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Hundreds of Spanish Harley-Davidson owners are devastated since their bikes have been banned from the roads or taken by the police.

The reason being that the motorbikes need to satisfy legal requirements for vehicles in Spain only achievable by Harley-Davidson official or authorised dealers.

To avoid this, Harleys bought in the US and shipped to Spain by some importers have reportedly  been sent to privately owned MOT centres that have been willing to turn a blind eye to the  Spanish standards.

But those dodgy MOT certificates are still not enough to validate the Harleys. "When a motorists is stopped, we ask for the vehicle's documents. If those are not OK, we impound the vehicle. If it doesn't satisfy the standards, it can't be on the road. As simple as that," a Spanish Transport Department spokesman told newspaper El País.

Harley owners, some of whom have paid upwards of €16,000 (£14,000) for their machines, suspect the company is behind the police crackdown, and claim that Harley-Davidson is trying to stop second-hand imports so the motorbikes would be only sold through its official dealers.

Harley Spain completely denies such an involvement and believes some MOT centres have been authorising Harleys en masse.

Josep Graño, head of Harley-Davidson Spain, says those second-hand bikes and theirs are "different," and have different engines. "The imported ones don't comply with CO2 standards, or others relating noise pollution, indicators, speedometers, exhaust...In US, Euro I and II [necessary European standards], simply don't exist," he added.

Francisco Gualda, lawyer for the affected  owners association, says that up to 5,000 Harleys could be brought to a halt during the next few months.

The association and Harley are arguing over whether the second-hand imported bikes are different to those brought in by the company.

This is relevant since Spain is one of the top markets for Harleys in Europe. Spanish Harley owners tend to be middle aged and middle class - an ironic departure from the archetypical biker gang culture associated with the American brand.

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