Gday All.

I have done a fair bit of reading/ searching on the HUBB and still not sure as to the correct answer.

We dont have enough time to see/ do everything in Canada/ USA in one trip so I am exploring the idea of leaving the bikes in North America for 12 months and returning again for another crack.

The bikes are Australian registered.

Is this possible?

Has anyone done it recently and do they have ideas on places to store the bikes.

Many thanks

PS we are thinking of air freight Iceland/ Halifax as our starting point in 2013.

Cheers
Brett
2003 London/ Tokyo
2006 Seoul/ Amsterdam
2007 Czech/ Poland/ Slovakia
2008 Pyrennes
2009 BIH/ Montenegro
2010 Greece/ Macedonia/ Kosovo
2011 Turkey/ Georgia/ Armenia

Hi Brett,
I'm in Calgary Canada, with lots of secure storage space.
You're welcome to store your bikes here.
Feel free to email/pm me if you like.
Cheers!
Daver

Brett,
In "theory" (that means, by formal US Customs/ DOT/ EPA rule), personal foreign-registered vehicles imported into the USA by their owners for temporary tourism use are only allowed to remain in the US for a period not exceeding 12 mos, measured from the time of their first entry into the US, for one time only.
Most countries have similar rules--although the interpretation may vary; and I don't know the exact language of Canadian rules.

I'm guessing that, even if the "rules" are the same in Canada, that Canada is likely to be a "friendlier" environment for circumventing the formal rules.

If the bike remains in the US beyond the max 12 mos period, the same rules say it's subject to seizure by Customs.

In "practice," vehicle imports are not cross-referenced in any official database
with your OZ passport + USA visa; it's a separate paper trail.

So, you could in practice leave/ store the bike somewhere in the US--beyond the max allowed 12 mos period--leave the US, and return to use the bike later , assuming you've also arranged vehicle insurance for any period that the bike is being ridden/ operated.....if you want to take the risk.

See note above about Canada being a "friendlier" environment, in general.

Under those circumstances, you might run into some paperwork grief when it came time to return ship/ export the bike outside of the US back to OZ, or
elsewhere.

I don't think you'll find too many personal examples of doing this reported on HUBB, meaning not many folks have the time/ budget to put themselves into a situation where they've left a bike beyond the max 12 mos; and then what happened when they returned and were ready to export the bike after expiration of the original 12 mos import period.

Places to store? Well...with any person--like Daver above--who's willing to offer you a private garage storage spot; or probably any larger bike dealer wherever--for a fee; or any of numerous commercial storage facilties--for a fee.

Good luck!

A friend of mine has been storing a couple of bikes in his barn for some germans for a year now I'll ask him how they did it and post a little later. By the way that's in Nova Scotia

Just got an answer, they didn't have their bikes stamped into Canada so customs doesn't know they're here, not much help is it but will continue to look

Cheers Philip

This is getting monotonous being the only one posting here. Anyway the answer is yes you can leave the bike here, the answer is right from the horse's mouth, the Canadian Border Services.


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During their stay in Canada, as a visitor, they can temporarily import passenger and recreational vehicles, such as snowmobiles, boats and trailers, as well as outboard motors, for their personal use as long as they have adequate documentation such as title documentation, registration, insurance paperwork.
You cannot leave temporarily imported goods in Canada between visits unless they have been properly reported to theCanada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and you were issued a Form E99, CBSA Report. You must display this form on your vehicle, boat or trailer or have it easily available to prove that you imported the goods legally. Remember to watch the expiry date. If you leave goods in Canada beyond the expiry date, and they are not in accordance with CBSA regulations, they may become subject to seizure and forfeiture.
Should you require additional assistance with your inquiry, we recommend that you contact the Border Information Service (BIS). You can access the BIS line free of charge throughout Canada by calling 1-800-461-9999. If you are calling from outside Canada, you can access the BIS line by calling either 204-983-3500 or 506-636-5064 (long-distance charges will apply). If you call during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, except holidays), you can speak to an officer by pressing “0” after you have made a selection of one of the 4 menu options.

Thank you for contacting the Canada Border Services Agency.

(Just to relieve Growler's monotony )
Thanks for posting that communique from Canada Border Services.
If you read the fine print, bolded above, note the "expiry date" and "...subject
to seizure...".
This sounds almost exactly like USA regulations, and although the CBS email
doesn't say explicitly, it's a good bet the "expiry date" for Canada is also
12 months after import, just like USA.
So, maybe the OP Brett's question is still not answered--because Brett says
he wants to leave his OZ-registered bikes [U]beyond[U] 12 mos.

I suspect he could "get away with it"--leave the bike beyond 12 mos--in either USA or Canada, but always runs the not very serious risk that the bike might get seized. It's not very serious because neither US nor CND Customs "knows" and tracks the vehicle after import. That's a best guess speculation.

Gday Guys, thanks for the reply's. Have been away from the site for a while and when did get time to drop in was for a fleeting visit only. Been busy with work. So the drill appears to be officially 12 mths, but can risk things. Suppose could get creative and try and get back by 11 months, then will only run over by a few weeks.