Topic: Importing from the US

[MILO]

I'm on the lookout for a 'new' bike, being a Gl1000, CB750, suzuki gt750... along those sort of lines.
It's gotta be clean and good to go, for a reliable runner.

all these classic jap bikes are worth a mint here in Aus, looking at the US prices for these bikes makes me think about bring one over.

What do you guys reckon about importing a bike over? or if you have any experience in it.

-Liam

[madmtnmotors]

Don't know much about exporting a motorcycle  , but my current build primary goal is to build a reliable daily driver without breaking the bank on bling, that still looks good. Once completed I hope to put the 1st 3000 miles on it (to get through one 3000 mile tune-up) to veryify all is well and nothing shakes loose  . My target price range for the completed bike I'm thinking will be in the $2500 range, so if that suits your budget (after factoring in shipping and duty costs) you can follow along as the bike gets built here: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=100352.0

Good luck on your quest! 

[trueblue]

Don't know much about exporting a motorcycle  , but my current build primary goal is to build a reliable daily driver without breaking the bank on bling, that still looks good. Once completed I hope to put the 1st 3000 miles on it (to get through one 3000 mile tune-up) to veryify all is well and nothing shakes loose  . My target price range for the completed bike I'm thinking will be in the $2500 range, so if that suits your budget (after factoring in shipping and duty costs) you can follow along as the bike gets built here: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=100352.0

Good luck on your quest! 

Just for a comparison on how much these things cost here, a local bike shop here had a 750 F2 for $5,500 in very rough but rideable condition, I have also seen a 350 very rough and not running for $3000, a CB650 in very nice condition for $12,500.  I personally have about 6k into my 650 and could probably get all that back easily if I tried to sell it.  So considering the price of bikes in the US I definately think it would be worth while bringing one over.

[MILO]

Nice bike madmtnmotors,

There is a non running but complete GL1000 on ebay at the moment here in Aus, and the guy wants $3.5K for it.
I just had a quick look on the american ebay, and there is an awesome sulfur yellow GL1000 in pretty good nick for $800!

I'm not super confident with dropping say a couple grand on something I havn't actually seen in person, but maybe it's the way to go.

I need to find out about where you would need to get the bike to to be picked up for shipping etc etc.
I'm trying to figure something out before the years end, I want to use my annual leave for a bike ride to get as far from home as i can and back again lol. So i need a bike!
 

[madmtnmotors]

Milo,
    I'm hoping to complete the refurbishment this summer and have the 3000 miles covered by Sept-Oct, so you can keep that in mind while you're looking at other options. If you find something you like be sure to keep us posted. 

[Radam]

I looked into this a bit when I was moving here because I wanted to bring my r75/6 over with me. I think that if you get the bike to California (San Francisco maybe?) you can put it on a freight ship for about $1000. I'm pretty sure it'll take a while to get here, but I think it would be worth the wait. I have no clue what it would cost in tax/duty once you get it here, but I've heard you pay a lot less if the motor is out of the bike because it can be brought in as "parts". All that may be a load of #$%*, but that's the best I came up with when I was looking. I've thought about having a friend of mine fill a shipping container full of parts/bikes and send it over because there is plenty of money to be made, but I don't have a big enough shop to do that. I don't know if any of that was helpful, but that's all I got for ya. Cheers, Adam.

[trueblue]

I do know that if a bike is brought in as parts it is classified the same as a statuatory write off and can't be registered, but you do pay a lot less duty.

[krusty]

Whatever form its in, complete or parts, you're up for 10% GST on anything worth over $1000.  That's a small impost when comparing the prices of nice bikes in US (I'm amazed at some of the prices on US ebay or craigslist) to what you pay for equivalent over here. It also pays not to undervalue an import because if you do, customs may seize it.

[Terry in Australia]

With respect to some of the previous posters, there are a lot of myths out there, that aren't even close to true. Any bike built before 1988 (i.e, all the ones you mentioned in your original post) incurs no GST.

Don't buy an incomplete bike, or a bike with the engine out, or a bike with no title, you're just wasting your time and money. Buy the best bike you can afford, with a title, and budget $1,000 - $1500.00 for shipping and various government charges on arrival.

I imported a CB750K0 that I bought from a forum member in 2007, and it wasn't hard. I bought the K0 for $3000.00, and Andy (736cc) dropped the bike out at the shippers near one of New York's airports for me. I got an import permit which cost me around 60 bucks.

