Importing a bike from OS?

[Achilles]

Mate of mine has found a bike he loves (BUSA) in America, and is thinking of buying and importing it - but of course, he doesn't know where to start and what the complications might be. If anyone can offer some advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
A

[maggot]

make sure he does his homework. theres a bloke in canberra (any of the canberra mob remember who it was? he had the bike up for sale a while back) who braught out a k5 from England I think, and he had to buy a replacement frame with an Australian compliance to get it registered here. he was haveing hassles selling it cause although it was a K5 the frame was from an 03 and it just seemed dodgy to people who looked at the bike.

[Achilles]

make sure he does his homework. theres a bloke in canberra (any of the canberra mob remember who it was? he had the bike up for sale a while back) who braught out a k5 from England I think, and he had to buy a replacement frame with an Australian compliance to get it registered here. he was haveing hassles selling it cause although it was a K5 the frame was from an 03 and it just seemed dodgy to people who looked at the bike.

:shocked:

Whoa, that in itself is reason enough not to get it - between the two of us, we're flat out checking the tyre pressure, so swapping frames might be a faaaaaaaarking big job not to mention the johnny ca$h

[CapeBusa]

Can you import from OS? What like into Windows XP or something??? Cut and paste maybe???


Kidding. Computer geek with too much spare time. Sorry.

On a more serious note; i wouldn't import a bike from the US. You'd have to swap it around. You know, like they do with American muscle cars that they bring in. All the steering is on the wrong side and all cause they drive on the right side of the road. You'd have to swap the handle bars across for riding on the left.

Hope this helps.
Geoff


PS I'm having a totally brilliant day today. And it's not even the 1st of April.

[maggot]

yeah, but that was canberra (theres something wrong with that place:bird:) qld might be different. best bet would be to ring the RTA or equivalent up there and ask them. if they say its no problem just needs to be complianced (usually different tyres, brakepads etc) get it in writing and find out how much you'd be up for. honestly though, there are a lot of busa's available locally at the moment with all the speculation bout the new model next year so he'd probably get something here a lot cheaper (after shipping and compliancing) and wouldn't have to buy sight unseen.

[maggot]

Can you import from OS? What like into Windows XP or something??? Cut and paste maybe???


Kidding. Computer geek with too much spare time. Sorry.

On a more serious note; i wouldn't import a bike from the US. You'd have to swap it around. You know, like they do with American muscle cars that they bring in. All the steering is on the wrong side and all cause they drive on the right side of the road. You'd have to swap the handle bars across for riding on the left.

Hope this helps.
Geoff


PS I'm having a totally brilliant day today. And it's not even the 1st of April.

just figured id chip in that despithe the piss take, you dont need to convers a musce car to RHD (at least not here in Vic) any vehicle older that 30 years falls into the clasification of a classic and is exempt from most required upgrades (like seatbelts in older cars that just didn't come with them) so



p.s. my mustangs still LHD, freaks people out when you pull up next to em at the lights...

[GlenTC]

I can tell you what you can do. Thats bring in an 08 on Jap release if the timeframe for release is over 6 months into the NT. (unless they closed that loophole in the last few years).

Doesn't make a lot of sense to bring in a 2nd hand jobbie from the US. It will dick about in NZ for ages (as it custom stages) and will have to be X amount of years old. The you will have some local things to fix up and it would have to be farily complaint with the regs here. So, if its a custom, tricky. Any potential savings would be well and truely lost plus its a pain in the arse.

[Busdriver]

Beware of customs duty, gst and a whole raft of other paperwork charges.

[BUSGO]

Forget it. Members have looked at all the options in the past and it is a total nightmare.

Just buy a good secondhand one locally with no issues. A paint job and a bit of bling is relatively cheap compared to all the other hassles.

[Achilles]

Holy crap - that all sounds way way too hard. Thank you one and all for your feedback and advice - I reckon it's an Oz built bike for sure, I'll tell him to keep to see what he can find.

A

[Volvi]

When on the Gold Coast many years back I popped in to Hondas they had a big goldwing there going real cheap, why so cheap I asked? well the owner imported it from America and after all the hassle of trying to get it to comply with Australia he just gave up on it. As others have said its a frickin nighmare, dont go down that path. So so many bikes available in oz, whatever for.

[Louwai]

Just incase you do decide to.
1) ALL fluids must be drained.
2) Bike must be steam cleaned & totally free of any external polutants.( dirt, grease, oil etc) I've found it's best to have someone you totally trust at the other end to supervise the above. If it's not done correctly then AQUIS (Australian Quarantine Inspection Service) will impound the bike because it may be contaminated. The bike will not be allowed to leave the security dock until it is cleaned. Catch is, there are no cleaning facilities on the dock, so only choice is usually back on the ship & off to ports unknown to try to get it steam cleaned to suitable standard.
3) IF you get it back, you should then be able to get it off the dock & home. Then starts the joys of all previous post info outlined above.

[1hotbusa]

Just incase you do decide to.
1) ALL fluids must be drained.
2) Bike must be steam cleaned & totally free of any external polutants.( dirt, grease, oil etc) I've found it's best to have someone you totally trust at the other end to supervise the above. If it's not done correctly then AQUIS (Australian Quarantine Inspection Service) will impound the bike because it may be contaminated. The bike will not be allowed to leave the security dock until it is cleaned. Catch is, there are no cleaning facilities on the dock, so only choice is usually back on the ship & off to ports unknown to try to get it steam cleaned to suitable standard.
3) IF you get it back, you should then be able to get it off the dock & home. Then starts the joys of all previous post info outlined above.

I have done this in the past and it is a nightmare. To import you need to look at the DOTARS website. You cannot actually ship until you have a Licence to import. I was very lucky when I came to Australia as my bike was already ADR compliant. I got out of import duty as I was bringing it in as a personal import, but got slugged for Stamp Duty when I established registration, which introduced me to the great tax rort which is Stamp Duty.

I did not have to drain the oil or brake fluid. I had to drain the gas tank. Coolant also remained in the bike. Once I got through the process I was able to ride the bike home. (Can ride for the effect of establishing registration) Didnt turn a single head, even with a Kiwi plate and rego.

I also had to get a second tier inspection to prove to the RTA that I did not steal the thing.

Unless you are going to spend a few years in the US, and buy the thing straight away, you stand buckleys chance of getting it in, and if you do it will cost you a bomb. The laws are written to protect the local industry so that Ford and Holden can manufacture sub standard product and not get priced out of the market.

My 0.02c worth.........dont do it.

[Louwai]

[/quote]
I did not have to drain the oil or brake fluid. I had to drain the gas tank. Coolant also remained in the bike.
[/quote]

I can't comment about these from NZ as I have never imported from NZ. I deal with USA, UK & some in Europe. Heaps of stuff from China but not vehicles. All fluids drained from USA vehicles is a definate.
Also, an "Import Licence" is not required for anything other than Specified Dangerous Goods & alcohol (few other items not worth mentioning). So if you were required to get one for your bike & pay for it you got ripped.
You do however need an AU Customs Importers ID number so you can be identified as the owner of a specific shipment. This will cost you around $120. It's not a license, but some mistake it as one.
www.mdam-imports.com.au Check us out, may be able to help in other areas.

[Louwai]

I forgot to say, I know a guy in Gladstone who brought his Harley from NZ successfully about 18mths ago. Not that this would help as it's NZ & not USA. He asked me for help with Customs & i put him onto a clearance mob in Brissy who I've used in the past. (Can't remember the name right now) The next time I saw him he was happy as a pig in sh... Mud.....