Need advice for possible bike to import to NZ

[imdying]

Yeah for sure. As above, both of those are just prices for 1 month out from today... could be interesting to see what they say about 6 months out. /edit: Another $500NZD

[wingnutt]

HI,

I'm a goldwing rider in NZ and they are a great bike to ride here, especially around the south island.

resale of the bike, could take a while here, as the 1800 has a fairly high value here, although you might be able to get a motorcycle shop ti take it but the price would probably have to fall.

here is the web site, for the goldwing riders club in NZ,

http://www.nzgoldwing.co.nz/index.html if you click contacts, any of these folks would be only to pleased to help I'm sure.

good luck,

[Harvey Mushman]

Thanks for the link Wingnutt. Assuming I get to do this, I'm not going to look for top dollar. I'm hoping to make our 25th anniversary trip a bit more affordable, be able to ride a nice, comfortable bike for some of the trip without breaking the bank, and give a good deal to a Kiwi on a bike that would otherwise have cost that rider more.
win, win win

[jaffaonajappa]

Thanks for the link Wingnutt. Assuming I get to do this, I'm not going to look for top dollar. I'm hoping to make our 25th anniversary trip a bit more affordable, be able to ride a nice, comfortable bike for some of the trip without breaking the bank, and give a good deal to a Kiwi on a bike that would otherwise have cost that rider more.
win, win win

Sounds blardy great to me mate.
1st thread is highly recommended reading. 2nd thread may have some info for ya. Apologies if you already read them...

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...(Jan-Feb-2011)
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...inging-my-bike

[The Lone Rider]

Why not just fly to Auckland, buy a bike at any of their numerous bike shops the day you arrive, and ride to Nelson?

You could scope out what bikes are available in Auckland online, and contact the store a week ahead before you leave.

The ride from Auckland to Nelson is less than a day, but if you wanted to be relaxed you could stop off at one of the many camp grounds or B&B or motels along the way.

Pick up a couple of strops from a hardware store in Wellington, get a cheap ticket for the ferry across the straight, rest for a few hours, and there you go, in Picton and then ride onto Nelson.

I believe doing this would be a great ratio of expense to value. You will get a scenic ride of the country, get a chance to be familiar with the bike, and if you did it all in the one day, you still get a nice rest while on the ferry.

And although the "highways" here weave and turn and go all over the place, there are very few numbered main highways, so it shouldn't be too hard to not get lost on the road.


Also, if you like to ride with pace... make sure you get something with good ground clearance. You will need it around the hill passes.

[marty]

Why not just fly to Auckland, buy a bike at any of their numerous bike shops the day you arrive, and ride to Nelson?

You could scope out what bikes are available in Auckland online, and contact the store a week ahead before you leave.

The ride from Auckland to Nelson is less than a day, but if you wanted to be relaxed you could stop off at one of the many camp grounds or B&B or motels along the way.

Pick up a couple of strops from a hardware store in Wellington, get a cheap ticket for the ferry across the straight, rest for a few hours, and there you go, in Picton and then ride onto Nelson.

I believe doing this would be a great ratio of expense to value. You will get a scenic ride of the country, get a chance to be familiar with the bike, and if you did it all in the one day, you still get a nice rest while on the ferry.

And although the "highways" here weave and turn and go all over the place, there are very few numbered main highways, so it shouldn't be too hard to not get lost on the road.


Also, if you like to ride with pace... make sure you get something with good ground clearance. You will need it around the hill passes.

Best idea all thread.

[marty]

Now you need to add the flights from ROC to JFK and Auckland to Nelson. Obviously I'm hoping to see lower fares as the date gets closer. Oil prices continue to drop so maybe the air fares will start getting closer to what was normal.

If you fly Air NZ you will get an on-carriage fare from AKL to NSN and it should only be $50 or so. Check an online booking from LAX-NSN.

I work for AirNZ so have a bit of an insight.

Cheers

[Harvey Mushman]

Best idea all thread.