I had the bike air freighted out here which cost $2000.00 US, which included cleaning, and the construction of a special steel pallet. (don't bother getting it crated, some wooden crates won't be allowed in some countries due to the possibility of insect infestation etc) 

There's a really good website called Uship.com, its basically an auction that you create where shippers bid on your job. When I finish paying Larry (Momo here) for his CZ250 Enduro, I'll get it out here (pickup from Ringwood area) for just under $1200.00, including shipping, cleaning, import permits, etc.

Apart from the fact that bikes in the US are cheap, they're generally in much better condition due to most of America's short riding season. (the 1974 CZ I'm buying has less than 600 miles on it, amazing!) If you need any help mate, shoot me a PM. Cheers, Terry.

[krusty]

Thanks for that Terry re GST. I stand corrected.

[MoMo]

With respect to some of the previous posters, there are a lot of myths out there, that aren't even close to true. Any bike built before 1988 (i.e, all the ones you mentioned in your original post) incurs no GST.

Don't buy an incomplete bike, or a bike with the engine out, or a bike with no title, you're just wasting your time and money. Buy the best bike you can afford, with a title, and budget $1,000 - $1500.00 for shipping and various government charges on arrival.

I imported a CB750K0 that I bought from a forum member in 2007, and it wasn't hard. I bought the K0 for $3000.00, and Andy (736cc) dropped the bike out at the shippers near one of New York's airports for me. I got an import permit which cost me around 60 bucks.

I had the bike air freighted out here which cost $2000.00 US, which included cleaning, and the construction of a special steel pallet. (don't bother getting it crated, some wooden crates won't be allowed in some countries due to the possibility of insect infestation etc) 

There's a really good website called Uship.com, its basically an auction that you create where shippers bid on your job. When I finish paying Larry (Momo here) for his CZ250 Enduro, I'll get it out here (pickup from Ringwood area) for just under $1200.00, including shipping, cleaning, import permits, etc.

Apart from the fact that bikes in the US are cheap, they're generally in much better condition due to most of America's short riding season. (the 1974 CZ I'm buying has less than 600 miles on it, amazing!) If you need any help mate, shoot me a PM. Cheers, Terry.

Terry, you'll probably have one of the rarest bikes down under when you get the CZ.  Hope all is well...Larry

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, yeah, it'll be great Larry, I haven't seen another CZ like my old one since the 1970's, and one with such low mileage will be even better, as I won't have to go looking for non-existant spare parts. I just need to sell my BMW so I can send you some more money. It's on Ebay now, 466 page views, 49 watchers, but no bids. Typical, ha ha!

[Eddie]

If you can afford it or get a few guys together, I'd get a 20' container...cost the same whether its full of bike or just one bike. I think you could fit 9-12 bikes in a 20'er.. I import speakers from Thialand to Chicago...it adds about 12% to the total value...of  mostly full container. So if ya have a spare $35-40k laying around....lol

[Terry in Australia]

The Australian companies who import bikes from the US are too greedy, and people base the value of their own bikes on the silly prices the importers are asking for what they bring in. I'm still gobsmacked that people are asking $10K plus for a clean CB750 when I can buy a 5 year old Fireblade for the same money. Old bikes are supposed to be cheap, that's part of their allure!

I'm led to believe that a standard shipping container costs around 3000 dollars from California to Victoria, (but I don't know for sure, so don't quote me) so if you tripled your money on every bike you sold (i.e., you sold a 1000 dollar CB750 for 3000 bucks) and you brought over 20 CB750's in that container, even after you've paid for the shipping, AQIS (quarantine) inspections, transport from the docks to your home etc, you would still make around $30-35K.

My cousin has offered to finance a bike gathering trip to the US, so next year, once the snow has melted and the weather in the US is tolerable again, I might take him up on it! Cheers, Terry.
   

[trueblue]

Do it in winter Terry, when the bikes are just taking up space , get them cheaper that way .  Also while you're there grab us a CBX1000 or a KZ1300 .

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, if it wasn't for the fact that I hate cold weather I'd think about it, but I want to go over when all the swap meets, yard sales etc are happening, in the warmer months. Cheers, Terry.

