Shipping and importing a Canadian xs650 to California

[mushyknife]

I moved to San Francisco from Toronto, and left my '83 xs650 heritage behind. Broke my heart. Now that I'm settled I'm thinking about shipping and importing it over. Got a quote for around $1k. Has anyone done this before? Cheaper options? Are there things I should be aware of before all the importing paperwork comes flying in?

 

[gggGary]

Ride it! $1k sounds reasonable with the border crossing and all. You might have problems with getting a Canadian 83 registered in California I don't know how far back they start enforcing pollution regs. We tried to get an older (1990ish) US civic into Canada, ended up driving it back and selling it in the US basically couldn't be done.

 

[jbenedict]

Here's a link to the California motor vehicle website about "direct import vehicles"

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?...dmv_content_en/dmv/pubs/reg_hdbk/ch12/ch12_15

This may help and it may confuse. If your XS was made as a "Canada Only" bike and sold new there, it might fall into a different category than a US bike that somehow found its way into Canada but was US spec. The US Federal Safety Standards do not apply if it is older than 25 years old. If a bike is newer than 1978, you need to ask about the applicable California pollution standards.

There are also standard US Customs papers to fill out to bring it into the country over and above the licensing standards. I suppose if you only intented to import it to look at it standing in your garage and don't want to ride it, you wouldn't need to worry about the other stuff if Customs would let it in.

There are two telephone numbers listed to call on to ask questions. One is and 800 the other is not. There is an e-mail address to ask the "1978 or newer M/C" question.

It would have to be a very special ride if it would be worth the money to bring it to SF rather than sell it in Canada and using the money to buy another one in SF. $1K to ship or however much it would be to fly to Toronto and ride it back. If you drive back and get it with a truck, the costs of a two-way trip might exceed $1K depending on gas milage and if you camp or stay in fleabag hotels.

 

[fredintoon]

Hi mushy,
admittedly it was a long time ago but when I came to Canada from the UK there was a "settler's effects" deal in place.
As well as all the usual stuff it allowed me to bring in "no more than two" new vehicles free of all taxes and duties.
Perhaps your move to California has a similar thing complete with an XS650-sized loophole?

 

[jbenedict]

Hi mushy,
admittedly it was a long time ago but when I came to Canada from the UK there was a "settler's effects" deal in place.
As well as all the usual stuff it allowed me to bring in "no more than two" new vehicles free of all taxes and duties.
Perhaps your move to California has a similar thing complete with an XS650-sized loophole?

UK to CDN might be a different than CDN to US. That Commonwealth thing, you know. The Queen is probably still mad about 1776. I would have thought 1812 might have evened it all up...