I came down here to NYC to buy a 94 BMW I wanted, made the deal, got the letter of insurance faxed down to the DMV here, went to see them this morning with all the documents...they told me they do not issue intransit permits for motorcycles, no policy...it is just not done.
What can I do short of trucking it north at great expense or registering it in NY and insuring it at great expense for two days travel home...
then there is the border issue, if I just show up without an intransit permit will they go nuts? Seller left the plate on the bike so theoretically I can get up to border crossing point at Calais, ME but what will they say to me there with someone elses plate on it. Surely they would take the plate at the border which leaves me ...where? Anyone ever see this before?
Any insights appreciated.
Larry

Hi Larry,

I assume that you are looking to import the bike into Canada permanently and are aware of all the steps.
www.riv.ca/importingavehicle.aspx

The issue of transportation to get to the border is a bit tricky. If you are feeling lucky, you can just ride it to the border. If not, then you have to truck it or get the existing owner (if he is nice enough) to insure it temporarily under his name. Once there, you have to follow the above process.

Remember the border is customs and immigration, issues such as registration and insurance fall under the motor vehicle branch. As such, they are more concerned with collecting the taxes on imported goods and making sure that the process was followed and and don't really focus on taking plates at the border or things like that. It wouldn't however surprise me if they wanted to know how you are going to transport the bike once in Canada.

Most people end up having the bike trucked to the US border, and then show up with a truck to haul it into Canada. Then they get it in inspected at a Canadian Tire and then they register it with the motor vehicle branch in their province and then they insure it and ride it. The process to import, regtister and insure are probably too cumbersome to do any other way, but it may be easier in some provinces than others.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Thanks Mountainman. I am just gonna point my wheel at Calais/St. Stephen and see how it goes. I have the seller's plate on and a letter from my insurance company with particulars of the bike (though addressed to DMV in NYC who turned me away), but hopefully that will do the trick. I will act dumb if necessary and play the victim of a faulty system.
Regards,
Larry

Hi Larry,

Hope it all works out for you. Just keep in mind that technically, they don't want Canadians operating foreign registered motor vehicles in the country. I've got a couple of additional suggestions, feel free to pm or email me and I'll pass them along. Happy riding.