Imports from Japan, who has had success?

[jimmy 2006]

Hi,

I am looking at importing a bike from Japan, 2 CBR250rr and a couple of
NSR250's
can anyone shed some light on the pit falls,

costs per bike
freight $600
$150 for the VIN
$175 6 mths rego
steam clean

is there anything i am missing?

i have heard that you need to get a new battery once landed,

Cheers

[-df-]

not that this is helping, but who are you going through for the importing and purchasing?

[imdying]

I hear OAB is getting good mileage from his :whistle:

[MikeyG]

I've been thinking of doing similar myself but how do you find bikes in Japan. Can you post or PM me a website link or something.

Cheers

[Coyote]

www.nilin.jp looks like a good site, and they've adverised in NZ bike mags. Don't know anyone that has delt with them though

[kiwifruit]

be careful.
i was looking at bringing in a 2004 zx6rr will zero km on it for what seemed to be a good price... a little research and i found out it was made for the french market and was restricted to 70hp or something silly

[Coyote]

Also the warranters may find something ridiculous that stops it from being on the road, for example my bike with it's aftermarket indicators can keep it's rego but if the rego ends and you have to re-vin it the indicators will stop it from being legal again. That's why Emoto's insurance deal is pretty good, something like $350 on top of the bike's cost to get it on the road (warrant and rego), if there's anything that needs doing to get the warrant they'll pay for it

[justsomeguy]

..a little research and i found out it was made for the french market and was restricted to 70hp or something silly

You serious? I know the French have a reputation of being "not brave" but restricting outputs that much??

Jimmy - email or phone Richard - www.corsa.co.nz he is a bike importer.

[N4CR]

you serious? i know the french have a reputation of being "not brave" but restricting outputs that much??

jimmy - email or phone richard - www.corsa.co.nz he is a bike importer.

hehe it varies in each country - emissions take it down and also govt restrictions in some places like france. zx-10r for example.

nz is one of the few places that have full power, looms ecu and engine components (mainly intakes) are different.

nz: 175ps
au: 175ps
my: (malaysia) 164ps
fr: 106ps

ouch. a 106ps 10r. worth it eh!

[dickytoo]

the NZ zx10R is a canadian model which is not restricted. in fact, i was told that all the kawasakis imported into enzed are canadian spec ones for this very reason.

[marty]

don't forget GST on the landed value.

[Finn]

Don't forget the US market. Our dollar is really strong, freight is cheap and they speak English... sort of.

[Coyote]

the NZ zx10R is a canadian model which is not restricted. in fact, i was told that all the kawasakis imported into enzed are canadian spec ones for this very reason.
So are a lot of Suzuki's, like the Hayabusa

[kiwifruit]

a 106ps 10r. worth it eh!

that would suck!!

[desmo dave]

isi@isibike.com.

sign up to have a look at there auctions. some very tasty bikes on there. contact emoto and have a word to Peter Doak. not that worth while importing 1 bike you need to fill a container.

[Paulus]

One thing to watch for when bringing in two strokes is that if they've been sitting for a long time then the crank bearings may have dried out and corroded. This happened to a friends NSR and is a major problem with the NSR as it doesn't have a rebuildable crank.

[Paulus]

the NZ zx10R is a canadian model which is not restricted. in fact, i was told that all the kawasakis imported into enzed are canadian spec ones for this very reason.

A whole bunch of 04s arrived from somewhere else. They came stock with the faired in front indicators. Kawasaki also threw in a free micron pipe to help derestrict them (or so I have been led to believe) and sold them for several thousand off. The true NZ ones were all Canadian models as you say.

[Guitana]

Don't forget the US market. Our dollar is really strong, freight is cheap and they speak English... sort of.

Yeah but dont the yanks restrict their bikes as well? They also have anti pollution restrictions on the bikes in certain states!!
I asked a mate about importing a Ducati 916 from the USA and he told me to avoid the US bikes and to look at the Japanese market, cheaper and unrestricted, its just a gamble on the condition of the bike when it lands in NZ!!!!

[RiderInBlack]

Yeah but dont the yanks restrict their bikes as well? They also have anti pollution restrictions on the bikes in certain states!!
Yep, Honda CBR1000F's made for the Califunacation market really suck power wise due to the anti-pollution shit added to the bikes, and are very hard to derestrict. The same is true if they were for the Switzerland market.

[Crazy Steve]

the NZ zx10R is a canadian model which is not restricted. in fact, i was told that all the kawasakis imported into enzed are canadian spec ones for this very reason.

SOOO VERY VERY WRONG!!

Crazy Steve.

[Paulus]

SOOO VERY VERY WRONG!!

Crazy Steve.
I agree with Dickytoo there. All the ones I've seen are including a friends one he bought brand new. Maybe that was just one consignment?????

[avgas]

hehe it varies in each country - emissions take it down and also govt restrictions in some places like france. zx-10r for example.

nz is one of the few places that have full power, looms ecu and engine components (mainly intakes) are different.

nz: 175ps
au: 175ps
my: (malaysia) 164ps
fr: 106ps

ouch. a 106ps 10r. worth it eh!
fr always quote at the wheel. Its a legal requirement last i checked. If NZ has full power bikes then what good would a aftermarket ECU and dynojet be? Fact of the matter is we get the same shit everyone else gets.
While the NZ version does get less restrictions than the others, its by no mean full power. I'd be supprise if 2 out of ever 10 gets 175bhp.

