems as I have a UK licence (swapped from NZ one) and an address I can use. Uk licence is not necessary, as I insured and registered my first bike while on a NZ licence. However, it would be necessary to have an address to register it somewhere in Europe. IIRC, you can drive on foreign plates for a few months before you ahve to change over to plates from the country of registration....
Otherwise, buy a bike with tax and WOF already on it, and pretend you bought it just before your return??

Wont be shipping it home though.......

[Mooch]

www.autotrader.co.uk, only really covers UK.
I looked into the Ducati buy / drive deals a few years back. Price didn't work out any better than buying local. For memory , Italy has a luxury tax on vehicles over a certain value , Duc, MV's and Aprilia models hit this bracket so didn't seem that much different in price to NZ. Higher model second-hand bikes in the UK are cheaper. Bikes like 999R's I've seen advertised for NZ high $20k with low miles. Someone mentioned shipping back bikes as parts, then registering when landed. I think that loop hole was closed down years ago after a few cars were being cut in half and then welded back together.

[Ogri]

Had a mate that went to Italy, bought a mint 900SS and then just rode it back into the UK. Re-vinned it, taxed & tested and bob's your uncle! On reflection, I think the god's smiled on him - a lot.

We are also heading for the TT Centenary - may see you there!!!!:woohoo:
Just a word of advice - if you are travelling via the Steampacket Ferry, make sure you book early - like a year in advance!!!

[classic zed]

Heard at weekend another option:
go overseas
buy bike
ride bike
dismantle bike
send to NZ as parts
reassemble bike
no tax as second hand parts.
Could be something to look into.


Even secong hand parts attract GST, if the cost of the parts is over $400 then you will have to pay GST on the full cost i.e. purchase price, shipping and customs clearance, you will also need a friendly shipping agent. Just mark the price of the parts lower than $400 and your ok, only problem you have then is insurance, they will only pay the marked value of the parts.:doh:

[Troll]

How come? If a pommy git comes over does he have to pay gst on all his stuff in his container? Its not like he is importing the bike, he is just returning home with it.

I liken it to going overseas and buying and using some leathers and then bringing them back, you wouldnt need to pay gst then. But if you bought them ebay and had them delivered here then you do pay gst tax duty and whatever else.

Seems like we get taxed more and more but never get more for our tax.


I didn't vote the labor party in but somebody must have

if you had lived overseas for over 12 months you could bring vehicles in gst free but then helen clarke and her cronies changed the rules

trying to encourage immigration and stop kiwis from leaving to prop the population up so she can tax you and give the money away to no hopers

[Troll]

get a tax rebate when you ship it back from europe, one of them tourist rebates

you might geta refund on the vat you paid in the uk

but you will still get stung on gst when teh bikes arrive in NZ

[Troll]

Even secong hand parts attract GST, if the cost of the parts is over $400 then you will have to pay GST on the full cost i.e. purchase price, shipping and customs clearance, you will also need a friendly shipping agent. Just mark the price of the parts lower than $400 and your ok, only problem you have then is insurance, they will only pay the marked value of the parts.:doh:

send them as lots of little parcells marked birthday presents / xmas presenst and they are exempt

have a contact in nz and we swap parts regularyily using this loophole

[dawnrazor]

buy some UK bike mags, MCN, BIKE etc, you send the staff of BIKE questions like this and they will gladly give you all the info you need, just buy a copy of the mag from witchoulls. I've questioned them on all sorts of stuf in the past and have got major helpfull replys.

The TT is FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC, if you haven't been before it'll be a life changing experience.

One thought, I assume you speak italian, otherwise an italian website is not going to be much help to you, most likely in anyways.

[idb]

One thought, I assume you speak italian, otherwise an italian website is not going to be much help to you, most likely in anyways.
Didn't people making assumptions cause a few ructions in one of your threads?

Anyway, the UK mags idea is a goody.
Cheers

[dawnrazor]

Didn't people making assumptions cause a few ructions in one of your threads?

Hmmmm yes, ...... ah nuts now I'm my own worst enemy, bad razor.... hey but that was a good assumption, if I was being prejudice I'd have assumed that you coudn't speak italian. ya can't win.

[emaN]

Only way to avoid GST is: living overseas for more than 2yrs, owning the vehicle for at least 12mths.
Saved me @ $600!

But i like the 'parts' option...