Buying bike in UK/Europe

[Lance]

Hi,
I want to buy a road bike in UK or Europe to use when Im in that part of the world. I am a Kiwi. Is there any particular country that is best to buy a bike ie., price formalities ect


Lance

[Sniper]

Are you moving or just visiting and for how long

[Lance]

not moving there just going to go over for about 6 weeks each year. Will leave the bike with some mate dont know who yet. Lnce

[crashe]

Gee that seems like a long time for the bike to just sit around....
I assume that you will take the battery out when you return to NZ each time and then recharge it when you go back to the UK...

Petrol will have to be drained in that time as well, wouldn't it, as I understand that petrol goes "off" after a certain time?

Sorry I can't help out with prices of bikes over there at all......
But I heard that they are quite costly....

[Lance]

Yes it is a while for the bike to sit and I will head your advise. It would cost me $4000 each to hired a bike so I think I could by something for not much more than this. Lance

[sAsLEX]

you can buy fuel stabiliser which will help stop the fuel going off.

[Rainbow Wizard]

I want to buy a road bike in UK or Europe to use when Im in that part of the world. Lance

I would join a UK list like this one and try to do a swap with a Pommy rider who wants to come here at about the same time. That's what I intend doing with le Voxan later this year when I go to France. I figure I won't have too much difficulty finding a Voxan owner over there but the opposite would be damn difficult for them seeing as at last count there's only two Kiwis riding Voxan Roadsters here and barely more riding the cafe racers and street scramblers.

[ResidentAngel]

Hi,
I want to buy a road bike in UK or Europe to use when Im in that part of the world. I am a Kiwi. Is there any particular country that is best to buy a bike ie., price formalities ect


Lance

You might want to check out the cost of insurancebefore you buy!

[bluninja]

Hey Lance I'll look after your bike for you :devil2: I'll pop it into the garage next to mine :laugh:

Prices in the UK are ok, and still a little cheaper from parallel importers. They used to source most of their stuff from Germany so I don't know if it's cheaper to buy direct. Let me know what you're after and I'll get some indicative prices for you in the UK. You will find insurance heavy.....most won't touch you on a superbike without loads of no claims, and datatag/alarm on bike. Guess you could just get fire and theft protection and see if NZ insurance could be extended for your 6 weeks.

[Lance]

I ride a 650 suzuki VStrom here something similar there will be OK. Nice to have some off road ability wide handles sit straight up ect. I have relies in Germany so that could be helpful. Will have to check out the insurance situation as it seems to be an issue. I would be paying it anyway if I rented a bike. Thanks for your tips and help Lance

[Lance]

I would join a UK list like this one and try to do a swap with a Pommy rider who wants to come here at about the same time. That's what I intend doing with le Voxan later this year when I go to France. I figure I won't have too much difficulty finding a Voxan owner over there but the opposite would be damn difficult for them seeing as at last count there's only two Kiwis riding Voxan Roadsters here and barely more riding the cafe racers and street scramblers.

Do you know a UK site. Sounds an interesting idea. I am going to France in June this year. Riding with 11 mates from Waiheke Island starting in Nice going Nth to the aalps then across to Leon and down the Rhone and back to Nice Cheers Lance

[betti]

you could try visordown, suzuki owners club uk, or the www.oldskoolsuzuki.info and stick a message on their forums, alternatively try ebay.co.uk or www.autotrader.co.uk for used stuff, if you find anything you want over there i can put you in touch with a few decent types
good luck

[bluninja]

I ride a 650 suzuki VStrom here something similar there will be OK. Nice to have some off road ability wide handles sit straight up ect. I have relies in Germany so that could be helpful. Will have to check out the insurance situation as it seems to be an issue. I would be paying it anyway if I rented a bike. Thanks for your tips and help Lance

The 'excessive' cost of renting a bike usually includes the insurance.

