My Bro is going to be shipping off to Ramstein AFB here pretty soon, and I plan to exploit that He's got 3-5 years, I expect he'll stay the full five. I'd like to hear from some other folks who've exploited their siblings in the same manner He'll be living off base with a family kids and the whole works, so I gotta talk him into saving a little bit of floor space in the garage for me. Auctually, floor space for three of us brothers who all ride. We're currently shopping for new bikes in preperation for ADV rides together. Would it be cheaper to fly/ride or ship and store a bike there for ahwile using it on a couple of different trips? OR buy a bike there and leave it there and sell it when he ships back home? With rentals I'm worried about how they are outfitted and restrictions - I hate restrictions, loath them. At first I'd just be riding the developed EU contries, but if the sunshine finds my ass perhaps I'll get in an epic ride worthy of some RR thread. Thinking 'Stan countries or Ukraine, Mongolia? I got my fingers crossed it'll happen and going to work towards that goal. Five years is going to go fast! So I need to get my ducks hatched, let alone lined up :eek1 For shipping, there oughta be something pretty decent from Port of Seattle/Vancouver to Bremerhaven?
I live in Kaiserslautern Germany and Ramstein is about 10km west. I haven't exploited any siblings, but am a little familiar with the rules/regulations locally for US military licensing/registration with USAREUR. Is your brother with the military? Probably cheaper to buy locally, but then you have the registration issue to address if you don't have a bike you want to ship. You might be able to buy here and register in the states depending on the state. You will not be able to register the bike in your name here. Your brother will be able to register bikes with the military (USAREUR), but then there are restrictions on operation of the bikes (need specific approval for non-USAREUR licensed person) and a limitation on how many can be registered. Each family gets three personally owned vehicles and two recreational vehicles. More are allowed with a waiver approved by the individual's commander. It would be possible for your brother to register the bike and you ride if you go through the process to get approval. A little bit of a pain, but doable. If you ship your bike and leave US plates on it or buy in Germany and register in the states, you could leave it here and get insurance when needed if it will be stored off base. You would need international insurance, or "green card" insurance (the insurance paper is green). Stefan Knopf arranges shipping, rents bikes, stores bikes, arranges green card insurance for the needed time period, etc. His site is http://www.knopftours.com/Web-Site/Welcome.html. He stores hundreds of bikes, most of which are from the states and keep US registration. He is in Heidelberg, a little over an hour away. Don't know if he would get you green card insurance if not stored with him. If you want, send me a PM with email address and I'll send you information on the requirements for you to get approval, regulation governing licensing, etc.
+1 on Stefan. He also has bikes for sale from time to time as a service to his customers. These are usually US registered bikes - all you'd have to do is to register it locally and bring the plates/reg with you. If your state requires an inspection in order to register, this could be a problem.
Thanks for the information. No inspections where I live so that's easy. I'll ask more Q's when I get a little closer. sticking stuff here so I can find it later
If you're going to do this more than once a year, it would probably be cheaper to own, but if once a year or less I'd consider renting. There are places to rent cheaper that BMW, some private companies that offer a variety of bikes, even BMW's if you have to ride one of those. If it's going to be one brother at a time, maybe you all go in together and have him buy a second bike and keep it ready for whoever comes over next. If you're all coming over at one time, obviously that's out. I'm living an hour north of Ramstein at another base, and had a friend fly over and rent a bike in Munich for a week of touring in the Alps last year. Fantastic riding, don't skip out on really doing it.
