I worried about this too but never had a problem. Even if they did question how long it had been in the country, you could saw you had taken it across into Europe on a trip. But as said above, don't think they'll bother asking...
It's very simple - I brought a bike back from the Netherlands last year:- Over 10 years old - no Certificate of Conformity required. VAT was paid in the EU when the bike was first sold, so you don't need to pay it again. EU "free movement" principles apply, so there's no import duty either. 1. Buy the bike and ride / have it transported to UK. Try and get the logbook / registration document from the source country - it'll help with registration if it clearly states "date of first registration" as you will not need a separate proof of age. If this is not available, get a proof of age letter from UK main agent / dealer / owners club etc. 2. Insure the bike on frame number if you're riding - your insurer will allow you 14 days before you must give them a registration number. 3. Once in good old blighty you visit the HMRC website and register the bike's arrival on NOVA (Log in to use the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA) service - GOV.UK 4. Request a vehicle registration pack from DVLA (Order DVLA forms - GOV.UK 5. Allow 48 hours to elapse so that the bike's details have been passed by HMRC to DVLA 6. Fit MPH speedo and left-dipping headlamp. 7. Go and get an MOT. Your MOT station might check lights for "E" markings, but if it's a model sold across Europe these will probably be present anyway. 8. Send the completed V55/5, proof of insurance and proof of age / foreign logbook to DVLA with registration fee (£55) and first year's tax and await your new registration number and logbook. Once received, tell your insurer what the new number is. Job done.
Guys This is an heads-up on my story with importing the bike here. With all the papers sent to VCA and DLVA after, I finally registered the bike here and I can go around with UK plate legally! Yaiii What a felling riding my bike to the M4 this morning with the sun.. Absolutely fantastic. Anyone around Windsor/West London this weekend ? (if it's not raining ) Cheers guys! S
Here's an unusual question. Imagine you had a non-UK bike which you carry out all of the procedure to obtain a UK plate and daytime MOT, because it has no lights or indicators. Can you then ride it in Europe? Would authorities on mainland Europe get upset when they see what looks like a track bike riding down the road? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I cannot imagine why it would be a problem. As long as the UK is still in the EU then a legal in the UK bike is legal to visit any other EU country. The only slight glitch is that bikes in France (over 125cc) are supposed to ride with lights switched on, not sure that any French copper around here would be bothered to stop you though.
