Importing bikes - smart or stupid?

[sharp2183]

With the dollar so good at the moment, it has crossed my mind to try my hand at importing a bike. Not that the prices here are bad, but it's not always easy to get the bike you want. Not looking to sell on or make money but to keep the bike. I'm sure there are probably threads on here that ask the same thing, but as the dollar is erratic, maybe an up-to-date discussion would be good.

Has anyone done it?

Dangers?

Cost of shipping and insurance?

Which brokers/agents are the go?

[Icemaestro]

I'd be keen on knowing this too, also, experiences/difficulties from importing a bike ex japan?

[rapid van cleef]

i can comment from my experience alone. when i moved here from the uk. i sold my gsxf600 over there for a little over $2000. which was a good price in the uk for a 97 bike in excellent condition. the same bike was selling here for triple that price at the time on trademe( 5 years ago) i wish i had brought my bike with me and sold it here! i would recomend anyone else coming here from uk particularly, to bring their bike with them as used bikes hold their prices very well here. its seems to be a sellers market here. i know a guy that came over to the uk and bought a van, filled it with good cheap bikes from ebay in the uk, shipped it here and made a good profit on the bikes.

[skinny]

Like everything there is a risk but id say do it live a little :)

I imported as 03 CBR600 RR and it was awesome. Only problem i has was the indicators didnt have the EU stamp on them so had to replace them but other then that vinning was simple being a modern bike.

Admittedly I am a Freight Forwarder so the freight from the US was free.

I havent tried Japan so im not sure where to by from but Ebay works in the USA no problem.

[sharp2183]

Like everything there is a risk but id say do it live a little :)

I imported as 03 CBR600 RR and it was awesome. Only problem i has was the indicators didnt have the EU stamp on them so had to replace them but other then that vinning was simple being a modern bike.

Admittedly I am a Freight Forwarder so the freight from the US was free.

I havent tried Japan so im not sure where to by from but Ebay works in the USA no problem.

Lets say it wasnt free :angry: and it was coming from the US, what do you think the all up cost would be?

[skinny]

Lets say it wasnt free :angry: and it was coming from the US, what do you think the all up cost would be?

At a guess if you got the seller to deliver the bike into the container
freight station it would cost just under NZD 2000. Im not sure what other forwarders put on the freight. Remember you have to pay 15% GST to NZ customs when you import it and thats on the CIF value (cost of the bike plus the freight plus the insurance).

I imported mine 2 years ago landed for NZD7000 but i may have got lucky.

Biggest problem you have right now is its summer in the USA so the bikes are expensive.

[jasonu]

Biggest problem you have right now is its summer in the USA so the bikes are expensive.

No they are not. There are some real bargains to be had. It is a real buyers market due to the shitty economy as people are desperate for the cash to live on and are parting with their 'toys' at low prices. Have a look at www.craigslist.com. I live in Bend, Oregon and especially lately I have seen a couple of Dukes go for really low coin.

[toycollector10]

Find a bike, say on eBay. Trust The seller or not? Will he sell to outside of the USA, some won't. Bid to win the bike. Get it crated ($500 USD) then delivered to a local freight depot ($$) Then shipped out to a seaport for putting in a container. Get it USA Customs cleared. Work 100 percent on trust that it's not going to disappear at some stage. Get it on a boat. (up to $3000) Add Port Handling charges. MAF charges if they think it needs a clean. Customs charges. GST. Shipping agents fees. Everyone that looks at the crate has got their hands out. Uplift bike and get it home then out of the crate. :facepalm: It's been completely misrepresented to the point of serious fraud. There's no bill of sale or ownership papers with the bike even though the seller said they would be under the seat. He won't answer your emails. It's taken over three months to get here so there's no comeback with eBay against the seller who has changed his seller ID 5 times in the last 5 years but you have no way of knowing that, even though when you google the dickhead he's a pillock of the Christian community. You can't even leave negative feedback. Negotiate with VTNZ for 18 months in an effort to get it elligible for VIN'ing because you don't have the right paperwork. Restore bike (More big $$) and enter it in a classic bike show and win Best in Show and best Kawasaki.

Hope I haven't put you off, Dude.

[sharp2183]

Find a bike, say on eBay. Trust The seller or not? Will he sell to outside of the USA, some won't. Bid to win the bike. Get it crated ($500 USD) then delivered to a local freight depot ($$) Then shipped out to a seaport for putting in a container. Get it USA Customs cleared. Work 100 percent on trust that it's not going to disappear at some stage. Get it on a boat. (up to $3000) Add Port Handling charges. MAF charges if they think it needs a clean. Customs charges. GST. Shipping agents fees. Everyone that looks at the crate has got their hands out. Uplift bike and get it home then out of the crate. :facepalm: It's been completely misrepresented to the point of serious fraud. There's no bill of sale or ownership papers with the bike even though the seller said they would be under the seat. He won't answer your emails. It's taken over three months to get here so there's no comeback with eBay against the seller who has changed his seller ID 5 times in the last 5 years but you have no way of knowing that, even though when you google the dickhead he's a pillock of the Christian community. You can't even leave negative feedback. Negotiate with VTNZ for 18 months in an effort to get it elligible for VIN'ing because you don't have the right paperwork. Restore bike (More big $$) and enter it in a classic bike show and win Best in Show and best Kawasaki.

Hope I haven't put you off, Dude.

GREAT reply. Bad experience or not?

[toycollector10]

GREAT reply. Bad experience or not?

