acunnane

I've brought an SK5 in from France, and had the whole palaver with conversion to MPH. First off, I thought it would have the automatic conversion of the UK models, but I was sorely disappointed there. I tried sending the CoC off to the DVLA, but they bounced it straight back and said I needed a cert from the VCA.

I phoned the VCA for clarification, and they told me that all I needed to do was send in the parts receipts. Being an honest citizen, I purchased a used pair of headlights from a breaker, and got a Motrax speedo converter. Fitted the headlights and converter, stuck the MPH sticker on the speedo. Sent the receipts off to the VCA, and got the certificate back in a couple of days.

So now it's back with the DVLA; hopefully I'll have a shiny new V5 in the next few days. But it is a mission to bring bikes into the UK from abroad - given that my mate in France told me that it's easy-peasy the other way...

Cost so far: £75 for CoC from Suzuki, £70 to the VCA, £50 to DVLA (+road tax), £180 for parts. Time taken: over 2 months. Hair loss: untold!

Maybe I got lucky; I checked with a Suzuki dealer and they said it would be £450-odd for a new speedo. And as my bike has less than 4000 Km on the clock, a second-hand one with similar mileage would be bloody hard to find, I suspect. Let's see what happens when its first MOT is due (June 2008...)