Anyone imported a bike into NZ?

[monchopper]

I'm moving back home to chch after living in the UK for many years.

I've got 2 bikes here that I want to bring home with me. I've owned both the bikes for over a year and therefore I can bring them in duty and GST free.

1. 1997 Honda VFR750
2. 2004 Husky TE450

I've read a few posts on here on the topic where guys have had all sorts of problems with the process. The bikes will be in containers with our other household stuff so the landing costs should be fairly transparent.

My main concern is getting them road registered and WOF'd. Both bikes are road legal in the UK.

I tried to road reg a XR400 once a few years back (holiday bike) and it was such a ball ache I gave up and ended up winging it with a 'borrowed' number plate.

Any advice will be greatly welcomed.

Cheers

[James Deuce]

People only have trouble because they attempt to do all their research after the fact.

http://www.customs.govt.nz/inprivate/sendingitemstonz/motorvehicles/Pages/default.aspx?s=6

That's what you need to know. Ignore the multiple opinions you will be given and interface with NZ Customs politely and professionally and you will be pleasantly surprised at how helpful they are.

[Eddieb]

I bought my 888 home with me quite some years ago now. I had all my paperwork in place and found the process relatively quick and easy.

[RDJ]

People only have trouble because they attempt to do all their research after the fact.

http://www.customs.govt.nz/inprivate/sendingitemstonz/motorvehicles/Pages/default.aspx?s=6

That's what you need to know. Ignore the multiple opinions you will be given and interface with NZ Customs politely and professionally and you will be pleasantly surprised at how helpful they are.

I paid a company (Toll Logistics) to move 2 bikes from Singapore to New Zealand door-to-door with all Customs and other issues sorted for me, and indeed they did. There was some back and forth as there usually is but basically, Toll handled this as my agent professionally and according to their predicted schedule.

Where things went very wrong - and it took over a year to sort out - was when I had another place do the VINing and on-road modifications required by the local VTNZ place to be able to register the bikes in New Zealand for road use. Both these bikes came from Singapore, where they drive on the same side of the road as NZ; both are Harleys; standard not modified; and the Singapore government being not known for its casualness with paperwork or on-road enforcement, the bikes were documented to just about the last bolt.

Based admittedly only on my own experience - if you have to deal with your local VTNZ because they have a monopoly, and your VTNZ local staff don't have a clue, it will be a long, drawnout, Kafkaesque, expensive, farcical, frustrating and completely unnecessarily complicated process.

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

[biggo]

Bikes from uk should be no problem.
Make sure they get border checked by NZTA agent at the port or they will not get entered into the NZTA Landata computer system.
You will need the ORIGINAL V5 UK registration document to prove standards ownership etc .
As long as bkes are standard with no mods should be easy as :clap:

[FLUB]

Bring as much paperwork as possible to prove ownership and that it is road legal. Receipts, road tax disks, MOT certificate and insurance all help. Also see if you can get a dealer to write a letter stating everything is standard. I had all this and found it a piece of piss to get a Harley Ultra Classic Glide registered.

Remember that you cannot sell the bikes for 2 years after importing, otherwise you will have to pay back the gst and it is calculated on full new list price.

[AllanB]

Yep - I have purchased three brand new bikes over the years - technically they were imported as NZ do not make them. Bawahahahahhahahahahhaahahahahaahhahahahhah

[Horney1]

Yep, bring the original purchase documentation. It was a few years ago now but I seem to recall they worked up the value of mine by conversion to NZ dollar then taxed/ charged me on the NZ value. So my 990 ended up way over new value in NZ (thieving bast..ds) at 4 years old. AND the value included GST paid in Aust!! Talk about double dip. (They add on the value of the tyres etc in the crate to!)

There was a bit of backwards n forwards with paperwork, inspections etc but it ended up fairly straight forward. Mine was broken down professionally crated in a custom made steel framed crate - shitloads of plastic wrap! Problem there was they wanted to check the frame number and inspect it - it was a bit tricky to locate the number in the crate. I had a local agent to process it - more costs but easier I think.

The problem I found was the waiting for the bike to arrive and not knowing exactly where it was. Maybe shipping it around Christmas time wasn't such a clever call.

I took it through a VTNZ to VIN/ Reg/ WoF it (more cost). I had to get a bike shop to certify brakes (more cost). So there was a bit of trailering around. Basically not too painful a process there though. Fairly quick / striaght forward.

