I have been told by US Harley dealers before now that new Harleys are delivered to them uncrated !

The zincalume based Heavy cardboard surround crates are international export only.

So be aware of that , making a timber crate will have cost implications of course

The "crates" that arrive in Perth are quite good , I've uncrated a few bikes over the years myself , and the dealer here just skips them ASAP !!

Thanks Retroman! Most interesting... I guess taking the crate from Perth to USA as a 'carry-on luggage' would be out of the question? What a waste! Perth dealers dump them and I'll have to pay someone hundreds to make me a crate in USA. It would almost be easier if I was bringing back 4 or 5 bikes so I can hire the whole steel container and just load them in tied down to pallets as a base.

I started this thread way back when the AUD was trading at $1.06 USD; is it still financially viable to buy O/S, compliance and register here?

 "probably not so much but on a say $30+ bike like CVO " 

Dead right mate ! It was always obvious to me at any rate ,  that it was only " worth " bringing something " different or special "

I bought my 2008 CVO Springer in Central Texas HD , and at $1.05 approx at the time it was well worth it

A good mate of mine liked my "new bike " so much he bought one from a Harley dealer in Carolina , Thunder Tower HD

Just short of a year after I got mine , his was on the road in WA , cost him $5K Australian more than mine had cost me !!

 ( that's the power of a declined exchange rate , as he got 96cents ! )

Was it  "still worth it ?? "

Well yes , but probably only because it was a CVO which were $60K here new .

Frasers our local dealer only ever sold 2 of them when they were new FFsake !

At $30k+ makes sense, paricularly if you're talking the difference of $10k........................just an of interest question. I just looked at buying a BDL belt drive from the USA; after shipping, taxes, import duty etc it was cheaper here..............couldn't believe, first time in a while!!

Its not so much that the bike is standard.But the lights and everything on the bike have to match up with the evidence that the raws workshop holds.Not all raws can comlpy with the same parts.And also all raws workshops cant do all models unless they keep undating their evidence. ie for the newer models.If standard mini apes are a bit to high just lay them back a bit until they meet the required measurment which I think is 380mm from the lowest part of the seat up to the underside of the handgrips.

Thanks KPF! Otobai gets a tick from you. Nice!

Thanks for sharing your story!  Very helpful!!    
 

I’m sorry I forgot to address your interest in purchasing a NEW BIKE. I had just posted a response in a different post entitled: “if your planning to buy a bike yourself in USA” where I addressed this subject.

http://www.hdforums.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=71&forumid=15&postid=548727&view=topic

Here are some excerpts from that post…

“Each State has their own unique rules regarding taxes and temporary vehicle registration tags. There are 5 states that do not charge sales tax, Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. Oregon dealers can provide temporary vehicle registration tags for up to 30 days from date of purchase.

US Harley dealers are NOT ALLOWED to sell NEW (Never Registered / Titled) 2013 / 2014 models to anyone that does not have a current US address AND a US driver license. However, they are allowed to sell any PRE-OWNED model to any-one any-where.

We have a process for selling new bikes. Our company is based in Oregon where there is no sales tax, registration fees are reasonable at $500. We register the new bike in our name then sell it back to you as a pre-owned bike. The Australian Government will not allow a new bike which comes with what is called a Manufacturer Certificate of Origin (MCO) to be imported. They only allow pre-owned bikes with an existing US title to be imported. The titling process in the USA is a requirement if you want to purchase / import a new bike.”

Also, the crate that a Harley comes with is primarily a nice sturdy metal pallet surrounded by cardboard. The dealer has to send the base metal pallet back to Harley so it is unlikely they will be able to let you keep the original pallet. In addition, the cardboard sides do not offer much in the way of protection so the bike could still get damaged in shipping.

I hope this helps 3 !

Thanks Michael,

I read your full post. Good write up. Replied in the other thread.

Otobai can only comply v-rods sportsters and softails.
 

Corect me if i am wrong but i thought this was a harley forum not Jappa.

Corect me if i am wrong but i thought this was a harley forum not Jappa.

If you look on RAWS website it will tell you everything they  and evey other raws workshop can comply if its not on their list then they cant comply it but maybe they can get it done by another raws workshop.

Easy way of finding out who can comply what. 1.Go to raws website raws.infrastructure.gov.au 2. Then search for a raw. 3. Then add make,model and state. 4.Then select raws pin. 5. Then select raws schedule then that will tell you everything they can comply. You can also search other states as well if no one in your state can comply the make and model you are looking to buy.

