Well, i've finally got the bike home and its all there but needs registering in the uk. It was imported in 1998 someone started the procedure of geting it registered but never finished.
ive tried to read the direct gov website but cant really make much sense of it.

Has anyone ever registered one? where do i start and who do i contact? just after general help..

oh and where do i stand with the bike being over 10yrs old, does it need a SVA test?

any help appreciated..

I just took all the paperwork I had, Japanese logbook, reciepts and a valid MOT to the DVLA office in Leeds and they issued an age related number plate. The Mot was carried using the chassis number only.
No great drame except it was heaving and waited ages.

no sva needed.
take for an mot, and get an mot against the chassis number.
take this and i think you need a cert of insurance (again can insure against a chassis no) and the relevant V55 i think it is to your local DVLA office, and assuming there are no dutys to pay or import taxes they will allocate you a reg if not there and then certainly within 3 days.
My RD125LC mk3 from switzerland i got within 2 days.

Brilliant thanks for the help, ill sling some new forks in her and get it to the dreaded MOT station, get this ball rolling!!

Thanks guys.

(why cant they make it that easy to explain on the direct gov website) lol

I did this a month or 2 ago and the above advice is spot on, if you belived the crap on the direct.gov website you wouldnt bother trying to register it.

Your insurance company will up the cost due to the fact the bike doesnt have a number plate, £100 in my case. They got ya by the balls there as you cant register it without insurance
You pay for the your tax disc at the local office when you register, the whole process took me 15 mins too so the tax office isnt as bad as they make out

Something worth noting and what some people overlook is that you need some kind of proof of date of manufactor, import docs are ok but if not your need a certificate, if you havent got one get one sorted now as it takes a while.

Sods law I think they got us by the bollocks with motoring in general, things we do for a bit of fun aye? Ha ha will be well worth it.

I've got some sort of document with dates on it, granted its all in Japanese but I think it should be ok. I just can't wait to get out and have some fun on it.

Nothing to do with registering the bike but what tyre profile should be on the back? Its running a 60 at the moment on a b/stone touring tyre, doesn't seem rite to me.

Jap docs are fine thats what i used although my MOT man is the other halfs uncle and all he did was ask me what year it was imported :) had a quick look round the bike, frawned at the exhaust then gave me a ticket.

I dont think the tax office needs it they just seemed to go on what the MOT cert said and nothing else really

I wrote a guide up on how to do this in the general discussion section a month or so ago, we should make a sticky.

Registering an import is easy.

Go to the direct.gov.uk site and request an import-pack.
(http://www.dvla.gov.uk/onlineservices/o ... spx?ext=dg)

You'll get both forms, one for new vehicles and one for used vehicles, fill in the used vehicles one.

The process is as follows.

1. Insure the bike with an insurance company, tell them you want it insured by the Frame number only, they will give you an insurance certificate that is valid for one month, you use this month to get the bike registered and inform them of the new number plate when it's registered. I was given a 12 month policy by footman james.. but the certificate was only valid for a month and it had to be updated, the cost was the same as if the bike had a plate.

2. With insurance you can MOT the bike, book it into an MOT station and make sure they record the frame number and color etc of the bike, ride to the MOT station without any plates, if you get pulled over explain to the police that it's booked in for MOT and your in the process of registereing it, it is legal to ride to the MOT providing you have insurance cover. Show the MOT station the logbook and point to the year the bike was made so they can fill in the computer.. if there not sure about no plate explain to them theres a drop down box they can pick 'number plate not displayed' (i've been to an MOT station who'd never done one before).. if the clocks are in KM make sure they record the milage in KM too not miles (again a drop down option!) I had the station print the certificate 4 times to correct errors... oops! :D musta hated me

3. Once the bike passes MOT visit your nearest DVLA office and submit the registration form and your insurance certificate and your MOT certificate along with bike related paperwork.. these are Japanese Log Book and import VAT certificate.

If you don't have the Japanese log book you'll need a 'dating certficiate', these cost aroudn 20-30 gbp from a third party compant such as west-coast imports and the vehicle will have to be taken to a test centre to be examined (it cannot be ridden there either so will need trailering) IF you get a dating certificate from the mfg, honda, kawasaki etc then this is ok and an inspection isnt' neeeded. (more expensive though). If you don't have the customs form with the import numbers and tax on it you might be charged tax/vat again on the bike depending on the day..

4. Pay the fee... this is 55gbp + road tax... so 90gbp for a 400 class bike and you'll heard back in a week or two when you can pick up your documents, you get everything back + a form to allow you to buy number plates (valid for a month or two) an updated MOT certificate with your new plate on it and the tax disc (valid from the day you paid the fee... so if you buy half way thru a month you loose half a month! be wary) any how, phone up the insurance company and get the policy updated and buy the plates and your good to go.

When filling in the Form if helps if you have another V5 handy from another bike or car so you can see what goes where, most of it is self explantaroy, for SVA type put 'excempt', everythign else is outlined in the guide that comes with the form.

Any problems let me know where your getting stuck

Rearr tyre is 150/60/18

In Canada....anything can be imported if its older than 15 years...that's how I got mine......we do whatever the U.S. does so I bet your ok

Newflee wrote:In Canada....anything can be imported if its older than 15 years...that's how I got mine......we do whatever the U.S. does so I bet your ok

Registering some of the 400's in the US is really difficult as they don't meet the DOT requirements!