Need advice for possible bike to import to NZ

[Harvey Mushman]

First of all, I live in the USA and have never been to NZ. For our 25th anniversary my wife and I are planning to visit my brother and his family in Nelson for at least three weeks this coming February. Over here I ride a 2006 FJR1300. Unfortunately my wife gets uncomfortable after a few hours on it. She says the only bike she could spend days on is a Goldwing or something similar. I'm thinking about buying a GL1800, shipping it there, riding it, and having my brother sell it after we leave.
Any thoughts on my choice of bike for this trip? My brother thinks the Wing might not be the best thing for resale there.
Thanks for any guidance. I look forward to seeing your great country soon.

[ukusa]

First of all, I live in the USA and have never been to NZ. For our 25th anniversary my wife and I are planning to visit my brother and his family in Nelson for at least three weeks this coming February. Over here I ride a 2006 FJR1300. Unfortunately my wife gets uncomfortable after a few hours on it. She says the only bike she could spend days on is a Goldwing or something similar. I'm thinking about buying a GL1800, shipping it there, riding it, and having my brother sell it after we leave.
Any thoughts on my choice of bike for this trip? My brother thinks the Wing might not be the best thing for resale there.
Thanks for any guidance. I look forward to seeing your great country soon.

check the prices here (use trademe.co.nz as a guide) & at home, do the sums, calculate the exchange rate & shipping costs & go for the cheapest option.

[HenryDorsetCase]

First of all, I live in the USA and have never been to NZ. For our 25th anniversary my wife and I are planning to visit my brother and his family in Nelson for at least three weeks this coming February. Over here I ride a 2006 FJR1300. Unfortunately my wife gets uncomfortable after a few hours on it. She says the only bike she could spend days on is a Goldwing or something similar. I'm thinking about buying a GL1800, shipping it there, riding it, and having my brother sell it after we leave.
Any thoughts on my choice of bike for this trip? My brother thinks the Wing might not be the best thing for resale there.
Thanks for any guidance. I look forward to seeing your great country soon.

New Zealand is TINY: you could tour on a GSXR1000. Maybe not two up, but a mate of mine tours on an R1. Nowhere is more than an hour away from somwehere you want to stop and take a picture of or visit a brewery or have a coffee or glass of wine or look at scenery or whatever.

I reckon if you want to bring a Gold Wing, bring a mint 1975 one, and tour on that, leave it in my garage when you're done and I'll give you a lift to the airport!

[DrunkenMistake]

You could probably do a complete loop of the south island in 2 days with minimal stops, of coarse you want to stop but you know what I mean. You could do Nelson to Dunedin so via the east coast in about 7 hours.. well depending on Christchurch maybe, I done it in 7.5 hours on my CBR 250 I stopped for petrol and a 5min stop for lunch and a poo. Lol

[NinjaNanna]

Nelson is a very small city (that's if it even qualifies as a city). I just googled it and apparently the population is around 43,000 that's not a very big market to sell a Gold Wing in. Sure you'll get some interest from people outside of Nelson that are willing to pay shipping or travel to collect it, but that will all be factored into the price they negotiate.

http://www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/facts-and-figures/

[Old Steve]

Yeah, Nelson is a city, it's got a cathedral! Doesn't matter if it's population was only 5,000, it'd still be a city.

How would the import laws allow a non-resident to import a motorcycle and then have it sold here?

[Harvey Mushman]

Thank you for the responses. Any suggestions as to what kind of bike might be comfortable for the wife and be sought after there?

[Conquiztador]

Not sure why you want to bring a bike here? We have heaps of them. All the makes and models.

You bring a bike in to NZ from USA (just doing that but a very one off thingy) and with all the freight, paperwork etc. there is not much change from NZ2K. (And if you leave the bike to be sold you will have to pay our 15% GST on purchase price and freight on top of that).

I could understand if you had this bike that you sleep with. But if you just want a bike for you and the lady to ride NZ with, then get one here. As already mentioned go on to TradeMe and look what is available and prices.

[HungusMaximist]

If I was you I wouldn't bother unless you manage to score an amazing bargain.

