For Sale Ever Considered Importing a Motorcycle?

First of all, I am only posting here as I thought some of you may be interested in importing. I am in no way affiliated with the company that conducts this business. A few years ago, I spoke personally to the owner of this company on a couple of occassion, Matt, of Shermat International, he's an Aussie living in Florida. Good bloke.

This is posted only out of interest. These are some of the bikes that are currently for sale in the U.S.
FYI: I have imported a vehicle from the U.S. in 2014, unfortunately not via Shermat International, but another Aus/U.S. based company, and all-in-all, the process is very seemless - you only have to be patient! And the vehicle that was literally rolled off the truck into my garage was MUCH BETTER than anticipated, despite the numerous photos and videos I received of the car prior to purchase.

 

I've imported a scooter from Indonesia, not sure that it was worth it, import duty was more than the scooter cost!

 

That must be one hell of a scooter!!

 

Shermatt International being:
http://www.shermatt.com/index.html
They have a huge focus on muscle cars. They state a flat fee of $2000 (USD I suppose). But from the wording of their services, I think the transport cost is additional to that fee.

If I found a bike myself and it was in Cali, do you you have recommendations on businesses based in Cali? I'd like one of these:
http://jvb-moto.com/rocknroll/?page_id=37

 

@Grendel...re: Shermatt...They operate in a very transparent way. You pay them a flat fee of $2000 for their services relating to the export/import process. If you want to have a vehicle/bike inspected then you'd pay their travel costs (you pay what they pay, no added loadings/profiteering) etc. You still have to pay transport costs of the vehicle/bike to the depot/dock, and all associated import/export fees (GST, marine insurance etc). Shermat operate out of Florida.

You might also want to try USAtoAUS...they will ship almost anything. They are based on the Gold Coast and have a depot in the U.S. Not sure if they have a presence on the west coast though. This is the company that I used to import my 1969 big block Corvette. They took care of the process from start to finish. I was very happy with the car - better than I was expecting.

http://usatoaus.com/


Contact: AUS (from Australia) : 0449-002-522 or the NEW land line 07-5546-2591

 

Dad had his mustang imported by Shermatt. Was even able to get spare parts and what not loaded into the boot.

 

@Valentia...yeah, I have spoken with Matt on a couple of occasions and he seems like a very straight-up, no bs type of bloke. I didn't import through his company at the time as I couldn't seem to contact him. When I eventually did, I had gone through USAtoAUS and the car was already loaded onto a container ship. Anyway, Shermatt would have been my preferred agent to import from the U.S.

Even at today's exchange rates, I would think that importing a bike would still be a viable option if you are looking for something different.

 

If I won the lotto, could a 2016 Honda XR650L be imported form the US and registered here ?

 

Don't quote me, but I cannot see why not. All I know is that for cars, if they are newer than 30 years old, they must be converted to right-hand drive and meet certain ADR's.
Somehow, I suspect that rule does not apply to motorcycles. I had a quick look at the Infrastructure web-site and it only mentions "...road vehicles..." which I imagine includes motorcycles. I am sure that call to Shermatt International or USAtoAUS can advise more accurately on this.

https://infrastructure.gov.au/vehicles/imports/import_options/index.aspx

Sometime in the future, I will be looking to import a 'pallot' load of spare parts for my car. It will take quite a few months to arrive when I finally put my order together, but I am in no hurry. I believe that a pallot load will only cost $100 plus all the usual import duties and taxes (which is still cheaper than having the lot sent by air).

 

What's the difference between that and locally available xr650s ?

 

about 10 years . I might put up a go fund me

 

Right, but I mean the actual difference. Because its certainly not 10 years ahead in technology, its identical to the old ones haha.

Point being you could find a good locally delivered one for much cheaper and much less hassle, and refurb it or do whatever else you want with the left over $6k.

 

Yeah they are still the same bike and yes it's not really feasible now . I'm not saying its a bargain. Just curious. A brand new XR650 would be sweet.
None of the shown bikes for sale seem a bargain either by the time they got here. It would have to be a bike you really wanted .

 

I would have considered it when the dollar was strong against the greenback, but the dollar being how it is at the moment I'd really have to be in love with that particular bike.