Motorcycle Gear Prices In Europe - Comparison (take2) |
|
|
File under News Web
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
|
|
I've received quite a lot of emails from people asking where it was the cheapest to buy motorcycle stuff in Europe. It's not an easy question to answer, since there's not one country that has the cheapest articles.
So, I've decided to do a comparative for several articles used by the decerning motorcyclist. When I went out comparing, I discovered that it's not as easy as it seems. For some articles, I could not find the exact same model in a specific country, either because it was not there, or because the model number is not used in that country.
I also had to limit myself to "normal" prices, i.e., not take into account "sales" prices, or special deals, since they tend to change regularly. I also had to limit myself to countries around France, since taking the rest of Europe would take weeks (this small sample already took me 4 days of searching the web).
I could also only look at that shops that offered their products (and therefore their prices) on the internet. So there's a good chance I missed some places that are cheaper.....
Countries
The countries I've included in my survey were Spain (ES), Andorra (AN), France (FR), UK, The Netherlands (NL) and Germany (DE). I also have some data on Belgium but that proved to be difficult to get most of the products, so maybe I'll do that for another time.
Suppliers
I've used the following suppliers per country: | Country | Supplier | Country | Supplier | Country | Supplier | | Andorra | France | UK | | | Moto Equip | | PriceMoto.com | | Custom Lids | | | Motocard-Bike | | Fan B@zar | | Biker Sport | | | Daytona 2000 | | Cardy | | Bike Stop | | Germany | | Fun-Road | | Demon Tweeks | | | FC Moto.de | | Moto Shop | | Biker's Bargains | | | Bering-Shop | | Dafy Moto | | Equinoxmc | | | Gasgas Online | The Netherlands | | Lady Biker | | Spain | | Motoso | | Camskill | | | Tot Moto | | Motorcross Budel | | | | | Auto Servicio | | MotorGoedKoop | | | | | Motorista | | Kalsbeek Motoren | | | | | | | BikesBuyIt Nl | | |
Motorcycles
First, let's have a look at the main dish; the motorcycle. I looked at two manufacturers, BMW and Suzuki. Why ?? Because they publish their prices on the web ! Obviously these prices are RRP (Recommended Retail Prices) and you'd probably get a better deal when dealing directly with a dealer.
Blue is the cheapest, Red the most expensive.
| Motorcycle | ES | AN | FR | UK | NL | DE | | Suzuki GSX-R1000 2005 | €13599.00 | | €13499.00 | €12679.36 | €15490.00 | €13090.00 | | BMW R1200GS | €13400.00 | | €12720.00 | €12558.31 | €14290.00 | €11700.00 |
The Netherlands is the most expensive in all cases, while, no surprise, the BMW is the cheapest motorcycle in Germany, while the Suzuki is the cheapest in the UK. I could not find any motorcycles for sale in Andorra. But that would have been tax-free, and you'd need to pay import-duty anyway.
Boots
I looked at one brand, Alpinestars.
| Brand | ES | AN | FR | UK | NL | DE | | Tech 6 | €239.00 | €225.00 | €259.00 | €288.20 | €239.00 | €239.95 | | Tech 8 | €295.00 | €260.00 | €332.95 | €374.66 | €355.00 | €325.00 |
Andorra wins both cases, while the UK is the most expensive.
Helmets
Then I looked at motorcycle helmets. I looked at four different manufacturers, Roof, Schuberth, AGV and Shoei.
| Brand | ES | AN | FR | UK | NL | DE | | Roof Boxer | €350.00 | €249.00 | €294.80 | €276.67 | €274.00 | €289.95 | | Schuberth Concept | €390.00 | €328.00 | €395.00 | €374.65 | €299.00 | €269.95 | | Agv RC5 Pro | €147.10 | €116.00 | | €129.68 | €135.00 | €120.00 | | Shoei XR1000 Diabolic | €369.00 | €350.00 | €445.00 | €425.10 | €399.00 | €419.00 |
Apart from the German made Schuberth that was the cheapest in Germany, all other helmets were cheaper in Andorra, sometimes with a very wide margin.
Intercom
I looked into one specific intercom, Chatterbox's HJC40.
| Brand | ES | AN | FR | UK | NL | DE | | HJC40 | | €130.00 | €99.00 | €158.51 | | |
This proved to more far more difficult, since those websites that did offer them, did not display a price. So I only can show 3 countries.
Leathers
So next comes the motorcycle leathers. I looked for the French Bering brand only, and again, I had problems in the time I allocated to myself to find all countries.
| Brand | ES | AN | FR | UK | NL | DE | | Lady Tina Leather | | €272.00 | €229.00 | €315.58 | | €334.99 | | Supermoto | | €295.00 | €349.00 | | | €369.99 |
Not easy. Though the French made Bering Lady Tina was cheaper in France, from the same brand the Supermoto was cheaper in Andorra.
Oil
Finally, I looked at Motul oil.
| Brand | ES | AN | FR | UK | NL | DE | | 4L 300V Competition | | | €44.95 | €46.04 | €57.00 | €49.90 |
Motul could be found the cheapest in France, while quite expensive in The Netherlands.
Summary
All considering, on average the cheapest place to buy motorcycle gear is Andorra, a tax-free country. The more expensive the item, the bigger the difference. Obviously you'll need to officially pay import duty in your country ! But for that, you'll need to be stopped at Customs.....
If this is of interest for you, let me know. I'll then try to expand a bit more with other motorcycle articles, and even make tis a database that can be consulted in a permanent article.
|
|
|
Click here to Show/Hide 