[hayd3n]

look here www.trademe.co.nz

[jaffaonajappa]

Not sure why you want to bring a bike here? We have heaps of them. All the makes and models.


Almost...

Not sure why you want to bring a wife here. We have heaps of them. All the makes and models.

And then you could tour on whatever you want. In peace.

:)

[Harvey Mushman]

Almost...

Not sure why you want to bring a wife here. We have heaps of them. All the makes and models.

And then you could tour on whatever you want. In peace.

:)

:killingme

[Harvey Mushman]

look here www.trademe.co.nz

I have and that is what made me think of shipping one over. Prices of bikes there are almost double what they are here. For example, as our riding season in the NE of the states comes to a close in a few months, I can buy a nice lower mileage GL 1800 for about $9000 US. Similar ones I've seen on trademe have been closer to $22000 NZ. I thought that instead of paying $1000 for a rental (On top of an already expensive trip. Two airline tickets alone are $5200 US), I could ship one and help defray some of the cost of the trip. You're not talking to a rich guy here.
Thanks for the posts everyone. Assuming I do stay on the path, what bikes might be popular over there? Again, it must be comfortable for a couple middle aged people.

[Scouse]

I have and that is what made me think of shipping one over. Prices of bikes there are almost double what they are here. For example, as our riding season in the NE of the states comes to a close in a few months, I can buy a nice lower mileage GL 1800 for about $9000 US. Similar ones I've seen on trademe have been closer to $22000 NZ. I thought that instead of paying $1000 for a rental (On top of an already expensive trip. Two airline tickets alone are $5200 US), I could ship one and help defray some of the cost of the trip. You're not talking to a rich guy here.
Thanks for the posts everyone. Assuming I do stay on the path, what bikes might be popular over there? Again, it must be comfortable for a couple middle aged people.Bring a Harley Ultra Glide nice arm chair on the back of on of those for your missus then while you are here you could hook up with one of the local HOG chapters

[shafty]

I've sent you a Private Message Mate

Shafty

[Harvey Mushman]

Bring a Harley Ultra Glide nice arm chair on the back of on of those for your missus then while you are here you could hook up with one of the local HOG chapters

May I ask why the Harley would be any different than bringing a Wing? From what I've seen here on ebay and over there on Trademe they both seem to bring about the same money. Are they maybe a quicker sell? My brother is trying to discourage a big, fat bike alltogether. I can hustle them around without any problem. My wife and I did many miles of single track 2 up on the 1500 Wing we sold last year. I would think that your roads are fine for any type of motorcycle.

[Harvey Mushman]

I've sent you a Private Message Mate

Shafty
I emailed you back. Thank you for the PM. It was much appreciated.

[Conquiztador]

You seem bent on bringing in a bike from US. And that is cool. If I was you I would find a buyer for the bike before I do all this.

Here: Ask on here/TradeMe/other places if someone is looking for their dream bike, then strike up a deal as the main hinder for us here is making sure what we get is what we paid for.

Just a thought.

[jaffaonajappa]

Import that Gold Wing.
Just remember tho - we are left hand drive in NZ.

Hehehe, okies. We have a few full sized touring bikes in NZ - but less common than most larger countires. More common over here are the likes of your current bike, FJ1300 etc. sports/Touring types are likely to be easier (quicker) to sell here than a full fledged tourer.

Good Luck.

[Harvey Mushman]

You seem bent on bringing in a bike from US. And that is cool. If I was you I would find a buyer for the bike before I do all this.

Here: Ask on here/TradeMe/other places if someone is looking for their dream bike, then strike up a deal as the main hinder for us here is making sure what we get is what we paid for.

Just a thought.
Very good idea and much appreciated. Thank you.

[robinm]

Actually, jaffas comment about left hand drive does mean something, any bike bought in from the USA will have a headlight that dips to the right and will need to be replaced with a unit that dips to the left top be legal here, so that is just one more thing to consider, the cost of a legal headlamp unit. I dread to think what a pair of goldwing headlamps would cost.

[imdying]

Lights, compliance (plus whatever parts they'll make you replace to comply like the headlight and brake friction material), shipping, registration etc. Fun fun.