Then came the enjoyment of riding it at home.... :)

[monchopper]

Yep, bring the original purchase documentation. It was a few years ago now but I seem to recall they worked up the value of mine by conversion to NZ dollar then taxed/ charged me on the NZ value. So my 990 ended up way over new value in NZ (thieving bast..ds) at 4 years old. AND the value included GST paid in Aust!! Talk about double dip. (They add on the value of the tyres etc in the crate to!)

There was a bit of backwards n forwards with paperwork, inspections etc but it ended up fairly straight forward. Mine was broken down professionally crated in a custom made steel framed crate - shitloads of plastic wrap! Problem there was they wanted to check the frame number and inspect it - it was a bit tricky to locate the number in the crate. I had a local agent to process it - more costs but easier I think.

The problem I found was the waiting for the bike to arrive and not knowing exactly where it was. Maybe shipping it around Christmas time wasn't such a clever call.

I took it through a VTNZ to VIN/ Reg/ WoF it (more cost). I had to get a bike shop to certify brakes (more cost). So there was a bit of trailering around. Basically not too painful a process there though. Fairly quick / striaght forward.

Then came the enjoyment of riding it at home.... :)


I bought both bikes 2nd hand of ebay and therefore don't have the original purchase documents, in fact I've got bugger all apart from the V5 (ownership papers).

Hope that doesn't cause me too much grief

[monchopper]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll let you know how it goes

[kinger]

Best of luck. Mine had numerous mods including a replacement engine. This meant the first digits of frame and engine number didn't match.

Had no customs or VTNZ problems.
Advice here was easier to understand than the paperwork.

[Tug Boat]

I brought a KTM 690 new still in the crate as long as frame / VIN numbers are on your commercial invoice no problems .
Second hand bikes you may require a NZ break declaration done but bike shops do this for about $ 50.00 before they will VIN it here

[Waihou Thumper]

Second hand bikes you may require a NZ break declaration done but bike shops do this for about $ 50.00 before they will VIN it here


Second hand bikes also require a Statement of Compliance. This may sound easy BUT. I was looking at a Husqvarna Te510 in Christchurch. Awesome bike, was cheap, however it had never been imported through a NZ Importer. In fact the e-mail received said "No it isn't on our books it is one of those dirty imports" from Triumph NZ.
Suffice to say, to get this certificate of compliance see below and read the small print! :(

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicle/importing/step-two/compliance.html



<tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;">
Note:
Statements of Compliance (SOC) will not be issued for motorcycles imported for sale. In the case of private imports by returning New Zealanders or immigrants to New Zealand SOC may be issued by some New Zealand distributors subject to documentation such as proof of ownership. It should be noted that SOC issue is dependent on a number of circumstances and that the most secure approach is to obtain an SOC from the authorised distributor in the country of export before shipping a motorcycle to New Zealand.

</tbody>

The important thing here is that last sentence. I was NOT going to get a SOC from Triumph for the Husqvarna which is obviously sold here, it isn't a pirated copy either...:facepalm:
So, going back to Sweden to get this and make sure it IS indeed a Husqvarna? Doh!, it ain't rocket science....
Brake declaration can be done from the owners manual, download a copy of it, take the bike to a local bike shop, get them to read the Dec, measure the pads, rotors etc and sign it. That is all I had to do with a Husaberg Fe450e....
Mind you, diffferent strokes for different testing stations etc. ALL is subjective and open to interpretation EVEN when there is something written it plain black and white...:)

[Tonymnz]

I brought a KTM 690 new still in the crate as long as frame / VIN numbers are on your commercial invoice no problems .
Second hand bikes you may require a NZ break declaration done but bike shops do this for about $ 50.00 before they will VIN it here

I'm looking into bringing home my 690 from Canada.. I'd contacted Main Freight and the price was making it look worth while and quite straight forward.. After reading through the NZ transport site it looks like I might be needing a Statement of Compliance.. Is it an easy process, any help would be appreciated
Cheers
Tony

[george formby]

How pertinent. Me Dad is coming over in the spring with his UK CRM 250, which he bought 2nd hand so no proof of purchase but proof of ownership, registration, MOT etc. The bike will be staying here.:devil2: So the brake declaration can be done here but he will need a Statement of compliance issued in the UK? From who?
I don't think the CRM's were an official import here.

[MGST]

Thread revival :/

Short version of a long protracted story. I am currently based in Perth, Australia. 4 years ago I bought a motorcycle from England that upon arrival turned out to be an old bucket of knackered Italian bolts. I stripped the thing down to the bare frame. It is now packed up in boxes until I return home to NZ in 3 years time. I have the sales documentation proving I paid for the thing, and the frame and engine numbers are on the paperwork. It has never been registered for the road in Australia, and I don't have any paperwork for the last time it was registered for the road in England ( 2009 ). I am not sure which country it was originally sold in because I have tracked it back to being in Holland prior to England.

