Hi guys,

New to the site and thought I would ask whether anyone has or is in the process of buying a Harley from the USA and using a third party to import?  I am currenlty doing some research to work out whether I can do it myself, however if the cost is minimal and the process is easier via a third party I will probably end up paying for it.

Have looked at Geezers in QLD and another company called All American Imports.  Geezers seem pretty f@#king expensive and from what I can tell, All American Imports dont actually bring the bikes in until they have been sold.

Anyway, if any of you have had a crack at importing I would really like to hear how it went and whether there were any unexpected issues with the process

Cheers

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Gidday convert, mate the import question has been asked many times; use the forum 'search' function and you'll find multiple threads and posts on this topic. Short answer is 'yes' it's do-able and no major hassles - but check which models can and can't come into this Country.

 

Thanks mate, will have a look and see what I come up with.

KC, can we please have a sticky regards this topic.

The number of unregistered and bikes that are not engineered approved for sale is overwhelming. Why do you think they are not registered? Do yourself a favour and buy a registered vehicle, then modify to your hearts content.

Hey Chopa, thanks for the additional information.  Can you send me an overview of how the process works (using you) from point of sale through to arrival?

Is there a RAWS workshop in Melbourne?

A mate of mine arrived back here today from the US and told me he has 4 HD's in a container on the way home.  All late models. He imports all sorts of other stuff but this is his first time bringing back bikes. I'm interested to see how he goes. Watch this space and I'll let you know.

I've heard it said beware at the dealers , has they are importing cheap bikes from the states . If this is true then WHY , , iknow its profit driven if they can get them cheaper , make more money ect .

But , my street bob , cost 25 grand on road drive away in March 2008 , They gave me 19 grand for the bike in june 2010 ok i had spent on extras but you do that for yourself and canot really expect to get that back .

Anyway , take 1500 costs off the 25 , leaves the real price $23,500. Realisticly i lost $4500 in 2 years 4 months , but had 15000 klms of fun .

All in all , thats what you expect from a Harley after all thats why we pay a premium for the resale value has well has other considerations .

If dealers can and do bring them in cheaper , they are only cutting there own throat , cos fucked if i would spend 3o.000 plus on a bike and then only expect to get the same resale has a kawasaki vulcan ,

I was in a dealership on Friday, of the 20 odd 2nd hand bikes they had 15 were US imports

Shit talk about killing your own market...

Oh they weren't any cheaper either..

Well alls i can say is ,let them go for it, they wioll kill there own market , its simple economics supply and demand , Harleys are teribly overpriced that i think we all agree on , They have never had has much competition has they have now , and what do they do FLOOD the market , Personaly i hope they flood it even more cos later this year when i go looking for that road king , I would love to see every dealer with 3-4 they need to off load could'nt really give a fuck if its imported or not has long has its in good condition and a warranty.

Yep bring them in drive the prices down, all good for me.

 I heard from a good source that HD Aus are importing bikes that have been repo'd thru the harley finance arm in the US.

They then get them complianced and are then offered at auction to the HD dealers here.

 

 

which leads me to the conclusion...

 

HD Australia....fucking there customers any which way they can.

 

 

 

 

I saw this 1997 Heritage Springer on US Ebay today. One owner, all original and in perfect condition. 9,369 miles. Sold for US$13,300. MMMM, that's about $13,300 Aussie dollars. The same bike sells here for $23,000. Someone's doing a roaring trade thankyou very much!! So if I bought it online in good faith and it's as good as the ad says. How much to bring it back and have it complied? Still gotta be cheaper than $23,000 I'm guessing.

 

And there ya go!!  Exactly what we're talking about. But a Dealer buys it, imports it and sells it at the Aussie used Harley rate. Why wouldn't anyone do it themselves?!

That being said I'm not interested in bringing in to sell on (though I'm sure others will try). I just want one for me at a reasonable price. And USA Harley prices are reasonable.

 

I agree. Maybe when I'm due for aother bike, I'll look seriously at doing this. Like you say, not interested in buying and selling, but certainly buying and keeping a beauty like the Springer!! Check it out,

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280633384537&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME%3AB%3AWNA%3AAU%3A1123

Well to be honest i think any reason a dealer comes up with for bikes being more epensive here , just lost all credibility the mimuite they started impoting the CHEAPER BIKES

Thanks Chopa, I will have a read through the guide, much appreciated.

Just to confuse everyone a bit more, check out the NZ price. This is from Rolling Thunder in Christchurch:

http://www.rollingthunder.co.nz/showroom.php?fid=24

A 2011 Fatboy is $32,400 at 75c Oz to the NZ $ makes it Aus$24,300. Not as cheap as US but much closer and maybe less complicated as possibly less compliance variations?

 

look at the Department of Infrastucture site and that will tell ou the diference betewen pre'89 rules and later models. http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/importing_vehicles/general/EligibilityCriteria_2.aspx#ten

Find someone who has done it and sit down over a quiet beer or three and get the real story on the hiddeen costs.

I know a story of someone who bought in a late model then got hit with extra registration and shipping costs only to fnd out the quivalent bike through the local dealer was similar in price and actually valued at more being a proper import and that was before they got into the cycle of the cost of insurance on a grey import. NO chinese whispers - first hand knowledge!! Look at the NZ example of value of imports vs H-D NZ bikes.

thats my 2 bobs worth