Importing Africa twin to the U.S.

[brad13ryan]

Well I have been riding my Africa twin around Southern Africa and South America for the last 11 months and now I would like to take it home with me. The only problem is that it appears it is going to cost me thousands of dollars to import it. Does anyone have any advise or has anyone done this already.

Please help Brad

[Sohoeasy]

Shipping from Europe should only be 800/1000 or so euros,Does that mean thousands in import duty ?

[Zenarchy]

Might be worth tracking down some of the guys on Advrider in the US who have Africa Twins and ask how they did it (there might be a thread on there somewhere about it - I'm pretty sure I read some discussion on there about it though it may have been mixed up in a thread about some other subject - there might also be a thread on this forum about it somewhere recently as well).

I think the state laws vary. One way people got around it I think was to take the engine out and send it seperately to the bike and label them as parts rather than a complete bike. Though getting them registered was one other hurdle as they were never officially imported/released into the US so to register them involved some sort of testing (perhaps that's where your thousands of dollars are involved?). I seem to remember that there was one or two states where getting them registered was easier or they were more likely to overlook things.

I've never done it myself, and these are only things that I can very vaguely remember reading a while back so would be better to check into it in more detail ofcourse, but might give you a few leads to start checking up on for cheaper ways around things.

I seem to remember that it was easier if you bought the bike from a foreigner who was in the country with it rather than trying to import it yourself from outside for some reason (though I may be thinking about Australia there). Might be another lead to check into though just incase (perhaps you could get it temporarily registered in someone elses name and have them ride it over the border for you if that was the case).

I'm not really sure though. Good luck with it though. They seem quite rare and much sought after in the states. Not many people have them, so it'll make it that bit more special if you can manage it.

[Zenarchy]

P.S. Not sure if these are any help:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...ca+twin+import
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...ca+twin+import
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...ca+twin+import

There are probably lots of other threads there about it as well if you dig a bit deeper. Seems that those types of bikes are really under represented in the US and a lot of people are trying to get them in through various channels (though there are a few US guys on here as well from what I remember the advrider site seems to have more of a US bias so you'll probably find more people who have actually done it there I'd guess).

[brad13ryan]

The real money start with getting it regestered. Does anybody recall which states might be easier to get it regestered in. I will check adrider.

Brad

[BobA]

Brad

Difficult questions to ask in a UK forum, but someone may be around who knows. Also check out ADVRider as suggested.

How about though, shipping it in partially dismantled as spares, maybe in two shipments, then reassembling it, but calling it a Transalp or an XR600, perhaps swapping chassis plates?

Naughty, but hardly smuggling drugs.


Good luck


Bob

[nomad]

there's info on the atic web site about this

www.atic.org/faq/usa.php

hope it helps

[ladder106]

What model AT do you own? If its a RD03 or RD04, most of those bits, engine, tank, fairing, swingarm etc. will all transfer over onto a Transalp frame. If you have the RD07....it won't work....at least not without getting creative with a welder.

You might consider bringing the bike in in pieces, or possibly you could bring it in for "competition only". Then buy a used Transalp in the US ($2500-5000 depending on condition) and then transfer all the AT bits onto the Transalp frame.

This started as a Transalp..proof it can be done:



(yes it has the world longest sidestand...it was a bodge done with a bit of tubing from a piece of furniture (when I tired of carrying a block of wood in the tankbag).....since replaced with a more suitable, and shorter, piece of chrome-moly tubing)

At first, it sounds daft but that's what I'd do. I'd rather spend hours in the shop playing with parts than hours standing in lines dealing with the EPA, and state registrations people. Then there's the insurance game. Your friendly local agent will not have the ATs VIN number on her computer. This results in much head scratching and sometimes they just give up on you.

See the "Show Us Your Transalp Modifications" thread on advrider for information on making the Transalp to AT switch.

After all this, you can then sell the leftover Transalp parts on advrider or ebay to offset the initial cost of the Transalp (we are always looking for spares). I'd be surprised if this would not prove much less expensive than trying to "go through channels", fighting red tape, clueless government workers and paying for testing and documentation.

[vfxdog]

Well I have been riding my Africa twin around Southern Africa and South America for the last 11 months and now I would like to take it home with me. The only problem is that it appears it is going to cost me thousands of dollars to import it. Does anyone have any advise or has anyone done this already.

Please help Brad

As per previous posters, several people have done it in various ways. There's an outfit in Las Vegas (http://www.its-titles.com/) who can title and register your bike in one of the Eastern States for a fairly reasonable fee, but it must have a US-style 17-digit VIN number. Not sure where home is for you but if it's California you could be in for a bit of a struggle with the DMV. Still possible though....