Hey guys/gals,

Read the posts on here about shipping bikes in to Korea, and just wanted to get an updated status on the best methods to use when doing so. Couple questions:

1) Can someone reccomend a company that can ship a bike that far (NY to Seoul/Inchon/Pusan) and does anyone know how much this will cost?

2) Are motorcycles considered automobiles to Korean customs? Also, could I qualify my bike under the "temporary stay" condition? I only plan on being in Korea for 6 months, and expect to ship it back over here at the end of my trip.

3) Is korea "open" to motorcycles? I saw some conflicting posts, about Korea not being open to motorcycles (what does that mean anyway), while others said that Korea was a great place to have a motorcycle (and that it was well worth the hassle of importing the bikes). Its obvious that motorcycles do exist in Korea, so I'm a bit confused by all this.

4) I'm guessing that registration will be handled by the shipping company and that I will have to secure insurance by myself?

Thanks guys, trying to plan ahead here so I can have everything lined up come January/February! FYI: I ride a Vespa 250ie

Thanks,

Wangta

Arg - no one has any info on this?

The confusion regarding legal situation in Korea may result from the fact that we only discovered last year that it is very difficult to import german registered bikes legally into Korea.

Obviously the legal situation is different dependent on in which country the respective bike is registered.

Apart from that: Korea IS a great country to ride around!

Lars

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Thanks for the reply Lars.

I thought it was hard for PEOPLE with German licenses to drive legally in Korea, didn't know about German bikes! I thought there were BMW motorcycles in Korea?

Can I inquire as to why Korea is a great country to ride around?

Yes, you do need to do the national driving license, too. I think that applies for all foreigners, at least all the english teachers I got to know made it or planned to make it. No big deal as they told me, just an ability test.

Also, I had the impression that neither the expats nor the local police really cared about the license: A guy I know rode to the test on his own bike, failed, rode back only to pass the test the following week (on his own bike, naturally).

As to the police: They stopped me only once, were shocked when they saw my western face and waved me on. I was told it works that every time they see a westener. The statement was confirmed by the riding style of those guys I rode with ...

Further, It is not the german BIKE that is the problem, but the german registration. Korea does not recognise the german technical rules. Try the search function for Japan as well, lots of infos here, apparantly the same legal situation.

Korea is a great country because of the usual stuff: Nice landscape almost all over, good roads, good food everywhere, nice (if shy) people, nice things to visit. Could fill pages, but do not know where to start. Will be happy to answer any specific questions but be warned: I am bad in keeping names.

Plus as a foreigners you can ignore the traffic rules as it seems (see above), if you see that as an advantage. Take care of those drivers who can't stand being passed by a twowheeler and try to physically keep you from doing it.

HTH

Lars

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Well, I'm actually Korean American - so the shock factor might not come in to play as much. But maybe they'll be shocked when they hear how bad my Korean is! That'll be some sight!

I have an international license, would I still need to take this test?

Also, I'm from the US, so I'm pretty sure i woudn't run into the same problems that people with Germany registered bikes.

Thanks for the info, you're definately making me want to go through with this. I just need to find more info on how to get my bike over there (I'm located in NYC)! Maybe I could drive accross country (something I've always wanted to do anyway) to San Fran and ship from there?

No idea about the international license, but do it: One of my favorite countries on my trip so far!

__________________
http://www.ontheroad.de
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiVqgukzm40

Cool, thats great. Do you have any pictures from this trip?

Sure, good pictures, made by a friend: http://www.ontheroad.de/galerien/Ant...n_Special.html

... and my pictures: http://www.ontheroad.de/galerien/Korea/Korea.html



Lars

__________________
http://www.ontheroad.de
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiVqgukzm40

Hey,I´m a Korean,round the world now on F650GS..

Seoul is impossible to enjoy ride,just walk around.
Except seoul,every where is 100% paved but
not so beautiful scenery like US national park.
But you can meet so great people on the road.

Watch out..!!
You cannot use the highway in Korea. It´s illegal.
In Seoul,my roads are only for the car.
But national road is the way you have to go.

You don´t have to worry about license things..
Police just don´t care..if you wear helmet.

YOu have to care about when you go in Korea.
Spring and winter is the best.
We have a lot of rain in summer,snow in Winter.

Remember..
You ride Korea.
Not to see the scenery,but to meet the people..

