EC300 - to keep or sell ???

[Otis243]

I've got a GasGas EC300 that I bought new 3 years ago. It has been well used in UK enduros etc. and I now face the dilemma of either shipping it to NZ or selling it here in the UK and buying something else in NZ.

It is road registered here and I occasionally take it green laning, although it is awful to ride on sealed roads! and it has been known to run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere due to the short tank range. On the plus side though, in the rough stuff it is brilliant, powerful and light, has 4T type torque but still has the 2T manic performance when desired.

If I bring it to NZ I think it will take some work and cost to get it registered, so here is the question….

Is it worth shipping and registering ?
If I ship it and don’t register it, would I get frustrated by not being able to use it in some events… ie do any / many events there include road work and require road legality ?
Would a 4T like a 525EXE be more suitable for trail riding in NZ ?

Any views would be much appreciated…. It either needs to be sold or loaded in a container in about a month’s time.

[Motu]

If it's road legal over there I don't see why you can't put it on the road here,although it will need a VIN and have to registered and get a WoF,no big deal as you have to do that with any bike.With it road legal you'll be able to do adventure rides on it,and do gravel roads too - sounds the perfect bike to me.I ride my DT230 on the road,and it's not much fun on the open road - but I can ride all day not on the open road,just riding gravel and twisty seal....and then it's realfun!

[Otis243]

If it's road legal over there I don't see why you can't put it on the road here,although it will need a VIN and have to registered and get a WoF,no big deal as you have to do that with any bike.

Thanks for your thoughts Motu...

I guess what I am getting at is that I have the cost of shipping and registration costs. Also, from what I have read, to register it in NZ I will need to source some indicators and mirror etc. (not required in UK) and I am deliberating whether it will be more hassle and cost than it is worth. Also, if I do bring it I cannot sell it for another 2 years without paying GST on its import value.

If I sell and buy something there would you choose something 4T, like a 525EXE, over the EC300 for adventure rides / gravel ?

Finally, don't you think the short fuel range (less than 100kms to the tank), and it being premix would be a pain for adventure riding ?

[Motu]

You don't need indicators and mirrors to ride on the road? Cool.Most people ride dirt bikes on adventure rides,quite a few wouldn't be legal,but there are no cops where they go,and plenty of blind eyes.They will truck your fuel to the miday stop,so no worries about fuel range,although 100kms isn't much.

I've had the DT230 for nearly a year now,but haven't put many kms on it - but it's a heap of fun and I would rather have a lighter,more powerfull,easier to maintain 2 stroke than a modern 4 stroke.You've got a 2T,so know how to ride one,if it's only for off road and adventure I'd go street legal 2T,if you want a more relaxed ride and intend more road use (get on some back roads and gravel and you will want to) I'd go 4T.

[Chipster]

Thanks for your thoughts Motu...
. Also, if I do bring it I cannot sell it for another 2 years without paying GST on its import value.

Hiya, I'm from the England too and yep, this got me as well, when I brought out my ZX9R from the UK. You are required to pay a bond to the Customs and Excise people, about $1,600 for me, and I think it was 12 months (or maybe even 2 years like you say) before I got it back, once I'd proved I hadn't sold it.

Getting it registered is not too much hassle, but they are pretty strict, depending on how much of a twat the assessor is. I've done it twice - the first time was a doddle, the second time the guy was measureing the brake pad with a micrometer to measure pad wear!!!

If you're patient - and determined - it should be OK. But consider the options of selling it at home and getting something out here. Enduro/trailriding is huge here, so you'll have no shortage of bikes to choose from. Also, with the Gas Gas, they're pretty uncommon, and likewise, parts are expensive and to too quick to appear from overseas when you need them.

Hope all that helps. And if you go through with, it, welcome to NZ!

[kro]

Just on the off chance that you are interested, I have a mate who needs to bring back the last of his bike collection from the UK, and might be keen to talk to you, about securing some space in your container ( if there is some) No pressure to say yes obviously, but I told him I'd keep an eye out for anyone emigrating from the UK to NZ. He has 20 or so bikes, both road and trail, and I think this is the last one he needs to bring over, now that he's settled here.

Keep the 300, theres heaps of places to ride in NZ, its basically one big dirt track.

[Otis243]

Just on the off chance that you are interested, I have a mate who needs to bring back the last of his bike collection from the UK, and might be keen to talk to you, about securing some space in your container ( if there is some)

Keep the 300, theres heaps of places to ride in NZ, its basically one big dirt track.

I am madly selling stuff, ie. furniture etc. in an effort to squeeze the contents of my garage into a container, but am expecting some overspill, so whilst I would like to help I can't imagine being in a position to do so - sorry.

As for NZ being one big dirt track... I have heard the calling

[Otis243]

You don't need indicators and mirrors to ride on the road? Cool..

Yep... there are construction and use exemptions, so if the bike is predominantly used off road then it can be exempt, but there are some silly regulations, eg. to qualify it can't have pillion footrests ?! But better than that you can get a "daylight MOT" (ie WOF) where the bike doesn't need any lights (including brake) either, so it can be pretty easy to register an MX bike and ride it on the road before dark. Having said that they have made registering new MX bikes much more difficult in the last couple of years, older ones are easier though.

