There is nothing restricting you from buying a bike in the US.

But registering it and getting a license plate is another matter. All of the legal paperwork is done by the individual states and their rules all differ.

For example in Colorado you have to have a permanent address to register it to. I believe there are several states that do not require this (Arizona? Washington? Oregon? and maybe Vermont or New Hampshire?)

You will have to check with individual states to find out.

Actually my advice would be to post your question on ADVRider in the Regional sections. I think there are a lot more US riders active there.

.............shu

Hello Djin:

That's a tough question to answer, because the regulations for motor vehicle registration in the United States are set at the state level - so, you have 50 different sets of regulations to sort through and research before you can get an answer.

Of greater concern - in other words, what is likely to be more of a problem than simply purchasing and registering (getting a license plate) the motorcycle - will be getting insurance for the motorcycle. Most North American insurance companies require that a person purchasing insurance have a USA driver license.

I think the easiest way forward for you might be to contact a friend in the USA and have them purchase, register, and insure the motorcycle for you, taking care to ensure that the insurance is valid for all riders (meaning, you), not just for the owner of the motorcycle.

There have been several other discussions here on the HUBB about the same question you have - perhaps do a little research here on the forum and you might find some useful information from the experience others have had.

Michael

Did you see this thread?
https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...nals-can-58648

I’m looking into the same thing at the moment, although we don’t plan to leave the US at this stage.
Looks like the easiest state to buy and register a bike, as a foreign national is Washington State - there are others that are also not too difficult but Washington suits us. From my research it looks like you don’t need to prove you live there, you just need a postal address for receiving mail - apparently the odd bike shop will let you use their address if you buy a bike from them.
If we go ahead I will post up - although our plans are for next year - perhaps you could also.
Good luck.

That's good news - the ease of purchase and registration in Washington state - but remember that getting a license plate is only half the battle.

The other half of the problem is getting insurance. This might be difficult to do if you don't have a driver license in the USA.

Be sure to carry out your due diligence concerning obtaining insurance before you pull the trigger and buy the bike. Keep in mind that in the USA, insurance regulations vary from state to state - some states might insure the vehicle for all riders, others might only insure named riders.

Some states may permit operation of an uninsured vehicle, others may not (for example, all across Canada, it is forbidden to operate a motor vehicle without insurance, and the penalties for doing so are very severe).

Michael

Good info.
Thanks all.

Address in California to register a bike
 

Hi all,
I am planning a tour to Alaska in june 2022 and want to buy a bike in the US.
To buy and register I need a address in California. I am a non-US resident.
Is here a hubb’r who’s address I can use to register the bike if I find one in California?
You can email me at: djinsital@gmail.com

Thanks,
Djin

Has anyone managed to buy and register in Kansas ??

I haven't (and won't). The main stumbling block I see in a quick perusal of the regulations is that proof of insurance is needed before registration/title. That's true in a lot of states, untrue in others. I didn't see anything about the owner having to be a state resident, which would be the other main impediment.

Good luck if you go this route!

Progressive used to have an option for non-US licence holders on their website, that was 4 years ago so things might have changed but worth checking out if it helps getting a vehicle registered in your name.

I'm German passport holder and I consider to buy a bike in the US for use in the next 1-3 years on several 1-3 months stays.
A friend in Arkansas would let me store the bike and let me use his address for registration process.

But I couldn't get information yet, if and how it's possible to get a bike registered as a foreigner in Arkansas.

The main issue seems to get insurance as a foreigner. I know that from my experience to get insurance for my German plated bike in 2018 (shipped with Air Canada) for a 2 months West Canada/Alaska tour. I wonder if it's easier to get insurance for a US titled bike. In 2018 I got insurance from Progressive with the help of an insurance agency, which stopped to offer insurance to foreigners later, which has been reported to me from some other guys asking them.

I guess, due Covid travel limitations, there were not that many tourists from abroad buying/registering vehicles in the US in the last 2 years.

Are there any recent and reliable informations/experiences?

Has anyone got any up to date info for this thread ?

It seems pretty impossible to get reliable information about in which state you can get insurance for a vehicle as a non national.
According to what I could find out, it's difficult or even impossible to find an insurance without a US friend or a dealer supporting you in this process.

A German couple, which contacted me a while ago, is planning a trip from Germany to Canada and the US with their bikes in summer this year and they did provide me with the information, that they only could get rates from Securogringo and Motorcycleexpress for insurance of their German plated bikes. Flight offers are not available before May/June this year, they told me.
They also told me, that Fernet offers insurance for foreigners which can provide an US address, but the insurance is limited to the US only (Canada not included).

I thought I'd updated an Arizona bike registration account from personal experience, but after a browse of this post I don't think I did... :innocent:

In late 2018 I registered a 2004 Honda XR650L in my name (title, registration and new number plate/ tag) in Arizona. A super friendly inmate from Phoenix over on Advrider did all the legwork.

The bike was in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The German seller (who had ridden it from Az to BsAs showed it to local friends who said the bike was good, especially at the price.

I paid the seller via bank transfer after he had returned to Germany. I was still in Bulgaria. Trust was involved.

We = me in Bulgaria using UK passport/ Tobias in Germany on German passport/ Dan in Az did all comms via email and WhatsApp. I followed the instructions on the Az DMV website to the letter. I think I also called them once and they confirmed all copies of documents like passports/ driver's licences needed notarising which was particularly amusing because mine went from an English to Bulgarian translation (in Cyrillic) to notarisation of the Bulgarian to translation back into English, where the translator/ notary was a little liberal as to which versions of which docs were stamped as genuine copies :D Everything was done correctly, it was just that in Bulgaria only paperwork in Cyrillic/ Bulgarian can be notarised.

The biggest expense was the couriering of docs from Europe to Az and back as I was on a tight time schedule. The DMV only charged 30 usd

A few weeks later I flew to BsAs. The TIP hadn't expired, so I rode the "seller's bike" with a poder and still on the old tag to the north west of Argentina and crossed into Bolivia. I discharged the seller's Argentine TIP and in "no mans land" (hardly) :D:D (Bolivia and Argentina share the same custom/immigration/ border hanger!!) I swapped number plates/ tags and entered Bolivia on the new Az papers that Dan in Phoenix had arranged.

The Bolivian street sweeper on the edge of town looked at me in a bemused kind of way as I rode past on my pegs, waving both arms in the air and shouting with joy.

I still own the bike. It's currently parked in the Republic of Armenia for the winter :freezing:

New information resource just in, covers all states and DC::D

https://www.visitor.us/resources/how...on-us-resident

They will DO IT ALL FOR YOU, including buying the vehicle if you want:
https://www.visitor.us/

Oh well, looks like the information on Arizona I shared yesterday, despite being relatively recent, has been superseded. Or said resource isn't entirely accurate?

Has anyone fact checked this commercial link?

Kind of like when you Google applying for a visa for Vietnam, for example, and you can either do it on the official government website that's up to date and correct, or there are multiple commercial travel agents' sites with similar look and feel and name, as well as a higher price and presenting out of date information?

Be sure to read this thread too:
https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...esident-103806 - especially page 2

I’m also very interested in this.
So is there anybody willing to share their experiences with

https://www.visitor.us/resources/how...on-us-resident

?
Arnulf