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Falcomille · #1 Post by **Falcomille** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:40 pm

I'll bet this one has NEVER been on this site before.... As I now live in France, and have brought my Falco with me, I need to import it and get it documented and plated. The French have a 100bhp restriction on bikes and this need to be done to mine (temporarily I hope).
Does anyone out there know the procedure to restrict an 02 Falco, and know where I can get a European Certificate of Conformity from as mine is missing.
Love reading the posts and the banter - keep it up!

Peter

#2 Post by **mangocrazy** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:04 pm

Hi Peter,

I believe that you apply to the manufacturer (i.e. Aprilia) for the Cert of Conformity. Have you been told specifically that you must have the bike restricted to 100bhp? If not, I would conveniently forget about it, as I can't imagine it's something they would even know how to check. Just say it is restricted and get them to disprove it...

I may be in a similar situation in a few years, as I have a place in France which I'm getting ready for full-time occupation. And the Falco would definitely be coming with me...

I do know that unless you are resident in France there is no need to officially import and register a vehicle. In fact I believe EU laws state that EU residents must only drive (or ride) vehicles registered in the country of the owner's residence. Which means that if you keep a vehicle in your 'non resident' home in France (as I do) that it still needs to be registered in your country of residence (UK for me). Sounds a bit weird to me, but I believe it is EU law.

If, against all common sense and reason, you do need to restrict the bike, then I may be able to help. My bike has yet to go for its first 1000km service and is still restricted. I believe deristriction is the removal of a bung in the airbox and the snipping of an ECU wire. If you want, I'll ask for the bung to be retained for your future use. The wire you'll have to un-snip yourself...

Falcomille · #3 Post by **Falcomille** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:25 pm

Thanks for the heads-up on that. There is a lot of conflicting advice about registration, but THE major pain in the arse is when it comes to MOT time, ie: the 2000 mile round trip. CT's (Control Techniques - the french MOT equivalents) are not that thorough and every 2 years, and judging by the sheds on the road over here, a few Euro's in a brown envelope goes along way! If I gen get a CT done with my UK plates, I shall go for that route.
Where you heading for? I'm in Dept 11, near the Med.

D-Rider · #4 Post by **D-Rider** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:26 pm

Falcomille wrote:I'll bet this one has NEVER been on this site before.... As I now live in France, and have brought my Falco with me, I need to import it and get it documented and plated. The French have a 100bhp restriction on bikes and this need to be done to mine (temporarily I hope).
Does anyone out there know the procedure to restrict an 02 Falco, and know where I can get a European Certificate of Conformity from as mine is missing.
Love reading the posts and the banter - keep it up!

Peter

I thought the certificate of conformity was something the manufacturer had rather than the owner - but maybe, whoever is the importer needs it too.
I don't know much about these imports - especially within the EU. I'd just assumed that EU citizens could keep their vehicle, registered within a member state and complying to the member state's rules ... but I guess that I would have been mistaken.

As mango has said, restriction will be the reverse of de restriction - so I guess you need to reconnect the wire and put the appropriate bung in the air box. You will need the right one for the French market - there are a number of different bungs for different places.
I guess you may need this if you have to have the bike inspected or tested.

#5 Post by **mangocrazy** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:32 pm

Yes, I was thinking about getting a CT done on my bike ('88 VFR) and car ('80 Lancia Beta Spyder) in France, just to show willing. But I'm told by a guy who has moved to France and lives just down the road in my village that CTs are not required for bikes, only cars. The only documentation required for bikes is insurance, apparently.

So I'll try and get a CT done on the car on UK plates and that should suffice (along with insurance, of course). There's no way I'm doing a 2000 mile round trip yearly for an MoT ticket.

As far as I can see it's all a bit of a grey area. I'll try and find out more information, but (as you say) there is a lot of conflicting information out there.

I'm in 34 (Herault), equidistant from Pezenas and Beziers.

Falcomille · #6 Post by **Falcomille** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 6:43 pm

Mango - we're almost neighbours! Probably about 50 miles away (sorry 70kms), on the edge of the Corbieres.
I thank you for your note about the CT - I'll check that with my neighbour (guess I should have asked him - doh!)
I'll also look into the bung situation (sounds like a Football manager doesn't it)
Thanks and a merry Christmas to all

Peter

back_marker · #7 Post by **back_marker** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:20 am

D-Rider wrote:

I thought the certificate of conformity was something the manufacturer had rather than the owner - but maybe, whoever is the importer needs it too.
I don't know much about these imports - especially within the EU. I'd just assumed that EU citizens could keep their vehicle, registered within a member state and complying to the member state's rules ... but I guess that I would have been mistaken.

As mango has said, restriction will be the reverse of de restriction - so I guess you need to reconnect the wire and put the appropriate bung in the air box. You will need the right one for the French market - there are a number of different bungs for different places.
I guess you may need this if you have to have the bike inspected or tested.

