Ok ,just a few thoughts here ,they might be relevent to your situation or perhaps not .

Bikes are cheaper in the US , buy it and insure it there ,then travel to Canada .
BC insurance is expensive if you land here , the province [govt ] is the only place to get it ,so for western Canada ,buy the bike and insure it in Calgary where they have private companies doing insurance .

Second hand bikes are expensive at the dealers ,buy new and don't bugger about looking for bikes from private individuals as you will waste a lot of your vacation time .

If you want to do gravel and some off road ,get a KLR they have a big tank as standard and will do what you want and are cheap .A dr650 might be better [IMHO it is ] but in standard form they don't have a big tank etc .

Get a 650 road bike if you want to do tarmac long distance ,they are cheap enough and have the speed and comfort for long highway stints ,anything bigger is a waste of money .
Something like a 650 Strom will be easy to sell at the end of your trip ,or you could leave it at a dealer and sell on consignment .

Avoid Sportsters and cruisers , unless "the look" is important to you .They are a pain in the arse.

Bring over soft bike luggage or buy it here it's fairly cheap,it's all you'll need for a short duration trip .

Get an idea of bike prices from Blackfoot Motosports
[Not many people like dealing with them ,there are better bike shops in Calgary who will more than likey do a better deal for you ,but you'll get a good idea of what's available .]

Can't speak for the Eastern side of the country but I imagine the situation is about the same .

Good luck and have fun !

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

I must confess to knowing nothing about buying second in a country I'm not a resident of.

That probably explains my perspective in part.

Personally, I would ship my own bike: I know what its had done in the past, I can prepare it to suit my needs, I can practice packing for best weight distribution at home, I can take it for a practice run for a camping weekend. I know where all the bits are located, how to do this maintenance or that, and most importnatly, I know how it rides. I also know the local market prices, the local market tendencies, tricks and legislation, insurance terms and conditions etc, which could not be said of my destrination. It also saves you time, before you set off, and on your return (no need for purchases and sales), and you still have a bike when you get back, unless you don't plan to sell the XTZ to finance the new bike...

This is the logic we applied when we went to Argentina. Admittedly, I think our choices in terms of bikes for sale would have been far smaller, so perhaps with N. America as a starting point you have more to choose from and it seems the case from the posts above. Nonetheless, I think that is the way I would go: just another perspective to consider.

Happy travels.

__________________
Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Hi Dodger, thanks for your input.

I can't afford to buy new, I will only have about $2000 maybe $3000 max to spend so I will be looking for used. I have heard that used KLRs can be well hammered and a bad buy, is that right?

Also, why are cruisers (Sportys etc) a pain? I have no experience with them so I'm unaware of the traps.

Thanks

__________________
BD.

Your original post mentioned 2500 pounds which would nearly get you a new Klr.
$2000 won't buy very much .
I suggest you pick a bike you are very familiar with and look for a good used one .
If you were to buy new and then leave it behind to be sold you would probably lose $2000 anyway.
A used bike for 2 grand is going to need some work on it ,so budget for that and downtime fixing it enroute and not being able to sell it afterwards.

Cruisers with forward controls might not be comfortable if you want to do long distances .
Honda 750 Shadows and Yam 650 VStars are cheap ,but not 2 grand though .

KLR s tend to hold their value if they are in good condition , so I wouldn't guarantee being able to pick up a prime one cheaply in a hurry when you land .

If you have a friend over here who lives near a large town and can look out for a bike or give you accomodation while you look for a bike ,you might be OK .But to live in a motel and get a taxi to take you round looking for bikes will eat away your budget very fast .
Canada is not a cheap place to live .

Some Yamaha quads share engine parts with the XT660 so do your research and find part numbers for engine components -so if you need anything you can get it without hassle .
Might be something to think about if you bring your own bike .

I don't want to rain on your parade ,but that's the way I see it .

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Hey Butch,

A few random comments.

If I were coming over from Europe to North America, I would buy instead of ship. You'll save yourself the $2,000 - $3,000 shipping back and forth and get to put that towards your trip.

Where to buy one? The US, in general, has better selection and prices than Canada.

Type of bike? Big question, but you mentioned you wanted to cover the whole country and as you know it is a biiiig place. You also mentioned we so I assume that you will be two up. For these reasons I would lean heavily toward a more comfortable dual sport and away from the KLR/DR style. DL650/1000 or something along those lines would be a much better choice just based on the vastness of the place.

Your bike budget maybe a bit lean for this, but like trips to most first world countries, living can be expensive and you may want to reconsider this ratio to your overall trip budget. Adding a couple of thousand onto that would greatly expand the potential bike options and make it more enjoyable IMHO.

Let me know when you plan on coming over, happy to help with route recommendations and cold .

This thread-type comes around quite often, and it's not the actual buying of a bike that seems to be a problem, but the legally-registering [plates/title] of it that's a pain (needing a registered address etc).When i get around to more touring there i reckon shipping's the easiest option.

Hey Pottsy,

Very valid comment for many countries, but I do think that the registration issue is bit overblown for most of North America. In the US, it depends on the state but I have purchased a US bike as a non US resident and it took all of about an hour. There are a lot of simple options to overcome the address issue, even as simple as posting here looking for an address from a kind hearted fellow traveller. In Canada, you can buy a bike, jump through a couple of hurldes and be off and riding same day. Really nothing too difficult for the vast majority of resourceful motorcycle travellers.

I do agree though that the hassle of trying to find a motorbike in a foreign coutry and the time that this takes coupled with the unknown of how to register a bike causes many to take the straightforward option of just shipping their home bike. In the modern age though with surfing of foreign bike sites, etc., it is really not that difficult and if the cost of shipping is material to you, then buying here should strongly be considered. And when the time comes that you want to come over and ride here, you are welcome to use my address if you need one for your newly purchased North American bike

- Hmmm, i emailed the DMV of both Ontario and BC and the response was the same... i needed to be a resident there. My problem is i don't generally like to impose on others as they'll probably end up dealing with my stuff afterwards (follow-on mail from DMV's etc - or am i too paranoid?). I know non-residents have managed in the past, but they usually seem to have relatives there to assist with addresses etc. It's a right pain being a reserved Englishman, i can tell you.

Your thoughtfulness is understandable and commendable, it in part may come down to a matter of personal preference.

What I can say from personal experience though is that people are coming to work/study in Canada and the US daily and having to buy vehicles and the issue of registering a vehicle to a person that has just arrived crops up all the time. Here in BC, a quick trip to our provincial insurer, ICBC will yield typical questions and in general there are failry easy solutions that can be found.

Establishing residency may be difficult in some places, but I would venture to say that in most all they really need is an address, any address. I've seen people use hotel addresses, addresses of friends, etc.

And perhaps some would indeed mind the odd letter addressed to an old aquaintance, but as a motorcycle traveller I wouldn't even notice your annual renewal notice and unpaid speeding tickets in the tonnage of flyers and mail addressed to old tenants. If you ever need to borrow an address or rusty tools, please feel free.