Hi Guys,
Can someone please tell me the processes to register a foreign bike in the UK?
Then, is the insurance lot more expensive as it is imported?
Thanks
Have you found yourself a sexy beast on holiday 
The information you require can be found here - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/ImportingAndExportingAVehicle/DG_4022583
Do check before you buy that it’s not Left Hand Drive…
most likely it to be Right hand side and the lights need to be re-arranged
But most of all, are insurance companies charging you more for the bike not been “manufactured” or registered in the UK?
Odd couple of bits:
As I understand things (wait for someone to contradict) if it is a model that was imported direct into the UK the insurance companies are on thin ice if they try to charge you more than the standard import bike. That, I believe is illegal under EU rules. Might not stop them trying though.
In addition to changing the head lamp bulbs(s) you might have to deal with the speedo. Though not illegal to have a dual marked face on that, a k.p.h. only face probably is.
Got off a tug on my old street moto because I had put m.p.h. markings on the glass with red permanent sharp felt tip pen.
Dual marked kph is fine - almost every UK registered Scooter has that, but as you say, kph only is illegal. Headlights usually don’t involve changing bulbs, but usually involve changing headlight reflectors or lenses. Can be a bit expensive as the ones cheap on ebay are often the Euro ones being sold on!
Regarding insurance, I would phone few up and ask for quotes.
Odd as it may sound, having a speedo that only reads in MPH is also illegal!
I recall Ducati having to do a recall 10-15 years ago as they’d fallen foul of this regulation.
That the great thing about having the speedo digital, you can just switch it at the touch of a button. I do like my rev counter analogue though.
my insurance company never asked any question about bike being an import… :ermm:
the only thing i know if the bike is new you just have to register it in the uk, and if its second hand you should re-register in the uk within some period of time (6months?)
For the insurance you’ll only have to worry about grey imports. As long as the make and model is freely available in the UK (ie a Yamaha R6) then you’ll be fine. Otherwise you might get stung a little for the insurance.
Never knew about the mph only. My new Skoda has only mph on the dial, and a digital kph but the digital kph can be changed into mph. But then you were not required to have a working speedo to pass an MOT.
The question they really want the answer to is whether the bike will cost more to repair because it uses parts which are not usually available in the UK.
I think that a bike such as a CBR or an R6 the parts are the same, the only thing is insurance… ill ring my current insurance and when importing I will set up the headlights to be lighted on both sides! nicer altogether!
In my case is buying a bike from over sees, and bring it over!
When I passed my test (unrelated) I decided to for for a massive 6 hour ride (about 6 times longer than any other i’d been on), and managed to run the bike into a pothole ruining the forks and speedo.
The forks we just went back to shape on the spot by wedging the wheel between us and yanking the handlebars, but I went to Fowlers in Bristol, which some of you know, have an EXCELLENT parts department with many parts in stock without having to order them as most places do. They only had a kph speedo. I bought this, got a white pen and googled the mph equivalents and added them on. I’ve not failed any MOT’s since although the MOT guy was once curious whether my bike was an import. So I wouldn’t worry too much. It’s nice to have both mph and kph anyway, for when you are here and also when you are on the continent 
you might all like to know that you can buy MPH dial stickers off ebay to put over your KPH ones