Hello, I am new to this forum but I have owned and rode my ST for years. A few years ago, because I travel there frequently, I purchased a small apartment on the Costa Blanca of Spain. Now I would like to explore the possibility of permanently moving my ST from the US to Spain. I'm told it may not be a simple process because the European regulations for motorcycles are much different than those of the US. For instance, Europe requires certain kinds of lights, restricts many engine modifications, certain kinds of tires, etc. Does anyone here have any experience with this or know where I can go to find out? I'm willing to pay to transport the bike to Spain, but I need to know what I will face once I get it there in terms of getting it legally registered. Thank you.
Registering a US bike in Europe
- Thread starter McGrufus
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Welcome to the forum and glad to hear you love your ST...
oh yeah,
or 
?
I think I would just check and find out what one would cost over there, might be cheaper and less hassle!
oh yeah,
or ?I think I would just check and find out what one would cost over there, might be cheaper and less hassle!
Or can you take it there and leave it registered here..... you're a visitor who happened to ship his bike over ...
Don't know about Spain but this is what is required in the UK. But the rules could be close within the EU.
Tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) within 14 days that the vehicle has arrived in the UK.
Pay VAT and duty if HMRC tells you to.
Get vehicle approval to show your vehicle meets safety and environmental standards.
Register and tax the vehicle with DVLA - they’ll give you a registration number so you can get number plates made up.
You must also insure your vehicle before you drive it on UK roads.
You can be prosecuted if you use your vehicle on a public road before you complete these steps, unless you’re driving it to a pre-booked MOT or vehicle approval test.
It may be worth a PM to @Fawlty who lives and rides an ST in Murcia but my guess with shipping, taxes and getting it through approval it may be a lot easier just to buy a bike of your choice in Spain.
Upt'North.
Tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) within 14 days that the vehicle has arrived in the UK.
Pay VAT and duty if HMRC tells you to.
Get vehicle approval to show your vehicle meets safety and environmental standards.
Register and tax the vehicle with DVLA - they’ll give you a registration number so you can get number plates made up.
You must also insure your vehicle before you drive it on UK roads.
You can be prosecuted if you use your vehicle on a public road before you complete these steps, unless you’re driving it to a pre-booked MOT or vehicle approval test.
It may be worth a PM to @Fawlty who lives and rides an ST in Murcia but my guess with shipping, taxes and getting it through approval it may be a lot easier just to buy a bike of your choice in Spain.
Upt'North.
drrod
Site Supporter
There are different ways to do this. One way is to keep the bike registered here and simply buy insurance over there for when you want to use it. This applies only to states that do no require annual inspections. I have been investigating this because I want to take my bike to Spain and leave it. My investigation, so far, has revealed that I can leave it registered here but would need to get insurance for over there. The insurance thing is not a big deal (apparently). Getting a bike registered to a non=resident is not an easy (or cheap) process in Spain, from what I can gather so far. There are several threads on this on ADVrider. Here is just one.
advrider.com
KEEPING A BIKE IN EUROPE - WHO DOES IT?
So I was considering purchasing an investment property in Nice, France so I can keep a bike there for moto holidays but now I am worried the potential...
advrider.com
Foreign cars that have been in Britain for more than six months in a year must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and fitted with UK plates. If the owner is judged to be a resident, they must register their car within two weeks of importing it. Many don't, however.
This is what the law says for the UK and believe it applies in the EU too.
It basically allows Europeans to live or travel for up to 6 months in another country without having to register the
vehicle again. Once the 6 months is up they must either register the vehicle locally or get it out.
Again how this applies to USA registered vehicles I don't know. Although I can't see why it would be any different.
Upt'North.
This is what the law says for the UK and believe it applies in the EU too.
It basically allows Europeans to live or travel for up to 6 months in another country without having to register the
vehicle again. Once the 6 months is up they must either register the vehicle locally or get it out.
Again how this applies to USA registered vehicles I don't know. Although I can't see why it would be any different.
Upt'North.
@Upt' North is correct. The rules here are the same as the UK (EU Regs). My bike was already imported from the UK when I purchased it. Importing from one EU country to another is often problematic and expensive. I do not know the rules regarding importation from the USA, but I suspect it would be more expensive. @CYYJ has or had a USA registered ST kept in Spain I think. He may be able to tell you more.
Whereabouts on the Costa Blanca is your place? Maybe we could meet up when you come over. I have some good biking routes in the area.
