Motorcycle export insurance: ride home on a white Dutch export plate

Buying a motorcycle in the Netherlands and riding it home

Whether you find your motorcycle, scooter or moped at a Dutch dealer or a private seller, you can ride it home rather than hire a van. The export procedure is the same as for a car: the seller or an RDW-recognised company reports the motorcycle for export at the RDW, the Dutch registration ends, and you ride on a white export plate with temporary export insurance and a green card. If the seller does not take care of the export, we can do it at our office in Hengelo for €50 during opening hours. You can leave the motorcycle at the seller's and come with its yellow Dutch plate, its registration card with the tenaamstellingscode and a driving licence, identity card or passport.

One difference: motorcycles in the Netherlands have no APK, so there is no periodic inspection to check. Do check the registration certificate against the frame number, and agree with the seller when you receive the RDW export document. How plates and insurance work in general is on the page about Dutch export plates with insurance.

Motorcycle export plate and insurance: from €100 including 1 plate

For a motorcycle, scooter or moped the price starts at €100: one white Dutch export plate, the 14-day third-party liability insurance and the green card as a PDF by e-mail. Sent by DHL Express to any address in Europe, the package costs from €150 in total, the €50 shipping surcharge included. Whether it is a 50 cc scooter or a 1,200 cc touring bike, we work out the exact price from the vehicle, its empty weight and its year of manufacture, and confirm it before you pay.

To request, send the Dutch registration number, your name, the destination country and the start date via WhatsApp or the online request form. Collect the plate in Hengelo, or have it sent to your home address so that you can bring it in your luggage when you travel to the Netherlands by train or plane.

Riding home or transporting it on a trailer?

If you ride the motorcycle home, you need the export plate and the export insurance from the moment you leave the seller. If you put the motorcycle on a trailer or in a van, it is cargo: the trailer and the towing vehicle need their own valid insurance, but the motorcycle itself does not need plates or a policy for the journey. You can also combine the two, for example by riding from the seller to the place where a friend waits with a van; that first ride also needs the plate and the cover.

Think about the ride in advance. From the east of the Netherlands, Copenhagen or Vienna is roughly a full day or two on the motorway. The 14 days from your start date give you room for a relaxed ride with stops, as long as you stay within the countries on the green card: the EU and EEA, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and a number of other countries, but not Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, Russia, Belarus or Iran. See also the page about the green card for export.

Season and weather: when motorcycle buyers travel

Spring is a popular time to buy, when sellers want to upgrade before the season and buyers want to ride home in good weather. Buying in autumn or winter is possible too, but the ride home is colder and the days are shorter. The export insurance works all year round; the only question is whether you want to ride. If you buy in winter, you can wait for a dry spell before you set the start date, or collect the motorcycle with a trailer, in which case it needs no export plate for the journey.

Whatever the season, pack the green card in a waterproof pocket of your jacket, together with the RDW export document and the purchase invoice. Checks can happen at the roadside or at a border, and a wet, unreadable green card helps nobody.

Fitting the white export plate on your motorbike

A motorcycle gets 1 white export plate, fitted at the rear in place of the yellow plate. It shows the existing Dutch registration number in black on white, the same number as on the green card and the RDW export document. Remove the yellow plate before you ride off and fit the white one securely. Bring a screwdriver and a few small bolts or cable ties, because old bolts are often corroded and the seller may not have spares. Any question about the plate or the price for another vehicle? Check the price page or send us a message.