[Timetogo]

Having returned from there not so long ago, the other thing that makes life difficult is that it is illegal not to have insurance AND you won't get insurance without a British license (unless you're hiring). Which doesn't take long to get I must admit as long as you have your passport and some sort of residential address.
But they won’t give you your NZ one back, its done on exchange basis. You’d have to do the same at this end. Though on the plus side a British one is still valid in this country and its hard to put points on :devil2:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/BIKES/ is the best site but sells mostly private stuff

[Lance]

Thanks for the sites. Sory for late reply been aaway on my second favourite sport sailing. Now the weathers a bit better Lance

[moko]

Britain`s expensive compared to the rest of Europe,the reason why "parallel" imports used to be so popular from abroad.Assuming you dont want a new bike you could always take a chance and buy something for cash in Italy or somewhere from a private seller and run it in the U.K. on foreign plates.there`s no law about carrying your licence over here so if you get stopped be polite,act as if you dont speak English and wave the reg document in front of the Cop.Unless you`ve been a real dork they really cant be arsed with the hassle of trying to communicate with foreigners over something minor,there`s been rows in the papers about them not booking speeding Europeans because there`s little point anyway,they never pay the fines and it costs too much to track them down.Also with your foreign plates you can fly through speed cameras without a care in the world and you wont need road tax either.Insurance here is extortionate and they`ll probably load you right up for having no no claims in this country and just about anything else they can think of.Of course if you go the "foreign bike" route you can go without insurance as well IF you get caught them you`d be looking at a short ban,which wouldn`t apply in N.Z. and a fine of about £150,the reason half of eastern europe is driving around totally illegally these days as it`s far more cost-effective than being legal.seeing a traffic cop here is rare,getting pulled for anything other than speeding is rarer.

[Biff]

Britain`s expensive compared to the rest of Europe,the reason why "parallel" imports used to be so popular from abroad.Assuming you dont want a new bike you could always take a chance and buy something for cash in Italy or somewhere from a private seller and run it in the U.K. on foreign plates.there`s no law about carrying your licence over here so if you get stopped be polite,act as if you dont speak English and wave the reg document in front of the Cop.Unless you`ve been a real dork they really cant be arsed with the hassle of trying to communicate with foreigners over something minor,there`s been rows in the papers about them not booking speeding Europeans because there`s little point anyway,they never pay the fines and it costs too much to track them down.Also with your foreign plates you can fly through speed cameras without a care in the world and you wont need road tax either.Insurance here is extortionate and they`ll probably load you right up for having no no claims in this country and just about anything else they can think of.Of course if you go the "foreign bike" route you can go without insurance as well IF you get caught them you`d be looking at a short ban,which wouldn`t apply in N.Z. and a fine of about £150,the reason half of eastern europe is driving around totally illegally these days as it`s far more cost-effective than being legal.seeing a traffic cop here is rare,getting pulled for anything other than speeding is rarer.

Yeah - what Moko said, apart from the bit about a short ban if you get caught without insurance. If you get caught without insurance it is possible and more than likely, paritcularly if you play the jonny foreigner card, that you'll get hauled into the local police station, where not only will your real nationality become obvious very quickly but you'll be in direct breech of your visa stipulation, namely abide by the laws of the land. You could quite easily be deported for this and have a real hard time ever getting another entry/work visa. Is it really worth the risk. Heaven forbid you kill someone etc etc

[bluninja]

Having returned from there not so long ago, the other thing that makes life difficult is that it is illegal not to have insurance AND you won't get insurance without a British license (unless you're hiring). Which doesn't take long to get I must admit as long as you have your passport and some sort of residential address.
But they won’t give you your NZ one back, its done on exchange basis. You’d have to do the same at this end. Though on the plus side a British one is still valid in this country and its hard to put points on :devil2:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/BIKES/ is the best site but sells mostly private stuff

Hmmm, didn't exchange mine when I came to NZ. Just had to pay to do the scratchcard and voila one UK and one NZ license.