There must be a way to RTW as it has been done many times. The problem I have is to ride a NZ registered bike under NZ shipping the bike has to be back in NZ inside 12 months.
If we were to ride a US bike it is nearly impossible to purchase a bike in the US without residency.
How do the guys riding the world for some years get by with their own countries registration, insurance and temporary import/export requirements.
It seems to me they almost ignore the laws of their respective contries but that doesn't seem right as when you do finally return you must get hit with a huge fine.

Any answers to any of these questions would be much appreciated.
Regards Andrew

Life is way too important to be taken seriously ( Oscar Wild )

I don't know NZ law but have never heard of this for any other country and would suggest you check the facts of this. People from some countries have to let their registration expire, sometimes returning their number plates and making up another with the same number on it. I would also find out the consequences of not retuning the bike or think about permanently exporting it when you have finished your trip.

In the USA, some states it is very easy to buy a motorcycle without being a resident. There should be information somewhere on these boards about it.

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Traveling The World Since: 2011
Blog: The Seductive Life (General Travel)

go to Florida, USA

The first thing to realise is that you don't really ride around the world. You can't. No-one has.

Instead you do a number of trips. On different continents. Perhaps all on the same machine, perhaps not. Perhaps uninterrupted perhaps not.

It doesn't really matter where you live, no country is geared up well for overland travel. As you've found in NZ, you have to export your vehicle, or return it in 12 months. In the UK your bank will freeze your account if you don't have a valid address (almost happened to me when my mailbox was full). Some countries you can't get travel insurance for, other countries won't let you in full stop.

If I were you, I'd figure out where I want to go first, and worry about the bike last. The bike is the easy bit.

Say you want to tour Europe. Well it's easy to buy a UK bike, you'd just need to find friendly Hubb member that would let you use their address for registration.

In some parts of the States you can buy a bike without an address, similarly in Chile (so you've got S.America covered), and Malaysia (so you've got Asia sorted) .

So that leaves Africa, where you can take a European bike, and Australia (I don't know much about down, but presumably you could rent/borrow for cash a bike from a someone)

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My blog about touring and adv riding

Since you are in NZ, the West Coast of the US is closest to you and there are several states that allow foreigners to register bikes. No one cares if you take it out and never bring it back.

There are plenty of posts here in the HUBB about buying a used bike in the U.S. In some states it's fairly easy. Then you can travel pretty much all of the Americas without a carnet, maybe just buy some insurance at the border.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

An option might be to put your NZ rego 'on-hold' and get the bike registered in another country while you're away - you can access the NZTA site on line to do so. That way, may be able to legally ride your machine until you get home, where you can then get a fresh warrant of fitness and rego using your current number plate. Otherwise, you'd need to go through the compliance process, which can be expensive and a pain in the backside.

Where you might get your bike registered would be something to discuss with those based overseas...

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"Life is a daring adventure or nothing..." - Helen Keller

This is true:
Case In Point:
I personally found 2 KLR650's for two young visiting Kiwi's. (California)
They bought the two KLR's (cash) and registered them here (using a friend's address) and had them registered and legal in 30 minutes at DMV. Done. California DMV. We forwarded their title documents to them in Mexico. No problems. So they had titles in their name, which is required to cross borders world wide.

California DMV don't deal with immigration, visas or citizenship issues. You only need a local address. You don't have to be a citizen or prove residency. You don't need a local driving license and you don't have to present proof of insurance at time of registering .... but insurance IS required within in 10 days of registration.

The Kiwi kids never bought USA insurance as they were just 2 days ride from
Mexico. No problems at all since they were there within 10 days and they never got pulled anyway.

From Mexico they bought local insurance for each country. They rode all the way to Argentina. One guy sold his bike there, the other rode back to Peru' and sold his KLR there. They were on the road for about 10 months.

They spent about $3000 each for the used KLR 650's. They sold them for about $1500 each. So not bad for a 10 months trip. The bikes were BEAT by trips end. They fell off a lot and weren't real good at maintenance. But both survived and had a great time.

If me, I'd sell my NZ bike and use the money to buy something in USA. From S. America you can ship to EU, Africa or wherever ... or sell the bike off down there. (hundreds do just that here on HUBB ... look at classifieds over last year)

Or ... you could fly to S. America and buy a travelers bike. Getting it in your name may be a challenge but can be done.

Good luck

From my own experience registration is smallest problem to be concerned about as I went from Serbia on DR650 crossing 10 country's on my way to Tokyo,Japan using photo shop for registration and borrowed licence plate from a neighbors Harley...
I was only acquiring insurance if was necessary to haw....and head very pleasant trip as was more challenging this way...he ,he.

Ride safe