Carte Gris Part Deux

Back in February, I posted on the process we went through to register our two Renaults in France. Getting the bike registered has been somewhat more problematic.

Firstly, as with the cars, I submitted a request to BMW France for a certificate of conformity. Rather more quickly than Renault, BMW replied asking for more information. Specifically, they wanted an attestation from the local dealer confirming that the lights were road legal for France and that the speedometer has kilometres on the display. One wonders at this point why they ask this question as all the BMWs I’ve owned since the early nineties have had kilometres on the clock and BMW should know this, but, anyway…

As I needed to get it serviced, I rode down to the dealer in Montpellier and asked for an attestation at the same time. I also asked for a controle technique – the French version of the MOT as the bike is over four years old. The dealer provided me with my attestation but it seems that a controle technique is not necessary for bikes.

I sent the attestation off to BMW France and returned to the UK to work. A week later, BMW France advised that the attestation was not sufficient as it did not explicitly mention the lights or the speedo, merely that it stated the bike was road legal for France. You would think this good enough, but apparently not. By this time, the UK tax and MOT had run out, so I’d notified the DVLA of its export, consequently my UK insurance was no longer valid, meaning that it was off the road until I could sort out the registration. On my return to France, I drove down to Montpellier and explained my predicament to the dealer, who shrugged and muttered something incomprehensible about bureaucracy and complied with my request. Armed with an attestation that specifically mentioned the lights and speedo, I hoped for a quick response. Sure enough, a week later a package arrived with French language copies of the rider’s handbook and maintenance log, but no certificate of conformity. I phoned BMW and asked where it was. That, they told me, was ongoing and would take three weeks. Why, you might ask, would it take three weeks to type up the information I had given them from my V5? Why indeed. The reply is probably just “French bureaucracy”. Sure enough, three weeks and one day after I applied, it arrived.

A trip to the tax office for the Quittes fiscale and we were ready to face the sous prefecture and get a carte gris. The official went though all of the paperwork and declared it all in order, but he could not issue my documents. I would have to go through the Mayor of my village. As I was returning to the UK again, I decided to leave it. This had been dragging on for five months and I was still no closer to having the bike on the road – or at least, it felt that way. Unlike the cars that were a breeze, this was proving to be a hurdle at every point.

While I’ve been in the UK, Mrs L went to the Mairie where she met with much bemusement because she was told that issuing registration documents was a job for… wait for it… the sous prefecture. Yes, we know this. However…

The Mayor telephoned the sous prefecture and asked the question. He was told that he would have to collate the documents and send them to the sous prefecture who would process them and send the carte gris back. The mayor, baffled by this took copies of the documents and told Mrs L to keep the originals – big mistake. Two weeks later, they came bouncing back. The sous prefecture wanted the originals – the same originals that had been in their possession a little over two weeks previously. By this time, I was wishing I’d sold the bike in the UK and bought a replacement in France. Why was this one vehicle proving to be so difficult? And, why was this one individual making life hard?

Mrs L went back today and waved the documents under his nose again. This time he processed them and issued her with a temporary carte gris because it seems that bikes are registered with the ministry of the interior and therefore go through a different office – that’s why he sent us to the Mayor. Now he tells us…

Why didn’t he just tell us this in the first place and save us at least some of the grief?

Anyway, long story short – registering bikes is similar, but not the same as with cars. You need all the same documentation; V5, Demande de certificat d’immatriculation d’un véhicule, copy of passport, copy of utility bill, Quittes fiscale and cheque book. But, it seems, you may have to go to a different office. Your Mayor may know nothing about this – I guess it depends on how many bikes he has to register.

Still, after all that, I am now in the process of insuring it, so I’ll be on the road for the summer.

And, before you ask; no, no regrets about the move – this is but a small fly in the ointment.