Hi there

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find any real info. We want to buy a bike (new or s/hand) in New York and sell it on the west coast or maybe Alaska. Can we get insurance and registration etc to be legal? Seems really expensive option to freight in/out a UK bike and I guess the insurance headache will still exist?

Thanks in advance for any info

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www.wollongongtowoolwich.co.uk

Some bedtime reading to kickstart your research: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...nals-can-58648

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TBS.com

Pretty sure the short answer is Yes. I bought a bike in Alaksa and rode is through USA/Canada and on to Mexico etc.

I didn't try to sell it in the USA but I assume it's all legal and OK. Insurance and reg. is possible anywhere in the US but some States are easier than others (perhaps ask on ADV)

Have you thought about buying in Alaska I KNOW it's straight forward there. Ask Phil at Motorcycle Rentals, Tours and Self-Guided Adventures | MotoQuest

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I answered a very similar question from an Australian citizen wanting to buy a bike in the US and may be ship it home : http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...stration-74966

There's no particular difficulty in what you are suggesting. However, the selling of the bike on the US West Coast could be long-winded, depending on exactly where you are finishing your trip/planning to sell, the time of year, and the type of bike you have bought. We finished our tour of the US in Portland, Oregon, in September 2001, and left our bikes 'on consignment' with a dealer to sell for us. NB, the dealer did not buy the bikes from us. We agreed a price and the dealer could then basically put the bike up for whatever he could get for it, as long as he paid us the agreed amount when it sold. (Apologies to our American friends, that's a Brit's probably rather oversimplified explanation.)

In September in Oregon, the weather is already beginning to get cool, so the riding season is almost at an end. If you finish your tour at the end of the riding season, you may have to wait until the following Spring for your bike to sell.

Nearly a year later, only one of our bikes actually sold: a 1200cc Triumph Trophy. Mine was a single cylinder BMW F650GS, which, in the days before Charley and Ewan and LWR, riders in Oregon really didn't understand at all. The attitude at the time was that anything under 1000cc was a child's/woman's bike and, anyway, to them it looked like a 'dirt bike'. Things have probably changed a lot since then, but it's worth looking into what the best sellers are before you buy.

there is some restriction in California. A used bike has to have X amount of miles to sell there due to pollution standards

Looking at the OP's post again, I would be inclined to at least look into shipping your own bike over from the UK and insuring it for use in the US. HC Travel and Motorcycle Express can provide you with quotes and it may not be as expensive as you think. To be honest, having gone the buy and sell route in 2001, Roynie and I have since shipped our bikes twice for 8-week+ trips in 2006 (by air into Toronto) and 2009 (by sea into Halifax).

I live in New York City and if you need help finding a bike or need to use my address to register, PM me.

Mitch

Thanks Mich v kind of you. I bought one here just to get used to it, prob fly it out.

With the new cheap rates that Air Canada are offering it probably isn't that much more expensive an option. I've just bought a bike in Pennsylvania and had it reregistered in New Jersey (via a friend who lives there) and with taxes etc it cost just short of $750 on top of the purchase price.