[marty]

I have and that is what made me think of shipping one over. Prices of bikes there are almost double what they are here. For example, as our riding season in the NE of the states comes to a close in a few months, I can buy a nice lower mileage GL 1800 for about $9000 US. Similar ones I've seen on trademe have been closer to $22000 NZ. I thought that instead of paying $1000 for a rental (On top of an already expensive trip. Two airline tickets alone are $5200 US), I could ship one and help defray some of the cost of the trip. You're not talking to a rich guy here.
Thanks for the posts everyone. Assuming I do stay on the path, what bikes might be popular over there? Again, it must be comfortable for a couple middle aged people.

US$5200?? are you paying for a private jet? What ever you do, don't come to NZ via Aussie (ie with Virgin or Qantas etc) - it adds hours to your trip, and is a huge fuck-around. Come direct from LAX with Air NZ (on NZ1 or NZ5).

[marty]

would have though something like this would be a pretty good set-up - should move quickly too

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/motorbikes/motorbikes/cruiser/auction-388263700.htm

[jaffaonajappa]

May I ask why the Harley would be any different than bringing a Wing? From what I've seen here on ebay and over there on Trademe they both seem to bring about the same money. Are they maybe a quicker sell? My brother is trying to discourage a big, fat bike alltogether. I can hustle them around without any problem. My wife and I did many miles of single track 2 up on the 1500 Wing we sold last year. I would think that your roads are fine for any type of motorcycle.

HD tourers seem to be more popular than their jap equivalents over here....some people have argues they are 'better' - others suspect HD sales are driven by other issues. Regardless - seat of the pants feeling...an HD would sell faster.

And yes, our roads are pretty good. And yes, any bike will put a smile on your dial on our roads.

Dont get too hung up by a handfull of KB Posters thoughts - you are going to enjoy riding here regardless of what the bike is, im sure.

[Harvey Mushman]

US$5200?? are you paying for a private jet? What ever you do, don't come to NZ via Aussie (ie with Virgin or Qantas etc) - it adds hours to your trip, and is a huge fuck-around. Come direct from LAX with Air NZ (on NZ1 or NZ5).

$2700 each for coach from Rochester, NY to LAX, to Aukland, to Nelson. And that's the current lowest price. Yup, that hurts. I'd much rather be spending it in your country than at the airlines.
What is NZ1 or NZ5?

[imdying]

$2700 each for coach from Rochester, NY to LAX, to Aukland, to Nelson. And that's the current lowest price. Yup, that hurts. I'd much rather be spending it in your country than at the airlines.
What is NZ1 or NZ5?That's the flight code for the Air NZ flights that go direct IIRC.

Currently and off the shelf price, 1 month out from now, Auckland to NY (JFK), return is about NZD$2353 pp, FWIW.

[Harvey Mushman]

That's the flight code for the Air NZ flights that go direct IIRC.

Currently and off the shelf price, 1 month out from now, Auckland to NY (JFK), return is about NZD$2353 pp, FWIW.

Now you need to add the flights from ROC to JFK and Auckland to Nelson. Obviously I'm hoping to see lower fares as the date gets closer. Oil prices continue to drop so maybe the air fares will start getting closer to what was normal.

[imdying]

Now you need to add the flights from ROC to JFK and Auckland to Nelson. Obviously I'm hoping to see lower fares as the date gets closer. Oil prices continue to drop so maybe the air fares will start getting closer to what was normal.Akl to Nsn is about $114NZD pp one way.

/edit: An agent would probably get you about USD$2000 return all legs, FWIW

[Harvey Mushman]

I do have an agent looking and so far he has not found anything. Truthfully, it is too far out to find and bargains yet. 8 or so months to go.

