Hello everybody.
My husband and I are planning to travel in New Zealand and Australia for 6 months.


We are willing to travel on YAMAHA XT600.
We have an offer from a renting company. They offered the bike for US$1200 in each country.

Is anyone know if it's better to buy an XT600 in NZ, transfer it to AU and sell in AU in the end of our trip?

Is it easy to buy an XT600 in NZ?
How complicated is the paper work that is involved in transferring it to AU?

buying a bike in nz is as easy as paying for it!! You will need a registration ticket and a Warrant Of Fitness (wof). All vehicles sold must have a current wof. You do not need insurance for use on the road. Cost of a good XT will be nz$4000+. Freight to oz is not too expensive cost of xt's there approx the same as nz.

XT's in NZ generally have the small tank. Okay for NZ as petrol is available every 100 kms but no good if you are intending to go outback in OZ where petrol maybe 300kms away.

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I know from my friend who shipped his 1200 bandit to Oz from NZ that it will be easier to re-register it in OZ .

You see , there is compulsory insurance in Oz and the companies refused to cover his NZ registered bike . So he simply did that and got cover .

I can ask him for a price for this as well as more information regarding his air freight if you like . He did this around 1999.

Also a consideration is that in NZ you will need an address to register the bike at and mebbe ( haven't lived in NZ since 95 ) get the owners log sent to after it has been processed . Genrally you will find the beauracracy hassle free in NZ .

Chris

Hi Tsipi,
I received this information from my friend regarding his experiences shipping his NZ owned bike to Oz in 1999 . His bike was NZ new , meaning the first owner was in NZ . This is important later .

He sent it Airfreight with a freight forwarding company . He is hoping to dig out the name and number in the next day or two .

Import costs = 10 GST ( goods and services tax ) plus stamp duty on registration = 6 %.

His first Oz registration cost 170 AD and 400 AD compulsory third party insurance .

He also said he got messed around by Aussie customs and because of this ended up paying a late collection penalty fee for the bike ( for storage or something I guess ) .

But the biggest pitfall was the fact his bike was not Australian Standards Approved . This meant he had to have the bike inspected by an engineer and then a special plate was sent away for which had to be attached to the frame permanently . This was only done because he qualified for the personal import scheme and had owned the bike more than three months .

So , I guess this puts things in a differnt light . The way I see it you have some alternatives to going through this minefield .

1. Insure the bike for Aus in NZ . Then you won't have to re-register it . I have no idea if there is any carnet needed between the countries . I doubt it as they are in an economic agreement but I can ask my pal if he ever needed one or was asked for one .

2. Sell it in NZ and get one in Oz . My pal says bikes are plentiful and cheap in Oz .

3. Buy a bike in NZ that already has the approval plate attached to the frame .

I hope this doesn't deter you from your trip . NZ is amazing by bike . Make sure you ride the Napier-Taupo road . Only 130 kkms or so but one piece of biker heaven on earth .

Best regards,
Chris