Buying an imported motorbike
What an import marker means on a motorbike, the difference between grey and parallel imports, what a Q plate costs you, and what to check before buying.
Published
An import marker on a history check is information, not a warning. Plenty of the best bikes on the British market were never sold here officially, and the marker only tells you the machine arrived from somewhere else.
What it should do is change the questions you ask. Four different situations produce the same marker, and they are worth very different money.
Four things "import" can mean
Type | What it is | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
Parallel import | A model sold in the UK, brought in through an unofficial channel, usually EU-spec | Little to worry about. Spec may differ slightly from UK bikes |
Grey import | A model never officially sold here, typically Japanese domestic market | Parts, manuals and specialist knowledge. The interesting ones live here |
Personal import | Brought in by an individual, often on returning to the UK | Paperwork quality varies enormously. Check it carefully |
Re-import | A UK bike exported, then brought back | Ask why it went and why it came back |
The grey import category is where the character is. Japanese home-market machines that never reached British dealers have been coming over for decades, and a good one is often a better bike than the model we were sold. It is also the category that will cost you the most in patience when something breaks.
What the paperwork should look like
An imported bike that was registered properly leaves a trail. Ask to see it.
NOVA. Notification of Vehicle Arrivals, which is HMRC's record that the bike entered the country and any duty and VAT were dealt with. Nothing gets registered without it. The frame number on the NOVA must match the machine, and a mismatch there is a serious problem rather than an administrative one.
Approval, or an exemption from it. A bike under ten years old with no Certificate of Conformity has to go through Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval, which is the bike equivalent of the IVA test cars take. Over ten years old and it may not need approval at all, though the circumstances still matter.
Proof of age. For anything old enough to need it, the DVLA wants evidence of the year of manufacture. A foreign registration document usually does it. Failing that, a dating certificate from the manufacturer or from a marque club, and owners' clubs are often better at this than anyone else. Many issue them free to members.
A V5C that matches. Registered keeper, frame number, engine number, everything. On an import the paperwork has passed through more hands than usual, so check the frame number against the headstock rather than taking the logbook on trust.
Q plates, and the catch nobody mentions
A Q plate is issued when the DVLA cannot establish a machine's age or identity with confidence. The bike has proved it meets the safety requirements; what it has not done is prove what it is or when it was built.
Sometimes that is an import with thin documentation. Sometimes it is a machine rebuilt from more than one donor, which is common enough on older bikes.
Here is the part that catches classic buyers out. A Q-plated bike is treated as substantially changed, and substantially changed machines do not get the 40-year MOT exemption. So a Q-plated bike built in 1980 still needs an MOT every year, forever, while the identical model on an age-related plate stopped needing one at 40. If you are buying a classic partly because you like the idea of the exemption, the plate tells you whether you are getting it. There is more on how the exemptions work on our historic tax class page.
A Q plate also costs money at resale. It is not a reason to walk away from a bike you like, but it should be reflected in what you pay.
Age-related plates
Where the DVLA can establish the year of manufacture, an imported bike gets a registration from that era rather than a current one. Register a 1978 Honda today and it gets a 1978-style plate. This happens automatically and it is a good sign, because it means the age was proven rather than doubted.
What an import costs you after you buy it
Parts. The real one. A grey import can need components that no UK dealer stocks, and the wait is measured in weeks rather than days. Ask the seller where they get parts, because if they have owned it a while they will have an answer.
Insurance. Insurers price what they recognise. Give them a model that never appeared in this market and some will rate it on capacity alone, which can produce a premium that bears no relation to the bike. Get quotes before you buy rather than after.
Servicing. Manuals may be in Japanese. Torque figures and service intervals may not be where your usual garage can find them. An independent who knows the model is worth keeping.
Resale. A smaller pool of buyers, so expect to hold it longer when you sell. Complete paperwork makes a real difference here, which is another reason to keep every document you are handed.
Export markers, which are a different matter
An export marker means the machine was declared as permanently leaving the country.
A bike carrying one while being advertised in Britain is a contradiction. Both things cannot be true. There are innocent explanations, including a planned export that never happened or a machine that came back, but you want the explanation before any money moves rather than after.
Ask the seller directly, ask to see the paperwork covering the return, and treat a vague answer as your answer.
Before you buy one
Read the marker in the report so you know which of the four situations you are in.
Ask for the NOVA and the approval paperwork. A seller who has it will produce it. A seller who has never heard of it is telling you something.
Check the frame number against the headstock. More hands, more room for error.
Get an insurance quote before you commit, not after.
Find the parts route, ideally by finding a specialist before you need one.
Then run the registration for finance, theft and write-off markers, because none of that has anything to do with where the bike came from. Those come from a full history check.
FAQs
Is it bad to buy an imported motorbike?
No. Plenty of good bikes were never sold here officially, and an import marker on its own says nothing about condition or history. What changes is parts availability, insurance pricing and how long it takes to sell on.
What is the difference between a grey import and a parallel import?
A parallel import is a model that was sold in the UK, brought in through an unofficial channel. A grey import is a model that was never officially sold here at all, most often a Japanese home-market machine.
What does a Q plate mean on a motorbike?
That the DVLA could not establish the machine's age or identity with confidence. The bike meets safety requirements, but its documented history is incomplete. It also means the bike will not qualify for the 40-year MOT exemption.
Does an imported motorbike need an MOT?
Same rules as any other bike: from three years old, then annually. The exception is the 40-year historic exemption, which a Q-plated machine does not get regardless of age.
The bike shows an export marker but it is being sold here. Is that a problem?
It is a contradiction that needs explaining before you pay anything. The record says the machine left the country permanently. Ask the seller directly and ask to see paperwork covering its return.