Nick
Whereabouts on the Costa Blanca is your place? Maybe we could meet up when you come over. I have some good biking routes in the area.
Nick
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Welcome to the forum from Cornwall UK! Hopefully someone on the forum will be able to help you out.
ChucksKLRST
Team Colorado
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Agreed Sell here, Buy there. Avoid the headaches.
VAT, and indeed import tax, is only required if you sell the vehicle (at ANY point in future).
If you keep ownership (in the UK), you just have to pay for the confirmation of type approval (since it's a derivative of an already approved vehicle), and get your registration number issued.
There is a myriad of legal issues revolving around what happens between getting it off the ferry and to the type approval inspection. The letter of the law, for a resident, says it's illegal, every officer I spoke to says "we won't do you for it."
The above is based on importing a car from Ukraine to UK (outside EU to within) for a resident of the UK, not a visitor.
In Op's shoes, I would just buy an ST in Spain, and lock it in a garage when I wasn't there. Same end result, less hassle.
CYYJ
Michael
I have kept my Canadian-plated ST in Europe for the past 10 years. I'll confess up front to being a scofflaw in this respect, because the law in just about all European jurisdictions is much the same: You can keep a foreign-plated vehicle in a country that you are visiting for a finite period of time (typically between 3 and 6 months) provided that you are a bona-fide tourist using the vehicle for 'pleasure tourism' during that time period. Beyond that time limit, you either have to remove the bike from the country (or customs area, in the case of multiple countries that share a customs agreement), or properly import the vehicle, which means paying import duties & taxes, passing any required inspections, conforming with emissions & technical regulations, and plating the bike locally.
For a number of years in the early 2000s, I shipped my bike back and forth from Canada to Europe by air each year, but that was expensive and cumbersome, which is what prompted me to just leave the bike in Europe.
I live in Canada, and spend most of my time in Canada, and only use my European ST about 6 to 8 weeks a year. Each year, I leave it in a different European country. I arrange storage with a motorcycle shop somewhere who will keep it indoors. I don't ride in the same countries or same places year after year, I'm always going to different places... last year this included North Africa, the UK, and numerous western European countries. I don't have a residence anywhere in Europe, I stay in hotels when I travel. Insurance is easy to obtain, it costs about USD $60 a month for liability coverage, which is the only kind available for an out-of-continent vehicle.
Although what I do works for me, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who plans to stay in the same area. The original poster (@McGrufus) stated that he purchased an apartment in Spain, which suggests that he will have a fixed base of operations. I don't think it's a good idea for him to try to keep a foreign plated bike at his home in Europe, because pretty soon, the local authorities (police, customs, whomever) will take note of that foreign plated vehicle being around all the time and they will get curious.
Given that the original poster has a legitimate residence in Europe, he would be able to register a bike that he purchases in his country of residence without undue difficulty (something I cannot easily do, because I don't have a residence in Europe). Used ST's are no longer expensive. I think it would be in his best interest to purchase a used ST locally, and register & insure it in his own name in his country of residence. It will cost him at least $1,500 USD to ship a bike from America to Europe, and likely about the same amount again to go through the process of importing it, homogulating it (lighting system compliance, emission compliance, inspections & approvals), paying duties & taxes, and so forth. For $3,000, he could buy a pretty decent used ST locally and register, plate, and insure it in a single afternoon with no headaches.
Michael
PS: The biggest potential problem associated with importing a North American vehicle to Europe (or vice-versa) is complying with emissions & lighting regulations. Although the vehicle might be exactly the same worldwide, the approval sticker on the triple-tree is only valid for one continent - and in many cases, it is impossible at any price to get approval to register a North American approved vehicle in Europe, or vice-versa. The vehicle manufacturers love this kind of paperwork headache, because it provides a great barrier to grey-market imports of vehicles.
For a number of years in the early 2000s, I shipped my bike back and forth from Canada to Europe by air each year, but that was expensive and cumbersome, which is what prompted me to just leave the bike in Europe.
I live in Canada, and spend most of my time in Canada, and only use my European ST about 6 to 8 weeks a year. Each year, I leave it in a different European country. I arrange storage with a motorcycle shop somewhere who will keep it indoors. I don't ride in the same countries or same places year after year, I'm always going to different places... last year this included North Africa, the UK, and numerous western European countries. I don't have a residence anywhere in Europe, I stay in hotels when I travel. Insurance is easy to obtain, it costs about USD $60 a month for liability coverage, which is the only kind available for an out-of-continent vehicle.
