Buying a preowned bike in western states USA
 

Looking to buy a Yamaha Super Tenere in either Washington State, Oregon or California. Can anybody please tell me some good websites to look at ads for motorcycle sales.
Being from New Zealand I am not familiar with the costs involved to purchase a pre owned vehicle and getting it onroad so would appreciate any info you can give me.
Thanks

Hi Janet,

The Super Tenere has just been imported to the U.S. in 2012 so would be mainly available at dealers. Actually, they started importing the 2012 model in summer of 2011, so there may be some used available. There are no older pre-owned model years of the Tenere in the U.S., as it wasn't EPA approved until this year.

The preferred place to find used motorcycles in the U.S. is online at craigslist.org under the motorcycle sub-section. It is basically an online classified ads and has good used bikes available from private parties with pictures.

The craigslist site doesn't allow a global search of all cities in the U.S.

To do that you have to type:

site: craigslist.org: tenere

in the Google search box and it will return all the pre-owned Teneres for sale on Craigslist in the U.S. and you can figure out which state is a possibility.

Probably easier to find a KLR650, DL650, or DR650 if you need reasonably priced mid sized reliable used moto in the U.S. Used dual sport Yamaha choices are limited in the U.S. Although the WR250R would be my choice. Fuel injected, bullet-proof motor, great fuel economy, able to cruise at highway speeds, available used and in good condition, great on backroads and on metal (as the kiwis say). Just a thought.

I did notice that a nice Hubber named Wheatwhacker has posted a few weeks back that he will be happy to help foreign buyers find a bike and help them figure out how to get it registered. He lives in San Francisco, California and you would have to search this site to find his post.

I enjoyed my travels in NZ. If a slow person like me can find wheels in Christchurch and get it registered and insured and tootle around your lovely country, you should have no probs here. And of course, if you are travelling through rural northern Nebraska you and your mates are welcome to stay in the guest room here.

Best luck!

Kindest regards,
John Downs

Hi John
You have so helpful, thanks very much for all the information. Really appreciate it and will look into it further.
Glad to hear that you enjoyed our country. Know that we are biased but we think it's a motorcycles paradise (when it's not raining haha).

From what I have been told some of the laws have changed to make it harder to for a non residents to register a car or bike in many states. You will need to track down that info. Here is some help WA State Licensing: Title and registration fees
and Oregon DMV Motorcycles
and Motorcycle Registration
and last DMV.org: The Unofficial DMV Guide

To be legal you need to register the bike and get insurance on it (it is good in all 50 states and Canada). Your drivers licence Is good in the USA as long as it good in where you live.

Oregon has no sales tax.

Thanks for that. I will check it out.

You can also check the flea market over on advrider.com. I've bought three bikes like that with very good luck.