I've had the DT230 for nearly a year now,but haven't put many kms on it - but it's a heap of fun and I would rather have a lighter,more powerfull,easier to maintain 2 stroke than a modern 4 stroke.You've got a 2T,so know how to ride one, if it's only for off road and adventure I'd go street legal 2T,if you want a more relaxed ride and intend more road use (get on some back roads and gravel and you will want to) I'd go 4T.

Agreed... for enduros & cross country races the 2T EC300 is superb !
Forest fire roads / gravel tracks, I'd rather have a 4T.
Maintenance... 2T all the way !!!

[Otis243]

You are required to pay a bond to the Customs and Excise people, about $1,600 for me, and I think it was 12 months (or maybe even 2 years like you say) before I got it back, once I'd proved I hadn't sold it.

I didn't realise they keep a bond for 2 years hmmm... more food for thought...

Getting it registered is not too much hassle, but they are pretty strict, depending on how much of a twat the assessor is. I've done it twice - the first time was a doddle, the second time the guy was measureing the brake pad with a micrometer to measure pad wear!!!

If you're patient - and determined - it should be OK. But consider the options of selling it at home and getting something out here. Enduro/trailriding is huge here, so you'll have no shortage of bikes to choose from. Also, with the Gas Gas, they're pretty uncommon, and likewise, parts are expensive and to too quick to appear from overseas when you need them.

Hope all that helps. And if you go through with, it, welcome to NZ!

No way - re. the brake pad wear ! It could be time to upgrade, down under !
One reason for keeping it / getting another one, is that I carry loads of spares... when racing you never know when you will need something, so the tool box has plenty of wheel bearings, brake pads, spokes, plugs etc. Getting parts here is next day for anything. I recently bought a new kickstart, some rings etc. phoned 4pm arrived 9am next morning.

[Motu]

Yep... there are construction and use exemptions, so if the bike is predominantly used off road then it can be exempt, but there are some silly regulations, eg. to qualify it can't have pillion footrests ?! But better than that you can get a "daylight MOT" (ie WOF) where the bike doesn't need any lights (including brake) either, so it can be pretty easy to register an MX bike and ride it on the road before dark. Having said that they have made registering new MX bikes much more difficult in the last couple of years, older ones are easier though.



Agreed... for enduros & cross country races the 2T EC300 is superb !
Forest fire roads / gravel tracks, I'd rather have a 4T.
Maintenance... 2T all the way !!!

We used to have a Daytime WoF here too,and you had to remove all lights,some of the old 80s enduro bikes are still exempt for indicators.But off course the rule was used and abused by all and sundry,so now we can't do that.The daytime WoF still exists,but for the purpose it was originaly intended for - farmers going between farms,agucultural equipment etc....CR450F ?? no,no way!

[Otis243]

We used to have a Daytime WoF here too,and you had to remove all lights,some of the old 80s enduro bikes are still exempt for indicators.But off course the rule was used and abused by all and sundry,so now we can't do that.The daytime WoF still exists,but for the purpose it was originaly intended for - farmers going between farms,agucultural equipment etc....CR450F ?? no,no way!

I've just done a search on biketrader.co.uk and found 5 pre X version CRF450's for sale that have lighting kits and are road registered. All are in dirtbike trim but they are also quite popular for supermoto conversion.

Irrespective of which wheels are fitted, I am not sure I would want to keep up the maintenance schedule with road use !!!

[clint640]

Is it worth shipping and registering ?
If I ship it and don’t register it, would I get frustrated by not being able to use it in some events… ie do any / many events there include road work and require road legality ?
Would a 4T like a 525EXE be more suitable for trail riding in NZ ?

Any views would be much appreciated…. It either needs to be sold or loaded in a container in about a month’s time.

In NZ there are far more trail rides (off road & no road legality needed) than there are organised adventure rides with road sections, (have a look at the events listing on silverbullet.co.nz) Unless you are a big bastard & a demon rider a 525 is almost too much bike for a lot of the trail rides here but your 300 would be just the tool for the technical forest singletrack commonly found on the classic kiwi trail ride. Many of the adventure rides promoted here are pretty much trail rides with some road sections anyway.

I would check the prices of similar bikes here before deciding to spend the $ to bring yours over. There is a Gas Gas distributor in NZ but I dunno how sharp they are on getting parts.

Cheers
Clint

[F5 Dave]

Yeah for the hassle I’d sell & buy another over here, for a start you will be without it for ages while it is on the boat & clearing customs, but as you say maybe it is time for an update & yet you’d have to keep it for another 2 yrs.

Haven’t had to buy any real parts for my EC200 but there are a number of decent shops here, wellington, Harawa, Christchurch & undoubtable Auckland & a few other places (Met the guys in DAS chch when I was there last week who seem very enthusiastic) . Either way parts aren’t far away if you did get them from the internerd. Most consumables like brake pads airfilters etc you will be aware are same as CR250. Think a new 300 runs under $13000NZ but that’s just a start.