I got up to 45°C indeed
Being in summer was also the reason why I choose not to travel via the "Great Central Road", but via the southern Nullarbor.

Sorry Xander, some delay in my answer
By the way, thank you for your nice proposal, too bad I didn't see it in time !

So great to see an update, and to hear it all worked out!

I still haven't made it back to Aus, and I'm still thinking about it!

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

Hi, I can see this is an old thread but I’m doing much the same, this October. Flying into Sydney from Canada. I’ve been looking at touring bikes such as Honda ST1100 which seem reasonably priced.
Has there been any significant changes to buying, registering and insuring a motorcycle in the last few years; especially for a newly arrived tourist?

Each Australian State has its own motor vehicle licensing authority, so the rules and procedures vary according to where you intend to buy.

In New South Wales the Roads and Maritime Services division of the Department of Transport manages registration. As you don't have a NSW driving licence, you will need to register for a customer number in order to register the bike in your name. More information can be found here:

https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boati...tration/basics

When you buy the bike you will need to pay stamp duty. This is done at the time when you transfer the vehicle into your name. The market value or the purchase price, whichever is higher, is used to calculate the stamp duty cost.

There is a minimum level of insurance that you must hold when you own a motor vehicle. In NSW this is known as compulsory third party (CTP) insurance or 'green slip'. A vehicle's existing CTP insurance automatically transfers to the new owner when the registration is transferred. You won't need to do anything with the CTP insurance until the bike's registration is due for renewal.

The bike will also need to pass an annual safety inspection, also known as a 'pink slip'. Your registration renewal notice will show when the next inspection is due.

THANK YOU for the follow up.. I am planning on a FULL around the country tour.. a year or more.. and plan on a light weight dual or dirt.. Possibly the BMW 310 gs.. with upgraded suspension, spoke rims, dirt tires, etc.. I agree on a "adenture style " bike that can handle both or dirt primarily..
cheers, Coco

No real changes that i am aware of.

The best thing is to have an address, or someone who will let you use their address.

Send me a DM if you like.

that was good JIL to get feedback on your trip and how the bike "buy/sell" experience was for you.
This is of interest to a lot of people who propose coming here and buying a bike, I suspect that you were just fortunate with such a quick sale, esp with "out of state "registration.
Your choice of bike was good even if you'd have suffered a bit crossing the Nullabor - easy to sell.
I see that a couple of people have thought about buying Honda STs. Yes, great bike and comfortable touring and can be bought quite cheaply. Of course, there's a reason for this. I see ones on FB and Gtree sitting there for a long time before moving.

Hi Jil

Thanks for the excellent photos and account of your journey.

My husband and I are experienced bikers from the UK (and used HUBB extensively in 2011 to research a trip when we shipped our bikes to Nairobi and spent 7 months riding across Africa together). This time, we're heading off to Perth from the UK on 5th March for a 3-6 month trip across to Brisbane (sticking more to tarmac this time as we're >10 years older and fancy a bit more of a 'vanilla' trip).

Rather than shipping our bikes over there we've also decided to buy 2 bikes in Perth. We'll store them with friends in Brisbane and then fly back hopefully in a year or so to pick up the rest of the journey across Northern Australia, back to Perth, where we'll sell the bikes (unless we want to do it all again)! [UPDATE - we might only have to buy one as we've been offered one to borrow and just lorry it back to Perth from Brisbane when we're done! Some people are just kindness through and through].

Your account was therefore really timely. I just had one question (at the moment) regarding insurance.

A friend (also an incredibly kind and helpful person) in Perth sent me this link about the compulsory third party insurance that is part of the Rego (registration document and license transfer) and I hope it might be useful for other bikers looking to do this too.

https://www.icwa.wa.gov.au/motor-inj...surance-policy


The key point being.....

"Your Motor Injury Insurance Policy is printed on the back of your vehicle registration (“rego”). Two insurance products make up the motor injury insurance policy: Compulsory Third Party (CTP) and Catastrophic Injuries Support (CIS).
A policy is paid for when a vehicle is registered with the Department of Transport. The CTP policy covers the driver or owner of a vehicle for injuries they cause to others in a motor vehicle crash anywhere in Australia. The CIS policy covers a person for a catastrophic injury caused in a motor vehicle crash.
The motor injury insurance policy does not cover the cost of damage caused to vehicles or property from a motor vehicle crash. If you have your own motor vehicle insurance, these costs may be covered.".

But my question is did you travel just with the compulsory 3rd party insurance that was part of the Rego? Or did you get any extra insurance to cover you for 3rd party vehicle damage in the event you caused an accident? Just wondering really since I contacted an Australian insurer (Shannons) and they said they couldn't insure us because we didn't have a "fixed, permanent postal residential and garaging address" :0(

Thanks for posting such helpful stuff! Hoping I can add to this in due course from our experiences too.
Maria