The Certificate of Conformity is something you get from the manufacturer which shows all of the specifications of your vehicle when it was new to save you having to go through a Type Approval inspection. I had to get one for my SV when I moved back from Germany as the bike hadn't been previously registered in the UK. If I remember correctly it cost something like 25 Euro and came in both English and German translations (you would need to make sure you got a French version).

Now I don't know how the Frenchies work it but under the British ssystem, as long as that certificate stated that the bike was supplied as new restricted to 100bhp (ie conforming to all of the required specification) then that would be sufficient to register the bike (this is of course hypothetical because there is no hp limit in this country but you get the idea). I think it unlikely that they would actually Dyno test the bike as part of said inspection anyway but i suppose you never know.

Nooj · #8 Post by **Nooj** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:32 am

The stock Falco puts out more than 100bhp though doesn't it? So even a factory restricted one will need to be restricted more.

Firestarter · #9 Post by **Firestarter** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 12:37 pm

Isnt' this what the airbox restrictor and the wire does - restricts to 100 BHP?

EDIT: Which D-Rider has already suggested - guess I should read earlier posts before piping up

Aladinsaneuk · #10 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 1:16 pm

iirc the falco started at 108 bhp, ad the airbox and wire snip took it to 112

I could be totally wrong though

robertorolfo · #11 Post by **robertorolfo** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:01 pm

Im not that well informed either... but I always remember reading 88HP restricted, 108HP de-restricted.

Another solution could be to just show up with a shagged clutch. Im sure if you put my bike on the dyno right now there is no way it could touch 100hp the way the clutch slips.

minime · #12 Post by **minime** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:12 pm

Falcomille wrote:I'll bet this one has NEVER been on this site before.... As I now live in France, and have brought my Falco with me, I need to import it and get it documented and plated. The French have a 100bhp restriction on bikes and this need to be done to mine (temporarily I hope).
Does anyone out there know the procedure to restrict an 02 Falco, and know where I can get a European Certificate of Conformity from as mine is missing.
Love reading the posts and the banter - keep it up!

Peter

If your Falco is any color but black it probably is well below 100BHP....

#13 Post by **mangocrazy** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:42 pm

I can't believe that the local authority in France would stick a bike on a dyno to find out whether it breached the 100hp limit or not. That has to be in the realms of fantasy. I have huge doubts as to whether they would even bother checking if the bike was restricted or derestricted.

All they're interested in is whether it conforms to European Type Approval. It does, and that can be proved by a Certificate of Conformity from Aprilia.

Having said that, it's definitely worth doing if you move to France with your bike as the legal requirements for owning and running a bike are far less, bikes in France (and vehicles in general) are a LOT more expensive in France and the roads are absolutely fantastic...

So you live on the edge of the Corbieres, Falcomille? Sounds like a nice run out to me...!

back_marker · #14 Post by **back_marker** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:03 pm

mangocrazy wrote:I can't believe that the local authority in France would stick a bike on a dyno to find out whether it breached the 100hp limit or not. That has to be in the realms of fantasy. I have huge doubts as to whether they would even bother checking if the bike was restricted or derestricted.

All they're interested in is whether it conforms to European Type Approval. It does, and that can be proved by a Certificate of Conformity from Aprilia.

Having said that, it's definitely worth doing if you move to France with your bike as the legal requirements for owning and running a bike are far less, bikes in France (and vehicles in general) are a LOT more expensive in France and the roads are absolutely fantastic...

So you live on the edge of the Corbieres, Falcomille? Sounds like a nice run out to me...!

Don't forget that the type approval specification is not the same throughout Europe, ie in France the main difference is the power rating, for this country it is the headlight and speedo (on analogue or non-adjustable clocks) so the type approval for UK may not be suitable for france if the restricted power is indeed above 100 bhp.

#15 Post by **mangocrazy** » Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:11 pm

back_marker wrote:Don't forget that the type approval specification is not the same throughout Europe, ie in France the main difference is the power rating, for this country it is the headlight and speedo (on analogue or non-adjustable clocks) so the type approval for UK may not be suitable for france if the restricted power is indeed above 100 bhp.

I was talking to my mate in the village about this the last time I was over, and the main thing the French are concerned about are having the correct headlight and a speedo with kph markings (dual kph/mph are OK, only mph is not). That is the over-riding concern for them, apparently. He's had to go through this with a couple of vehicles (not motorcycles, admittedly) and that was what the authorities were focussing on.

But provided the paperwork is in order, the French don't really give a flying f**k. Paperwork is their big thing. They'll check the lights and speedo, for sure, but check the airbox for the correct sized bung? I don't think so. That would involve taking the tank off and would be far too much effort...

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