You guys know anything about importing bikes?

SpecialK · Post by **SpecialK** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 10:29 am

It looks like I might be going to Japan again next summer. The tentative plan this time is for my buddy and I to get some motorbikes and tool all over the place. He wants to just get whatever and then sell it before we leave. I want to get one of these:

and bring it back as the perfect sister bike for the DR.

Now I'm fairly certain this is possible. General consensus on the intrawebs is that you can bring back a used bike with 7500 miles or more as long as you put on the appropriate D.O.T. reflectors and lights, and bring it up to emissions standards. Being from the early '90s I'm not sure if there are any applicable emissions requirements or not. Also so far I haven't been able to find any really exact info on how this all works, it's mostly just rumors and bullshit. So now for the questions: Have any of you done this? Know someone who's made it happen? Have you gotten bored and researched this so you can show me where the info is at?

(I totally dig the Katana fairing on the blue one.)

SpecialK · Post by **SpecialK** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:25 am

Well alright. After poking around at the EPA website for a while it seems to go like this: If a bike is over 21 years old it's all very easy. A 21 Y.O. bike doesn't have to meet EPA certifications. Fill out form E and proceed. The bike will still have to pass a state DOT inspection. If the bike is less than 21 years old however, you MUST have it shipped directly to an "Independent Commercial Importer". The ICI will perform all of the work to make the bike meet EPA and DOT standards, take care of the paperwork, and rape you for many many dollars. Only then will the bike be released.

It seems like I'm out of luck on the Goose, it didn't get released until 1992.

sledit: shortest thread ever. Here's something cool instead:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Uu6MDdxBork" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

xtian · Post by **xtian** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:03 pm

I'd be interested to know how that goes, you know why (probably not this year tho) Did you take on account the convertion from $ to yen ?
Aren't bike over 400cc close to impossible to register in japan and thus not sold in the USA (-> no parts) ?

rolly · Post by **rolly** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:02 pm

Well, thanks for the song.

Incidentally, in Canada it is trivial to import a motorcycle if it is 15 years old or older, and utterly impossible if it is any newer (unless the rules have changed recently, I haven't been paying attention). Bikes from the USA get a pass at any age with some minor hoop jumping.

Yamaha Canada recently got folded into Yamaha USA so we might not be able to get the Ténéré now

There used to be a company in BC that brought over containerloads of 400cc bikes from Japan but they disappeared a few years ago.

SpecialK · Post by **SpecialK** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:48 pm

Xtian: The bike in question is a 350 so it's right in there as a normal JDM machine. They sold them in the U.K. too. You might even see one in Belgium every once in a while, I'm not sure. The idea here is that this particular bike is fairly reasonable to deal with as far as parts go. It shares at least %85 of it's engine bits with my DR for which I also have an entire parts bike. It doesn't have much bodywork to worry about. Most of the running gear is pretty normal Suzuki parts bin stuff. If I need to I can order bits from fleabay U.K. I almost feel like it would be easier to deal with than say a Bandit 400 for instance. I'm almost considering the option of just loaning the bike to one of my buddies in Okayama for two years, but that's starting to sound pretty silly.

Rolly: When I lived in Washington state there seemed to be guys taking bikes back and forth over the boarder all the time. There was definitely a steady trickle of two strokes seeping down. I'm glad you liked the song.

MATPOC · Post by **MATPOC** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:36 pm

The thing to do is bring a container full of bikes, cheaper that way, might be about $2000 for the whole load.

Jonny · Post by **Jonny** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 1:47 pm

xtian wrote:Aren't bike over 400cc close to impossible to register in japan?

No.

Jonny · Post by **Jonny** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 1:53 pm

MATPOC wrote:The thing to do is bring a container full of bikes, cheaper that way, might be about $2000 for the whole load.

The problem with this is that used bikes are relatively expensive in Japan. Filling a container would be quite an outlay, I'd imagine.

calamari kid · Post by **calamari kid** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 2:20 pm

My brother in law has a freight forwarding business. Dunno how big/small a lot needs to be for him to handle it, but I can bug him about it if ya want. It may be possible to stick something in a container already scheduled to come over. If it's not something he could handle himself I expect he'd know who to contact.

goose · Post by **goose** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 3:00 pm

hmmm, may have to talk about adding a tzr to that collection for me

SpecialK · Post by **SpecialK** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 5:53 pm

UTMC group buy?

stiles · Post by **stiles** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:28 pm

Bear in mind, if it has less than a 17 digit VIN it may be difficult to get through the DMV and/or your insurance company. Also, I'm not sure how well any of them could handle a title written in Japanese, so making a few advance inquiries to the DMV and your insurance company is probably a good idea, particularly if you're in California.

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You guys know anything about importing bikes?

You guys know anything about importing bikes?