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Any USA types want to ride in Europe?

Jerk

The Boss at On An Adventure
Staff member
Shipping your bike over to The Continent can be expensive. Rentals in Europe are similar to the USA, but if you want to ride more than a few weeks, it starts to add up.

You may wish to consider what I did a few years ago:

I located a classic 1999 Africa Twin for sale in Ireland on donedeal.ie

I used Martin's excellent service to negotiate a price, retrieve the bike, store it until my arrival, and register it. Martin is great to work with. A real no nonsense guy.

You can either leave the bike in storage at Martin's place in southern Ireland, or do as I did and ferry it over to England or France for onward riding.

Since I bought my bike, I've ridden in every country in Europe save Belarus. I've stored it in Kiev and currently in Milan. Its great having your own bike to fly over to, jump on and ride :)

Check out Martin's service here: https://motofeirme.com

Just thought I'd add this here for the archives. If anyone has any questions about the process, hit me up.

My Africa Twin in Armenia May 2018:

DSC08497.jpg




Drinking local wine - and camping - at the base of the Caucasus mountains in Azerbaijan

IMG_4298.jpg
 

MrDralas

Well travelled
Location
Planet Earth
That’s a fairly good idea, do you just cancel the Reggie and insurance when it’s in storage? It would be cool to buy a bike in another country and then ride it home.
 

TN_twowheeladdict

Well travelled
Location
Tennessee
I am seriously considering this in New Zealand, but I will be looking for a bike that still have valid road registration and then put it back up for sale when I am done with it. Since my son now lives in New Zealand I will put it in his name and then let him sell it. If he was in his final location I would probably just winterize it and let him store it for me, but at $5000 just for my wife and I to fly there I don't think I will be going too many times.
 

Jerk

The Boss at On An Adventure
Staff member
That’s a fairly good idea, do you just cancel the Reggie and insurance when it’s in storage? It would be cool to buy a bike in another country and then ride it home.
I don't carry comprehensive or collision on my bike. USA-based insurance would be worthless, and you can't buy it in Europe for an American bike, as far as I know. Montana registration is paid once, then doesn't expire.

I purchase a 60 day Green Card liability policy each time I ride in Europe.
 

Jerk

The Boss at On An Adventure
Staff member
I am seriously considering this in New Zealand, but I will be looking for a bike that still have valid road registration and then put it back up for sale when I am done with it. Since my son now lives in New Zealand I will put it in his name and then let him sell it. If he was in his final location I would probably just winterize it and let him store it for me, but at $5000 just for my wife and I to fly there I don't think I will be going too many times.
NZ would be an AMAZING bike ride! Look into 2 separate airline tickets: to Los Angeles, then onward to NZ. I've seem LAX-NZ for less than $600 recently.
 

sqeeezy

Well travelled
Location
Southern Spain
I like the idea of a motorbike swap scheme: establish trust through an organisation like this forum here, or http://bikeswap.org, and use a friend's bike overseas. Obviously insurance is vital, as is trust. I'm based in Southern Spain, beautiful weather and biking, currently in Morocco, and could lend out my 2018 CRF250L, 2010 Triumph Bonneville T100, or Basmati the 2019 Himalayan.in exchange for a similar lend in America, Australasia, Asia... Just throwing it out there, a tentative suggestion. Happy Trails!
 

Jerk

The Boss at On An Adventure
Staff member
I like the idea of a motorbike swap scheme: establish trust through an organisation like this forum here, or http://bikeswap.org, and use a friend's bike overseas. Obviously insurance is vital, as is trust. I'm based in Southern Spain, beautiful weather and biking, currently in Morocco, and could lend out my 2018 CRF250L, 2010 Triumph Bonneville T100, or Basmati the 2019 Himalayan.in exchange for a similar lend in America, Australasia, Asia... Just throwing it out there, a tentative suggestion. Happy Trails!
I'll be that way this fall, on my way to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Italy. Would be great to meet for a beer :)
 

TN_twowheeladdict

Well travelled
Location
Tennessee
NZ would be an AMAZING bike ride! Look into 2 separate airline tickets: to Los Angeles, then onward to NZ. I've seem LAX-NZ for less than $600 recently.
I will watch for that. Just heard that my Son and his wife are coming to the states for the Holidays this year so it will definitely be 2020 when I get to go to NZ.
 

sam2019

Well travelled
While its certainly a plus for many to deal with a company and official pricing and such, if you have one friend in Germany you could do this without any hassle there too. This person is your "Empfangsbevollmächtigter" which means he is entitled to receive your snail mail. This is necessary for official paperwork to reach you, and any tickets you may get during your stay. It is also mandatory for any insurance you want to have (and vehicles in Germany must be insured).
So all you need is this one person with an official address in Germany and your passport with a valid Schengen visa.
AFAIK German insurance covers all of EU plus Switzerland and all countries bordering the Mediterranean. For this the insurance will issue a "greencard" (not the US one) that you have to carry with you when driving outside EU.
 
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Jerk

The Boss at On An Adventure
Staff member
Just updating this thread a little, in the event it might help someone get their bike to Europe or elsewhere. I sold my Africa Twin to a buddy, bought a new Tenere 700 in Montana, rode it to Calgary and put it on a WestJet flight to Rome. Cost for the bike flight over was about $1,200. I was on the same plane for the flight. It cost about $70 to get it out of customs in Rome (and about 5 hours of time) and I was on my way. I put 9,000 miles on it in 2 months all around Europe and Morocco, so it was definitely the right move. Its in storage in Portugal for the winter & I hope to reunite with her in April for more riding.
 

severely

Well travelled
Just updating this thread a little, in the event it might help someone get their bike to Europe or elsewhere. I sold my Africa Twin to a buddy, bought a new Tenere 700 in Montana, rode it to Calgary and put it on a WestJet flight to Rome. Cost for the bike flight over was about $1,200. I was on the same plane for the flight. It cost about $70 to get it out of customs in Rome (and about 5 hours of time) and I was on my way. I put 9,000 miles on it in 2 months all around Europe and Morocco, so it was definitely the right move. Its in storage in Portugal for the winter & I hope to reunite with her in April for more riding.
Could you enlighten us about Green Card Insurance for your bike over there please?
 
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