bringing your bike home - How clean does it need to be!?
 

In planning my trans Africa ride at the end of the year I am hearing a lot of stories about people spending literally days cleaning their bikes in order to get the tidy enough to bring back into Aussie? can someone who has personal experience in this shed some light for me - how clean does it have to be exactly? the most iv heard so far is 8 days of scrubbing, that sounds excessive, but wouldn't surprise me knowing how over regulated this country is.

We have shipped our bikes out and brought them back in twice now, and our experience is that the scare stories on the internet are overstated

Last time we had spent 5 weeks traveling off road and the bikes were filthy. We put in a solid day of cleaning before putting them on the boat and had no issues at all with the AQIS inspection.

So to answer your question - how clean did we make em?

The first thing we did was focus on what they are looking for in the inspection - Bugs and bug larvae or other stuff that might harbor bugs and pathogens such soil and dirt. We just made absolutely sure there was none.

Then we made the bikes "look presentable", in other words we looked at them and said "would I buy that bike". The idea was that if it is obvious that there has been an effort to make them clean then the inspector won't be inclined to poke his torch into every nook and cranny. It was not much more than a good detail with all the usual techniques and work. As well as a good wash and polish we got some kerosene (about a cap full) in a bucket of water and made liberal use of it to make all the engine cases clean, we also liberally applied WD40.

As I say the strategy has worked twice now - enjoy your trip and don't stress about it, the worst that can happen is that they clean your bike for you and hit you up for about $400...

Brilliant! thanks for that. Appreciate it

I've brought in campervans - the standard issued by AQIS says clean means "as new". Its obvious that the "standard" is very variable and will depend on the AQIS officer and port concerned - if a trainee is present the bike will get a 150% inspection. Steam cleaning usually provides the clean required - areas that get more than a brief look will be radiators, oil coolers, mudguards, battery boxes, under seat on motorbikes. Any sign of soil, seeds or insects will get you a knock back.

The costs that you bear if AQIS knock you back can be substantial as the bike has to be re crated and returned to an AQIS approved cleaning facility - something that most freight forwarders do not have. The cost of the clean might be small, the cost of transport is the killer. At one time the only AQIS approved cleaners were within the RoRo vehicle wharves where a lot of used vehicles and machinery arrives and needs a clean. The disposal of the waste water used in the cleans is a substantial part of the costs that you bear.

Try and bring in a bare bike - avoid panniers and camping equipment as these will attract attention - which you wont get if you fly in with a tent (go figure that one).

AQIS is also a bit more aware of countries which have Foot & Mouth - rather than countries which report it (eg UK) - so SE Asia may attract a double look.

You also have to be aware that its very easy for freight forwarders to say that AQIS knocked you back and then charge you an additional $500 to get the bike cleaned. One way to avoid that is to use a freight forwarder who is located within the port bonded area or is associated with the RoRo traffic. The cheap freight forwarders use this ploy as standard.

Always attend AQIS and customs inspections so that you get the info first hand.

Like the others above, make it look like new and you should be fine. When I flew mine from KL, I took it to a car detailer who did a showroom job, a quick one, only took a few hours and cost 60 bucks, a bit more than I expected.

But, although you could see the scratches, dings and knocks, it did shine like a new one, that is the goal and it worked.

Make sure under the seat is very clean, under the mudguards and if you did use camping gear, make sure the tent and all that stuff is also clean, they checked mine.

Cheers
TS

But that $60 is a lot less than the AUS clean...

If your in a 'cheap labor' place then getting it cleaned there is a very good idea! Compared to the cost of the trip it is small and you have a clean bike to put away at home. And a good feeling that you have not brought in anything we don't want.

Like others have said, remove all dirt & bugs. Took me about half a day on a fully faired GSX-R750. In the process, I removed the fairing, chain guard, seat etc. I even picked the flies out of the radiator. A touch of polish & it looked better than ever! No problems with AQIS.

I also imported a drill rig a couple of years ago. In the process, I got hammered for describing brand new, unpainted drill bits as new. There was 0% wear (they'd never been fitted) but they'd gotten rusty during storage. It appeared that AQIS didn't like rust. I argued, but lost. The moral of the story: Don't bother arguing... the price goes up

I imported a second hand car from Japan and paid about $100 extra to have it cleaned before it went on the ship. When it arrived it was clean under the bonnet and underneath but it was filthy inside. The ash-tray was open and there was still the previous owner's cigarette stubs lying in there. There was Japanese - branded lolly wrappers, a lighter, a men's leather belt and other assorted crap lying around. Somehow the car passed quarantine like that. :confused1: