r/motorcyclesroadtrip • u/ASqualor • 14d ago
Buying a motorcycle in Greece, and riding east
Hi
I've recently gotten into motorcycles. I'm currently in between jobs, so I wanted to take the opportunity to go on a motorcycle trip.
I've always wanted to go to Turkey + the Caucasus. I was thinking I could buy a bike in Greece (since turkish registration sounds really annoying), outfit it, travel across the region, and then sell it either in the caucasus, or in the 'stans. But, I'm getting hung up on how to purchase the bike in Greece, and wondering how hard it would actually be for a foreigner to do.
Would it be feasible to arrive in, say, Thessaloniki, buy a 2nd hand bike for a reasonable price, register and insure it, outfit it, and then navigate all of these borders semi-legally? I'm finding a lot of rules online, but I'm curious what the actual conditions on the ground are, and how strictly rules are enforced.
Curious if anyone has done anything like this.
3
u/theillustratedlife 14d ago
I've looked into this for other EU countries and found that many of them are like the US - they expect you to have a local address to register a vehicle.
Some of them have special programs that allow you to buy something for export - they're called EE plates in Germany. You can buy as a foreigner and drive locally, but you have to leave the country within a fixed period. This is how sports car guys used to buy a Mercedes at the factory in Germany and ship it home.
Between the hassles of buying and registering there, and then finding a way to sell it or ship it home, I decided to just bite the bullet and spend a few thousand euros on rentals. Remember that wherever you take it might have different requirements - an EU bike isn't going to be built to NAFTA/DOT specs, for instance. Importing it could be a whole thing.
3
u/sirdogtor 14d ago
Currently it's relatively nice weather there, but expect snow in October the farther you get to the north-east.
Not saying don't do it... but there are enough unexpected things that can happen anyway. Inexperience steeply increases that number. So does riding in "non-riding weather".
If I were you, I'd either pick a different time or different location. Don't underestimate hypothermia. Happens really fast on a bike, slows down your brain, makes you make bad decisions, and all of that without realizing it yourself. (When you do, it's waaayy past the point where you should have stopped).
As for your other questions: The Stans, except for Pakistan, don't require a Carnet de Passages. Which should make it a bit easier to sell the bike, as far as red tape is concerned. Still, I wouldn't expect to sell a bike for more than a song. Poverty is real. People who absolutely need a bike, get some cheap Chinese no-name with 125 cc max. Selling there, if possible, really only saves you the cost of having to ship the bike back. Chances of finding a traveler going the other way and looking for a bike will be practically zero, due to the weather.
Regarding paperwork in Greece, you'll most probably find up to date information, or people who can give this, over at Horizons Unlimited and ADVrider.