Importing A Bike

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

I'm not aware of any prohibited ages or classifications. You can build a bike in your shed to any design you like, so long it can and does get through the SVA test.

I'd be inclined to buy any old bike frame and use the VIN from that on the new frame and just carry on using it with the old frames reg number, rather than go through all that SVA crap.

I have a mate who bought a very worn out, rusted and destroyed 1971 K plate 1300 Mk1 Escort and used the chassis plate and Reg number on his recently built Lotus 7 replica. Not one part from the Escort was used in the build and all he did was take the replica for an MOT at our local garage and tax it before using it on the road. He's had it for 7 years at least now, and no-one has ever questioned it.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

I have a mate who bought a very worn out, rusted and destroyed 1971 K plate 1300 Mk1 Escort and used the chassis plate and Reg number on his recently built Lotus 7 replica. Not one part from the Escort was used in the build and all he did was take the replica for an MOT at our local garage and tax it before using it on the road. He's had it for 7 years at least now, and no-one has ever questioned it.

What does the make and model say on the V5?

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

What does the make and model say on the V5?

Ford Escort but the engine capacity has been changed to 1600, just the same as thousands of kit cars had the donor car's details on the V5 before SVA was introduced. He just makes out that the Escort was the donor for a kit car way before SVA came into force because he doesn't want his lovely car blighted by a Q plate - he much prefers the black and silver K plates it has always worn as they are so much more in keeping with the early 70s model Lotus 7 he's built the car to replicate.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Ford Escort but the engine capacity has been changed to 1600, just the same as thousands of kit cars had the donor car's details on the V5 before SVA was introduced. He just makes out that the Escort was the donor for a kit car way before SVA came into force because he doesn't want his lovely car blighted by a Q plate - he much prefers the black and silver K plates it has always worn as they are so much more in keeping with the early 70s model Lotus 7 he's built the car to replicate.

I suppose there is no way for them to prove when the car was built, as all the records for it will be for a Ford Escort, so there will be no MOT in particular that shows any change. But he is using a vehicle which is not properly registered, he should have informed the DVLA that the make, model and colour have changed. He could actually get away with speeding tickets and stuff by sending a letter back to the camera partnership saying that it is not his car in the photo, with a copy of the V5 showing "Blue Ford Escort", they would just drop the ticket rather than bother investigating. I'm sure if anybody dug into it he wouldn't be legal, in which case he's not insured. If the insurance company had a really big claim to pay, like he wrote of somebody's brand new 30 grand BMW, or seriously injured a third party, they'd do the digging. The chassis is clearly not a Ford Escort and the engine number won't match the V5 if that has the Escorts engine number on, dead easy for the insurance company to figure out that it was not built from that Escort, and the V5 actually has stuff all to do with the vehicle, other than a swapped VIN plate.

[embee]

Just as a little addendum for info, when I bought my car new, I had to request a "Certificate of Conformity" from the supplying dealership who sourced it from the manufacturer, which basically said the car conformed to the type approval for that model in the UK, that was for the DVLA and registration. The Cert was stamped and returned with the V5.

One more note.
Some countries have export rules to go aling with the import side of things. I brought a motorcycle back from Hong Kong and you couldn't export a vehicle unless it had been owned and insured there for at least 12 months. Only then can you get the form that says youy can reregister it in another country.

Might be worth checking if there are any such laws in the country you intend to buy it in.

C

Originally Posted by Berlin

One more note.
Some countries have export rules to go aling with the import side of things. I brought a motorcycle back from Hong Kong and you couldn't export a vehicle unless it had been owned and insured there for at least 12 months. Only then can you get the form that says youy can reregister it in another country.

Might be worth checking if there are any such laws in the country you intend to buy it in.

C

Hong Kong has been handed back to the Chinese now hasn't it?

Do DVLA need this form to register the bike? I wouldn't have thought so. In the case of any country who has such a law you'd only be breaking a law in the country of origin, and if you get it past customs it's out. The country of origin is never going to know you've broken a law they won't investigate one missing vehicle.

Worth checking what the law is and know what your excuse is for taking the bike abroad, but I wouldn't worry about them too much, they are not going to send interpol after you or be aiting for you at the airport next time you visit If an illegal immigrant can get into a country under th pretence of a holiday, you can sure as hell get a vehicle out.