Moving to France

Calling all Bikers in France

I havn't posted to UKRM for a couple of years (didn't have time to
download the 1000 plus posts a day at my old job and then lost the
habit)but I remember that there was a small contingent of UKRMers who
were living and working in France.

My wife has just got herself a job in Dijon and after I have sold the
house & commuter bike etc I will be moving me and my good old Pan
European over there. I do have a few questions though.

What do I have to do about registering the bike in France?

Is there any benefit in selling the bike here and then buying in
France?

Is there anything that has to be done to allow a UK spec bike reside
in France? As far as I am aware there are no mods to the bike (apart
from a more comfy custom seat and lovely toastie warm heated grips)

Is there any way of transferring my no claims on the insurance that
anyone has come across?

Does anyone know what the advanced riding qualifications in France
are? I was considering doing the ROSPA tests next year and some
lessons would help me get my eye in for the mad things that go on over
there.

Any other information would be gratefully received posted here or to
Email

It is good to see that all the old faces are still posting to the
newsgroup and there a healthy number of BOTAFOT numbers about

Thanks

Pete Forbes

(Lovely shiny Pan & knackered looking but reliable old VFR750n that
will soon be history....if anyone wants an winter hack / commuter let
me know and it could be yours!)

 

Whatever you do, don't listen to Des


.....


Oh, too late :=}

 

Whatever you do, don't listen to YTC.

 

That Sorby bloke - be best if you just ignore him.

 

Froog said:

Don't listen to Pip.

 

dixit Froog:

you will have to:

1. obtain a certificat de conformite' aux normes franc,aises for the
model of bike. typically you will get this by writing to honda; it will
take about 3-4 months and cost about 100 euros. it's a piece of paper
stating that the bike conforms to french standards, and has a red
diagonal stripe on the top right hand corner.

2. go to your local drire (service des mines). they will give you a form
to fill out. they have the same form for all sorts of vehicles so
you won't have to fill all of it in. they will inspect the certificat de
conformite' and possibly the vehicle, and stamp the form or give you
another certificate.

3. go to your local ho^tel des impo^ts. take along your original receipt
from when you bought the bike. as long as you bought it in the eu you
are considered to have paid duty on it already, so they won't actually
ask you for any money. get a chit from them stating that tax is paid up
on the bike.

4. go to the pre'fecture, or mairie, or ho^tel de ville. in most of them
there is a special section for handling cartes grises, as it's such an
inefficient and time-consuming system. you need to present them with:
a. your v5
b. your certificat de conformite' and anything else from the drire
c. your attestation from the ho^tel des impo^ts
d. some more money (probably about 70 euros)
if all goes well they will take away your v5 and give you a carte grise
instead.

5. go to a bike dealer and get a number plate made up with your new
number. theoretically you have to do this within 24 hours, but nobody's
counting.

well, you save yourself nearly all the hassle above.

it depends on the model, but as pan euros are officially imported into
france there shouldn't be any problem.

absolutely, just get your current insurer to write a letter stating how
long you were insured with them, how long you've been without a claim,
etc. this will be converted into the french bonus/malus system by your
french insurer. essentially it works out as 5% of bonus per year of no
claims.

no idea, maybe get in contact with the ffmc, which is sort of the
equivalent of the bmf. your local one will be:

http://ffmc21.free.fr/

mad things?

 

dog wrote

A bit unfair if you don't like red bikes innit. Can you have it done in
any other colour?

 

dixit steve auvache:

s/and/which/ ;-)

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, dog

Ooh, don't mind if I do. Ham and Emmenthal on white please.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Champ

Hidden depths me. Pass the mayonnaise.

 

Thanks for the info dog only I only got the snipped rastafarian
version (on goggle gropes) and wondered if you would post the info to
email.

Thanks muchly

Pete Forbes

(Pan & very wet VFR as it is well shitty oop north this morning)

 

Here you go.

Mind, at this time of the morning I'd rather tuck into a bowl of Sugar
Puff Daddies

 

Sounds like a good move. We're about 150km east of there - if you
fancy popping over or meeting up you'd be very welcome.

Dog seems to have wrapped up most of them for you. Couple of other
things may be of interest:

The 100bhp limit. All (new) bikes sold in France must have no more
than 100bhp (or is it PS, I forget). You should be fine with the Pan
(it's less than that as standard, IIRC), of course, but if you swap it
for something bigger be aware that (IME, at least) the vast majority
of large sprotsbikes will have been derestricted, which makes them a
little bit illegal. Like a lot of French laws, however, nobody seems
to be bothered about it.

UKRMMA# - Cab's the kotl, but I'm sure you'll get one on application.

Attitudes - a mucher higher proportion of French people have at some
time used 2-wheeled motorised transport of some sort, so you'll find
much less of the 'I hate bikers' attitude both on and off the road.
Camaraderie amongst bikers is even more pronounced than in the UK -
the main difference being that nobody gives a toss what type of bike
you have. Harley riders will even wave to sprotsbikes and vice versa.

Best of luck with your move - drop me a line if there's any help you
need at this end.

 

Can I just add that the N71 Dijon <-> Troyes road is one of my all
time favourites.

Thanks

 

Is that the one that goes past "The Englishman" restaurant (run by a
frog)?

 

<fx: takes marker pen to map>

Must give it a go some time.

 

No idea.

If you look at the map, the main motorway that heads south from Reims
takes a dogleg to the east at Troyes, and the turns south to Dijon.
The N71 very obviously 'cuts the corner' - it is also a superb
combination of fast sweepers with some tighter stuff thrown in, and
doesn't have much traffic. It's a t least 80 miles long, too - name a
"good biking road" in Engald which is even half that distance.

 

A414.

 

Sounds good. Might do that one on the way home from Frankfurt. - You
coming, by the way?

I can't, of course, but name a town in France that has West Ham United
Football Club in it. England suits me fine.

 

<Looks at map>

<boggles>

I thought you, of all people, would have a better idea of european
geography than that.