Hi,
is the customs warehouse near the airport at toronto/vancouver?
how long does it take to clear customs?
thanks

Err, need a little more detail...

Clear customs for a bike? Coming from where? Bike registered where? Your citizenship? (Posting your location in your profile is ok and helpful)

In Vancouver customs is right at the airport, only a few blocks from the terminal. Clearing for Canadians, Americans and Brits is quick, a matter of minutes if everything is right and you're not coming from Colombia for instance.

Don't know about Toronto.

------------------
Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Yer right Grant,....pretty c**p post!!!!
so it should be,"customs clearance for uk reg bike",..last time i was across at calgary a matter of a few minutes to clear my bike at about 9pm ,
now?maff inspection?..

If you are talking about shipping your bike to Vancouver by air I don't have the answer.

If it is coming by ship, then you my friend are in for an ordeal. The bike could be located in many locations around Vancouver, but not all of them offer customs services. My bike arrived from Australia by ship and it took the entire day (most of the time was driving as the bike was located far away from the airport) or the city center; the same story for my bike arriving earlier via ship from India and Thailand. It is a big pain in the butt.

Hi Lost 1,
going to be flying in,thanks for the reply anyway...come on folks ...around toronto ,....someone must know?

Clearing a motorcycle through customs in Toronto (CYYZ) can (and probably will be) a PITA.

There are several problems:

1) The customs office is located in the new midfield cargo area, inside the square formed by the 4 runways. Most, but not all of the cargo companies are also in this area. But, about 30% of the cargo warehouses are in the 'old' cargo area to the northeast of runway 15-33. You need a car to get from the midfield to the old cargo area - although it is only about half a mile straight line distance, it is about an 8 mile drive around the airport. The taxi fare is probably about $25 one way.

2) Even if your bike shows up in the midfield cargo area, it can be a long walk (ca. half an hour or more) from the cargo company to the customs building.

3) The Toronto customs officers are legendary for their stupidity when it comes to clearing motorcycles. The last two times I have cleared my Ontario registered, Ontario purchased motorcycle through customs coming back to Canada, they have insisted in inspecting it for Transport Canada safety standards compliance - despite the fact that I showed them my bill of sale from a Toronto dealership located 10 miles from the airport, and despite the fact that the bike has Ontario licence plates on it.

Last time I came through, they called Agriculture Canada to inspect the bike for cow-shit - even though I brought photos of the bike, in the cargo container, showing that it was immaculatly clean. The cargo company manager told the customs girl over the phone that he could "eat off the mudguards", it was that clean, but the girl refused to use common sense and clear it.

Net result: 2 day delay to clear the bike, extra $100 in storage fees, $60 Ag Canada inspection fee to determine it had no cow-shit on it, and about 4 trips back and forth from the north side to the midfield.

You have to appreciate that in Canada, government employees are discouraged from using common sense. Heck, I have imported the bike into third world countries with fewer problems...

PanEuropean

Bryan - just a follow-up - I suggest you try to hook up with a Toronto resident who is a member of this BB, and have them meet you and drive you about to go through the process of getting the bike released. It's really a simple process, made complex by distance and government stupidity.

I can do this for you if you plan to arrive prior to April 15th, after that, I'm going in the opposite direction (to Europe) with my moto for the summer.

PanEuropean

Hi PanEuropean
Your information is proving to be a great help.
My husband and I are planning on coming over in July. Will you be available to help us with the customs etc?
It would be a life saver if you could help, as I can only stay for 3 weeks due to work commitments and then my husband will carry on for 2 months on his own. So I can't really afford to lose time over silly things like you discussed about customs :-(
thanks
Debbie :-)

Wow, digging up a discussion from 20 years ago, and I'm still around to read it - remarkable.

If I am in town and still alive when you arrive I would be happy to help you.

What you will need to clear the moto out of customs is as follows:

1) A copy of your airwaybill
2) Proof of your ownership of the motorcycle
3) Proof that it is insured in Canada (minimum liability insurance required)
4) Passport of the owner
5) White "UK" country sticker on the back of the moto.

Make sure that the motorcycle is immaculately clean, with particular attention paid to not having any evidence of dirt or soil on the tires or under the fenders, and no bug splats of any kind on the moto. This is to avoid the customs person thinking that they need to call the agricultural inspection people to see if there is any risk of importing insect eggs or soil fungi. That would delay things by a day and cost about $250.

Very few people import motos from overseas into Canada for tourist purposes. Because of this, the Canadian customs officials usually get quite confused when presented with a moto at the airport - they assume that it is a permanent importation, thus subject to duty, tax, and compliance with Canadian vehicle safety standards. It can be difficult to convince them that it is nothing more than a temporary tourist importation, no different than the tens of thousands of USA-plated vehicles that drive across the border into Canada every day.

Any material that you can bring along to assist in convincing Canada customs that you are only importing it temporarily for tourist purposes will be helpful, for example, any paperwork you might have that documents your plans to re-export the motorcycle at the end of your tour.

Send me an email so we can establish communications, my email is paneuropean at hotmail dot com.

Michael

PS: I notice that in another discussion you have been looking for information about who to use to ship the moto. You might want to contact Motorcycle Express in New York State, they are quite experienced shipping in and out of Canada. I have used them several times in the past and they were very professional. They might also be able to get you discounted tickets on the same flight as your bike if you are travelling on Air Transit (not sure if they still do that or not). Also consider investigating both Air Canada and WestJet directly - both of them offer "fly your bike" programs in the summertime.

Great info some that I didn't want to hear but good to know.
I fly in on the 27th May 24. I'm hoping as my bike is coming from the UK I'll have a painless easy process.... WATCH this space.

OK, please get in touch with me ASAP either by leaving your email address in a private message to me here on the HUBB, or by sending me an email at the address I included in my reply above. Or, better still, both.

Michael