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Glendale, AZ United States | I am wanting to ship a motorcycle to Europe next year before I fly out to visit relatives/friends in Krakow, Poland and Prague, Czech Republic who also ride. Motorcycle rental overseas is costly, not to mention I would plan on leaving the bike there and have a friend/relative sell for a profit to offset travel expenses. A new VV at the Victory dealer in Prague, Czech Republic doing the currency exchange costs 31,450 plus another 18-21% in taxes!!!! Aha. You all see where I'm going with this?  I know the following:
1. The bike must have a clean title or a letter from the lean holder authorizing shipment.
2. Insurance and inventory of what is on/in the bike of value/accessories
3. Usually 1/4 tank or less in fuel.
4. Customs form. I want to say either 30 or 60 day approval is given where you just keep your tags and are good to go.
5. Anything else??
I contacted Schumaker International shipping, but still waiting for a response. Has anyone done this and if so can you recommend a carrier or a link as far as the Ins/outs in addition to cost. Thanks so much, Vlad.
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| Long run rent you could save thousands and not have the head acts |
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Glendale, AZ United States | johnnyvision - 2014-07-21 5:54 PM
Long run rent you could save thousands and not have the head acts
I know where you are coming from, but I would have a place to store the bike pending sale. There are two ports for pickup. One port is in Poland and the other in Germany. Both are about 6 hours riding to Prague. Does not seem like much of a hassle for what I gathered. From Long Beach, CA to either Poland or Germany is 550-1100 dollars for shipping. Prices vary a good deal and plan for about 1 month to ship. For the cost of weekend motorcycle rental I would have the bike for as long as I'm over there, plus some money in my pocket to offset expenses pending sale. Worth the BS for me personally I think. Vlad. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 935
Rockford, IL | Interesting...
Would there any type of export taxes/fees due to only shipping one-way?
What about "declarations" at customs arrival when you come back into USA?
I'm not sure but I'm kinda thinking its not as easy as what you may think it is. I'm sure there is a "catch" to this idea somewhere.
Think about this for a few.....go on an international vacation and ride your own bike and make a fair amount of $$$$. If it was easy.....wouldn't everybody be doing it? |
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Glendale, AZ United States | Lotzafun - 2014-07-22 4:35 PM
Interesting...
Would there any type of export taxes/fees due to only shipping one-way?
What about "declarations" at customs arrival when you come back into USA?
I'm not sure but I'm kinda thinking its not as easy as what you may think it is. I'm sure there is a "catch" to this idea somewhere.
Think about this for a few.....go on an international vacation and ride your own bike and make a fair amount of $$$$. If it was easy.....wouldn't everybody be doing it???
I was hoping that someone had experience with this on the forum by way of added fees and customs/declarations. I think it would be much more of a hassle if I am sending multiple bikes with the intention to sell. I am pretty much under the impression if you are bringing one bike with the intention of riding it in Europe with every intention of coming back vs possible sell it should not be a huge problem by way of customs. I found out today the plates can stay on the bike overseas as long as the registration is current, which is one less thing to worry about, but I can't seem to get the customs dollar figures from anyone or any website I have looked at.
Military folks have been bringing back the German exotics as their own vehicle from Germany for ever. The Mercedes/Audi/BMW is Germany's Ford or Chevrolet/Buick, which is considered a luxury automobile in the states. I know a friend of a friend sometime back shipped back an Audi A6 to the states from Germany and he said it was definitely worth it as long as you are not bringing back multiple vehicles. I think the key is knowing people and having contacts over seas since this can be somewhat of a long process. I don't know, will keep looking. Thanks, Vlad. |
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Tourer
Posts: 573
Central Illinois | I expect that as soon as you tell the local authorities that the bike is not returning with you in 60 or 90 days, you will be asked to pay the same custom duties that cause European prices to be so high to start with on these bikes. Once you do that you are taking the shipping cost risk instead of a dealer and you will no longer to beat their prices by much. At least that is how I see it. |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| Military folks play by different rules then we do
Plus vision are hard to sell here I doughty there easier over there |
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Tourer
Posts: 416
Prairie City, IA United States | Another thought I'm not sure matters is the turn signals and brake lights. International ones are clear. Would this cause a hick up in the sale? You might try an international motorcyle touring forum If there is such a thing. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 122
Westchester Co., NY | I had a cousin that lives in Europe by a bike here and ship it to Europe because it was cheaper then buying it there. I remember him saying he had to put a certain amount of miles on it before he could ship. I know he did a lot of research before the sale but he was happy with the purchase. |
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Tourer
Posts: 573
Central Illinois | lstayner - 2014-07-23 8:15 PM Another thought I'm not sure matters is the turn signals and brake lights. International ones are clear. Would this cause a hick up in the sale? You might try an international motorcyle touring forum If there is such a thing. Everything matters. Anything that is non-compliant will be a cost to the buyer on the other end. I have international turn signals on my Vision, not US turn signals. It cost over $150 for just that mod to change the Vision's lens from orange to clear. How much it would cost to make all such changes is a who knows for me. I doubt that it would be cheap. That is before you take into account any import or VAT taxes. If you don't do your homework you deserve what you get. Sorry to be a downer but unless you look at everything you are setting yourself up for a disappointment, at least in my book. |
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Glendale, AZ United States | efd158 - 2014-07-23 8:50 PM
I had a cousin that lives in Europe by a bike here and ship it to Europe because it was cheaper then buying it there. I remember him saying he had to put a certain amount of miles on it before he could ship. I know he did a lot of research before the sale but he was happy with the purchase.
This is what I have gathered thus far after checking in with friends/family overseas, but more research is still needed. What I have decided to do instead of shipping my own bike (09 VV premium) is to help my buddy out overseas and ship a new VV instead that he will pay for up front and wire the money to me. I told him he could get a much bigger bang for his buck if he buys used, but he wants new. In return with helping him out with the paperwork/shipping on the US end in addition to saving him some money I will have access to the VV while overseas as long as I would like, which works out well from my end.
Shipping from Arizona to Long Beach, California and from Long beach to a port in Germany is 950-1400 dollars depending on what shipping company you go with. Plan on about a month to ship the bike since it will be going by boat of course within the ship with the bike anchored to a special motorcycle mounting device, which is cheaper then being inside a sea container since the sea container can accommodate multiple bikes and it is one fee for the container.
Here is the kicker. To avoid any complications, the bike must be purchased in full and I will need to sign over the title to my friend that is a Czech citizen at least six months before the bike is shipped. Once the motorcycle arrives it cannot be sold for at least one year or the state will tack on a 21% surcharge once sold, but this is a way to avoid paying taxes and duties on the bike since my friend is a Czech citizen and this will be for his own personal use. Yes, the lenses will need to be changed since this is not up to Euro specs as mentioned. We will see how this works out, but I may have opened up a can of worms here since now family has voiced an interest as well.
Current pricing at the Victory dealer in Prague on new models based on today's currency exchange of 20 krons/1 dollar. Is it worth it? I think it all depends on who you talk to.
1. VV: 32,300 dollars (Savings of about 8 thousand after shipping, which is significant)
2. Cross Country: 29,600 dollars
3. Cross Roads: 26,250 dollars.
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Regarding International Motorcycle Shipping?