Se whan,Kang

email me before you go to Korea. You can stay at my home in Seoul
motoride@empal.com
blog.empas.com/motoride

Hi Wantango1,

We live in Cheonan, just 85 km south of Seoul and ride all the time. You cannot use the expressways on two wheelers, but the secondary roads are good. In 11 years, I have only been stopped at alcohol checkpoints for the breath test and have never seen a cycle pulled over. The police don't do much except answer accident calls. The highways are monitored by camera. No front plate, no photo no ticket. We ride in Seoul often and once you get used to the horrible habits of Korean drivers, it's fun. Outside the cities there is a heck of a bunch to see--temples, mountains, good beaches, scenery in the fall is great. If you get here, PM me and feel free to stay with us. Old Woman cooks a fair meal and while I don't drink, I don't object to someone else enjoying it. Coffee is my drug of choice. Cheonan is not famous, but is a jump off spot. If you need places to stay in other cities, let me know and I will be happy to put it together for you.

You only need to take your state license to a DMV place and pay a little money, jump up and down, read a chart and touch your toes. finished, korean license in your pocket and go. I have never been asked for one though. Ship from San Fran to Busan is no problem. Everyday G.I.s and ex-pats do it. I will look in the newspaper and get some contact numbers for you. I drove two years in a car on my Oregon licesne, was stopped, they looked at me-I showed them my Oregon license and was waved on. Never stopped on a bike.

Ride well,

Joe

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the reply! I'm actually starting to prepare my stuff now, so I'd like to try and lock down shipping info to Busan/Seoul. Had a couple questions though regarding customs.

1) Will i have to pay customs/duties on my motorcycle? I don't plan on staying more than a year, so I heard i might be able to get around this somehow?

2) How do I get the motorcycle from the port home (or wherever)? I heard that the only roads going there are highways!

3) Shippers - any shippers that are recommended (quick, trustworthy,inexpensive)?

I was confused by previous comments regarding riding in Seoul. Aren't there a gazillion scooter riders in Seoul? Dang, everytime I was there, I saw tons and tons of guys riding on scooters.

I also heard that parking motorcycles is a problem because school kids have a tendency to beat on them or steal them. Is this true? Are there garages that takes motorcycles? How much do they cost?

by coming in on a temporary thing like you plan on, a carnet card would exempt you from taxes. What I understand is that you would pay duty which would be refunded when you leave.

No two wheelers are allowed on the Expressways. You have to use the national highways. We ride all the time on them with no trouble. How can you tell an expressway from a national highway? If you come to a tollgate, you can't go through it. We ride to Seoul often, have no trouble parking, but you do have to lock it down. We have a big chain and a wheel lock both. shipping, Call Hangjin in San Fancisco. They ship from here to there and I suppose they ship to here from San Francisco. The last rate I saw when I was going to send my Freewing home was 550 USD. Now if all you want to do is ride the machine around Korea, it would be easier to just buy a good used scooter or bike, ride it until you got ready to leave, then sell it. I haven't been able to find many ads for shipping lately or I would have posted them. From Pusan to Here. Pick up Highway 7 north to Yongdeok and make a left. That will put you on 34. Stay on that until you come to highway #1, about 5 hours. Total so far, 6 hours. To come to cheonan where I live turn left, 10 minutes. To go to Seoul, turn right 75 minutes. Bring long underwear, face mask, good warm gloves, warm socks, ---it is cold. Call me from Busan if you have any questions and I will be glad to help. If you come here, I will have warm soup and a hot shower waiting. Old Woman might even feed you kimchi.

It gets dark at 5:30 and the temperature drops like a rock. If you are not on the road at 9:00 a.m. stay the night at Busan. You can't make it in 7 hours unless you know the roads. I have done it after knowing where and how to get through the cities, but if you don't know and have to be on the sharp lookout for signs, you need 8 hours.

041-564-5674. if you call from outside korea it is 82-41-564-5674

hope to welcome you to korea soon

joe

Do you happen to know what duty tax would be for a 6 month temporary stay?

I actually own a Vespa GTS, and wanted to ship it to Korea to tour this spring. I guess buying a used scooter would be ok, but i'm not sure how good teh scooters are over there, or how much I'll lose on the buy/sell. Since I already own the Vespa, i'm guessing 500 isn't too bad to ship it over.

Little nervous about drunken people beating on my ride. I'd bring a huge lock, and cover it, but still - I've seen some weird things go on late night when people are drunk!

In answer to your last questions. I will check the duty tomorrow as I have only two classes and they are short ones. It's finals week. Again, Don't worry much about vandalism. It only happens near the bars close to the universities and if you don't park there, you should have no worry. Even the cheap yogwans usually have places to park. I use a chain to strap the scoot to a pole and a huge u-lock on the rear wheel. Going into China might be a bit easier now. The ferry out of Pyongtaek to Xiang'dou is 4-5 hours, and if you get permission from the embassy in Seoul, you can take a scoot up to 250cc. Carnet required, insurance, declaration of route, etc. This is only rumored through the club. I haven't checked it myself because we just took the ferry without a scoot.

Joe