Foreign sidecars in oz/nz
 

morning/afternoon all,

i'm currently formulating a plan to get my girlfriend trotting the globe with me which would involve doing it on a Ural outfit... first leg would be from spain to nz and i was wondering what the deal is with riding a foreign, LHD (i.e. car on the right) outfit through oz and nz for say 6 months... seems to me that in oz you have to have the car on the left hand side for registering and nz seems to be going through some law changes on this issue, but i can't find any info on foreign registered outfits...

any help would be appreciated...

Can't say for sure but:

The UK banned right hand sidecars in 1981. This ban specifically allows foreign outfits so long as they meet the laws at home because this is required under international law. I'd expect Australia and New Zealand law makers to be at least as smart as their UK counterparts in not breaching UN requirements.

There are no restrictions on left hand drive cars for foreigners.

I'm not saying convincing the local Rego people will be easy mind. If you have any language skills, try some of the German sidecar forums, more outfits, all for the wrong side of the road and I'm sure someone will have done OZ and NZ.

Andy

Since mid last year you can only bring a vehicle into Aus (as a tourist) using a carnet de passage. This simplifies things (as a tourist) as you are not required to get the vehicle registered as long as your own country's registration requirements are met and they are a reciprocal signature to the Vienna Convention (the UN sponsored international convention on road vehicles). NSW have apparently made a ruling that you dont need to buy compulsory third party insurance for a vehicle entering Australia on a carnet (see other posts about this - you need to get a copy of the email from the NSW govt.).

Previously a lot of tourists would bring vehicles to Aus using a scheme called the "vehicle import approval" and Customs would take a deposit on duty and GST and you got a refund on departure. The downside of this scheme was that overseas registered vehicles were then obliged to be constructed to Aus design rules, roadworthy requirements, registration and compulsory third party insurance - which took time and usually was quite expensive.

cheers guys, sounds like i should be able to get in... might post this in the europe forum here instead of finding a german forum as mein deutsch is nicht gut!

Hi,
I'm intending to "try" to get into australia by June this year. With a side-car. Well, with a motorcycle that got a side car on the way, meaning that it is not stated anywhere on the carnet that it is a side car.
As far as I know, the quarantine thing can be quite a pain, and costly as well. A third party insurance is needed too. And here is my question: I've seen somewhere that you need to get a certificate of conformity (like MOT in england, TUV in germany, contrôle technique in France).
My question is: how I'm I ever going to get it with my side car??
Thanks for your answers!:thumbup1:

Quarantine is no problem as long as you get the bike really really really clean before you pack it up, this is important for NZ too. Then you will only have to pay around $70 for the inspection.

If landing in NSW NO THIRD PARTY INSURANCE IS REQUIRED. No cert of conformity etc is required. All you need is a Carnet & a clean bike. Other states are different.

For an NZ temp import - up to 12 months - I think left hand drive is OK, check out the LTNZ website: Factsheet 35 - Importing a vehicle temporarily

Cheers
Clint

Well, regarding Quarantine, I've heard that the bike has to be in a condition so close to new, that it is pretty tough to meet the criterion asked.
If we are to ship the bike, that would have to be to Darwin, for we should be in Timor within a few months, if everything goes according to plans.
Thanks for your answer :thumbup1:

Do a weblookup on the AQIS website and look for quarantine standards for motor vehicles. Basically a really good steam clean on the wharf in Timor will suffice - AQIS can demand "as new" cleanliness but generally they can cope with some on spots of grease and oil. They get touchy about soil and insects.

People run into problems with bringing in water, food, wooden products.

Its interesting that Thailand has foot and mouth disease as endemic and arrivals barely get a second look from AQIS - but if you arrive from the UK and have been on a farm in the last 6 weeks you get the full treatment.

It would depend on the facilities you have access to, but it wasn't a big deal for us, just a bit of time. We just spent a weekend at home giving the bikes the big strip down, check over, thorough soapy clean up, service etc before we left. Before leaving Sydney we found a DIY carwash & took off seats, tanks & sidecovers & gave everything a good soapy wash. No issues with quarantine at either end.

Cheers
Clint

Thanks for your answers, quite positive after all. :thumbup1:
Just one little thing: a friend of a friend of a friend is planning to go to australia by motorcycle, and for financing his travel, is planning on doing a bit of work there, with just a tourist visa... Do you think it's possible? I'll transmit the answer to him...:innocent:

I'm sure it's possible and people do it all the time. But, if he gets caught he may get deported and that may upset future travel plans. Depending on his age he may qualify for a working holiday visa.

Sure, getting caught is not in any way the best plan ever.... And my friend is 31, too old I think. He has never been to Australia before, and he's wondering if it would be possible to do little conferences in schools - about his world tour - to earn a bit of cash, without having to have a work permit. Thanks for your answers and advices! :thumbup1:

Schools would not pay - maybe a free meal if he was lucky. In the 70s & 80s it was popular for travellers to rent the local Mechanics/CWA Hall for an evening and give a slide show for a dollar or two donation - I've not seen one of those talks advertised for 20 or more years. Plus who has slides and projectors any longer?

There are only a small handful cash businesses nowadays that can risk paying illegals - the ever increasing use of EFTPOS makes it even harder for employers to pay cash as they dont get paid in cash any longer by their customers. I was listening to ABC Radio a few weeks ago and even the National Farmers Federation (conservative, free market, low wage employers) is running a campaign against the use of illegal workers and wont provide legal support to farmers charged with using illegals.

I'd be very careful about bringing a vehicle into Australia and working illegally. Risk is that if you get caught working and get deported you wont necessarily be allowed to sort out the re-export of the vehicle. The vehicle would be forfeit, crushed and the carnet would not be stamped on exit. The carnet issuer would then be presented with the tax bills, who in turn recover costs against the vehicle owner's deposit/insurance/parent's house.

thank you for this complete, wise and enlighting answer! :thumbup1::thumbup1: Even though, it might reinforce the option of not going to Australia yet. Next world tour maybe!
Thank you all for that!

At 31 you are too old for the work visa/holiday thing, but new zealand has a special visa that allows people upto 35 get a year long work permit, so you could go there to get some funds. It comes from bunac only.