Importing bike to NZ

[Voltaire]

I brought my Kombi back in to NZ after touring Europe. It was loaded in the container in London complete with all our gear and even food and beer.
MAF made me remove everything and open all boxes. He was looking for honey products ( i kid you not).
Van was cleanish despite 25 000 km of touring...but the pair of trainers with dirt on and the WW1 shell casing had to be put in bags and taken away for cleaning....$ 70.00
The Kombi was cleared and I drove it away......
Then Customs wanted to charge me GST.
As it was registered here and rego on hold I told them why should I pay GST on something I just took on holiday....after much discussion with supervisor...no GST.
I UTI on the way out very good. Did clearance in UK myself....not good. Pay to have it cleared..much easier.

[BirdXX]

I'm shipping my Blackbird over at the moment.

I'm using Pickfords and it's costing me an extra £450 sipping and £150 insurance on top of all my other baggage in a shared container. The bonus with them is that they collect from your home rather than you having to ride her to a collection depot as required by some shippers.

Re the cleaning, I was told by Pickfords not to bother getting her steam cleaned in the UK because the NZ customs will almost certainly insist on having it done on entry irrespective of how clean it is so you end up paying twice. Instead just give her a good clean and then coat everything in grease/ACF50 for corrosion protection during the journey - the steam cleaning here will remove it.

The biggest hassle was getting the letter of conformity from Honda UK. As an Australian model bike they didn't want to know. A couple of contacts from here but posting on a UK 'Bird website were god-sends with there help and advice.

I'm told I will have import duty and WoF/registration to pay but not GST if I keep her for another two years and, as a bonus, will get more for her here than I would in the UK - prices for used bikes are extortionate compared to the UK.

How did you get your letter of conformity? I am moving down soon and have decided to bring my 'bird with me, now trying to get my head around the formalities. I originally bought my bike in the UK then imported it into Ireland.

Also, how does "entry certification" work, and can it be done at Auckland Port?

Thanks all...

[426crasher]

[QUOTE=BirdXX;1803742]How did you get your letter of conformity? [QUOTE]

When i moved here from pomgolia i brought my fireblade over and was told that motorcycles did not need a letter of conformity so i didn't get one. A guy from vtnz came and checked her over and gave her a "pass" and i went straight to the AA and registered it. If you are coming to New Zealand to live and it is for the first time, ie not a returning resident, you don't pay any duty on anything you bring over. The only exception is for motor vehicles, bikes and cars, that you have not owned for more than 12 months. Then you pay some duty. Another post mentioned bringing a container full of bikes, this might be seen as a buisiness venture by customs. The law regarding letter of conformity might have changed now as i cam over 5 years ago.
Cheers Tony.

[scracha]

If you're shipping over a container anyhoo with all your stuff then bunging a bike in adds about 300UKP. My advice would be to go to MCN or ebay.co.uk and buy as many 250cc bikes as possible and ship em over cos with the learner laws they go for stupid money here/

[old git]

i imported mine 6 years ago, after owning it in the UK for 20 years, i still had to get a valuation so the bastards could charge me GST, on a bike that they said was worth more than i paid new. But as for the rest......drain out the fuel wrap it well after cleaning and send it , its no real hassle just a bit of robbery by the govt.

[426crasher]

i imported mine 6 years ago, after owning it in the UK for 20 years, i still had to get a valuation so the bastards could charge me GST, on a bike that they said was worth more than i paid new. But as for the rest......drain out the fuel wrap it well after cleaning and send it , its no real hassle just a bit of robbery by the govt.

Yeah i had to get a letter stating the current value of my fireblade which i got from the local Suzuki dealers, free, but was told that i would only pay duty if i sold the bike within 2 years. If you give your bike a good clean it should pass. MAF are really strict about anything like grass or seeds stuck to your bike so pay good attention to cleaning under mudgaurds belly pan areas etc.

[Kiwi Graham:Me]

Shipped over my race bike (a GSXR750)> I got a crate of Suzuki and put it in. The bike was cleaner than new and I managed to stick a load of other stuff in the crate too, tyres, fuel cans, spares etc. Spoke to the shippers who informed me when MAF were going to inspect the crate and met them there. Took the crate apart myself and took the bike out (minor reassembly) and produced it for MAF to check. They didnt clean it, they were impressed with the state it was in and let it go through no worries. The farings were off and the bike was fucking clean. It didn't get warrented or registered but all the paperwork was available to do that if required. The guy I sold it to put it on the road without any dramas.

[FastBikeGear]

Has anyone found any good on-line sites for checking out the price of second hand motorcyles in Japan?