Send bike to Australia ——- And tips about other places, too

[gbags]

Thanks Hellas,
That’s just the sort of recommendations I like.
I’ll have family there to help with bureaucracy and MotoFreight are always spot on.
I’ll fling some pics on here with a low key ride report.
Anything on your horizon?

 

[gbags]

And thanks Ahebron,
I had no idea. I’ll take this advice and consult the shippers too.

 

[OnHellas]

Thanks Hellas,
That’s just the sort of recommendations I like.
I’ll have family there to help with bureaucracy and MotoFreight are always spot on.
I’ll fling some pics on here with a low key ride report.
Anything on your horizon?

You’re welcome.

Nothing motorcycling on the horizon for us, no. The other half has come to the end of her time riding and doesn’t want to be a pillion either.
Because in my previous life, with my late wife, I developed a great liking for sidecars we tried one of those as a last effort for motorcycle travel.
That didn’t work out unfortunately so that got sold. We have a Campervan.
Also the Camino routes in Spain work for us, I walk and she cycles.

I’ve also got the crazy notion of trying to hike the GR11 from west to east across the Pyrenees next summer….so I haven’t given up yet!!

 

[gbags]

You’re welcome.

Nothing motorcycling on the horizon for us, no. The other half has come to the end of her time riding and doesn’t want to be a pillion either.
Because in my previous life, with my late wife, I developed a great liking for sidecars we tried one of those as a last effort for motorcycle travel.
That didn’t work out unfortunately so that got sold. We have a Campervan.
Also the Camino routes in Spain work for us, I walk and she cycles.

I’ve also got the crazy notion of trying to hike the GR11 from west to east across the Pyrenees next summer….so I haven’t given up yet!!

It’ll come to all of us.
I walked the Camino in 2018. Great thing to do. Went alone, met a guy on the plane, couple more on the way up to Roncevalles. We soon had a gang that largely finished together.
Good luck to you.

 

[gbags]

I’d love to hear about your GR11 trip. I thought of that a few years back and it looks tough!

 

[John RTW]

I’ll just dot down some of my highlights of my two years in Aus, so you may have too be selective to get them all cracked. Also not knowing if you are two up and enjoy hundreds of miles of corrugations, not fun but great views and locations on route.

Not in any particular order as they are all great and memorable.

Alice Springs - Mereenie Loop - Kings Canyon - Uluru, back to Alice

Alice Springs - Plenty Highway (Long corrugated road to the East Coast)

Cairns to Cape York, still quite arduous on the northern stretch, but there is a killer route called the Telegraph Track, that will test you on a big bike and if the season is right.

Port Douglas to Cooktown, jungle route not too taxing and the Daintree is a must visit.

Around the bottom south west corner national parks, Kosciusko, NP, Alpine NP, Snowy River NP, to name a few, I really enjoyed the Alpine NP.

Tasmania, lots of history, worth crossing over.

Great Ocean Road, has history but not as good as some would say.

Darwin to Adelaide on the Highway, a bit boring but a quite a few things to visit along the way.

Port Hedland - Broome - Katherine for NP’s or take the Gibb River Road for adventure.

Where ever you go, just outside all the major cities you have amazing National Parks to explore and along every highway you have some options of off road to go, North - South, East - West. Lots of quaint villages from the mining days and roadhouses that will give you petrol. You can normally guarantee you’ll see petrol every 200/300 miles.

I’ve probably missed out loads of routes, but coastal roads and National Parks were the highlight for me. Lots of wildlife, and things that will kill you. Being woken up with by a pack of dingoes around the tent in the bush was a bit of a surprise. That and killer skippy’s that will keep up alongside you and then do a suicide leap in front of you, if you’re not careful, not forgetting killer emu's and camels.

There’s a few Bloggs with information on how pedantic customs can be regarding asbestos brake pads. When I re-imported my bike I removed them. Made the brakes levers unworkable and packed a new set in the new packaging under the seat, removed my exhaust wrap and it sailed through.

Don’t forget the time of year, as the seasons flip and wet season up north is no fun.

 

[Pukmeister]

I emigrated to WA in 2007 and took my BMW GS with me. It was more hassle than you can imagine, the bike was stuck in customs for ages and took a small fortune in inspections, cleaning and admin to get it released. Then the fun really began getting it inspected for compliance, apply for and pay for compliance stickers from Niddrie in NSW, pay for re-inspection for compliance once stickers finally arrive and are fitted, paying for and getting a WA reg plate assigned etc etc. Lots of petty admin from unhelpful jobsworths, lots of time wasted, lots of money paid to the Australian Gov’t and their Quango’s.

These rules are to protect the Aus motor industry from grey imports and also applies to bikes, though Aus never bothered to build their own brand of motorcycle.

When we decided Aus was not for us, I reimported my GS to the UK which was a piece of piss through DVLA.

For the love of God, unless it’s something rare and special like a classic British bike don’t bother. Save yourself the hassle, sell the bike here and buy another when in country.

 

[Jersey_GS]

Not a biking experience but one of the highlights of any trip to Austrailia is the (slow as opposed to fast ferry) Manly ferry to Circular quay in Sydney.
I spent a few months in Austrailia staying in Manly for about 6 weeks and this was a daily commute and loved every day.

