Buying in the USA

[Eagle i]

Just bought a bike in New York state and can't find any info on "search"
regarding the procedure that's required for an EU national to make it legal
to drive in the US. I'm hoping to tour the States for a few weeks and then ship
it home or store it for another tour.

Your collective wisdom greatly appreciated.

 

[stuart0411]

i looked at shipping an rv it was going to cost around $5000.00 to ship plus 10% import duty on the cost of the bike in the uk + 20% vat, if you have a invoice for the bike make sure its as low as possible to save on duty, also if you own the bike for a certain amount of time in the states this may help. also the bike will be alot cheaper to ship than a 30' RV.
hope this helps

stuart

 

[john_aero]

you looking riding bike in us or bringing it home ot EU

 

[mrsroynie]

Not sure I'm understanding your query, but Roynie and I bought bikes in Massachusetts in 2001 and used them for a 3 month trip. We registered them using a friend's address in Boston and insured locally through a company called Arbella. Rode on UK licences no problem.

We had intended to sell the bikes when we left the States, but we hadn't understood the 'fair weather' riding culture over there. It was September and we were in Portland, OR, and the riding season was coming to an end. Even so, we left the bikes 'on consignment' with a dealer to sell on our behalf.

Roynie's 1200 Triumph Trophy eventually sold the following summer. My F650GS didn't (folk there seem to regard anything under 1000cc's as a learner bike), so we shipped it home via California. By that time it was over 6 months old and had 15,000 miles on the clock, so there was no duty to pay. In Ireland you would have to pay VRT, but all we had to pay in the UK was about £25 registration fee (now £55, I think).

 

[Damien]

More info here.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=266118

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Eagle

If you have bought it new in your name, you must have given a legit US address? It will then be registered to your name and address so you can go about getting insurance etc.

If you have bought it second hand and it's already registered, I'm guessing you just have to insure it so try www.motorcycleexpress.com. Whether you can insure a US registered bike with an EU licence I don't know but they may be able to help. I

If it's US registered, you can obviously leave it there as long as you like and keep going back to it. EU/UK bikes only get a 12 months temporary import permit.

Getting it back is easy enough and fairly straightforward to re register here once HMRC take their bit

 

[Eagle i]

Buying in the US

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Just to be clear, the bike is used and from a private seller.My hope is to use it to tour for three weeks or so and then if possible to store it for a future trip and eventually bring it back to Europe.

I read somewhere that some states will only issue a "transit licence plate" which is valid for 30 days and after that the bike would have to be registered
by a US national i.e. someone with a social security number.

This sounds at odds with a few of your replies so I remain optimistic!. I will
report my experience when I get to the US towards the end of the month.

 

[mrsroynie]

If you have bought it second hand and it's already registered, I'm guessing you just have to insure it so try www.motorcycleexpress.com. Whether you can insure a US registered bike with an EU licence I don't know but they may be able to help. ...

It's fine. What I didn't say was that Roynie broke his first bike (a new Triumph Tiger 955i) in Texas, but was able to buy a second-hand Trophy with the insurance payout. The second (Texas-based) insurer was happy to insure the bike, despite the Title being in the previous owner's name. This was also the case when a couple of Irish friends of ours bought two Harleys off two American friends. It may have helped that the American friends run an insurance brokers (Chicago), but there were no problems with the Irish licences or names on the Titles.

 

[Kamikaze]

It's 12 years since I lived in America but, back then, the insurance was on the vehicle and pretty much anybody licenced and permitted to drive it was insured.
This would fit in with Mrs. Roynie's experiences above and might make the bike easier to insure.

 

[Dakar]

Shipping it back should be easy enough, just get it packed / crated by a professional. Ship it by seafreight (LCL)
Shipco, Carotrans or Brennans all have offices here, and groupage is thier main business.
Transit from the East coast is approx 15 days, port to port
Drain all the petrol and remove the battery to avoid any problems

Make sure you have all the original ownership documents and a invoice for customs. Unless you have lived in the US and are returning home, it will be liable to duty, VAT and VRT in Ireland

 

[mrsroynie]

Make sure you have all the original ownership documents and a invoice for customs. Unless you have lived in the US and are returning home, it will be liable to duty, VAT and VRT in Ireland

Going by our own experience with UK Duty and VAT, you don't actually need to have lived in the US. If you can prove ownership of the bike for more than 6 months in the US, i.e. if the bike is registered in your name with a US address, and has more than 6,000 miles on the clock, there should be no Duty or VAT payable - just VRT ... I think

 

[Essexadventure]

It would be good to get a definitive answer on this....

 

[Firefox]

my tuppence

Going by our own experience with UK Duty and VAT, you don't actually need to have lived in the US. If you can prove ownership of the bike for more than 6 months in the US, i.e. if the bike is registered in your name with a US address, and has more than 6,000 miles on the clock, there should be no Duty or VAT payable - just VRT ... I think

If you're talking about importing into the Irish republic, they have tightened up bigtime on exclusions. In my experience, unless you show proof of having worked abroad and lived there for a year, you are going to be liable for at least Some VAT.
For definite, you need the machine to be at least six months old and 6000 Km for it to be considered second hand for VAT. That also makes it 2nd hand for VRT and its a sliding scale, 10% off per year (10 yr old bike not liable). But I think if no VAT has been paid in teh EU, you're still liable (but it may be reduced or only on your purchase price).
Ring the NCT operators. they now handle all that for Revenue.

 

[Dakar]

Just to clarify, to import this into the EU (Ireland), you will be liable to duty and vat (plus vrt), unless you can prove you have worked / lived abroad, and owned the car or bike during that time.
The invoice value has to be realistic, and revenue have been known to look for proof of purchase price (credit card reciepts, bank transfers etc)
To avoid duty / vat / vrt, you will have to have proof of an address along with utility bills / bank statements.
As Firefox said, they have become a lot stricter with regard to personal imports.
Duty is payable on the bike cost, and freight, with VAT payable on the bike cost + freight + duty.
VRT as per the revenue site.


The 6000 km / 6 months with regard to VAT relates to bikes bought with in the EU. If you buy a bike in the EU that has less than 6000 km, or is less than 6 months old, you'll be liable to local VAT. However you will be entitled to claim back any VAT paid in the country of purchase, but i would expect this would be diffcult (you'd have to have the help of the dealer or original owner)