bringing my bike from NZ
 

I'm looking into riding across oz in december, I have a zx9r which i'd like to bring over from nz to do the trip on.
whats the deal for importing a bike for a short period into oz and how complicated is it to do.

Hi Colsan1

It is a fairly simple process, I took a DR650 from NZ and rode it around Australia. Contact the AA in NZ to arrange a Carnet, I think it was for 10% of the value of the bike. I flew the bike over on Qantas - Green Freight at Auckland airport arranged it all for me. They didn't need the bike to be crated.

PM me if I can help.

Yep, you need a carnet. Customs & Quarantine inspections when you get there - can be organised by your freight company (clean the bike really well) If you land in NSW (Sydney) there are no 'rego or WOF' type requirements. Other states have rego & WOF type stuff but it's quite hard to find out what, I'd just get fully comp insurance (incl 3rd party injury- we got it through Swann - take the pay by installment option & cancel when you leave)

We used Go Logistics who were pretty good, we crated the bikes.

Clean the bike really well before you send it back too.

Cheers
Clint

I'm sure it's do-able.. But when you have freighting there&back, quarantine inspection, carnet and insurance on your to-do list, then I'd seriously consider renting a bike, which would get you rid of all those.

But the best option will of course depend on your plans, how long you would stay in Oz, and how long is the trip you want to do. There is no one definite answer, you´ll need to decide, and it´ll naturally depend also on the deal the rentals offer you.... But renting is usually better for shorter trips/distances (and typically inside 1 country, but in Australia of course you won´t have the problem of crossing borders), while bringing your own might be feasible, if you´re staying for a longer period of time.

I went to the US for 6 weeks, and ended up renting a bike from there. Any longer, and I´d probably have sent my own bike by sea, or bought one from there (oh yeah, that is one more option to consider!)

In 2009 it cost us about NZ$2000ea to get the bikes over & back, all costs, insurance etc etc. So the break even vs renting something basic was about 3 weeks, we were there for 4+ weeks so it was a no brainer cost wise, plus it was nice to be on our own bikes.

Cheers
Clint