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Importing a bike from Canada into the US?

rocketmanli said:
All Montauks and CL's share the same speedometer. Only difference in them is whether it has the ABS warning light or not. US has mph and kmph both stamped on the face; Canadian ones only kmph. I can take the mph one off my '04 Montauk and swap it temporarily just to get the bike home and registered, then put the kmph one back on for the duration of my ownership.
Click to expand...

I gave my '05 RT a "canister-ecomy" this past winter. I have the old canister sitting on the shelf in the shop if you need it??
 
This may just be me doing things poorly, but what I would do is get registration forms from NY DMV, fill them out completely, and take them to a DMV office and find out exactly what questions will be asked and what the correct answers are. It's been my experience that things go smoothly if you give the bureaucracy exactly what they need. I think you're finding that with each additional bureau that you involve you get another layer of compliance and no clear commitment for things ending up the way you want.

I apologize if you have completed this drill previously.
 
Everything seems to be moving along smoothly...finally. Here's the plan:

I am waiting to receive a brand new non-ABS speedometer from Germany with MPH on it to swap out the non-ABS KPH one on the bike. That's all I need for US DOT Safety clearance and certification. It was ordered from Max BMW in New Hampshire yesterday. I removed the ABS one from my '04 Montauk the other night to see what tools I'd need, how to do it, how long it takes, etc. No emissions changes are necessary based on a letter I found from the California Air Resources Board dated July 9, 2004 that states that this 2005 BMW bike meets all US & Canadian EPA emissions standards as-is.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onroad/cert/hmc/2005/bmw_m0060114_1170_1d0_hn.pdf

As such, I won't have to change the CatCode plug, nor add a charcoal canister. Once I receive the speedometer (10-15 days out), I will be heading to Toronto to pay the owner for the bike. I will be meeting the registered ICI importer at the seller's house so he can pick it up, get it through customs at the border, and back to his warehouse in Hamburg (near Buffalo). I will follow him back, and install the new speedo at his place. Once he sees the speedometer function, he will release the bike to me. I need to coordinate this so I can do it all in 2 days, staying in a local hotel near Hamburg for just one night. I am also borrowing a bike trailer, and would prefer not to bring it into Canada. As such, I will be dropping it off at his warehouse on my way to Toronto, then pick it up and load the bike at his place when this is all done. This is a secure facility so I can be comfortable leaving my friend’s trailer in a secure/locked place for the one night.
How’s that all sound?
Larry

Once I get it home, it takes 3 days to get all the EPA & DOT papers e-mailed to me from the importer so I can register it. After that, there's a document that will let me transfer the VIN# from BMW Canada to BMW US for future service/records, etc.
 
No...then I will have a very unique bike that I will ride as often as I ride my others. Why hide it from the rest of the world? I'm not buying this to park it in my living room and stare at it. This bike was built to be ridden, and ridden it shall be.
 
rocketmanli said:
Everything seems to be moving along smoothly...finally. Here's the plan:...
Click to expand...

Excellent regulatory sleuthing, Larry! :thumb

The bike will be even more precious to you with all the work you've put into the export and import. Keep all your docs in a binder.

I imported a car from the U.S. some years ago, and it involved many hours of research, and was a bit stressful. The biggest risk in the process is the border agent not believing the purchase price. You really have to have that well documented.
 
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