Motorbike shipping/holiday

moneyspender1981

Hi Not sure if this is the right place.


I want to go to america and tour around for a while on a motorbike. I was planning to buy a bike from ebay america fly over.. pick it up if it's ok and off I go.

However I would like to bring the bike back with me.... so get it shipped over.

Question- i dont have a clue how to do that, will I still pay vat although I will own the bike? What are the costs roughly if I put it on a slow boat from america??

Any advice appreciated

missile

In addition to shipping costs, you will have problems registering / insuring a UK bike. It took a mate nearly six months to work through the red tape and register his Ducati in Houston.

I would suggest you would be easier and cheaper to hire or buy a bike in USofA.

BikerEd

You will have problems registering and insuring a bike in the USA as you won't have an address there or a social security number (which I believe is needed for just about anything these days).

It is however, much easier to ship a UK bike over to the USA and run it over there - keeping it on British registration plates for as long as you want to.

Take a look at Horizons Unlimited, which is a great resource for motorcycle travellers. The forum will give you all the advice you need on shipping. Here is the insurance section - http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/links/motorcycle-insurance

dzug1

missile wrote: »

Houston.

I would suggest you would be easier and cheaper to hire or buy a bike in USofA.

Which is exactly what he is planning to do

dzug1

moneyspender1981 wrote: »

Question- i dont have a clue how to do that, will I still pay vat although I will own the bike?
Any advice appreciated

If it's the same as a car and the rules haven't changed then yes you will be liable for import duty VAT etc.

If you had owned it for a significant period in the US (not sure how long but longer than any likely holiday) then this is waived provided you keep the vehicle for a year on return