Although what I do works for me, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who plans to stay in the same area. The original poster (@McGrufus) stated that he purchased an apartment in Spain, which suggests that he will have a fixed base of operations. I don't think it's a good idea for him to try to keep a foreign plated bike at his home in Europe, because pretty soon, the local authorities (police, customs, whomever) will take note of that foreign plated vehicle being around all the time and they will get curious.
Given that the original poster has a legitimate residence in Europe, he would be able to register a bike that he purchases in his country of residence without undue difficulty (something I cannot easily do, because I don't have a residence in Europe). Used ST's are no longer expensive. I think it would be in his best interest to purchase a used ST locally, and register & insure it in his own name in his country of residence. It will cost him at least $1,500 USD to ship a bike from America to Europe, and likely about the same amount again to go through the process of importing it, homogulating it (lighting system compliance, emission compliance, inspections & approvals), paying duties & taxes, and so forth. For $3,000, he could buy a pretty decent used ST locally and register, plate, and insure it in a single afternoon with no headaches.
Michael
PS: The biggest potential problem associated with importing a North American vehicle to Europe (or vice-versa) is complying with emissions & lighting regulations. Although the vehicle might be exactly the same worldwide, the approval sticker on the triple-tree is only valid for one continent - and in many cases, it is impossible at any price to get approval to register a North American approved vehicle in Europe, or vice-versa. The vehicle manufacturers love this kind of paperwork headache, because it provides a great barrier to grey-market imports of vehicles.
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I strongly as used my Ukrainian friend to do the same as you do, knowing that the police would be unlikely to catch on for at least a year.
But given the corruption in Ukraine, he chose to follow the law to the letter.
Everyone has to make their own choice ultimately, but vehicle import law has a LOT of grey areas.
CYYJ
Michael
I wouldn't say that there are many grey areas (the rules are pretty clear), but I could say that there are quite a few shadows in the rules that one can hide in.
Michael
I am a bit late checking all these responses, but I want to thank all of you for the wealth of information. Lots of great suggestions. The consensus seems to be that I should just buy bike over there and that may very well be the wisest thing to do. For what its worth, CYYJ's story was intriguing because even though I do have a residence in Spain, I only spend perhaps 8-10 weeks there each year. I'm back and forth quite a bit so I might be able to get away with keeping my US registration...? However, if I can pick up an economical used ST over there, that's probably the best route. I'm going to check it out.
I also own a home in Spain, in Murcia, to be exact, and have spent some time there for many years. I have explored buying a vehicle here as a "non-resident" and found it impossible. If you find how to do it now, please let me know.
I think CYYJ approach as he described above of keeping his US registered bike in Spain is the practical one, particularly if you use the bike to travel.
Give me a shout when you travel to Spain. Maybe we can meet if we coincide.
I think CYYJ approach as he described above of keeping his US registered bike in Spain is the practical one, particularly if you use the bike to travel.
Give me a shout when you travel to Spain. Maybe we can meet if we coincide.
Impossible? Please explain further. Why is it any different than purchasing any other item? We both bought real estate and I've been able to buy pretty much anything I needed over there without any hassles. Why do you suggest buying a bike is impossible?
Well, when i did the research you could buy it. The problem is that you cannot register in your name as a non-resident. Don't ask me why. I know it does not make any sense. Years back when I decided to buy one, I had to register it under a friend's name that is a resident.
Hello Gryst, I can't specifically answer your question about Murcia, as I am in Alicante, which is about 90 mins south of Valencia. But generally speaking, there ARE lots of English speakers all throughout the Valencian community and probably in Murcia also. I suspect the popularity of Murcia has to do with the low cost of living along with the nice weather. I would suggest that our weather in Alicante is even better...
OK, that makes more sense. I assume you have an NIE number? That doesn't help at all? I'll have to check it out.
Climate, coastline, lifestyle and food. Good inexpensive health care. At current exchange rates the US$ goes far. However, if you are a US citizen and stay in Spain more than 180 days per year you become also a "tax resident" of Spain and need to file an income tax return in Spain and in the US, both and deal with the niceties of the US/Spain double taxation treaty. As a result never stay for longer than 180 days/yr. I would recommend renting if you are not going to spend several months per year in Spain.