Importing a bike from the States to Canada

Bob, did you read his first post where he stated the bike was closed course competition ? His bike is RIV exempt.

I think if it were me. I'd just ride faccking thing and forget about it.

did you read my post where I copied the relevant section from the RIV site

whether a bike is exempt from RIV ( all motorcycles older than 15 yrs are exempt) does not exempt the motorcycle with complying with the importation requirements.

The OP's motorcycle has been imported illegally and as such will not able to be registered with ICBC.

Ok - Here's the post in this thread (sorry if I'm re-hashing old shit) that I found regarding bike is in Canada and contacting CBSA and going to the airport in Canada not dirt bike specific but...

My take on all this is....

1) the new OHV law for BC is passed and ALL OHV will need to be registered with ICBC in the new year. Not only is ICBC an issue, I may eventually want to sell this bike and do not want to put the next person into the position I'm in now. I need this bike registered in Canada for either of these. If I get pulled over by a FSo, CO, or RCMP and do not have this I'm hooped.

2) deal with the RIV issue....
I also researched the RIV info on the CCC bike's last night and am aware of there requirements. https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/motorvehiclesafety/safevehicles-importation-pocketbikes-index-444.htm

http://www.tc.gc.ca/motorvehiclesafety/SafeVehicles/Importation/Usa/VAFUS/list2/Section2_0.htm

So I think I can come up with a label etc for this.

3) Deal with CSBA...
I'm going to go find a phone booth so my call can't be traced direct to me :) and contact CSBA to try and get this resolved once and for all. If I have to I'll get my lawyer on it.

Man I'm 54 and the last time I had to deal with this sh$$%^ was something to do with weed in the 70's

Thanks again for all the input

OK so what am I missing here? Not trying to start a pissing match here just looking for some explanations. The OP's bike is Closed Competition, so RIV will not deal with. So if the Registrar of Imported Vehicles is not going to do any paper work to register this bike as being imported into Canada, who is, the CBSA?

OK found it:

The RIV program regulates only vehicles originally manufactured for distribution in the U.S. market. Vehicles originally manufactured to standards other than U.S. or Canadian, are not admissible. The RIV program regulates passenger cars, limousines and funeral vehicles, Class A, B and C motorhomes, multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs), disabled access vehicle conversions, travel van conversions, motorcycles, restricted use motorcycles, ambulance vehicles, trailers, trucks, snowmobiles (including snowmobile cutters), low speed vehicles less than 15 years old based on the date of manufacture, and buses (including school buses) manufactured on or after January 1, 1971.

So RIV differentiates between Close Course Competition bikes and restricted use bikes (non racing dirt bikes). The former does not go through RIV but the latter does. So we were both right and both wrong. So if his bike says Closed Competition he does not need to bother with importing. If it doesn't then....

Still confusing to me is the need for this Closed Competition bike to be registered in Canada for ICBC to register it once they get this ORV thing sorted out. I have three dirt bikes (restricted use motorcycles) sitting in the garage, none of them have one piece of paper work to support who owns them or where it came from, they are not registered. So come time to register with ICBC, when the ORV registry is up and running here in BC, are you saying I and everybody else who has bought a dirt bike in BC will not be able to register it here in BC as a dirt bike? I'm finding that hard to believe.

I'm with Gerald. A very large chunk of the dirt bike population in BC has changed hands, and probably only the original owner, and perhaps the second have any paperwork supporting ownership. I have sold several myself with only a hand-written bill of sale, which are probably still under the seats of the pickup trucks that drove away with my bikes.

When the off-road registration legislation goes into effect, I am told that we will have to go to the appropriate govt. office, and register our scoots. We will have to make a declaration of their value, and perhaps pay PST at that point. This is what the government wants at the moment, I understand the user groups working with the government are lobbying hard against requiring us to pay tax.

Right now the OP does have a bill of sale proving ownership, so it could be sold with full pedigree. There is no registration requirement, the only thing that hasn't been done is pay taxes. If the registration legislation goes down as drafted, they are going to get you on that anyway.

When I legally imported my (closed course competition) KTM 300, the border guy was only interested in collecting tax, and that I wasn't misrepresenting how much I paid. There was no "registration" documentation produced in the process.

Ride the bike, screw taxes!

