Hey, you all,

I am planning on doing a trip starting early November in South-East US or North-East Mexico, and am wondering if buying and registering a bike as a foreigner is easy.
My first intentions where going out to a Yamaha XT660Z Tenere, as I got one in my homeland the Netherlands as well, and have all the gear-ups for it. But I find out finding that bike in the US is not easy, if anyone knows how to get one, I love to hear it.
If that doesn't work out, I am suggesting to get a Honda CRF250L.

If anyone knows something about these bike's (or some other in between) in the US or Mexico, or maybe ending his trip there before November, than I would love to take over something.

Many thanks,

Jeroen.

Hello Jeroen,

660 tenere: Those bikes were never sold in the US or Canada. I think it was possible to buy one in Mexico but very little are avail. The only one I ever saw with my own eyes was from a German rider who shipped it to Canada.

You are better off buying a bike more common in America. Youll get a better price and more options for repairs, parts and farkles.

Are you spending a lot of time in the US or in Mexico? US has wide open roads and high speed limits and the CRF250L is not the best pick for that.

BTW: You can fly your 660 Tenere from Europe to Canada for about 1100$ Canadian.

__________________
Alaska 2014: Hotel Budget ZeroXmas in Death Valley, New Year in Urique

Hi Jeroen,
if you are interested I am selling a BMW R1200GSA located in Santa Fe, New Mexico now in may or in September/October this year. The bike did 30000km without a Problem in the USA and Canada with us and has a bit over 90000 km on the clock now. It is a 2007 model. If interested let me know and I can give you more Details. We are a swiss couple and bought it to tour the US with it.
Cheers Thomas

Jeroen,
If you like the Yam 660 and plan LONG DISTANCE touring, might make sense to get another 650 class bike like you have at home.

We have several here for sale new and used, but as mentioned, you cannot buy the 660 here.

Of all the other 650 class bikes, my favorite by a LONG WAY is the Suzuki DR650:
Inexpensive to buy, tons of support, parts cheap and easy to find. Dead reliable, easy to work on yourself. Plenty of power, lighter than your 660 by 20 kg. or so. Smooth and can cruise at 75 MPH all day. And ... it's better off road by far than your
660 YAM.

You could also consider:
Honda XR650L
Kawi KLR650 (many for sale and inexpensive)
BMW F650 or G650 (various models) I DO NOT recommend the BMW's as they are generally less reliable, heavier and more expensive than ALL the Japanese 650's.

You could certainly go with a 250. This would be a good choice if you like to do lots of off road riding and will be FINE once you are out of USA and on smaller roads in Mexico, Cent. America and South America. Down there a 250 would be just fine. The pace is slower, roads are rough and small, so suits a 250 nicely. USA is HIGH SPEED in many places. (75 MPH cruising speed)

The Honda CRF250L is a good bike and quite inexpensive here. But the Yamaha
WR250R is the better bike, IMO. (I've ridden both) But it's also more money. $$$

I am buying a WR250 myself in near future.

I currently ride a Suzuki DR650 with 90K km on the clock ... NO problems.
Very tough bike, SO easy to maintain. Does nearly everything well.

For USA travel, a 650 is a better choice IMO. 250's are better on fuel
but fuel is CHEAP in USA so no worries. It's more $$ in S. America in places, but still not close to SUPER high prices of EU.

Best places to buy a nice used bike in USA are:
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson). Lots of used bikes for sale. Prices good, getting it into your name not a problem if you have a local address or buy from a dealer. Many travelers have done this before. Lots of reports here but somewhat hard to locate these reports.

You can buy a Chinese 250 in Mexico ... no idea about this, but know it can be done. I don't trust them ... yet.

Good luck!

Hey there, sorry for not looking on my own threat for a while, have been very busy. It is very unfortunate that the US does not sell XT660Z's, but there are other good bikes for sure. Still I see the CRF250L as the best competitive, I know it is deadslow, but as I fully agree with “Mollydog”, it might be great for in the rougher parts, and I take my time in the US where I would love to do as much off-road or bad-roads as possible. I will keep the DR650 in mind as well. BMW is indeed mostly too heavy, my British friend where I will ride along with, is on a 650 XCHALLANGE, that one is great. Light and robust, but not too easy to find one. So I see, SW US is the best place to buy a bike? Registering and insuring it can't be too hard, is it? Do I need a US address for that?

Thanks, your info is very useful.

Hey, KTMdriver, thanks for offering, but I am looking for something much lighter than your GS1200ADV.

Hello, JFman,

I considered shipping my bike out, but it needs some work before it is travelready and I would like to have a bike there, as I might stall it in Argentina somewhere and fly in again a year later, or have it shipped to SE Asia to do some riding there a year later.
I need a bike here for the times I am at my home, and would like to have a bike somewhere else in the world where I can fly to when I have the money, and get riding..
Do you have any idea on why they are not selling any XT660Z's in the US, I heard it was because of emission rules, but that would be ridiculous as the US has not much emission rules on other things that matter way more.. XD

Thanks for helping out.

exactly, get KLR 650 - almost like a tenere

p.s.
BTW if you figure out how to ship tenere cheaply to Canada/US
write it here about. I am interested in that subject as well
as my xt660z is eager to do TAT.

Yamaha decided the XT660Z's would not sell enough in N. America to justify the expense of EPA approval, so XT's out here.

Re-read my last post, most of your questions are answered there.
X Challenge are around here and pretty cheap. Two were for sale here in San Fran Bay area last week ... around $3500 to $4000 for nice ones, low km. NOTE: Sourcing parts could be a problem. Check on USA X Challenge forums to be sure before you buy.

But many more Suzuki DR650, KLR650 and Honda XR650L for sale everyday. Parts for all in ALL larger USA towns.
Registering no problem. Local address helps but are work a rounds on this or dealer can help.

If you have a lot of time and are willing to ride highway more slowly where you cannot ride off road, then a 250 could work out. It's been done. But traffic will be traveling at 70 to 80mph ... so a 650 might be better on faster roads. Most off road riding will be easy, so a 650 will be OK for most ... unless it rains a lot, mud can slow you down! But if you go looking for more technical riding, you can find it. For that, a 250cc bike is the go, IMO.

The TAT and other Cross country dirt routes are fine riding a 650 class bike.
So up to you on which bike. For USA, I'd pick a 650. For Mexico, Cent. America and S. America, i'd pick a 250. Good luck, have fun.

Most everything you need to know is here on HUBB ... search around a bit, it's all here.