[imdying]

Yeah for sure. As above, both of those are just prices for 1 month out from today... could be interesting to see what they say about 6 months out. /edit: Another $500NZD

[wingnutt]

HI,

I'm a goldwing rider in NZ and they are a great bike to ride here, especially around the south island.

resale of the bike, could take a while here, as the 1800 has a fairly high value here, although you might be able to get a motorcycle shop ti take it but the price would probably have to fall.

here is the web site, for the goldwing riders club in NZ,

http://www.nzgoldwing.co.nz/index.html if you click contacts, any of these folks would be only to pleased to help I'm sure.

good luck,

[Harvey Mushman]

Thanks for the link Wingnutt. Assuming I get to do this, I'm not going to look for top dollar. I'm hoping to make our 25th anniversary trip a bit more affordable, be able to ride a nice, comfortable bike for some of the trip without breaking the bank, and give a good deal to a Kiwi on a bike that would otherwise have cost that rider more.
win, win win

[jaffaonajappa]

Thanks for the link Wingnutt. Assuming I get to do this, I'm not going to look for top dollar. I'm hoping to make our 25th anniversary trip a bit more affordable, be able to ride a nice, comfortable bike for some of the trip without breaking the bank, and give a good deal to a Kiwi on a bike that would otherwise have cost that rider more.
win, win win

Sounds blardy great to me mate.
1st thread is highly recommended reading. 2nd thread may have some info for ya. Apologies if you already read them...

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/133231-Coming-to-New-Zealand-for-a-6-week-tour-(Jan-Feb-2011)
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/137708-Moving-to-NZ-from-US-and-bringing-my-bike

[The Lone Rider]

Why not just fly to Auckland, buy a bike at any of their numerous bike shops the day you arrive, and ride to Nelson?

You could scope out what bikes are available in Auckland online, and contact the store a week ahead before you leave.

The ride from Auckland to Nelson is less than a day, but if you wanted to be relaxed you could stop off at one of the many camp grounds or B&B or motels along the way.

Pick up a couple of strops from a hardware store in Wellington, get a cheap ticket for the ferry across the straight, rest for a few hours, and there you go, in Picton and then ride onto Nelson.

I believe doing this would be a great ratio of expense to value. You will get a scenic ride of the country, get a chance to be familiar with the bike, and if you did it all in the one day, you still get a nice rest while on the ferry.

And although the "highways" here weave and turn and go all over the place, there are very few numbered main highways, so it shouldn't be too hard to not get lost on the road.


Also, if you like to ride with pace... make sure you get something with good ground clearance. You will need it around the hill passes.

[marty]

Why not just fly to Auckland, buy a bike at any of their numerous bike shops the day you arrive, and ride to Nelson?

You could scope out what bikes are available in Auckland online, and contact the store a week ahead before you leave.

The ride from Auckland to Nelson is less than a day, but if you wanted to be relaxed you could stop off at one of the many camp grounds or B&B or motels along the way.

Pick up a couple of strops from a hardware store in Wellington, get a cheap ticket for the ferry across the straight, rest for a few hours, and there you go, in Picton and then ride onto Nelson.

I believe doing this would be a great ratio of expense to value. You will get a scenic ride of the country, get a chance to be familiar with the bike, and if you did it all in the one day, you still get a nice rest while on the ferry.

And although the "highways" here weave and turn and go all over the place, there are very few numbered main highways, so it shouldn't be too hard to not get lost on the road.


Also, if you like to ride with pace... make sure you get something with good ground clearance. You will need it around the hill passes.

Best idea all thread.

[marty]

Now you need to add the flights from ROC to JFK and Auckland to Nelson. Obviously I'm hoping to see lower fares as the date gets closer. Oil prices continue to drop so maybe the air fares will start getting closer to what was normal.


If you fly Air NZ you will get an on-carriage fare from AKL to NSN and it should only be $50 or so. Check an online booking from LAX-NSN.

I work for AirNZ so have a bit of an insight.

Cheers

[Harvey Mushman]

Best idea all thread.

I don't agree. This vacation is no small expense for us. Buying one there leaves me in the hole. Shipping one there and selling it at a reasonable (for NZ) price should leave me with a few thousand for my efforts. Eliminating the minus of rental plus the profit of the sale makes this trip much more affordable.

[marty]

sweet as. sounds like you've got it sorted then. I would think a Harley would be the easiest bike to move, and probably the cheapest to convert to left hand road side headlight.

[The Lone Rider]

sweet as. sounds like you've got it sorted then. I would think a Harley would be the easiest bike to move, and probably the cheapest to convert to left hand road side headlight.