Scammer gone apparently ?

GOOD

Well after reading the whole lot, I am glad you are back Chopaweeza

Seems like there is plenty of preceding discussion on the subject and I haven't read all of it but I thought I might tell you about my experience. In July 2011 I was in Indianapolis on business and happened to by pass the local HD dealership, I went in (big mistake). I was instantly blown away by the prices of the new bikes on the floor, around half the prices here in Perth at the time and we were getting roughly $ for $. The salesman was keen to sell me a bike so I bought 2 (fat bob and 48) for me and my young bloke. How hard could it be to get them in? I had heard of a few blokes bringing them in and it seemed no big deal. Then I was contacted by HD Australia when the bikes were still in Indy recommending that I should not try to import them and I ignored that advice, after all, what the fuck was I supposed to do with them, I already owned them and what was the big deal anyway.
The first problem I found was importing old bikes was ok but these were new, no go. I had to sell them to a mate in Indy, he got them registered and paid tax and I bought them back (on paper). I went through Qld Imports (ok but slow) and after about 10 months they got to Brisbane; the compliance took another 12 months, mainly because Qld Imports are slow as shit and also because they kept getting knocked back by the department of transport. I eventually go them to Perth in March 2013 and registered them. The cost at the end of the day was equivalent to the price of new bikes here; the cost to my sanity was considerably greater.
Now that I am happily riding around on my FB it all seems ok, except when I go down to the local HD dealerships and suddenly I get the feeling that I am some kind of child molester or smell like shit. The minute they see the 1HD vin its all over and they don't want my cash; which seems a little high handed to me.
Not one to take all this shit lying down I have been conducting a running battle with HD. Not sure who is winning at this stage but one thing is absolutely sure, they are shit scared of what they call the grey imports, below is an excerpt from a response to an email I sent them:

"Thank you for contacting Harley-Davidson in reference to your 2 motorcycles purchased in the United States. These motorcycles fall into Australia’s “grey import” category. In recent years the number of imported Harley-Davidson Motorcycles has grown dramatically to the point where there are so many Harley-Davidson’s imported into Australia that certain protections and exclusions had to be applied"

This is a part of my response to that:

"If there was not such a big price difference between Australian and US prices for your products, you wouldn’t have a problem with grey imports. I accept that there are freight, import duties and currency exchange rates to consider but double the money seems a little rich"

For the blokes thinking about importing a bike.
Would I do it again - shit yeah, with what I know now - fucking absolutely. There are plenty of good RAWS for bikes around the country now and if you look around you will get a really nice ride at much less than what we pay here.
Just make sure its not new.
cheers

Mick

Very interesting Silver. Thanks for posting your experience. Remind me not to use Qld Imports. 10months to Brisbane! ...you could have converted those bikes as jet sky and rode over the ocean in less time! ...then another 12 months!! That's sh!t.

Tell me something... HD dealers in AU... did they refuse to service OR refuse to sell you parts OR both? Good news for those independent HD service centres who only service bikes and sell new (and controlled by HD AU).

Frazers here in WA wont service and I am told wont sell parts once they know its imported. The other dealer, Perth Harley will sell parts but I am told they wont service either. None of them will take an imported bike as a trade in. Made the mistake of considering trading on a new bike at Frazers..... got shown the door. Bad business for them and I wont be going back or recommending them to anyone. I had already bought bikes from them in the past - made no difference.

The upside is that there are plenty of service centres and after market suppliers around so you dont really need the dealers, except to buy genuine parts.

For the record I have a "grey import" myself

The "No service/no trade/no parts" thing from the WA dealers was indeed the case. Just don't tell them it's a "grey". I learned to say nowt and got 2008 CVO Springer parts from Frasers . ( shit I think they only ever sold 2 of them at $58K no wonder !)

I had heard that they were now selling parts , especially V&H pipes / Screamin Eagle air filters and race tuners etc etc

That's a $2.5 K package and they could resist no more the 40% + margin they have on all that shit

One Saturday morning just past , 50% of the Harleys parked up at scarboro' beach had "pink" frame stickers.

Even a genuine HD trike , just arrived , but had a green sticker ??

To Silverbeard , with regards to servicing , bring it/them to me and I'll both do it and show you how. I can even help with ECM tuning to suit pipe and air filter changes