Shep43

Hi all, need help getting motorbike from Bolton, England to my place on eastern Costa del Sol.

Sema4

I am in the same boat as you, Im about to bring my bike over from Glasgow to Madrid...

I can't decide if I should simply fly home and ride it here, after all, I may not get the chance to ride a bike down through the south of France again....

Or, hire a van, and drive it here in the back of a van along with a small collection of personal belongings...

Im not going down the road of 'importing it' at this stage as I'm not resident in Spain yet, just a 'tourist' of sorts, I will cross that bridge when I come to it if I decide I'm going to stay after my initial year is up..

I will be watching your thread with interest as some of the answers may be of use to me too

jdr

If you have been in Spain for more than 3 months you are deemed resident and have to apply for residencia and matriculate your vehicles to Spanish plates, ITV and Insurance.

Sema4

Thanks jdr, I do understand that to be the law from what I have read here, and the law, to some degree or another, is fine, but I'm not prepared to go down that road at this point, as I don't know if I will want to renew my contract at the end of the first year, so far I've only been here 3 weeks....

If it means I need to ride up and cross the border in to France and buy some petrol, then ride back again every 3 months, so be it... I'll just keep receipts... or something...

I should imagine I will know before the year is up if I'm going to like it here or not, in which case I'll stop 'leaving the country' and start the whole 'live here' process, but I really want to dip my toe in the water for a while first...

Thanks for the info tho

jdr

Popping over the border is no good.
Also your UK insurance will not cover you for that long, they only cover you for touring not living in another country.

XTreme

Yes folks....pay heed to jdr's advice! The old bill here will bust your ass over inappropriate motorcycle use!
They don't bust mine cos I've already got a crack in it!

Anyway....moving bikes! Try and find a company in your area of the UK who's got a part load for Spain coming up. Should cost you less than £200 then.....and tbh this isn't the time of year to make that sort of ride yourself.

A mate of mine does trips over here in a van (he's a biker) and he lives up north somewhere. If you PM me I can give you his details!

jdr

I just hope god forbid you don`t have an accident and kill a Spanish kid, they would through away the key....

XTreme

Here we go again! My bike is taxed, MOT, insured for 365 days in Europe....yet it's supposedly illegal cos the Spanish government say I MUST matriculate it and pay a load of dosh to them!
And considering I've ridden and driven virtually every day for 37 years without accident....in fact I've never even hit a cat! Never even made an insurance claim. So this speech about hitting kids over is pretty far fetched to say the least.

The other thing is it's perfectly acceptable to matriculate a RHD car even though that is a highly dangerous scenario. But that's OK though isn't it? Dangerous vehicles are deemed legal cos they've paid their money, yet safe vehicles are deemed illegal....in their eyes.

You see the hypocrisy in all this?

Mitzyboy

Whatever you say matey, on here we have to give the legal answers, as per the site rules

Why is a RHD car dangerous. Its only dangerous if you drive it like a nobber. As you know I drive a RHD car as well as the LHD. If I overtake I sit well back so I can see .... If I cant see I dont overtake. The Spaniards drive LHD cars and overtake me on blind humps or bends ..... now THATS dangerous

jdr

Check the small print you will find that you have to be resident of the UK, and touring in Europe for a limited amount of days per year.
But telling you is a waste of time cos you seem to think you can write your own rules.

rugbymatt

This looks like the thread for me...................



and Hello Sema4!!!!!!

zel

Well it all depends on the age of the bike and your resident status within Spain.

The residency vs import duty has been covered by JDR I believe.

So, If the bike is reasonably new (ie 10 years old or newer) then you will have to contact the the manufacturer to obtain a "C.O.C" document (Certificate of Conformity)

This is a document that basically states the vehicle complied to EU legislation at the point of first sale.

Note: This document is ONLY available if the motorbike was originally sold in an EU member state (i.e. if it was a Japanese import then this document will not be available (see below))

If it was an non-EU import or if it is to old for a C.O.C document then you will have to get a 'compliance' letter from he manufacturer.

Both the Compliance and C.O.C documents cost around 70-100 quid depending on the manufacturer.

Once you have either of those documents you then need to :

• Goto the Ingenerio tecnico who produce a 'ficha reducida' from the info that is from the compliance/c.o.c doc.

• You will then need to obtain an ITV (MOT) for the bike.

• You will then need to take everything to Traffico and fill in some forms for registration and submit all your paperwork.

Note: You will also have to make sure the speedo reads in KM/H (ie how fast you're going, the odo can still be in miles) and it will need a LHD headlight(s). Make sure this is all done BEFORE the ITV otherwise it will fail.

Or you could just pay a Gestor to do it all for you!

zel

You seem to fail to see the point that you are no longer a British resident mate, one can't have their cake and eat it

Would you think it was fine to goto say Poland and ride around in Spain on a Polish plated bike? there is no difference.

Stop being a tight sod and get it registered as you run the risk of losing your investment. It's easy to think it'll never happen until it does and you're left red faced.

Mitzyboy

Well his red face will clash though with his orange hair

mikelincs

As has been said, your scenario will just not work, how will you be able to PROVEE that the bike has been out of the UK. What the policia will ask for is a copy of the ticket you brought the bike over from the UK. The other problem is that, you will be classed as a Spanish resident once you have been in Spain for 183 days in any one year, this does NOT have to be consecutive, so you would have to return and stay in the UK for 6 months + in any year. There is no way round this law, this also applies to your bike and to any car other people may have. Extreme is breaking the law every time he rides out on his bike, he states he has been stopped by the police, and they ahve said nothing, BUT if they do ask for his papers, and he can't PROVE he has had the bike in Spain for less than the required time, then one of the usual options is to impound the vehicle, bike or car, and only allow it to be claimed back when it can be PROVED that it is here legally, otherwise the vehicle usually finds its way quickly to the nearest crusher, is it worth losong the value of the bike for the small cost of having it legally matriculated.