Permanently Exporting My Bike!

[Suntan Sid]

This is more "Tell" than "Show"!

Last week, with a tear in my eye, I waved a fond and hopefully short farewell to my FZ1-N.
I'm exporting it to Cyprus, somewhere I might be able to put it to proper use.
Anyway, I thought I'd document the process here.

To begin with I rang/emailed a few shipping companies, of the ones that replied I went with Anglo Pacific.  AFAICT it's an Aussie company with a worldwide operation.

First off I spoke to one of their employees, who went through the process of shipping and gave me a rough price for crating the bike, getting the crate in a groupage container, and sailing it to Cyprus, (a groupage container is a container shared by more than one customer).

AIUI the bike will be shipped on a "Temporary Export" basis, this means that I should be allowed to ride the bike out of the port when it arrives, without going through the full customs procedure.  I will then have six weeks to sort out the registration process, have the bike inspected by the Cyprus equivalent of VOSA, complete all the required paperwork and sort out the customs payments etc.

The price of the shipping process is based on the size of the crate the bike ends up in, in my case the shipper got the details from the internet and based their price on that.
You have to pay up front, they won't accept your bike until you hand over your hard earned, in my case the cost of crating and shipping came to £448, on top of this I've had to pay £131 insurance, against damage or total loss, based on a value of £4k, once IPT & VAT were added it's cost me around £770!
Having asked around beforehand, this was around the figure I was expecting.

Once the money had cleared I was given the go ahead to take the bike to one of their deopts, where it would be crated and sent on its way.
So last week I drove it to Trafford, to the depot.
I could have got the bike picked up from home but as I'm only 30 miles from the depot it didn't seem worth it.

The week before I had fitted a new rear tyre and had the bike MOT'd.
There is no MOT for bikes in Cyprus, so I'm not sure whether I needed to do this, the shipper wasn't certain either, so belt and braces!

A couple of stipulations for shipping were, there had to be a minimal amount of petrol in the bike, very difficult to judge, fortunately Mrs Suntan lead the way in the car, where I had a petrol can, so when we stopped I syphoned out as much fuel as I could.
There was no actual check on this, the guy in the depot just asked me how much fuel was left, I told him I guessed there were maybe a couple of litres, which he seemed happy with.
Secondly, the battery has to be disconnected, so seats off, unhooked the leads and taped them up with insulating tape, again the guy seemed happy with that.
Finally the guy did a visual inspection, for any damage, other than the odd stone chip he couldn't find any, so all good there.

The shipping company say the bike will be in Cyprus in mid June, which is where the fun will start, no doubt.

A couple of questions for anyone who's done something similar.

I'm not sure when to send off the "permanent export" part of the V5.
I'm inclined to wait until the bike's cleared customs at the other end, I can just imagine the shitstorm if, for some reason, I was refused clearance and the bike ended up back in the UK.

The insurance I have for the bike here is still running, I need to check if I'm covered for riding in Europe, if so I'll leave it so I can ride it out of the port at the other end.

No doubt you'll be wondering why, considering the costs involved, I'm doing this.
Well, second hand bikes are very expensive in Cyprus, as are new bikes.
The only official dealerships I have found are KTM & Harley and I'm not 100% sure they're official brand dealers.
AFAICT all bikes are, unofficially, imported.
Choice of new or secondhand bikes is very limited, the market is flooded with overpriced V-Stroms and Transalps.
A lot of bikes get ragged sensless and spend most of their lives bouncing around between wheelies.
If all goes to plan, my bike should hold its value in the secondhand market.
I should also mention a distinct lack of roads policing!

That's it for now, I haven't heard anything from the shippers since I dropped the bike off, so I'm waiting for a timetable and hoping they haven't sold it!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[chickenstrip]

Needs more commas

Are the roads in Cyprus really that good? Also, I would've thought that on a litre bike, if you open the throttle too wide, you'll wind up in the drink in pretty short order

Interesting though, hope it all goes smoothly for you. When can BCF come to play?
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[Suntan Sid]

[chickenstrip]

[Suntan Sid]

[P.]

I will definitely have to come visit now I'm fully passport equipped

Bet you can't wait

[pepperami]

Excuse me for being a bit thick Mr Sid?
I don`t know Cyprus that well, although I have been to both the north and the south sides.
1000cc + smallish island = not a lot of room to open her up fully?

I looked at the video .


I could look after it for you and save you the trouble of shipping it over there
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[stevo as b4]

Me too thought an FZ1 was a bit much for Cyprus, but them roads are made of win so why not!

I've only used a Kymco Super8 and a Ford Fiesta 1.25 while on holiday over there, so I may not have experienced everything the roads have to offer?

Shipping costs sounded more than fair, and hopefully registration isn't too much hoop jumping at the other end either?

As you said a tidy FZ1 will due to rarity/availability keep a good re-sale value most likely, and a litre bike will be nice and un-stressed out there too.

I think there's too much potential in a place that gets that warm, for something light and fun for the twisty roads like an RGV250 to get all hot and bothered and spit out it's dummy, if not the power valves too?

[Suntan Sid]

The IOM = 572 sq km.
Cyprus = 9251 sq km.

There's loads of space, in fact, 16 times as much as the IOM, it doesn't rain for at least 9 months of the year, should move the races there!
My NSR 250 was fun, but some of the roads you could be on WOT for quite a while, which could have the nerves jangling!
CBR600 was fun, so the FZ should be less manic!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[almostthere]

Couldn't you just ride it down and get the ferry from Alanya or would that work out more expensive? be fun though
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Beer, It's the reason I get up every afternoon
www.mfairco.uk

[Suntan Sid]

[Suntan Sid]

Well, I've just been relieved of a further £151, for having a crate built.
I wasn't expecting this, I'd assumed it was in with the price, not a lot I can do about it really, the bikes in a container somewhere ready for loading, apparently!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[spikenipple]

Are you in North or South Cyprus?
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C50 > GN250 > XJ600 > SV650S K7 > 2001 RSV Mille R > MT-09, XR400R > 2005 Fireblade (trackbike) + 2022 MT-09 + ZXR400 race bike

[Suntan Sid]

[expat200]

[Suntan Sid]

[expat200]

[Suntan Sid]

Been waiting a while for the tracking program to come up with something.
My bike is due to be loaded onto this ship, in ten days, it's the "Northern Monument"

https://www.shipspotting.com/photos/middle/4/8/2/2393284.jpg

It's currently on its way to Valencia from Italy then back to the UK, according to a maritime tracking app!

If all goes to plan it should arrive here, in Cyprus, on the 26/06, fingers crossed.
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[Doovy]

Following this thread to find out
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Yamaha RXS 100 > Honda CD 250 > Honda Hornet 600 > Honda CBR 600RR > Yamaha RXS 100 > Kawasaki ZX6R J2 > Yamaha FZ1

[Pjay]

That looks like a sturdy vessel.
When you look for the cheaper quote, you're happy when you realise that it's not going across on a raft.
https://kickasstrips.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/top-gear_1119733i.jpg

[CaNsA]

[Suntan Sid]

According to the ship tracking, it's now in the Bay of Biscay heading for Valencia!
Hope they tied the bike down properly, in the crate!
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"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[Howling Terror]

Bet they're doing laps of the ship on it.
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Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Suntan Sid]

Last sighted off the coast of Ibza!
____________________
"Everybody needs money, that's why they call it money!"

[Howling Terror]

Bet they're trying to get it drunk and feel it up.
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project