I'm replying to my own thread but for the benefit of others who maybe looking for similar information I received this from a friend via email:
Importing is easy. You need to get a bill of sale (make this yourself, it needs very little effort or imagination). Bill of sale just needs a few details, a name and address of the seller (can be fictional), a few words about sold as seen or something, and a signature from you (doesn't even need the sellers). A few words about the bike being a heap of junk and not running (spares/repairs) would do well to justify a low price.
Then you take it down to the nice girls at Aladdin Freight in Oakland, who are the cheapest shipping agents I've found, by a long margin. $450 to the UK. They need the title, a photocopy of your passport, your email address, and that's about it.
You get an email from a company called Kingstown shipping, Stephen Shores or Mark Cowley. They'll tell you it's arrived, and that they have/need your bill of sale for import purposes. Then you fill in the C384 form (attached), and they give you a bill for import tax.
You don't need to pay Aladdin freight until the bike arrives, and then you can pay the whole lot to Kingstown, and they'll pay Aladdin.
The bike will be released from customs, and available for collection here:
Chatham Freight Station
Building 63
Chatham Docks
Chatham
Kent
ME4 4SR
Then you go and collect it. You'll be given an important form stating that you've paid the duty on the vehicle (C&E 386). This is needed if and when you register the bike on the road over here with the DVLA.
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