I don't agree. This vacation is no small expense for us. Buying one there leaves me in the hole. Shipping one there and selling it at a reasonable (for NZ) price should leave me with a few thousand for my efforts. Eliminating the minus of rental plus the profit of the sale makes this trip much more affordable.

[marty]

sweet as. sounds like you've got it sorted then. I would think a Harley would be the easiest bike to move, and probably the cheapest to convert to left hand road side headlight.

[The Lone Rider]

sweet as. sounds like you've got it sorted then. I would think a Harley would be the easiest bike to move, and probably the cheapest to convert to left hand road side headlight.

Bet it cost him way more doing it his way.


If he's on such a tight budget... the cheapest option is to not rent, import, or buy a bike. To me, having a bike for a 3 week trip is a big luxury unless the trip was specifically for going riding. If having enough money is a big issue, surely it'd be a more relaxed trip cutting a big expense out of the trip. I know I would find it tugging on my mind worrying about money. The trip to NZ is a pretty special 25th anniversary in itself.

One thing that a lot of people have failed to mention, and it is my opinion, is that a lot of the bikes on Trademe stay on trademe for quite some time. In my own sales, it was easier to sell my bikes to friends than to take inquiries from users on Trademe. Even when listing a bike for $2K cheaper than any of the same on Trademe, it sat and sat and sat and was never sold. A number of people would either drop the prices a fair bit, or people end up doing a trade in with a dealer.

Go to www.xe.com to get an idea of the price conversion. With the exception of Harleys, which on Trademe seem to fetch nearly around the same as a new one of the same year, most are reasonably priced.

In saying that, i have been told a number of times NZ has more Harleys per head of population than anywhere else in the world.

[marty]

I have recently been involved in bringing a container of vehicles over from the USA, and it took selling 3 units to pay for 1/2 of the one that was kept. That said, I really don't know anything about anything, so my opinion is just that - my opinion.

[Harvey Mushman]

Marty, I appreciate all the opinions here including yours. You obviously do have more experience than most here including me. Every job in the world is being done by someone. After seeing the outrageous prices of bikes over there I thought that I might try this while I visit your beautiful country. If it was hugely successful I'd look into doing it more often. I simply don't see much of a down side when the price differences between our two countries are so far apart. Here in the northeast of the states bike prices plummet in the fall. Bikes really are half the price of the what you guys are often complaining about. Yes, on a $1500 bike I would certainly lose money. As the bike gets more valuable the odds of coming out ahead go up. Honestly, If I paid $10K for a nice, clean, 2008 Harley Electra Glide and spent another $2K to ship it, do you not think it would fetch $14K there? From what I've seen on a few NZ websites I think that the question is how many of you would think the price is a typo. Yes, I'm hard headed. Between German ancestry and being born here you can't find a much thicker skulled numbskull to argue with online.

[jaffaonajappa]

Im still having trouble getting used to the NZ dollar being so strong against the Greenback.
$12k USD is about $15k NZD?

[Harvey Mushman]

Sorry JOAJ, I was talking all in US currency. And yes, our government is doing all it can to put the middle class into poverty. Has been for the past decade. Give us another few years and none of us at the bottom 99% will be able to own a bike. You'll get our stuff for next to nothing.
Sorry for the rant.
Back to trying to bring you guys a cheaper bike.

[The Lone Rider]

Im still having trouble getting used to the NZ dollar being so strong against the Greenback.
$12k USD is about $15k NZD?

You can buy a Harley for that much here, registered and warranted.

Possibly not one of the larger baggers, but I guess if you imported one you also need to add in another $1K at least to get it registered and converted. And you'd want to get insurance for shipping the bike here.

I suppose for only 3 weeks you wouldn't need it registered for a year, but you might want it registered for longer than your stay so that it retains more value (registered & warranted bikes have a bit more value).

One other commonly confused terms...

When kiwi's say registered.. they mean the vehicle is licensed to be on the road.

1 Years licensing is over $600 NZD for a reasonably sized engine (less $$ for smaller bikes)

You can thank our dumb ass Accident Compensation Minister for that one.