[N4CR]

fr always quote at the wheel. its a legal requirement last i checked. if nz has full power bikes then what good would a aftermarket ecu and dynojet be? fact of the matter is we get the same **** everyone else gets.
while the nz version does get less restrictions than the others, its by no mean full power. i'd be supprise if 2 out of ever 10 gets 175bhp.

even so 106ps is less than what it should be, same with the 75ps zx6rs. they are restricted in france by the govt, end of story.

nz has full power in terms of we don't have any restriction crap for emisions or detuned for local markets, ask kwaka distributors in nz. of course we can get more out of them with aftermarket mods but that's besides the point... if you go read a service manual you will see the different looms and different components that various models have across the world, the cali zx10 has a oil catcher behind the radiator on the right hand side to meet cali oil laws. all bikes have the 'kleen' system which basically burns excess oil/fuel vapour by routing it into the airbox and therefore into the combustion chamber. really nice for power....

as with the 175ps figure yeap i'd doubt it too... most of them are bullcrap and under totally optimistic atmospheric pressures/temps etc. with mods your are usually going to see/exceed those figures. not that they need them...

[dickytoo]

I agree with Dickytoo there. All the ones I've seen are including a friends one he bought brand new. Maybe that was just one consignment?????


i have a buddy who used to fettle/manage the kawasaki race team and its straight from the (ahem) horses mouth. he still works for a kawasaki dealership and races a zx6rr in the nationals. he's the one who gave me this info and he should know!

i wouldn't argue with crazy steve though, i hear he has a pretty sharp screw driver and knows karate!:shutup: :shit: :gob: :sick: :lol: :D

i also own a slightly bent 2006 model.

[desmo dave]

Hi,

I am looking at importing a bike from Japan, 2 CBR250rr and a couple of
NSR250's
can anyone shed some light on the pit falls,

costs per bike
freight $600
$150 for the VIN
$175 6 mths rego
steam clean

is there anything i am missing?

i have heard that you need to get a new battery once landed,

Cheers
have you bought any bikes yet?.

[scracha]

fr always quote at the wheel. Its a legal requirement last i checked. If NZ has full power bikes then what good would a aftermarket

Bwahahahahahah. If you've ever driven in France you'd know that NO Frenchman keeps their bike restricted nor standard. They're crazy and ride on one wheel a hell of a lot more than most. Sure you're not confusing France with Switzerland?

[pevs]

:yes:
If NZ has full power bikes then what good would a aftermarket ECU and dynojet be?

From what I've read.. all countries have restrictions of some sort.
Most if not all road bikes are tuned to pass a certain decibel rating at a certain speed in a certain gear.. my VFR has a flappy thing in the airbox which only opens up properly when the good people at Honda think they have passed that certain speed/decibel rating. This is de-tuning for a certain purpose and it is where the clever people at dynojet and power-comander step in releasing all the horsies in the power curve that had to be restrained earlier.:yes:

[Coyote]

I'm interested in getting a VFR/RVF from Japan. I emailed emoto and they said I'd be looking at $7000 (including having it sent to wellington) but my limit is $5000. They also mentioned the VFR/RVF's are probably more expensive over there than they are here, but looking at the Yahoo Japan Auctions (though I can't read anything, might be able to get a friend to help sometime) I can see bikes that are cheaper. I'm only really looking for a basic bike for cheap cause i hoped to do it up with TYGA fairings, so it could be naked or have scuffed fairings. But I'd like it to have low mileage, <20,000km's

There was also a VFR on trademe that the seller said originally has scuffed fairings which he replaced with a Just Fairings set and new decals and he wants $6000. Obviously the seller has put some profit into that price plus the fairings and stickers cost a bit so surely I could get a scuffed bike for cheaper than that? It has a rego and warrant so I mustn't have been that difficult to sort out. That bike only had 14000km's on it too

What can I do?

[raster]

bought a jap import 1995 ZZR 400 about 18 months ago.
It was as is where is out of the container, I put it back together that night, got it Vinned the next day and did 200Ks from Penrose to Papakura, so much improvement from the GSX.

It had been dropped both sides which didn't worry me too much as it seemed to be cosmetic and I wanted a fairinged bike.
The gearbox started jumping out of second gear on the way home, which was annoying but I had a new bike and chose to ignore it. I'm thinking if I had replaced the selector forks immediately I would have gotten away without replaceing the gear clusters.

There was nothing else drasticly wrong other than the front brakes soggy, found after replacing calipers and master cylinder it was an off centred front wheel. The brakes did need to be done as the caking would have interferred with operation(sitting for time before import).
Got another engine from a wrecker and it had second gear gone as well, ended up just recently putting a gearbox from a 600 engine into it.

I have it painted now, good brakes and engine, $2200 for bike $350 onroad costs including some reg, I think 6 months. Replace all fluids and brake seals($250), flush the engine and if it is a little older advisable to coat the tank inside if there is any sign of rust. I've just had to do mine cause they sit with no petrol and moisture in the tank for months or sometimes years(PORS treatment $100.

The Guy that bought it in (at Motohaus, the other Geoff) had a good eye for what is legal in NZ, also make absolutely sure you have the correct papers, get them checked because they are in Japaneesesesesesese@$#@$.
I know someone who bought 4 bikes in, one of them had wrong papers, he didn't realise, cannot register in NZ without correct papers, make sure the engine No. maches the papers too, bike was only good for track or parts or an expensive piece of artwork.

I would advise going through someone who has had experience as the sellers and agents treat regulars better than one offs.

You are looking at 250s so I don't think limiting is going to be a problem but I havn't heard of one that can't be got around at a later date when you can afford it or someone works out how to do it if it is even worth it.

My 4 cents worth, hope this helps.

[raster]

I'm still running on battery it came with!!! Soley depend on condition of batter when landed.