The effects of Brexit
With Brexit now fully implemented, Mick Payne takes a look at how it is now affecting us and also brings news of changes at Ural.
What with all the problems surrounding Covid, Brexit has largely taken a spot on the back-burner, but it certainly hasn’t gone away. There are several ways it could concern our sidecar community, especially the classic and rally scene. Gone are the days of showing your passport at the ferry port and not taking it out again until you return. Well, theoretically. When overseas rallies resume there will be changes, things will go back to when I started riding Continental roads back in the 1970s. Green Card, anyone? Yes, Green Cards are obligatory again and, interestingly, the regs state that one is necessary for the vehicle and another for any trailer if you happen be towing. These may take a couple of weeks to source so allow plenty of time; you must also display a GB sticker as well as carrying your V5C. Health insurance is recommended and pet passports are no longer acceptable so, if your travel companion is canine, you will now need an AHC and your pet will need to be microchipped and vaccinated. Unconnected with driving legislation, I have heard reports of spares for some Continental machines becoming difficult to source. To this end I contacted David Angel of F2 Motorcycles regarding Jawas and Velorex. “I don’t think it will really affect anything,” is his opinion. “We’ve already had a delivery from Velorex and the Czechs seem more informed about it than we are.” He seems to be more concerned about the increase in paperwork that Brexit has caused than continuity of his orders. Dan Sager, Watsonian’s PR man, is of the same opinion regarding paperwork. “We have distributors in Europe so it will be the exchange rate that will have a greater impact on Watsonian’s sales,” he says. Dan’s major concern is the impact on shipping and lead times caused by the pandemic. “This is obviously out of anyone’s hands,” he adds. To this end, F2 has just imported six Velorex chairs for stock because, David points out, it’s the same amount of paperwork involved in bringing in six as there is in just one. There remains the problem of some Continental spares dealers not shipping to the UK owing to the fact that they are unsure of the situation. It rather looks as though buying from home-based spares dealers is going to be okay but using some of the European spares suppliers might be more difficult or even temporarily impossible. As an aside to this, F2 is no longer a Ural main dealer. “Ural have got a new importer (again) and they have looked into their dealer network and seem to have decided that they would like a change of direction. I really wish them well with their new path, but it isn’t one that I wish to take,” reflects David. After many years of dealing with the Russian marque he will no longer be selling brand-new outfits and I got the impression that his decision was not made lightly. “I was asked aboard as a dealer but I don’t really want to go down the route they want to take.” His many years of experience remain, as does his love of the machines: “I will still provide a backup for Urals and continue supplying spares and accessories for them, but only for models up to 2021.” It’s a shame to lose a hands-on dealer such as David but he will still be there! As he said, he wishes the company well, but what is the route that Ural is going to follow? Probably selling more in the manner of some larger manufacturers; you know, carpets and cappuccino, but will it have the solid knowledge of a man like David? Before long we’ll see Urals with brown seats… End of an era? Possibly.