Bet it cost him way more doing it his way. :violin:


If he's on such a tight budget... the cheapest option is to not rent, import, or buy a bike. To me, having a bike for a 3 week trip is a big luxury unless the trip was specifically for going riding. If having enough money is a big issue, surely it'd be a more relaxed trip cutting a big expense out of the trip. I know I would find it tugging on my mind worrying about money. The trip to NZ is a pretty special 25th anniversary in itself.

One thing that a lot of people have failed to mention, and it is my opinion, is that a lot of the bikes on Trademe stay on trademe for quite some time. In my own sales, it was easier to sell my bikes to friends than to take inquiries from users on Trademe. Even when listing a bike for $2K cheaper than any of the same on Trademe, it sat and sat and sat and was never sold. A number of people would either drop the prices a fair bit, or people end up doing a trade in with a dealer.

Go to www.xe.com to get an idea of the price conversion. With the exception of Harleys, which on Trademe seem to fetch nearly around the same as a new one of the same year, most are reasonably priced.

In saying that, i have been told a number of times NZ has more Harleys per head of population than anywhere else in the world.

[marty]

I have recently been involved in bringing a container of vehicles over from the USA, and it took selling 3 units to pay for 1/2 of the one that was kept. That said, I really don't know anything about anything, so my opinion is just that - my opinion.

[Harvey Mushman]

Marty, I appreciate all the opinions here including yours. You obviously do have more experience than most here including me. Every job in the world is being done by someone. After seeing the outrageous prices of bikes over there I thought that I might try this while I visit your beautiful country. If it was hugely successful I'd look into doing it more often. I simply don't see much of a down side when the price differences between our two countries are so far apart. Here in the northeast of the states bike prices plummet in the fall. Bikes really are half the price of the what you guys are often complaining about. Yes, on a $1500 bike I would certainly lose money. As the bike gets more valuable the odds of coming out ahead go up. Honestly, If I paid $10K for a nice, clean, 2008 Harley Electra Glide and spent another $2K to ship it, do you not think it would fetch $14K there? From what I've seen on a few NZ websites I think that the question is how many of you would think the price is a typo. Yes, I'm hard headed. Between German ancestry and being born here you can't find a much thicker skulled numbskull to argue with online.

[jaffaonajappa]

Im still having trouble getting used to the NZ dollar being so strong against the Greenback.
$12k USD is about $15k NZD?

[Harvey Mushman]

Sorry JOAJ, I was talking all in US currency. And yes, our government is doing all it can to put the middle class into poverty. Has been for the past decade. Give us another few years and none of us at the bottom 99% will be able to own a bike. You'll get our stuff for next to nothing.
Sorry for the rant.
Back to trying to bring you guys a cheaper bike.

[The Lone Rider]

Im still having trouble getting used to the NZ dollar being so strong against the Greenback.
$12k USD is about $15k NZD?


You can buy a Harley for that much here, registered and warranted.

Possibly not one of the larger baggers, but I guess if you imported one you also need to add in another $1K at least to get it registered and converted. And you'd want to get insurance for shipping the bike here.

I suppose for only 3 weeks you wouldn't need it registered for a year, but you might want it registered for longer than your stay so that it retains more value (registered & warranted bikes have a bit more value).

One other commonly confused terms...

When kiwi's say registered.. they mean the vehicle is licensed to be on the road.

1 Years licensing is over $600 NZD for a reasonably sized engine (less $$ for smaller bikes)

You can thank our dumb ass Accident Compensation Minister for that one.

[PeeJay]

Sorry JOAJ, I was talking all in US currency. And yes, our government is doing all it can to put the middle class into poverty. Has been for the past decade. Give us another few years and none of us at the bottom 99% will be able to own a bike. You'll get our stuff for next to nothing.
Sorry for the rant.
Back to trying to bring you guys a cheaper bike.

Something that could be worth doing
Sign up with trademe and put bikes that are of interest on your watchlist.
Over the next few months you will get an idea of how quickly bikes sell.
As someone else has said you will probably find not a lot of selling actually goes on.
Even bargains can sit there for months and months and months.
Another point is customs
If you leave the bike here when you return to the states, sold or unsold, there will be a 15% gst (sales tax) +customs charges. More info here [url]http://www.customs.govt.nz[/url
good luck