From the cold north (USA) to those in the sunny south (Australia)

Having just returned from 22603 miles in South and Central America and Mexico I am going through withdrawal, the best treatment for this is planning the next escape. I hope to ship bike to Australia next winter (here) for a six week ride. have a few questions and am not good at making searches work well.

First being transport, any recommendations? I had seen a web site of someone shipping from Australia to Portland Oregon, but have managed to loose the web address.

How long is a temporary import in Australia good for? I will only be able to go for six weeks this time but if the temporary import is for 12 months then I could leave it and return for a few more weeks later.

Have been thinking about buying a new bike there then shipping back home (or to the next country). Anyone know if the price difference between USA and OZ is greater than transport cost? Also how hard is it to get paperwork to insure it meets USA specs.

Just starting planning so most options are open and any advice is much appreciated.

Bob Thode
Onalaska, Washington, USA

Hi Mate

You might want to do a little more research on the time to go - The middle of the Australian Summer is probably not the best time to visit many areas.

For 6 weeks it will probably be a little cheaper to ship your bike vs hiring. Make sure your shipping quotes include everything! The only way to temporarily import a vehicle into Oz is on a Carnet which will be valid for 12 months.
Landing the bike in Sydney means once you have cleared customs & quarantine (clean the bike well) you are free to go with no transport dept paperwork required. We got full local Insurance with Swann.

We used an NZ company, Go Logistics, who also do transport out of the US AFAIK. They were good apart from Qantas losing our Carnets, take the Carnet yourself or have it sent via tracked courier, not with the bike.
Their Sydney agents, All Cargo were really helpful & we unpacked, packed & stored our crate at their depot near the airport for a small fee.

Cheers
Clint

Not possible Bob. Here's quote from the Aussie Government, "The vehicle that is covered by a carnet must not remain in Australia when the owner is not in Australia". For more details please refer to section 7 of Eligibility Criteria.

Cheers
KEITH


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Right Way Round ...

Keith,

officially, one can't. But nothing get's stamped in a passport, as far as a temporary
vehicle import is concerned. Know people who left their motor vehicle here for nearly 12 month, locked up with friends. Came twice within this period for touring around and than had it shipped back to Europe. As long as the bike doesn't get used and is insured and under lock & key, it may work. Even is Oz, the rules get bend sometimes.

Cheers Helgo

Thanks Helgo, now that is interesting. I have been planning to get around Australia in 2 x separate two-month long tours - shipping across from NZ - to fit-in with the rules. Click-on this link for details. It never occurred to me to 'bend' the regs (well .. it did, if I'm really honest, but I soon dismissed the idea!)

My concerns have been, and still are that:

1. My personal passport will have a 'stamp out' and a 'stamp back in' if leave Oz to take a break (back in England), but leave my Kiwi-registered bike 'unaccompanied' in your country;

2. I only ever intended to get 2 x separate Short Stay (3-month) ETA Tourist Visas to cover my aussie visits. I know I could probably get a Long-Stay (12-month) Tourist Visa, but this still wouldn't extend over the complete time-period I want spend in Oz (March '10 - June '11), albeit in two separate shorter-stay visits. I understand that you deffo cannot have a bike in Oz, under cover of a carnet, if you don't have a visa covering the same time period(s).

A carnet would only last a year in any case, so I would have to extend it at some time, which might bring to the attention of the Aussie Authorities that I had skipped the country for 10-11 months whilst the bike remained in Oz; AND

3. Believe it not - and call me old-fashioned if ya want - but I'm from a school that whispers to me, 'if you chaps down there are good enough to give me free passage around your country, then the least I can do is fall in line with your rules.' .. I am, after all, a quasi-ambassador for my country at the end of the day; so best play along with a straight bat IMHO.

Must be getting old, I reckon! .. .. :confused1:

Cheers
KEITH


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Right Way Round ...

Thanks for the info, now have something to work with and think about.

Advice I've received is to travel the south and east in the summer and the north in winter. Thus my hope of riding the cooler areas on the first leg then returning for a run to the north before shipping bike home. I do try to follow the rules but sometimes it just does not work out. Kind of like taking the sail boats from Columbia to Panama, everyone does it, but not technically legal.