Probably one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life. If you have a passion for a particular bike that's unobtainable in this country just set off and put one foot in front of the other and you will succeed. My first import in 2005 was a dream run. A bike out of SF sold on eBay by a retired bike shop owner who's hobby was supplying great bikes to the world. Very helpful and very, very honest and it was a great experience. The thing with people from the USA, in my opinion, is that they are either honest, scrupulous, friendly and helpful to the point of shaming us Kiwis or they are dishonest, scamming fraudsters. Just my two cents worth.

[sharp2183]

Probably one of the most rewarding things I have done in my life. If you have a passion for a particular bike that's unobtainable in this country just set off and put one foot in front of the other and you will succeed. My first import in 2005 was a dream run. A bike out of SF sold on eBay by a retired bike shop owner who's hobby was supplying great bikes to the world. Very helpful and very, very honest and it was a great experience. The thing with people from the USA, in my opinion, is that they are either honest, scrupulous, friendly and helpful to the point of shaming us Kiwis or they are dishonest, scamming fraudsters. Just my two cents worth.

Nice bikes! I get both sides that you have put across. My old man brought a Kawasaki H2 (the two-stroke 750 triple) into NZ about 7 years ago and it needed a bit of work. But that was a 1972 smoker, and the bike I'm looking at is a 2008 road/race bike built professionally and sold by dealer. It seems like a reasonable deal (after all costs that I can think of).

In terms of insurance, what does that cost for such a journey?

[toycollector10]

Insurance was about $270 NZD from memory.

[jasonu]

The thing with people from the insert any country name here, in my opinion, is that they are either honest, scrupulous, friendly and helpful to the point of shaming us Kiwis or they are dishonest, scamming fraudsters. Just my two cents worth.

Fixed it for you (please don't take offence as none is intended)

[DR650gary]

Go to where the bike is, ride it, play with it, have a holiday and bring it home. Allow a few days to sort out the freight side and bob's your uncle :innocent:

I regard an advertised price as a starting point.

I do like the sound of a bike holiday though.

Cheers

[sharp2183]

Go to where the bike is, ride it, play with it, have a holiday and bring it home. Allow a few days to sort out the freight side and bob's your uncle :innocent:

I regard an advertised price as a starting point.

I do like the sound of a bike holiday though.

Cheers

Mate though I love the idea, the only way I could get to the US on top of the cost I would already incur with the bike itself is to smuggle myself on a container over there!

Does anyone have any experience with a guy called Robert Stevens, who runs Imperial Freight in Dunedin?

[Grasshopperus]

Go and look on ebay/craigslist, find a bike and then offer to pay the seller using paypal (you should use a stolen creditcard for that part). Overpay them a bit and then get them to refund the overpayment via western union.

By the time they figure out what's happened you'll have the bike plus some cash. Win/win.

[skinny]

Copart or Bidrider was another option. They bring in Bikes from the USA all the time.

There is risk with everything you do.

Shipping out of Long Beach port to port is 21 days add 3-4 days either side for loading etc.

Things i did:
*made sure the seller cleaned the bike REALLY well then MAF only wants to look at it once to pass it. NZD40 for one inspection at the airport
*made sure the seller would drop the bike off to the container depot himself to save on cartage and so he could hand the ownership papers to someone i pre-arranged at the freight company.
*make sure there is not to much after market things on it like lights as they will not have the EU stamp on it.
*Pay via PAYPAL
*get a quote from a Freight Forwarder first by estimating the Volume and Weight once crated.

With this there should be no surprises unless the bike is a lemon which is the one thing you cant gaurantee.

[Metastable]

Got a question - what if you are living in North America and you move down... do you still have to pay the duties etc if you bring your vehicle with you? Also, what happens if your bike is in parts. As in... it is track prepped so you have all the lights and so on, but they aren't physically on the bike?

[skinny]

Got a question - what if you are living in North America and you move down... do you still have to pay the duties etc if you bring your vehicle with you? Also, what happens if your bike is in parts. As in... it is track prepped so you have all the lights and so on, but they aren't physically on the bike?

First off there is no duties on motorcycles.

If you have owned it for more then 12 months in the USA you can claim it as being Personal Effects if you are moving to nz and have authority to do so visa or NZ citizen etc. What this means is you dont have to pay GST to NZ Customs on the import.

It can be in parts or whole but doesnt need to be spotless to aviod MAF directed cleaning. Little bit of grease is fine any Mud, Leaves etc is not. If it doesnt have EU Stamped Lights etc then you can just add them if you want to road register is you dont have the Ownership papers you cannot register it.

Hope that helps

[Metastable]

Nice answer thanks.... one more for you. How about if one has a "home built i.e. no VIN" trailer with ownership.... do you have any idea how that one will be treated? It was made for the road, but you buy everything in pieces and self assemble it.

[skinny]

Nice answer thanks.... one more for you. How about if one has a "home built i.e. no VIN" trailer with ownership.... do you have any idea how that one will be treated? It was made for the road, but you buy everything in pieces and self assemble it.

Im not a LTSA expert or anything but I registered by boat trailer that was never registered before easy as. It basically went through a thorough Warrent of Fitness checking that its not rusty, tyres are good and the lights all work. They then gave me a number plate and i was off so easy as for getting it on the road.

I havent imported a trailer mainly as they would be quite expensive to ship for their value. Most of the ones imported are kitset ones that come semi flat packed as with the wheels off you can drop 1m3 off the over volume. The big point would be to ensure that its clean, very clean to reduce MAF charges. Ownership papers would be good but i dont believe they are essintial as this is not a motor vehicle.

Hope that helps. More then happy to answer any questions if you do go ahead with it.

[Metastable]

Cool thanks!
It is a foldable trailer, so if I end up renting part of a cargo container.... it might fit nicely in one and not take up too much space. Anyhoo... maybe all a little premature, but we'll see.