While riding through France the other week I saw two 'RO' registered (Romanian?) vehicles following each other, both towing car trailers with British registered cars on them. Neither was new, but both looked recent and in good condition. It seemed odd, and the suspicious part of me was trying to make a mental note of each (I failed incidentally) but I eventually decided they must be doing exactly what seems to be happening to your bike. There's clearly a market, most probably both legit and dodgy, for vehicles and parts. A van full of bikes could be a nice little earner, and you don't have the hassle of left/right-hand drive.!
The business model worked well for the likes of BAT, bringing all those Japanese 250's and 400's over to the UK a few years back.