I'm heading over to Oz on the working holiday thing in October, and I fancy getting myself a bike as soon as possible. I've become attached to the idea of a Honda XR600 but am open to considering any medium-ish sized trailie.

I'm flying into Melbourne so I've been looking at bikes in Victoria on Gumtree and eBay, and done a bit of research about the paperwork side of it. However I'm coming to the conclusion this is going to turn out to be a right pain in the derriere! A lot of the bikes I've seen for sale seem quite overpriced, many of them have no registration, and a large portion of the trailbikes sold with registration are on 'recreational reg'. As far as I understand it if you're selling a bike without registration you need to supply it with the equivalent of an MOT, but this has been made quite expensive in the last few years so quite a lot of ads specifically state that they're selling without the RWC - Despite the fact that this is illegal as far as I understand?

Basically I want to know if I'll be better off heading to a different state to buy a bike? I'm planning on touring round the country over the course of the year, so I expect irregardless of which state I buy the bike in, I'll be spending more time out of it than in.


The recreational reg thing in Victoria actually sounds quite interesting if there's the possibility of blatantly ignoring the law about where you can ride. Does anyone know anything about it? Taking the bike out-of-state on the rec-reg would probably be the crucial bit.

I don't understand why some of the bikes I'm seeing are so overpriced. $5k for bikes up to 10 years old, that can't have cost any more than 7 or 8 grand brand new. I've never paid more than a grand sterling for a bike here, and that's also without having to faff around getting expensive inspections and registrations done!

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UK to Mongolia 2009, on a DR350

Vic rec reg only works in Vic, and then only in certain areas.... so that is out. Unreg bikes may have been raced, used on normal roads.. or have lapsed reg.

You may be better off buying in Queensland (state capitol Brisbane) - they have a single seat rego that is much cheaper (no insurance for a pillion so much cheaper)

Along with the XR you should consider the Yam tenere, Suzi DR, Kaw KLR.

Prices are high here for bikes. Just a fact. Also high for clothing, fuel.

Consider the costs of
shipping in/out + carnet.
Buying - say a week? Selling say 2 weeks? Depends if you do it through a dealer - less time, more immediate costs, less waiting.

Its not illegal to sell without a rego, if the bike needs a bit of work to get the RWC then most people will try first to sell it as is. I sold a scooter earlier this year and the RWC and what I had to fix cost half what I wanted for the bike.

Check bikesales.com.au and you can compare prices for the same bike Australia wide.

As for the inflated prices, welcome to Australia! Expect to get shocked by prices for food, accommodation, you name it we pay through the nose.

There's been plenty of threads over the years on this topic.

Avoid buying in NSW as they have an annual safety inspection, if you will be travelling around the country you will have to return to NSW.

The other (non NSW) states have a safety certificate/inspection prior to sale if the vehicle is registered - the seller must offer. Selling the vehicle without plates and unregistered means the seller can put the onus on you to get the safety inspection and then re register - gets all too hard for someone who does not know their way around the local bureaucracy.

Selling a bike in another state can be a pain - try and return to the state you bought it in, you'll get a better price anyway.

Bike prices - welcome to the global market where prices are based on what the locals will pay for something and not what is a reasonable profit for the seller.

The thing about the high prices that I can't my head around is that in some cases you could get a brand new bike for not a lot more! Also, I've seen a couple of well kitted out KTM 690s for $6-7k, yet looking at xr400 and 600s they can go for up to $5k - I can't see the logic there at all...

Thanks for the responses, I guess there isn't an easy option then. The only reason why I'm paranoid about this RWC thing is I'm envisioning strict testers giving me a big old list of things to sort out, which could take time, tools I won't have, and maybe also tracking down parts to make a traillie legal - Mirrors, numberplate brackets, road legal tyres...

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UK to Mongolia 2009, on a DR350

In Vic if the bike is sold registered, then the seller has to provide the RWC, not the buyer. There are clubs like the UK's AA and RAC that will do pre purchase inspections, try looking up RACV.

Prices - supply and demand.

Most states require a valid garaging/residential address to register a vehicle, but the postal address can be different.
States that don't require annual safety inspections are easiest and if you buy a bike that is already registered then the existing registration and third party insurance (mandatory) can be easily transferred - sometimes over the internet.

Valid drivers license in the same state make the process easier but guess it isn't mandatory. Might need an international drivers permit to go with your current OS license.

Blatantly ignoring our laws on anything would be a poor choice

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Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map

In WA, as long as the vehicle is still road-registered, there is no need for a safety inspection or RWC.

And license & 3rd party insurance for a year om XR600 is around $220 if I recall correctly.

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Squily

Hi Nathan
Rec reg if it is the same as NSW allows riders to ride in state Forrest's ect.
In Queensland you can get a bike and set it for single seat rego.
That will save you some money.
Yes trail bikes do hold their value hear.
Check out bike sales.com.au and trading post as well

if i recall correctly, you are legally allowed to have bike that is registered in one state actually physically present in another for a max of 3 months - although this is obviously a difficult law to be enforced.

if you are looking at rego from another state, then be aware that some states will require a physical inspection before you can get you rego renewed. they may also have different laws for older bikes- from memory, anything over 5 years old needs to be inspected in NSW

I believe that is only the case if you actually change your residential address to another state. There should be no problem otherwise



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