is it possible to temporary import into canada, or do you need a carnet. please give details ,do you need to organise before you get there or can it be done once the bike arrives in canada.

To the best of my knowledge, you don't need a carnet of any form to bring a vehicle into Canada. The type of reception you get from Canada Customs will depend, to a great extent, on whether Canada Customs believes that you will re-export the vehicle or not.

If they think you are a bona-fide tourist, and intend to visit the country for a little while and eventually re-export the motorcycle, then you should have little difficulty. As long as you have the appropriate proof of ownership (proof of insurance in Canada would probably help a lot as well), then I don't think you should expect much difficulty.

If the Customs people think that you are not likely to re-export the motorcycle (e.g. they think you are moving here permanantly, or plan to sell the moto inside Canada), then the process might be more difficult.

What country is the moto registered in, and what kind of moto is it?

my wife is canadian and at the end of this trip i intend to leave to bike in Canada before i have to find work (not looking forward to it, by the way !!). anyway the bike is UK registered, can i leave the bike indefinately in Canada until one day i return to live there and then register it as Canadian...or will i be in trouble for not exporting it in a certain time.

how long do they give you for temporary importation ¿

Whatever you do, don't mention anything about "leaving the bike in Canada", or you will never get it out of the Customs shed. Even if you were willing to pay triple the value of the motorcycle in import duties, you would never be able to get past all the Transport Canada requirements for vehicle safety regulations.

It might be wise to not mention anything about your wife being Canadian, either. Because that normally gives you right of abode in Canada, the Customs guys will put 2 and 2 together, and assume you won't be exporting the bike.

Just show up at Customs, make like a tourist, tell 'em you are riding from sea to sea and then shipping the bike home. Make sure you have your ownership, licence, and insurance all in order, and just play dumb. It will take an enormous amount of effort to play dumber than the Canada Customs people are - they are thick as two short planks. I shipped my 'bought in Canada, registered in Canada, with Canadian licence plate' motorcycle back to Canada last summer, and it took me two days to convince the fools at Customs that I didn't need to go through all sorts of safety approvals and importation formalities for this moto, because it was "Canadian Goods Returning". And, yes, I had all the paperwork, the original bill of sale, and my original outbound air waybills with me.

Canada Customs is nothing that we Canadians are proud of.

thanks for the tips, perhaps i will send our lass on ahead on a bus and then just cross on my own, as you say it will start to raise a load of daft questions i do not want to answer. on my own i am merely entering canada to exit again by sea.

thanks again