UK citizen wanting to buy and ride legal in USA
 

Hi there

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find any real info. We want to buy a bike (new or s/hand) in New York and sell it on the west coast or maybe Alaska. Can we get insurance and registration etc to be legal? Seems really expensive option to freight in/out a UK bike and I guess the insurance headache will still exist?

Thanks in advance for any info

Some bedtime reading to kickstart your research: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...nals-can-58648

Pretty sure the short answer is Yes. I bought a bike in Alaksa and rode is through USA/Canada and on to Mexico etc.

I didn't try to sell it in the USA but I assume it's all legal and OK. Insurance and reg. is possible anywhere in the US but some States are easier than others (perhaps ask on ADV)

Have you thought about buying in Alaska I KNOW it's straight forward there. Ask Phil at Motorcycle Rentals, Tours and Self-Guided Adventures | MotoQuest

I answered a very similar question from an Australian citizen wanting to buy a bike in the US and may be ship it home : http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...stration-74966

There's no particular difficulty in what you are suggesting. However, the selling of the bike on the US West Coast could be long-winded, depending on exactly where you are finishing your trip/planning to sell, the time of year, and the type of bike you have bought. We finished our tour of the US in Portland, Oregon, in September 2001, and left our bikes 'on consignment' with a dealer to sell for us. NB, the dealer did not buy the bikes from us. We agreed a price and the dealer could then basically put the bike up for whatever he could get for it, as long as he paid us the agreed amount when it sold. (Apologies to our American friends, that's a Brit's probably rather oversimplified explanation.)

In September in Oregon, the weather is already beginning to get cool, so the riding season is almost at an end. If you finish your tour at the end of the riding season, you may have to wait until the following Spring for your bike to sell.

Nearly a year later, only one of our bikes actually sold: a 1200cc Triumph Trophy. Mine was a single cylinder BMW F650GS, which, in the days before Charley and Ewan and LWR, riders in Oregon really didn't understand at all. The attitude at the time was that anything under 1000cc was a child's/woman's bike and, anyway, to them it looked like a 'dirt bike'. Things have probably changed a lot since then, but it's worth looking into what the best sellers are before you buy.

there is some restriction in California. A used bike has to have X amount of miles to sell there due to pollution standards

Looking at the OP's post again, I would be inclined to at least look into shipping your own bike over from the UK and insuring it for use in the US. HC Travel and Motorcycle Express can provide you with quotes and it may not be as expensive as you think. To be honest, having gone the buy and sell route in 2001, Roynie and I have since shipped our bikes twice for 8-week+ trips in 2006 (by air into Toronto) and 2009 (by sea into Halifax).

Thanks for all the replies. We'll keep on investigating the subject

Cheers

Fer godssakes do the research on purchase and registration in New York State. Use Google (New York DMV), not what I or anyone writes on a web forum. Study the requirements. Learn that you can't do the registration in New York State. Then make alternate plans.

There must be an explanation for the fact that this question is so frequently asked here about New York and other states by people who state that they have looked but cannot find the information. I'd be interested in hearing that explanation. The information is easily available within seconds--on the HUBB and elsewhere.

Buying bike in New York
 

Hi Will, how did you get in with buying in New York ? From what I can see, so long as you get all the docs (as per the DMV) and can use a friend's address to register the bike to, then it's pretty strait forward...?
Cheers,
Billy



Here's the link and highlights for anyone to get a quick idea.... Yawn.

Buy or sell a vehicle (transfer ownership) | New York State DMV

To transfer ownership, the person selling the vehicle, must:

complete and sign the transfer ownership section of the title certificate
sign a bill of sale

The person buying must

sign the bill of sale
pay sales tax
register and title the vehicle


SALES TAX:

If the name on the NYS title of ownership certificate will not change, sales tax forms and proofs are not required. See the information below if you were not a resident of NYS when the vehicle was purchased.

If you bought the vehicle from a NYS automobile dealer or an out-of-state dealer that is authorized to collect NYS sales tax, bring the dealer's bill of sale that shows that you paid NYS sales tax. Also bring a Dealer’s Bill of Sale (MV-50) (NYS dealer only) or a completed Sales Tax Exemption (DTF-803) (for an out-of-state dealer). If NYS sales tax was paid to a NYS dealer, the DMV does not collect sales tax when you apply for a vehicle registration, and the DMV does not issue a sales tax receipt.

If you bought your vehicle from another person in a private sale, both the buyer and the seller must complete the Statement of Transaction {Sales Tax Form} (DTF-802). Bring the form to a DMV office. The DMV calculates and collects the sales tax, and issues a sales tax receipt.



REGISTER THE VEHICLE

Cars, Trucks, and Motorcycles
Model year 1973 or newer

The acceptable proof of ownership is either

a NYS Certificate of Title – must be the original or a certified copy, photocopies are not accepted 1
acceptable proof of ownership from any other state - must be the original or a certified copy, photocopies are not accepted 2
To transfer ownership

the seller whose name appears on the proof of ownership must sign the transfer section of the proof of ownership and provide the buyer a bill of sale
if the seller has a title certificate that was transferred to the seller by another person, the seller cannot use that title certificate to transfer the ownership to you
the seller must apply for a title certificate only and transfer the new title certificate to you
your name must appear on the title certificate as the buyer
a person or dealer who sells a vehicle that is 10 model years old or newer must complete the Odometer Disclosure Statement on the back of the title certificate
a person or dealer who sells a vehicle that is 8 model years old or newer must complete the Damage Disclosure Statement located on the back of NYS title certificates
make sure that the information listed on the title certificate is not altered, erased or changed
if any information is altered, erased or changed, the current owner must get a duplicate title certificate and use the duplicate to transfer the ownership to you

I live in New York City and if you need help finding a bike or need to use my address to register, PM me.

Mitch

Thanks Mich v kind of you. I bought one here just to get used to it, prob fly it out.

With the new cheap rates that Air Canada are offering it probably isn't that much more expensive an option. I've just bought a bike in Pennsylvania and had it reregistered in New Jersey (via a friend who lives there) and with taxes etc it cost just short of $750 on top of the purchase price.