[trueblue]

You live in the wrong place if you don't like the cold, don't you?  I was down there a few years back in the middle of winter, and damn it was cold.  I don't know how I'll go in England at the end of next week.  I'm gonna freeze my butt off.

[Terry in Australia]

You live in the wrong place if you don't like the cold, don't you?  I was down there a few years back in the middle of winter, and damn it was cold.  I don't know how I'll go in England at the end of next week.  I'm gonna freeze my butt off.

If you think Victoria is cold, you're gonna die in Britain mate, my son's over there at the moment, and he said the average daily temp since he arrived a couple of weeks ago is below 10 deg C, and that's inside the pub! I lived in Brisbane for a couple of years and loved it, my brother lives in Townsville and my older sister lives in Cairns, but I only get up to Brissy every other year to visit my little sister who lives in Ascot.

My wife's a Melbourne girl though, so I'm stuffed I guess, but I do like it here, and my parents are in their mid 80's now, and someone needs to keep an eye on them. I might retire to Brisbane though, I lived in Ferny Hills, and loved riding my Ducati 900SS up to Mount Nebo and Mount Glorious, back then there were no cops, and every weekend ride was a blast! Cheers, Terry.

[trueblue]

I've been keeping an eye on the temps in the UK and my fridge is warmer.  I can't stand Brisbane, you make one wrong turn there and you end up on a tour of the city.  Qld has gone from no cops and reasonable roads to too many unreasonable cops and essentially no roads.  There are sections of the road around here that make bush tracks look good and they have been that way for nearly 2 years.

[Terry in Australia]

I've been keeping an eye on the temps in the UK and my fridge is warmer.  I can't stand Brisbane, you make one wrong turn there and you end up on a tour of the city.  Qld has gone from no cops and reasonable roads to too many unreasonable cops and essentially no roads.  There are sections of the road around here that make bush tracks look good and they have been that way for nearly 2 years.

Yeah you're right, but considering that Brisbane is the size of a large Victorian country town, it's not a huge problem. Whereabouts are you?

[trueblue]

I'm 3 hrs North of Brisbane, in the dole bludger and single mother capital of Qld .  There are only 2 cities I have been in that I can't stand one of them is Mt Isa and the other is Brisbane.  Both of them have road networks that appear to have been designed by a 2 year old.  You take one wrong turn in Brisbane and it can be half an hour before you're back on track, and Mt Isa can take you on a 10min detour if you aren't paying attention.

[Stev-o]

Terry - here's one to consider for your container...

http://hartford.craigslist.org/mcy/3384138027.html

[Radam]

It still cracks me up that you Aussies think it's cold in Victoria. I'm from Arkansas, and it's way colder there (in the south). Terry, if you go to the states to fill a container I have a 1955 Willys Jeep and my 1975 r75 BMW that I need!

[Retro Rocket]

I've been keeping an eye on the temps in the UK and my fridge is warmer.  I can't stand Brisbane, you make one wrong turn there and you end up on a tour of the city.  Qld has gone from no cops and reasonable roads to too many unreasonable cops and essentially no roads.  There are sections of the road around here that make bush tracks look good and they have been that way for nearly 2 years.

Yeah you're right, but considering that Brisbane is the size of a large Victorian country town, it's not a huge problem. Whereabouts are you?

When was the last time you were in Brissie mate, fastest growing capitol in Aus, new roads popping up everywhere and urban sprawl as far as the eye can see........   {look at rel estate prices, they are just stupid}

[Terry in Australia]

I've been keeping an eye on the temps in the UK and my fridge is warmer.  I can't stand Brisbane, you make one wrong turn there and you end up on a tour of the city.  Qld has gone from no cops and reasonable roads to too many unreasonable cops and essentially no roads.  There are sections of the road around here that make bush tracks look good and they have been that way for nearly 2 years.

Yeah you're right, but considering that Brisbane is the size of a large Victorian country town, it's not a huge problem. Whereabouts are you?

When was the last time you were in Brissie mate, fastest growing capitol in Aus, new roads popping up everywhere and urban sprawl as far as the eye can see........   {look at rel estate prices, they are just stupid}

Last year Mick, and OK, I'll be a bit flexible, Brissy is now almost as big as Geelong, ha ha!

Here's some interesting FACTS Mick:

http://blog.id.com.au/2012/australian-population/top-10-fastest-growing-local-populations-in-australia/