Shipping an R18 to Europe

JLAS

JLAS

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Hey Folks,

I am considering shipping my R18 to Spain and wondering if any of you have any experience with this or have used a good transportation company that can ship motorcycles and can take care of all the paper work.

Thanks in advance,

JLAS
 
Is this a temporary or permanent move? Makes a difference on how carnet vs import duty and legal registration would work. Where are you shipping it from? If it’s another part of Europe, I’d probably suggest just riding it there. If it is from another continent like North America, given the shipping delays due to pandemic, it could be a long time in transit. For a shorter trip, it might be easier to rent something in Spain.
 
Thanks, Nielsm. It would be shipped from the States and it would be a permanent move as I go there every year. Renting or purchasing a bike there is quite expensive (about $150 to $200 per day) and thought about taking one of my two bikes here overthere. I did not think about the shipping delays... That definitively will play a major factor, as I am/was looking to have her shipped in May.
 
Permanent move is a bit more complex & expensive. That would count as an import and you'd have to pay import duties and VAT since it was outside the EU. VAT in Spain is ~21%. Additionally since it was homologated for US, you would need to have the bike inspected/modified to pass the ITV in Spain. You need to register it in Spain, so you'd need some kind of permanent address to associate it with. And of course, you would need your insurance setup.

Then the transport issues. I've heard reports of ships waiting to get into ports for 6-8 weeks or more. LA Harbor is one of the worst, but if you aim for Barcelona which is a smaller port, that could also be a factor. Rotterdam might be simpler, but then you need to arrange ground transport from the Netherlands to Spain. The R18 is a big bike, so don't expect shipping to be cheap either. Small bikes could be done for ~$700-1200 depending on the ports, but I'd expect the R18 to be at least double that. Given the shipping delays, prices likely have also gone up a lot.

I wouldn't be surprised if all in between import duties, VAT, inspection/modification, registration & shipping it costs >$10K to do the move. While rentals can be pricy, you'd need to spend more than 50 days renting to cover the cost of moving your own bike & you have ongoing costs of storage, registration & insurance to consider. It is likely more cost effective to buy a bike locally in Spain vs taking a $10K hit on your R18 or just renting if it's not many months at a go you are in Spain each year.
 
Yeh - I have done this & it is a pain in the ass.

You also need to go through type approval for the country of new location & re-registration - not simple or cheap.

Easier IMHO to just sell the bike you are thinking of shipping to Spain - then go buy the same bike in Spain when you get there.

Will be cheaper as well as easier.

As I said, I did this exact process with a bike from UK to France - I wish I hadn't bothered & just bought the same bike in France.
 
UK_r18_Classic said:
Yeh - I have done this & it is a pain in the ass.

You also need to go through type approval for the country of new location & re-registration - not simple or cheap.

Easier IMHO to just sell the bike you are thinking of shipping to Spain - then go buy the same bike in Spain when you get there.

Will be cheaper as well as easier.

As I said, I did this exact process with a bike from UK to France - I wish I hadn't bothered & just bought the same bike in France.
Click to expand...

I should have studied and prepared this a little more. I live in the US but spend summers in Spain. I bought the R18 classic at a great deal and entertained the idea of taking her to Spain when the rental place asked me for €4,000 ( close to $5k) for the month for a bike last summer.
 
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