Yep we have the same problem here in Croatia. On the other hand we have more restrictions in Croatia than maybe you in the US, for example when purchasing an exhaust, it must have an emblem that is EU approved, if they catch you without it you pay a high fine, you must have your DB killer at all times inserted, if they catch you driving without it they can impound your bike.
But the biggest problem are theese two factors:
1. Guy's riding without licence
2. Motorcycles that don't have a registration plate, thus they can't be identified by police or anybody.
So for an example, what most guy's do, the just take off the registration plate and when a police patrol tries to stop them for routine check they just don't stop but evade them and continue along the street, the police won't go after them because you have a better chance of winning the lottery than catching a guy on the motorcycle without a registration plate, in 90% of cases, theese bikes don't have insurance, and the rider doesn't have the licence to drive this bike, and there are a lot of guy's like this around....