Rubberlegs

Hello All, My Certificado de Registo is dated 4/12/20, as is my NIF. I have been here since leaving the UK for good, with seemingly non stop paperwork and house purchase stuff ongoing. It is a mountain to climb, even without Covid, that is for sure!

I am now attacking the problem of shipping my household item to Faro, which seems far from straight forward. There is room on the removal vehicle to put my Harley Davidson FLSTS motorcycle, which is a beauty that I bought new from the HD dealership in1997. It is MOT'd taxed and insured (in the UK). It is in great shape and I always longed to bring it here and use it for my retirement, in the sunshine. In the end I hoped to be buried on it sitting in the saddle!
I am now beginning to wonder, if my dream of bringing it here and using it, is just not going to happen?

1/ I cannot locate my original purchase receipt (after nearly 25 years, that is not so hard to believe)
2/ My DVLA registration shows I have had it since new, but likely that is not enough evidence?
3/ The necessary Certificate of Compliance. Apparently the EU started this in 1993. I don't ever recall seeing it. But as I bought it from a Harley Davidson UK Dealership, when we were in the EU, my logic suggests, by virtue, that the bike conforms? (The dealership is no longer in business sadly to ask for a copy).

Has anyone in our circle have any experience of the mountain I have in front of me and any suggestions?

Many thanks if you have!

Dafty

Should not be that much of a problem importing you bike, I imported mine several years ago without much difficulty.
That said, my wife is Portuguese and the language barrier was therefore not an issue.
A friend has recently imported his two bikes. There are various hoops to jump through however and he found it was far easier to use an agency than attempt it himself.
If you contact George at FAOTIR Faro, he speaks fluent English and will do the whole process for you for not a lot of money.
No connection just a very satisfied client.
The original sales brochure for the bike may be accepted as COC if you have it.

Rubberlegs

Thanks Dafty, I will contact him and run it by him, you are a star!

gtcgsy

Hi, COC is not available for a bike your age and is also not necessary. Without it they will perform more checks when they do the inspection including a noise test, so if you have aftermarket cans on it, it may be an issue, solution is to get a standard exhaust at least for the inspection. You will also need a passenger saddle and footpegs. There is no annual MOT type inspection for bikes, so after registration you are all clear. The biggest issue you will have is import duty and VAT (IVA) calculation. As you did not recently buy the bike, they will look to assign a value to it for those purposes. In my case I registered it in my Son's name and then did a 'sale' to me, so I had a receipt. Definitely use an agent for the process, will save you time and money. The other issue is nobody is shipping bikes right now because of Brexit, so when the dust settles, my plan is to ride mine down.

Rambling archer

As you are a recently registered resident in Portugal under the Withdrawal Agreement, you have an allowance to bring in one vehicle per person as part of your goods and chattels, free of import tax, as long as you have had it more than six months. Have you brought a car in already, or got your car in Portugal? An agent is certainly the way to go, and even then you should get to know the rules yourself and watch over the agent's shoulder (figuratively) to keep them on the job. Good luck. Chat to an agent first - usually no charge for first consultation - and find out their fee (usually a standard fee which covers most hudles en route) and exactly what documents you have to find and provide. Specify that it is a bike in case specific advice is needed from a specialist.

Rubberlegs

Thank you GTCGSY and Rambling Archer!

I am not bringing my car, as its an old Volvo V70 diesel 2.4 and I know they will kill me and charge big time (best car I ever had though and its lifetime fuel consumption is 63.4 mpg!)
So the bike is my allowed 'Vehicle'. Talking to my shippers (still bringing personal items down for house buyers they tell me). Official haulage exempt from French road restrictions (they both told me).

A third comment, is that the 'free of duty' exemption, is near impossible to receive. The paperwork is SO over the top and time consuming, that they have not managed to get one load through, under this exemption. (Again I've had identical comments from two moving companies).
They told me the best way is to keep the values as low as possible and that Customs will be happy with £50 per cubic metre (average). Then rate a charge 40% of that total value, which if you agree to pay, will allow smooth/quick flow through.

Of course I have no personal knowledge, apart from around 20 hours online trying every permutation and question.
My lawyer who is doing my house purchase at the moment, tells me there is chatter on Facebook (which I am not on) moaning about having to pay pretty big fees at Customs, despite the so called exemption.

I have tried several shipping agents, for advice or comment, with no response from anyone - working from home - not?
The Portuguese Embassy in London were good however, sent me the baggage forms and informed me (in writing) that I have 12 month window from the date of secured residency as before 31/12/20.

The bike is not a loud Harley (those that are annoy me and are un-sociable in my view). It has Fishtail Harley silencers, which are pretty quiet and fit the bike's 1930/40's look wonderfully. I still have the stock ones, which sound like a hair drier and look horrible. But I will put those on again for the testing.
Interestingly CTCGSY says the CoC is not necessary, yet the forms I have been sent state it as 'Mandatory'?
On all my correspondence to everyone, I have mentioned the problem of getting the goods or bike here, only to find I have failed to provide something vital!
That is the nub of all my problems, throughout this scenario. I do not expect it to be free, but don't tell me I have to return things to the UK or have confiscation threatened.

Thanks again to all and only the sunshine is keeping me sane!