I want to bring this thing home and rebuild it. All previous info have been about complete running bikes. Is any of the info different for a bike dismantled and in boxes? Over the last 4 years I have slowly been picking up NOS items as I find them so I have a bit more than 1 bike, probably about 1 1/4 total bikes worth of parts, but 1/2 or the original parts are rooted.

I have another complete, running, and registered ( in Australia ) bike I will be bringing home at the same time, but that seems to not be a problem if I follow the advice already given.

Any advice appreciated.

[R650R]

Thread revival :/

Short version of a long protracted story. I am currently based in Perth, Australia. 4 years ago I bought a motorcycle from England that upon arrival turned out to be an old bucket of knackered Italian bolts. I stripped the thing down to the bare frame. It is now packed up in boxes until I return home to NZ in 3 years time. I have the sales documentation proving I paid for the thing, and the frame and engine numbers are on the paperwork. It has never been registered for the road in Australia, and I don't have any paperwork for the last time it was registered for the road in England ( 2009 ). I am not sure which country it was originally sold in because I have tracked it back to being in Holland prior to England.

I want to bring this thing home and rebuild it. All previous info have been about complete running bikes. Is any of the info different for a bike dismantled and in boxes? Over the last 4 years I have slowly been picking up NOS items as I find them so I have a bit more than 1 bike, probably about 1 1/4 total bikes worth of parts, but 1/2 or the original parts are rooted.

I have another complete, running, and registered ( in Australia ) bike I will be bringing home at the same time, but that seems to not be a problem if I follow the advice already given.

Any advice appreciated.

I remember a guy doing that with racebikes out of Japan, before he hooked up with a car dealer to put them inside vans...
Remember him saying something along similar lines that even disassembled if its all there its regarded as a bike not parts, so maybe forks and fromt wheel on one consignment, then engine and frame in another etc...

BTW did you buy from UK dealer? mate just brought a ducati in and the fuel pump is missing from tank!

[george formby]

Wish I could contribute but I'm still waiting for a bike, ex UK, to hit the docks. Should have been here mid October but that was recently revised to today.
The logistician is a wall of silence.
I feel my problems are only just beginning.:(

[MGST]

OK so if I bring all the boxes of bits in at the same time they regard it as a complete bike, that 's fine, but if I send it a couple of boxes at a time over 6 months say, then it's parts only? So then once I've rebuilt the thing, how would I get it registered? I'd have no paperwork to explain how it ( the completely rebuilt and running bike ) is in the country, all I'd have is the purchase paperwork from Australia when I was living there ( which had my Australian address on it ), and a couple of post office receipts for some boxes of parts I sent to NZ.

[R650R]

Wish I could contribute but I'm still waiting for a bike, ex UK, to hit the docks. Should have been here mid October but that was recently revised to today.
The logistician is a wall of silence.
I feel my problems are only just beginning.:(

Assuming you've used some kind of freight forwarder.
It will be in a shipping container with other peoples consignments. Once it actually lands at the port it will be taken to a bonded customs store at some random time based on how busy the port and the container trucks are.
Once at the bonded store it may or may not have to be fumigated.
It will be unloaded at random by the store staff. Luck of the draw may be inspected by customs officer.
The freight forwarder or shipping agent will be advised the consignment is here once customs releases it for delivery.
A trucking company will then pick it up and freight to you.

Any of the above stages can be held up by the slightest mistakes in paperwork or someone having a crappy day and not enough donuts.
Despite how much you want the bike there will be genuine urgent freight items ahead of you in the que where the customer has paid for a premium service level etc.

It doesn't hurt to ring up the freight forwarder or shipping agent and enquire at various stages but be polite and have ALL the details ready of the consignment.

[R650R]

OK so if I bring all the boxes of bits in at the same time they regard it as a complete bike, that 's fine, but if I send it a couple of boxes at a time over 6 months say, then it's parts only? So then once I've rebuilt the thing, how would I get it registered? I'd have no paperwork to explain how it ( the completely rebuilt and running bike ) is in the country, all I'd have is the purchase paperwork from Australia when I was living there ( which had my Australian address on it ), and a couple of post office receipts for some boxes of parts I sent to NZ.

oh yeah... as mentioned the other guy was bring in racebikes, not needing rego etc...

[TLDV8]

A busted arse gas plant ?

Its still early for me but wonder how much drama bringing 8 bikes back would be.

