Transporting Bike From Brampton to San Jose | GTAMotorcycle.com

Transporting Bike From Brampton to San Jose

ajatt

ajatt

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Hey guys/gals,

I recently moved to SJ California for work for at least 3 years I left my bike in back home in Canada and would really like to have it here with me rather than getting a new one as long as costs are reasonable.

Has anyone done this before and if so what is the process for registering the bike to ride it here?

Can anyone recommend a good solution to have it shipped to California? ( I tried uship and have 1 bid for... $3000 CAD which seems crazy high to me)

Thanks in advance.
 
A friend of mine was in a similar situation. He want it to ship his ride down to Texas and quotes he received were pretty much in $500 to 2K range ... I agree, it is way too much money. He decided to buy a used bike in Austin.
 
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Pay for my flight home along with a little "cost of living" surcharge and I'll ride it to ya!
 
It does not seem worthwhile, and could you even get it certified? Cali has its own emissions and other regulations that need to be passed. There are regs that prevent US riders from buying in one state and transferring to another. Buy a used Cali bike and insure down there. When you're done sell it. It'll save you a huge migraine.
 
Awesome, thanks for all the great info everyone I'll give everything a try and let you know what happens. I really appreciate the responses *feels* :D
 
172Driver said:
Pay for my flight home along with a little "cost of living" surcharge and I'll ride it to ya!
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It could be a last option.... but isn't it a bit cold to ride in some of the northern states right now?
 
Brian_S said:
A friend of mine was in a similar situation. He want it to ship his ride down to Texas and quotes he received were pretty much in $500 to 2K range ... I agree, it is way too much money. He decided to buy a used bike in Austin.
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Interestingly enough Austin was the second choice I had for a job and it was actually with uShip haha, but I do love Austin great place!
 
TorontoBoy said:
It does not seem worthwhile, and could you even get it certified? Cali has its own emissions and other regulations that need to be passed. There are regs that prevent US riders from buying in one state and transferring to another. Buy a used Cali bike and insure down there. When you're done sell it. It'll save you a huge migraine.
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this...
VERY unlikely the DOT will allow you to get a california reg and plates
 
Dr. Luxurious said:
this...
VERY unlikely the DOT will allow you to get a california reg and plates
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It think there are a lot of factors and it ultimately depends on the bike

I registered my R1200GS with no problems as all BMW's are 50 state legal. Canada doesn't get a special Canadian version of the bike, the Canadian market is simply too small for that. I assume its the same for the big 4 Japanese manufacturers as with Tires, Helmets, etc. They all have DOT certification, not a Transport Canada certification.

Where I can see you running into problems is if you had a bike that was sold in Canada and not in the US, although there is a way round this as I've sold 2 x RD350LC's to people in Calif and they have sent me pictures of them on the road. That's my next challenge. Or bikes from the 80's that had different carbs and exhausts for Calif.

As long as the bike has a 50 state OR a Calif State emissions certification (which you can get from the manufacturer) you are fine. You will also need proof of ownership and the "Certificate of Origin" that is issued by the manufacturer.

Take the bike and the paperwork to the local DMV for inspection. Pay the fees. Leave with plate in hand.

I do agree that it may be potentially simpler just walking into a dealer and riding off on a bike.
 
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Don't have an input but wanted to say, either way if you end up buying used there or transporting, SJ and area has some great roads.

I'll be there next year may ish for business and am going to rent one.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 
Feel free to msg me if you want to meet up.

moarmoto said:
Don't have an input but wanted to say, either way if you end up buying used there or transporting, SJ and area has some great roads.

I'll be there next year may ish for business and am going to rent one.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
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TorontoBoy said:
It does not seem worthwhile, and could you even get it certified? Cali has its own emissions and other regulations that need to be passed. There are regs that prevent US riders from buying in one state and transferring to another. Buy a used Cali bike and insure down there. When you're done sell it. It'll save you a huge migraine.
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x3, California emissions regulations are in a world of their own and you can not register a vehicle that wasn't manufactured to meet them in the state. You *could* try to fly under the radar and just keep the bike registered and insured in Canada (so the CA rules wouldn't apply to you), but if you ever needed your insurance and it became evident to your insurer that you had actually been living there for a few years they could cause you grief.

I'd suggest as others are...buy a bike in CA. By the time you crate your bike (and if you're shipping it by truck you DO want it crated, trust me), pay to have it hauled across the continent, spend the time and money (if it's even possible) to get it to meet CA emissions standards, and then transfer the registration, plates, and then try to source USA insurance for what is now effectively an imported vehicle, you may find it an awful lot of hassle....and then you have to do it all over again in reverse to get the bike home when you move back from CA? (If I read your post right?)

If it were me I'd let the bike sit here until I came home, and buy something there to drive there and flip it before moving back.
 
By "drive" you mean ride correct? Yes I may actually just look into something locally with everyone's advice on here... thanks everyone! I just wanted to get an idea of what the possibilities were. I appreciate all the feedback.

PrivatePilot said:
x3, California emissions regulations are in a world of their own and you can not register a vehicle that wasn't manufactured to meet them in the state. You *could* try to fly under the radar and just keep the bike registered and insured in Canada (so the CA rules wouldn't apply to you), but if you ever needed your insurance and it became evident to your insurer that you had actually been living there for a few years they could cause you grief.

I'd suggest as others are...buy a bike in CA. By the time you crate your bike (and if you're shipping it by truck you DO want it crated, trust me), pay to have it hauled across the continent, spend the time and money (if it's even possible) to get it to meet CA emissions standards, and then transfer the registration, plates, and then try to source USA insurance for what is now effectively an imported vehicle, you may find it an awful lot of hassle....and then you have to do it all over again in reverse to get the bike home when you move back from CA? (If I read your post right?)

If it were me I'd let the bike sit here until I came home, and buy something there to drive there and flip it before moving back.
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I'd ride it to you from Ontario! I'm off work for the next little while so I have the time. I was planning to ride that way from Hamilton in September that just passed but a random chain of events prevented me from having the whjole month off. I was only able to leave for 14 days, so I rode through the Appalachians down to Atlanta, then to New Orleans and rode home from there. Original plan was to continue west through Texas/Arizona etc. then go through California.
 
Delboy said:
... Or bikes from the 80's that had different carbs and exhausts for Calif.
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Motorcycles over 25 years old are exempt from California emissions standards and do not need to be modified to meet them.

I researched transporting both my bikes to California recently and TFX International offered me a good full service deal on the transport, including handling all the paperwork through their brokerage. If you decide to self-transport down to CA and you don't do your homework on the importation paperwork properly, you'll have to find a way to return the bike to Canada. Using a brokerage is a wise choice.
 
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Unfortunately $3000 doesn't seem unreasonable to drive a bike from Ontario to California, even if there's some work along the way. If you look into the bigger international companies, the cost would be somewhat lower because they would have other freight/vehicles. For example, me and a couple friends did a road trip to Huntington Beach a few years ago. Gas and expenses to get there we were well over $1000 even sharing motel rooms.

TFX is a great idea, they'll be competitive just due to their size as a company. Other than that, I'm in the "buy a local bike" camp.
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