After contacting Kawasaki regards getting the relevant paperwork necessary to register my 1991 pre certificate of conformity ZZR here in France i have finally won. 3 trips to the local dealer with the bike on a trailer at a cost of €139 who told me a headlight purchased in France from the Kawasaki dealer made for a French ZZR did not comply ? a list of all component serial numbers on the relevant forms sent from Kawasaki , who tell me the headlight does conform along with the mirrors, the rear light, reflectors, indicators and exhaust ,infact they wanted every component from the tyres upwards sizes and/or serial numbers plus 4 photos of the bike but i have won, got the small plate to be fitted to the frame and the letter for the prefecture total cost €284 plus headlight €70.Insurance from AXA €170 for a collection policy fully comp .After the festive period a trip to the prefecture and i should be on the road
There were many people who suggested I didn’t take the HD to Europe from the US based on the multitude of horror stories. They were right but as bike owners we get attached to our machines and tend often to do things that sane people would run from!
Hope it all works out for you. I’m not looking forward to the registration woes I will have in France but that is down the track.
The DVLA are a law unto themselves they lost the paperwork for the bike when i sent it in for export and tried to bill me for 12 months back tax even though the bike had been out of the uk for 4 years so even that didn't equate out 4 years but only want 12 months tax ? . They have lost one bike completely and i now have to get it examined by a club as its an old Triumph/BSA special and re registered in the UK as it would be easier for France ,work that one out
The UK is not much better at the moment when registering an imported motorbike. Just returned from living in the US and decided to bring with me my 2009 HD Road King. Checked the government website to see what was needed for getting it on the road and at first it looked simple. The only unsure thing was whether it needed a full or partial MSVA test due to coming from outside of the EU. HD USA issued me with a Certificate of Conformity, well the type one gets in the US. Upon further internet searching it seemed that if you have a certificate of comformity no MSVA test is needed. Getting confused.
Anyhow, I arrived back in Blighty and the bike did a month later. In the interim I rang the DVLA to ask about the MSVA. They put me through to another department who then put memthrough to VOSA who then said I need to call DVLA! No-one could answer my question. Went to the local HD dealership to ask about headlights and such like. They said they could do the registration for me and that they had another two US bikes just arrived formthe same thing. Well, they had the same issues as myself in trying to find the correct procedure. No direct phone numbers, one department hiding behind another…
I wrote to the minister of transport and complained and also to my local MP. This stirred things up somewhat and I eventually got a call from the VOSA chief engineer. The department of transport is in turmoil as inter departments are changing, rules are changing and they have not added any updated info to the website. They did not realise that countries outside ofmthe eurozone had Certificate of Conformities which meant information on their website was ambiguous. They are also doing an internal telephone call recording search to find out why my calls were incorrectly answered. Well, they say they are!
It turns out that for the UK to register an imported bike without the need for MSVA testing it needs a certificate of conformity that states EU compliance. Without it a full MSVA is needed. Still not sure what a partial MSVA is used for but it didn’t relate to me. Hopefully, when I relocate to France the UK V5 and full MSVA will work. i still have the US headlight so should only need a new speedo.
Insurance in UK is a joke. Been riding for 38 years, have proof of bike insurance in the US for almost seven years and they will not accept it for no claims. Paying £700 fully comp!!! Paying £500 fully comp for the car and same for my wife.
Oh, it took five months to get the bike registered, five months of insurance with nothing to ride!