My last escape was a little over three months and on return was put on restriction, no more than six weeks unless I sell off the farm. So any travel in the next couple of years needs to be in six week blocks.

Still would like to find the name of the chap who is shipping bikes by container from Australia to Portland Oregon. Would work great for me if I could catch a ride on the back haul and being close to Portland (75 miles) might be able to offer help on this end if needed.

Would like to offer a place to stay and shop to work on bike to anyone traveling USA from Australia (so I can glean info on where to ride when I get there). Actually travelers from anywhere are welcome here (SW Washington State) that way I have someone to look up when I get to your hometown.

Bob

Here ya go Bob, this is the link to the firm you're looking for: GetRouted : Bike shipping and Tour Operator

Dave Milligan is the bloke who owns/manages Get Routed, that runs containers for bikes to~~>fro Portland, OR.




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Right Way Round ...

Thanks for the info, will now start hammering out a plan.

Bob

Hi There,

I have some friends from the U.K who have recently left Sydney heading south on two bikes they purchased second hand in Aus. For them (spending a year riding around the country) it was significantly cheaper to buy two second hand Suzuki DR400's. That was because shipping the bikes from the UK, customs clearance, carnets etc all added up very quickly. They expect to then export the bikes from Australia to New Zealand after a year and spend another 6 months there. The one thing I would say is that they purchased many of their "preparation" bits in the UK because they found them to be cheaper to buy it there and pay some excess baggage costs. The problem is that if your doing a fair bit of motorway riding the DRZ400's not so comfortable, but they are pretty cheap when compared to some other bikes on the market here. the benefit of buying the bikes here is you can leave it here while you go and come back again without any issues.

It may be easier to enter through Brisbane to register a bike there, as New South Wales has difficult rego and insurance requirements (try a search here I think xander had problems here) Each state of Oz has slightly different rego needs, some states are not so trying. Once registered, you can use in any state.

Cheers from Oz
Chucky55

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I'm not getting older; I'm just progressing through LIFE!! Harleys do not have a throttle- they have VOLUME control!!!

If you are importing your bike temporarily on a Carnet, NSW has NO rego or insurance requirements. That was our experience last year anyway.

Cheers
Clint

Riding a DRZ400 around OZ, is really not something I'd like to dwell on....Like really, you'd prefer to enjoy the experience, shurly? Rather than be in agony?
I'm a little baffled as to how we, as a comunity of like minded souls, can't get it together. eg; Next month, I have a complete stranger from New Mexico, coming over to ride my set up DR 650, from Melb~Perth. He has a Bike for me to ride if I'd like to have a ride over there. When he's finished, a mate from Belgium is coming over to ride it through the middle, back home again.He helped me out over there a cupla years ago...
What I'm trying to say, is we could all save ourselves a shedload of money and grief, if we got into the the BIKESHARE arrangement!

And before it starts.....KISS!

What, you mean something like this???
Welcome to Trans-Atlantic BikeShare (www.bikeshareworld.com)

I've been a member for years.

Cheers bloke

Nigel in NZ

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

G'day Bob, I think chucky might be right about Brisbane being easier to enter, but I would think that most states shouldn't be that difficult.
I need to check out the site Nigel suggested bike sharing sounds like great idea to me. As for traveling here in summer its not only the heat so much up north but the wet season in the top end that can/does make certain areas difficult/dangerous and unrideable.
Cheers Pedro

Hi Bob,
A lot of people under estimate how BIG our country is.
Something like 48 US states fit inside Oz (including Texas). You can ride for 5 hours @ 60mph from Melbourne and still be in Victoria, the second smallest state.
Riding at dawn and dusk should be avoided due to wildlife committing suicide, and if you hit a kangaroo, you'll come off second best.

Allow 300klm/200m per day for a comfy trip.

Have a great trip.

Chucky55

Cheers from Oz

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I'm not getting older; I'm just progressing through LIFE!! Harleys do not have a throttle- they have VOLUME control!!!