Tricycling to Europe?

Hi all,

My name is Jieming (Jay), and my friend Nate and I were planning to take two Yamaha 125s to Europe in the Spring, and perhaps to South Africa if we still have money, but then it occurred to us that maybe we should go for a tricycle trip instead. I doubt it would make it all the way to South Africa, but we should be ok going into Europe.

Can anyone help shed some light on European vehicle import regulations? I have an electric one right now, but we would have to find a gasoline-powered tricycle because my electric one won't have the umph to climb mountains, but we also don't want to get stopped at the Greek border

Attachment 16699

Thanks, J

You may be legal if under a certain cc or kw of power and make the journey less trouble with paperwork, however getting through Russia before your visa expires could be difficult.

thanks for the quick reply! if we come out from xinjiang to Kazakhstan, and then head south, then west through Turkey we can skip Russia. bringing the tricycle into Europe is the part that worries me the most

Don't think a Gas powered trike would be allowed into Europe without some sort of registration documents.

In Europe even 50cc internal combustion needs registration, in fact much less power than that. To be legal in all the territories you'd intend to pass through a safe legal limit is 200W. (about the same power as a cyclist).

There are internal combustion motors that small, but I think you'd be best off using an illegally large electric motor and lying about the power output, and hope you aren't challenged.

ZMC888 in my opinion they must not import those motorbikes to Europe. If this is no bike but motorcycle or a trike with gasoline the listed rules are important

1. They must have a chinesee plate.
2. The driver need to have a international driver license. Many European countries register tricycle as a mitorbike other as car. I think the driver must have both license to be sure that there will be no problem.
3. The vehicle need to have insurance with "green card"
4. The driver and the passenger need turist Visa.

Thats all. I will do more research. If i will find any writen laws i inform you.

And of course i invite you to see Poland. We have here a chineese motorcycle club, and the members will help if someone will be in need.
Or they will show interesting places.


Jeming at 5th June 1987 Poland has made an agreement with People Republic of China. Point 27 says that chineese documents are walid in Poland :-).

I spoken with my uncle, he was a policeman. He said i am right. This vehicle must have additionaly marking with the international shortcut for China. Such eliptical sign or These marking must be on the plate.

After you upgrade the seat , then go and buy a 1000w gas powered generator . Put the genny on the back with a few litres of gas and you can charge the battery as you go along

Beni if you run maybe a 1kw electric motor but 'claim' its a 200w you'd be 'technically' legal and wouldn't need registration. 1000w gs powered generator hehe Zhu ;-)

ZMC i mean you can drive trough Europe if you have a propeprly registered vehicle in your country. In this Situation in China.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zhu

After you upgrade the seat , then go and buy a 1000w gas powered generator . Put the genny on the back with a few litres of gas and you can charge the battery as you go along

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Reckon it would be a "hybrid" then and still need DVLC's blessing in the UK :rolleyes1:

Beni, I'm talking about an ELECTRIC MOTOR that you might get in one of these:
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j0...cooter-Rx6.jpg

ZMC ok, that means thay are not registered in China?
Even if so, did you mean it is possible to drive so many km with elektro motorcycle? I think the best idea is to make such trip with a normal motorcycle (gasoline) or trike with gasoline engine.
How far you can go on elektricity in a day 50km? 100km?

ebikes with lead acid batteries ebike ~50km, or with lithium batteries possibly ~90km - all dependent on multiple factors e.g. gradients encountered, how much WOT is applied, electric hub, quality of components, and state of the batteries, amongst others...

Method one...
Chinese gas-powered 3 wheeler
Attachment 16708
Bad idea...they handle like crap and are slow and heavy, good for city deliveries only.... noisy and max 60 kms, it will take 3 times longer to get there compared to a 125cc bike. They are road legal and possible to be registered and insured on the plus side. You could try putting an aluminum bed on it and try to customize one, but it wouldn't help that much.

Method 2...
Chinese electric 3 wheeled vehicle
Attachment 16709
These are for old people to take their grandchildren to school or do small local deliveries, they are fairly heavy for the vehicle they are, underpowered and generally hopeless 20km/h if you're lucky, probably wouldn't make it out of the province, let alone China but would be road legal without a plate as they are most likely around 200w.

Method 3
Get a three wheeled bicycle and retrofit this or something like it.
Attachment 16710
Longer range and lighter and more reliable than option 2. But you still aren't going to be going quicker than 20km/h so see you in Europe in 6 months or more.

Or just go on YBR125s, you'll be glad you did.