Crap - had a whole post going and lost it

Anyway, I did not want to turn this into a BC OHV topic BUT un-less I'm missing something, if you live in BC you will need to register your off-road bike with BC or deal with the RCMP, FSO, or CO if you run into them.

I've had the bike in BC over the summer, with the liability insurance, and rode it. Seen a few FSO and they only asked for my liability form BUT told me they will at some point look for registration.

1) Since OHV is a BC thing and not specific to my import issue in this thread and since and I could not find any current info on ICBC's site on this, I am going talk to my local girls and see what info I can get. I will post any info I get on this in the Canadian forum.


2) So if we keep this topic to "the bike needs to be registered in Canada for the BC OHV and if I ever wanted to sell it legally".......


After looking further at the post about the bike being in Canada and owned buy an American, I guess I could sell or gift the bike back to my friend in California. He could re-register. Then he brought the bike into Canada on a holiday and left it. Then sold or gifted it to me. I could then go through the CBSA process without taking it back to the US etc.

Does this make sense or any other thoughts???

Or has someone been through this EXACT issue and resolved it???

Again, thanks for the input

I'd just wait until they make registration mandatory. There will be a mechanism for registering previously unregistered OH vehicles. Sounds like it's coming sooner rather than later anyway.

Can anyone comment on this post I picked up on Craigslist Vancouver. It seem to say that it will be even more difficult to buy a bike from the states.....

No more Canadian sales from USA - $1 (Vancouver)
condition: like new size / dimensions: 1000

fuel : gas transmission : manual

No more Canadian sales of vehicles from the USA - $1 (Washington)

At least not without jumping through flaming hoops.


New rules from the US government as of Oct 1st prohibit all sales of US vehicles to Canadians unless the US seller supplies a SSN number and or a EIN number so the US feds can send notice to sellers of US vehicles to Canadians, to report the sale as income. Since no one in the US would ever be willing to let the Feds know what they have sold to a Canadian, there is and has been no sales since Oct 1st. Contact your local congesscritter (Rick Larson) to complain.

EIN is:
Also known as the Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) or the Federal Tax Identification Number, the EIN is a unique nine-digit number assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to business entities operating in the United States for the purposes of identification.

now to the moron who flagged my post not understanding what was said. Here is a quote from the US customs office.

Informed Compliance Ends October 2, 2014
Penalty Phase to Begin October 3, 2014
Date: 9/22/14
On April 5, 2014 the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Customs and Border
Protection implemented a 180 day informed compliance period
regarding the enforcement of the new FTR Export Trade Regulations (published March 14,
2013). During the informed compliance period no penalties were issued for
failure to comply with the new requirements.
The period of informed compliance will end on October 2, 2014.
What does this mean?
This means that as of October 3, 2014, the new export regulations
will be 100% enforceable and penalties will be issued for non-compliance.
What will change under the new Export Trade Regulations?
The change that will havethe most impact is the requirement for an AES export
declaration to be filed for all Used Self-Propelled Vehicles (USPV) being
exported from the United States.
For information on other changes, please refer to our previous memo, "Changes
to the FTR Export Regulations" dated April 4, 2014 on Page 5 of this document.
What is considered to be a Used Self-Propelled Vehicle?
Used Self-Propelled Vehicles (USPV) are defined as any automobile, truck,
tractor, bus, motorcycle, motor home, self-propelled agricultural machinery,
self-propelled construction equipment, self-propelled special use equipment, and
any other self-propelled vehicle used or designed for running on land but not rail;
whose equitable or legal title has been transferred by a manufacturer, distributor,
or dealer to an ultimate purchaser
.
There is no distinction made between vehicles which are street legal or not.
A listing by HTS/Schedule B Classification can be found in Appendix U to the
AESTIR.
Are USPV shipments to Canada exempt from filing?
NO. The new export regulations require that all shipments of USPV be declared
via an AES declaration regardless of country of destination

This part...

Makes it seem like this is aimed at commercial sellers rather than private sales.