[MGST]

In a land far far away, where we wear white silk robes cos its' so hot

[GrayWolf]

Thread revival :/

Short version of a long protracted story. I am currently based in Perth, Australia. 4 years ago I bought a motorcycle from England that upon arrival turned out to be an old bucket of knackered Italian bolts. I stripped the thing down to the bare frame. It is now packed up in boxes until I return home to NZ in 3 years time. I have the sales documentation proving I paid for the thing, and the frame and engine numbers are on the paperwork. It has never been registered for the road in Australia, and I don't have any paperwork for the last time it was registered for the road in England ( 2009 ). I am not sure which country it was originally sold in because I have tracked it back to being in Holland prior to England.

I want to bring this thing home and rebuild it. All previous info have been about complete running bikes. Is any of the info different for a bike dismantled and in boxes? Over the last 4 years I have slowly been picking up NOS items as I find them so I have a bit more than 1 bike, probably about 1 1/4 total bikes worth of parts, but 1/2 or the original parts are rooted.

I have another complete, running, and registered ( in Australia ) bike I will be bringing home at the same time, but that seems to not be a problem if I follow the advice already given.

Any advice appreciated.

I doubt if much has changed, when I moved over here (from UK) we brought both a car and bike with us,, (too new to sell and lose money) If you had owned the vehicle LESS than 9 months before YOU (owner) left the country, it was charged import duty (consisting of purchase price, shipping and insurance costs) as the bike fit that category (owned 10 months before I left grrrrr) It was assessed but payment was deferred as long as I kept it for a stipulated time (2 yrs I think).

[TLDV8]

Fair enough.
Blacktip NT - Pluto - Macedon - Wheatstone, was supposed to go back up to Darwin but looking at Gorgon or can go back to Wheatstone.
Plenty of hay to make for a few more years

Bikes are easy to get into Australia (pre 88 from the USA anyway) getting them back to New Zealand might be different, time will tell.

[MGST]

Time for another thread revival.

I was talking to some shop in Auckland, and they said if I bring the bike into the country in bits, even if all the bits are in the same box, I won't be able to register it when I've put it back together. In order to register it, it must come into the country as a complete assembled bike. F*#k. They also said to try and get the old UK rego papers, but it'll still mean massive delays while they converse with England to confirm "stuff".

On the other hand, they said my other bike, which is registered in Australia, will be no problem to register here, straight in no worries ( because of the Australian registration ).

So I thought fuck it, I'll put the pile of crap back together and get it registered in Australia. I've nearly finished that, should be able to get it registered before the end of the year hopefully. Then bring it home, register it, then pull it all to bits again and do the original restoration. Cos I've got nothing better to do than disassemble and reassemble bikes for the hell of it.............

Hopefully the rules don't change again in the next 18 months...............

[Macktheknife]

Time for another thread revival.

I was talking to some shop in Auckland, and they said if I bring the bike into the country in bits, even if all the bits are in the same box, I won't be able to register it when I've put it back together. In order to register it, it must come into the country as a complete assembled bike. F*#k. They also said to try and get the old UK rego papers, but it'll still mean massive delays while they converse with England to confirm "stuff".

On the other hand, they said my other bike, which is registered in Australia, will be no problem to register here, straight in no worries ( because of the Australian registration ).

So I thought fuck it, I'll put the pile of crap back together and get it registered in Australia. I've nearly finished that, should be able to get it registered before the end of the year hopefully. Then bring it home, register it, then pull it all to bits again and do the original restoration. Cos I've got nothing better to do than disassemble and reassemble bikes for the hell of it.............

Hopefully the rules don't change again in the next 18 months...............
Sounds like you have the solution, ironic given your signature line!

[MGST]

Sounds like you have the solution, ironic given your signature line!

Yeah it's not the way I wanted to do it, but looks to be the only way I will be able to get it registered.

[Big Dog]

Sounds like you have the solution, ironic given your signature line!
Long time since I have seen that handle!

Sent via tapatalk.

[Big Dog]

Yeah it's not the way I wanted to do it, but looks to be the only way I will be able to get it registered.
My understanding is you can also declare it a home built bike and get it an lvv. Talk to the certifier not the shop.
At least one patron did it that way when I worked at the bike shop.

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[biggo]

Yeah it's not the way I wanted to do it, but looks to be the only way I will be able to get it registered.

You can apply to use alt docs from NZTA

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/32876/VCUEF-03-Alternative-documents-form.pdf

You obviousally need to prove you are the legal owner and its not stolen etc.

[Macktheknife]

Long time since I have seen that handle!

Sent via tapatalk.

Yep, still visiting on occasions though.

[Big Dog]

Yep, still visiting on occasions though.
Good to see you back.

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