shipping bike to europe
 

Does it make any sense to ship a 2007 Road King Classic to Europe and ride it for a month and then sell it there? Bike would be from California.
I am trying to figure out the best way to ride in Europe.

Thanks, Rick

RE: shipping bike to europe
 

Probably gonna run into some import tax problems with that idea, so if you still turn a profit after shipping and paying import tax, why not? Aren't there dealers there that rent HD's?

RE: shipping bike to europe
 

If it helps to give any indication of how much could be made or lost by shipping the bike here and selling it, I can offer a comparison of how much an '07 RKC would have cost new in the different regions (prices show the msrp for the basic vivid black version):

US: $17695
UK: £13895 which, at current exchange rates, is about $27245

Depending on shipping costs and importation taxes (which I know nothing about) there may still be a big enough difference to return a profit.

RE: shipping bike to europe
 

Simon is on the right track. Import duties, VAT, and the cost of converting whatever needs to be changed to meet European standards. For instance if you do it in the UK the headlights have to be changed, the speedometer would need to be changed to Kilometers anywhere in Europe too. Do a google search for something like "import vehicle europe" and you should get all sorts of gobbledegook.
There are several dealers in Europe that rent. One, I believe, in London and one in Munich that I've heard of.

RE: shipping bike to europe
 

It depends on what country you sell it in. In Norway you will have problems with bikes newer than 15.06.2003. But older than that you will earn moore than you use on your holliday in Norway.

RE: shipping bike to europe
 

I've looked into this for American friends, basically it works like this.
You can bring your own bike and ride it on US plates for up to 6 months, but you need insurance.
Dealers in most European Countries rent but your looking at over $200 a day.
Selling your bike in England while not registered here, won't realise it's value, because of the problems paying import duty and VAT. On my $12000 RG I paid $4000 import tax and VAT.
Best solution we found was to buy a bike from a dealer here who agrees to buy it back when you go home. the buy back price is negociated when you buy and takes mileage into account