A thought just occurred to me! If the bike doesn't sell and I decide to ship it to say the UK? I would have to find storage over there; shouldn't be too difficult? Then all I would have to do is insure it and use it for those longed for m/c trips around Europe! I will have to look into that.
You should do an inquiry, say in the UK, about importing and registering a motor vehicle from a backwards country like the US. If that goes well then you may want to PM someone like mcatrophy and see what they have to say (or opine) about storing your bike on foreign soil. I was thinking about sending my FJR to AZ or CA to be an always ready wanderlust bike.
A little off topic, but what the heck, it's your topic
For registering, start with "
Importing vehicles into the UK".
As for storing, I've no particular knowledge. It's certainly possible to rent a lock-up somewhere, you'd probably need to get in touch with an estate agent (realtor) in the area where you want to be based.
A few off-the-cuff comments:
We obviously have many legal requirements. A vehicle must be either taxed, or registered as off road "SORN" at all times. If on the road, it must have insurance specific to the vehicle (needed to enable our camera-based insurance verification to work), probably in your own name (since you must in any case be insured to ride it). I believe this is a little different from the US requirements.
If the vehicle is over three years since first registered (or possibly three years since first registered here as an import, I'm not sure which), it must have an annual vehicle test (known as the MOT test - Ministry Of Transport). (You are allowed to ride it to a pre-booked test if it hasn't been tested or taxed, not normally an issue for a local, but could be if you've been away.) You are never allowed to ride it without insurance. Without insurance or that MOT test (if required), you can't tax it so can't ride it at any other time.
You also can't legally use a car tyre, and your tyres' tread depth must be at least 1mm (1.6 for a car).
Your lights in particular will have to conform to UK standards, including dipping to the left (a bit of a pain, since as soon as you go onto the continent you want them dipping to the right, but the Law is the Law. Turn indicators must be amber, running lights white to the front, red to the rear. No flashing headlights or brake lights. There are also rules for any auxiliary lights.
You must wear an approved helmet, but there is no law stopping you from filtering
.
I think your US driver's licence would be valid here as a visitor, but may affect insurance rates (they use any excuse to bump the premiums).
Oh, yes, we drive on the left
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