Hello,

I'm about to go to the USA from Europe to buy a motorcycle and intend to drive it back home to Canada over the summer. I am Canadian and have a Canadian Driver's license, and I am wondering how I can insure the bike for the trip home.

Is there any USA based insurance company that will insure me, considering my Canadian Driver's license? Also, the bike I'm buying is 39 years old, which seems to be a problem for some companies...

Thanks,

Cadwallader.

Progressive used to insure foreign licence holders and might still do.

https://www.progressive.com/

That's who my bike is insured with

Thanks, I just checked, but the first thing they ask is a ZIP Code, and one that has only 5 characters, so I wonder how that works, as in Canada we have 6, and I believe in the US as well. Or not, but I don't know the local ZIP anyway.
Where is this company located? Is this a UK one?

I'm thinking my best bet will be to find insurance in the US. They should accept a Canadian Driver's license, I'm probably not the first Canadian to buy a motorcycle in the US and drive it back... Any company to recommend in California?

You're going to need a US zip code to register the bike you'll be buying. You'll use the same zip code to insure it. Lots of people do this, and a search on this site will turn up a variety of posts giving real or imaginary instructions.

Most US insurance companies will NOT insure a bike for someone who lives in Europe. I'm not sure how this will work for a Canadian national, but Progressive is typically cheap, fast and convenient--I use them myself, and I've got easy access to any company licensed to offer insurance in Washington State.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Cadwaller:

I am pretty sure that there is a treaty between Canada and the USA that provides that any liability insurance purchased in a Canadian province or US State meets the minimum requirements of all US States and all Canadian provinces.

So, provided that you can legitimately register your motorcycle in the USA (a different matter altogether) and buy insurance for it in the USA, you will be able to ride it up into Canada and be appropriately insured for as long as the bike is US plated and the policy is in effect.

What might cause you unexpected problems at the border is not the insurance, but the fact that you are attempting to enter Canada with a foreign registered vehicle while operating it with a Canadian driver licence. The Canadian driver licence implies that you are a Canadian resident. For that reason, Canada Customs won't just wave you through like they would wave through an American citizen with an American DL riding an American plated bike.

Canada Customs will (quite rightly) assume that you are importing the bike into Canada, and they won't let you roll a wheel over the border line until you have fulfilled all the requirements for importing a foreign vehicle into Canada. You can get started on investigating those requirements at this website: Registrar of Imported Vehicles.

Once you have met all of the RIV requirements (vehicle is eligible, paperwork is in order, you have paid the fees, excise tax, and HST), then you won't have any problem with insurance to get to your destination (the inspection station near your home) provided your US insurance is paid up and valid. You may have to ask the US insurance provider to give you a "Canadian Specification" insurance slip - the 'pink slip' used by all insurers in Canada - that will prove that the US insurance meets Canadian minimum requirements.

Michael

Cadwaller:

Just a post-script:

1) You might want to consider getting a 'temporary permit' from the state that you register the bike in. Most states will give an out-of-state resident a temporary 7 or 10 day permit to get the vehicle back home. The great advantage of the temporary permit is that you don't have to pay state sales tax in the state where you get the permit. You would have to pay state sales tax if you put a normal licence plate on it. Also, temp permits are usually cheaper than a 1 year plate.

2) The fact that the bike is 39 years old should not matter significantly to the insurance company.

3) Carefully investigate the RIV requirements and provincial requirements that apply to historic vehicles. For example, a 39 year old vehicle may not need emissions tests. Some provinces, like BC, offer 'historic vehicle' licence plates. These plates exempt the owner from meeting present-day emission standards, provided that the vehicle is kept in "classic collector: condition and only used occasionally. Canadian insurance is often much cheaper for collector vehicles than it is for normal vehicles.

4) Go to this web-page first, to see if your motorcycle is admissible to Canada: Vehicle Import Compatibility (Admissibility) list for vehicles purchased in the United States - Motorcycles. If you don't find your moto there on that list, or if it is listed as 'inadmissible', forget about it, buy an air ticket from Europe to Canada instead.

Michael