On a sunny day its an impressive experience sailing through Port Jackson, especially the amazing panorama as it arrives at Circular quay with the impressive harbour bridge on one side and Sydney Opera house on the other.

If you did decide to do this get to the front of the ferry and enjoy the spectacle.

My guess is you will probably covered in mud, dust and gore, off roading in the outback

 

[EKIMYRF]

For the love of God, unless it’s something rare and special like a classic British bike don’t bother. Save yourself the hassle, sell the bike here and buy another when in country.

When I lived in Aus my mate in the UK offered me a V11 Guzzi Sport (the green one) for an amazingly low price, all I had to do was import it.
Even though you could get V11s in Aus at the time they never imported that model (something daft like different clocks), to get the bike in I had to get it though ADR compliance (Australian Design Rules) to do that it has to be done by a dealer who is registered to do that particular model. Of couse there were none that had done that so I would have had to pay for the dealer/tester to become registered to ADR a V11 Sport in the exact spec as the one I was importing.

At that point for what it was going to cost I could have bought a brand new Ducati 916, so the lovely V11 is now with another mate and incidentally will be the next Lemon Drizzle video once the weather improves.

 

[EKIMYRF]

I spent a few months in Austrailia staying in Manly for about 6 weeks and this was a daily commute and loved every day.

On a sunny day its an impressive experience sailing through Port Jackson, especially the amazing panorama as it arrives at Circular quay with the impressive harbour bridge on one side and Sydney Opera house on the other.

If you did decide to do this get to the front of the ferry and enjoy the spectacle.

Snap ! I emigrated in 89 and lived in Neutral Bay on the North Shore, I used to alternate between commuting on the Manly Ferry and taking the train over the Harbour Bridge to Wynyard where my office was.

 

[Pukmeister]

I was fortunate that my boss in the Aus Navy there had his own import/export business for British classic bike spares like Norton and Triumph so he knew a bloke that was a WA state approved vehicle inspector (mostly for classic motorcycles). Through knowing him, my boss got the customs shit shorted for an inspection fee of about $200 IIRC, without which I would have been royally screwed. I did contact Perth BMW (Motorrad) asking them to do the inspection, they weren't in the slightest bit interested in helping me. In my experience, dealing with the local, state or federal government in Aus is like dealing with the mafia, they all want the dollar for anything and everything.

During my recruitment they put me on the North Shore in Sydney close the the Governors residence in Kiribilli, the ferry trip to circular quay was great and my family loved Darling Harbour......... Once I signed the contract of employment, I was sent to Perth (aka bumfucksville).

 

[Troppo]

Good info.

As others have said, unless it is a classic and you are very attached to it, sell it rather than be pissed about by our Aussie customs....who are renowned bastards.

I'm an Aussie who has lived, worked and ridden in the UK quite a bit. You can ride all year in Oz...and if it rains in summer, you dry off quickly.



Only downside is our plod, who have zero tolerance and are, in the main, revenue raising pricks....

Do not exceed the speed limit on motorways...

 

[Pukmeister]

Only downside is our plod, who have zero tolerance and are, in the main, revenue raising pricks....

Do not exceed the speed limit on motorways...

Amen to that, what a bunch of pricks they are, many are ex-pat Brits too. In WA they hide behind the bushes with a radar and camera on a low tripod, with a smug "any time, any place" labelled gotcha warning sign a few hundred metres further down the road.

Don't be tempted to drink and drive down under either, the bloody booze/drug bus will be ready and waiting to process you at the roadside, as will the chase cars at every possible escape route.

One of my favourite movie clips is of the outback pig hunter who gets rolled by the bored coppers for speeding and the state of his Ute and then takes his revenge mad max style, not sure what film its from (I think its Wolf Creek 2) but its a good 'un.

Edit; here you go, but its a horror so the sensitive best not watch it. Mods remove it if it breaches the rules.

<iframe width="784" height="441" src="

" title="Wolf Creek 2 Opening Scene" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[EKIMYRF]

Only downside is our plod, who have zero tolerance and are, in the main, revenue raising pricks....

Do not exceed the speed limit on motorways...

I totally concurr the South Aussie plod hide cameras in roadside bins and propped up pallets

The speed warning signs we have over here that flash at you to slow down in Aus would be a device issuing you an extortionate fine
Also the speed limits are really low.
They also use helicopters to catch you speeding via markings on the road.

Fantastic country for motorcycling but watch your speed.

 

[John RTW]

I got nicked a few times in Aus, I didn't know the cop cars have oncoming speed cameras. The best or the most scary was when I got nicked on the Putty, a lovely bikers road just outside of Sydney where my finely balanced GSA got pushed over by the constable. I just caught it just before it went full tilt, the SGT was not impressed with his mate. Queue a posse on superbikes that come past, that gave him the excuse to go after them and leave me with a don't do that again. Two warnings and one expensive fine, so not too bad. Don't forget the speed limits vary from state to state, crazy when the road in the bush doesn't change in hazards. I remember the first thing I saw after going from SA to WA was a cop hiding behind a sign with his speed gun. The thing about speeding in the bush is that the wildlife have a habit of trying to kill you. The girlfriends bosses brother got killed by a camel when he was out on a ride, you'd think the loud pipes on a Harley would have scared them away.

 

[gbags]

These importation headaches, are they also imposed on bikes that you bring in for just a couple of months? A bike that you’ll take back after your trip?