Suncoast
I sent you a PM

I have imported 3 bikes in the past and am looking at doing another this weekend or next.
Can someone clearly explain the AES stuff?
I went to register and it seems like its for a company for "freight forwarder" of which i am neither
It ask for company information, and some other jazz
I am going to purchase from an individual for personal use only

Some help would really be appreciated it seems like i am having a hard time finding clear info or info from someone who has imported recently
Thanks\

Don't be afraid, a US customs broker does it all for you. It cost me $80 and I had my number within an hour. I'll provide details later, but for now just want to say that it's not a problem, just slightly more expensive.

Today I finished the importation process. In detail from beginning to end this is how it went:
First off, I purchased the bike, a 2004 BMW R1150RT, in Michigan last July. I registered it in my name and rode it all summer. I received the first vehicle history from BMW Detroit in October without issue. I then received a second letter from IronHorse BMW in November while I was in Tucson after realizing RIV will only accept a recall letter less than a month old. I received this also without problem, stating both times that someone was interested in buying the bike and wanted to see the history. It clearly states on the letter that is is "NOT to be used or relied upon for import or export purposes, and is not to be distributed or shared with third parties". None the less, the letter was accepted by RIV without question. If someone was going to purchase a U.S. bike, I would suggest asking the owner to produce this letter from their local dealer to aid in the importation process.
The RIV website is very informative and provides everything you need, including links to whatever office you will be using when crossing the boarder. After sending US Customs my title and bill of sale (Bill of sale was not necessary because the bike was already titled to me, but I sent it anyways just in case.) they returned my email with a worksheet which needed to be filled out. After some research I contacted Jones and Jones Customs Brokers in Blaine, WA. For $80, they produced for me the required ITN# and helped me properly fill out the customs worksheet. This was all done through email and one phone call and took only a couple of hours.
After scanning the worksheet and returning it to customs, they emailed me within 5 minutes stating they received the paperwork and I could export my bike in 72 hours.3 days later, I picked up my bike, loaded it into my truck ( you can ride it if it's properly insured) went to the Pacific Crossing with my title and receipt. The guy was super friendly( a big surprise!), stamped my title and I was on my way. He didn't even look at the bike!
Cross the Canadian boarder and go to Customs. Fill out your Form 1, pay a fee and your done. I was through within an hour.
Go to the RIV site and fill out the form with your Form 1 number, along with a scan or photo of your recal letter. A few days later if your recall letter was accepted, you will receive an inspection letter which must be filled out by the vehicle inspector.Go get the bike inspected at Canadian Tire (look for their inspection locations on the RIV website) they check the following:
Headlights must not be capable of turning off with the switch, and must remain on at all times when the motor is running.
All headlight and taillight lenses must be stock and have the C3 ( I think!) designation. Aftermarket lenses will fail you! The muffler must be stock and have the compliance stamp. The frame must also have a compliance sticker below or near the VIN. The speedometer must read in Kilometers, although I think if it doesn't I have heard they can apply a sticker, but I'm not sure. Signal and brake lites must function as they would. The fee for this is $11.20 all in, or $5 a wheel plus tax.
When all is done, go register your bike and pay the tax, and your good to go! Having done this, if the benefit was great enough I would not hesitate to do it again. The easiest way is to follow the importation checklist on the RIV site, as it takes you through all the steps of importation.

2

Good advice in this thread. Thanks.

I was living in Windsor Ont. about 20 years ago and sold a BMW bike to a gent just outside Detroit.
I rode it across the bridge, told US customs I was only over for the day and dropped it off at his house.
He paid me, I took the Ontario plate off and he drove me back home.

You can now. KTM has updated the import list. You can import any year you want to now.

A quick update.

I just imported a bike through Blaine WA. I used Carson Int for my broker to get the ITN number, $50.00 USD.

http://www.carson.ca/en/

Also, a heads up;

I would advise against adjusting the purchase price to save a few $ in GST. I was grilled by not only the CDN booth agent (he was the warm up act), but the agent in the office. First I was told that I could amend my purchase price and pay a fine or if he determines that I lied, the bike would be confiscated. This was repeated several times. He also told me he confiscates 2 -3 bikes per week at that crossing.

The price was correct so I obviously didn't budge, and after 5 minutes or so he said he confirmed my purchase price was probably correct.

Besides being an ahole & unprofessional, my only conclusion is, he was incompetent or the govt is hunting taxes, or a bit of both.

Anyways, take note.

I figured with our dollar, it would be rare that importing is still happening.