Touring bike hols using a van and trailer

Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPD).
The document is like a Passport for your bike, I was not aware they were still in use, I have traveled to Canada, Mexico and no one asked me for anything other than current Rego and proof of basic insurance.

When I traveled thru South America in 1980 with my 74 triple I had the Carnet, 90% of the border/customs officials plus cops and military officials had no clue what they were looking at. Offering up a couple of Marlboro cigarettes got us thru crossings pretty quickly, military roadblocks usually required the whole pack, traveler tip, when the Marlboro pack was empty just refill it with the cheap local cigs, no one knew they just wanted a smoke. You just had to be sure when they stamped your passport they also stamped the carnet, usually had to show them where on the page.

The Carnet cost money a lot, so you guarded it like your passport.

The way a Carnet works goes like this, it allows you to cross borders without paying import duties and discourages you from selling your vehicle in a foreign country. You must purchase a bond to get the carnet from a certified agency, I used the Australian Automobile Agency/ RAC. the bond cost 150% of the certified value of the vehicle(certification by a dealer) and you get all your money back when you return the carnet to the agency with all the official stamps in order.
The trick was for a budget world traveler like myself who did not have the cash to outlay 150% of the value of my Laverda was to have the West Australian Laverda dealer low ball the Laverdas value, thank you Bruce mate, $600 was a fair estimate, cheers
So after doing South America and getting up to a duty-free country, the USA, the Carnet was not needed I returned it to the Auto club and got my $900 back with interest, I really needed the money.
Some things were just easier and a lot simpler back then, ? Te gustaria un ciagarillo Americano Marlboro

Now, too many people in the world,
 

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78jotadave said:
Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPD).
The document is like a Passport for your bike, I was not aware they were still in use, I have traveled to Canada, Mexico and no one asked me for anything other than current Rego and proof of basic insurance.

When I traveled thru South America in 1980 with my 74 triple I had the Carnet, 90% of the border/customs officials plus cops and military officials had no clue what they were looking at. Offering up a couple of Marlboro cigarettes got us thru crossings pretty quickly, military roadblocks usually required the whole pack, traveler tip, when the Marlboro pack was empty just refill it with the cheap local cigs, no one knew they just wanted a smoke. You just had to be sure when they stamped your passport they also stamped the carnet, usually had to show them where on the page.

The Carnet cost money a lot, so you guarded it like your passport.

The way a Carnet works goes like this, it allows you to cross borders without paying import duties and discourages you from selling your vehicle in a foreign country. You must purchase a bond to get the carnet from a certified agency, I used the Australian Automobile Agency/ RAC. the bond cost 150% of the certified value of the vehicle(certification by a dealer) and you get all your money back when you return the carnet to the agency with all the official stamps in order.
The trick was for a budget world traveler like myself who did not have the cash to outlay 150% of the value of my Laverda was to have the West Australian Laverda dealer low ball the Laverdas value, thank you Bruce mate, $600 was a fair estimate, cheers
So after doing South America and getting up to a duty-free country, the USA, the Carnet was not needed I returned it to the Auto club and got my $900 back with interest, I really needed the money.
Some things were just easier and a lot simpler back then, ? Te gustaria un ciagarillo Americano Marlboro

Now, too many people in the world,
Click to expand...
Lived the dream there Dave 👌🏼
 
rodbargee said:
It looks like the custom and excise bandits are trying to charge up to 25% of the value of the bikes carried in the trailer. (working on the premis that we are importing bikes to sell in the UK..despite having taken them out a week earlier) Returning from a touring holiday in Spain.
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You'd think common sense would prevail if the bike is registered in UK. It can hardly be considered an import if you're returning it to its country of registration.
 
Dellortoman said:
So if you got a haircut while in Spain, does your head become a product manufactured outside UK, and therefore subject to import duty?
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Please don't mention this to the Norwegians, there are better at taxing than they are at winning winter olympic medals. We sometimes can have to prove prior ownership of our classic race bikes when returning from Sweden, I hasn't happened to me but I would just show them the program I reckon.
 
The Mem and Daughter are going to take motor home on ferry to Santander , I will leave two days earlier and ride from Calais, heres the rub, I get to ride all the way through France on the old Guzz and meet up with them in the mountains .
I will ride hundreds of unnecessary miles all on my own…can’t wait!
I did The same when I went to Guzz factory, I rode she went plane/ train,we arrived within fifteen minutes of each other .
 
We do a similar thing. My wife loves city breaks. Being a carrot cruncher I have no interest trudging around cities but I do like riding to them. Last one before the plague was Vienna. She says she fancies a weekend there and starts looking up flights and I grab the map looking for a good riding route. Works a treat.
 
I think I had to get a carnt when I took a bike from Australia to Spain via England. Pulled up by cops in France and Spain…. Nether regions asked if I had a carnt.
 
Dellortoman said:
So if you got a haircut while in Spain, does your head become a product manufactured outside UK, and therefore subject to import duty?
Click to expand...
Interesting question, on another scale Yes. While living in Switzerland, you officially have to declare and pay tax over any work done on your vehicle outside the country. Think about restauration work on your Bugatti in France where wages are considerably lower.
 
chrisk said:
I think I had to get a carnt when I took a bike from Australia to Spain via England. Pulled up by cops in France and Spain…. Nether regions asked if I had a carnt.
Click to expand...
Sometimes they have the customs people with them, that's when they get all stroppy. I think the thing to remember here is that the rules are for commercial freight carriers but it would also affect a mate carrying the bike as a favour in your absence for instance. When Grant lived in Spain and used to bring my bikes to the UK he needed quite a few transit and ownership documents to show to the authorities otherwise he got caught up in all this.
 
People employed by the customs or police services are not generally part of the elite of a nation. The more of them you have, the more hassles you have. More borders, more hassles.
We are however for most of us fortunate to live in countries where these people are not given scope for any initiative.
Leave them initiative, it's a lot worse. Corruption and violence.

Paul
 
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