Hi All,

 

I'm heading off to Surgis next year and was wondering about buying a Road King over there, riding it for the 5 weeks and then bringing it back.

 

I've read all the hoo ha about actual importing but my question is about actually buying, registering, insuring the bike over there seeing I'm not a US resident. Has anyone had any experience on this. Any pointers gratefully accepted.

 

Mike

Many threads on this topic posted, no problem not been a US citizen they will take your cash for a bike & insurance also. You can do it online when you arrive here after you buy or if you go through a dealer they will do the leg work for you. I have been through the process, also my may like to talk to an Importer ? I have used Foytt Auto who advertise and sponsor on this site, they have been great over the past few years. Sturgis is a great event. www.dmv.ca.gov/     May help also with some answers for you.Good luck !

Thanks Keith. That puts me at ease a bit.

I have brought 3 over, if you register it in the USA you dont need to spend as much to bring it over but you have to have lived in and had it registered in the USA for 12 months.

Otherwise it is just a normal RAWS import.

while reading some of choppaweeza threads, make sure there is nothing owing on the bike before you pay, I think sending it home will not happen if money is owed

Thanks for all the input guys. I'll give it a go and let you all know how it went. I've still got a year to fine tune everything so hopefully by Sturgis 2015 I should a good idea of whats going on.

 

Mike

Hey Mikey, i went over last year in April, down into Texas (Dallas) and bought an Ultra Classic, through Dream Machines of Texas. the bike has to have a clean title (no money owed on it) and the dealer should have that. They can also sort out an insurance package, as well as a temporary number plate, which is just laminated paper but costed about $25 bucks.
My wife and i toured for 6 weeks around " the south" before getting onto route 66 back in Texas (Amarillo) and following it through to Flagsaff, then around the Grand Canyon into Utah before heading over to Vegas. then Palm Springs, L.A and then San Diego. back to L.A and then had it shipped home.
You should have a great time, Sturgis would be awesome, but we were'nt in the country then.
steve

GO FOR IT MATE.. YOULL LOVE IT,,

yes ive done it before, its an easy process once you know what to do. we did sturgis and did an extended ride around the USA in 2013, 13,000ks, bought our own bike which is now home with us. we loved it so much we are also doing sturgis again in 2015 (might see ya there)

you can easily buy any bike from a dealer in the USA that is over a year and a day old, or any bike that is a private sale. there is a trick to get a new bike, and if your interested i can fill you in on the details. but for now i will assume your looking at a low milage second hand harley, as thats what most do.

you will have to have the minimum level cover insurance arranged before you can ride away with some sort of registration. in the USA these are often refered to as TAGS. Most states have temporary tags available for different durations, most will do 1 month tags , which someone else on the forum post mentioned are paper. these will cost you about $25 if you buy privately or will be given to you buy the dealer as long as you have minimum insurance.

I organised my insurance through "Dairyland Insurance" online from Australia, and they put my adress down as their offices adress.

i have since realised there are insurance agents everywhere so it may be cheaper doing it in the USA, but they may require a USA adress.

also the TAX office that issues the temporary tags are in every town so its no drama getting the Tags as long as you know the state your buying from issues temp tags.

if you dont get temp tags, would need to registre it as a resident in that state, which will attract sales tax also, so that should be avoided anless you tend to ride for more than a month.

Whatever you do you need to get a clean title in your name.

ONLY BUY A BIKE WITH A CLEAN TITLE>>>

im pretty sure if they have title, there is no lien (money owed on bike)

you cant bring a bike into Australia if it has ever been a repairable rightoff or had a salvage title.

when you buy you should get the clean title from the seller. 

you own the bike the minute you get that title, change of ownership on the title is done at registration, ie when you get temp tags. the change details are on the back of the title, and when title goes into your name a new Title is made for you.

you will need this title to bring the bike to Australia

if your going for over a month i personally wouldnt worry too much about the tag expiring but any insurnce etc may be invalid so you dont want to crash LOL.

i got pulled up for speeding in Wyoming by a state trooper, he was facinated by my paper Tags. when he realised we were aussies and explained they were temp tags, he was cool as.  he realised we would be gone before the fine was due, so let us go with a warning. he even posed with me and his car for a few photos LOL.

riding in the USA is awesome once you adapt to which side of the road to use.

Americans in america are not how we see them here. probably cos we tend to only see rich tourists. the every day people are the nicest friendliest and helpfull people you could hope to meet. I even found the bums were a better quality than the local variety, but you still need a bit of caution as you would anywhere.  distances are big and empty in places.. youll find a few monster straights that seem endless.

choosing a route that suits what you want to see helps.

The black hills are supreme riding teritory.

any more questions feel free to ask. number sent in PM

 

anyone got anything to add i missed, or disagree with anything i may have got wrong??

 

oh and since ive got nothing else to do (mrs and grandgrubs watching a disney movie) heres a few maybe usefull tips on buying. there will be people who have bought more back than me, ive also bought cars back. but this is from my experience.
Start looking at the sort of bikes your interested in now. as an example what your paying for an 08 should be what your paying for an 09 then. as its a year on, but it will give you a good idea of prices, the exchange rate may get more favourable, or worse. but what you will find is there are some really good bargains to be had. in some case, if its exactly what you want, and its a bargain, you can get someone to check the bike for you, and buy and put it into storage. i have done this, and the mechanic/dealer who checked the vehicle for me offered me free storage for 6 months. (Mountain Creek HD in Dalton Georgia) they turned it over now and then and did a full service just before we arrived so we were ready to hit the road.
vehicles from the dryer states tend to be in better condition unless they have been left out in the sun alot. there are a lot of low milage bikes out there as many dont ride that much. youll see how many trailer their bikes to sturgis as an example.