Bikes from "The Great North"

[gregg_floren]

Has anybody had any experience with bringing a vintage dirt bike back from Canada in the last few years?

I'm supposed to go pick one up next weekend and I'm not sure what to expect. I'm hoping just a bill of sale, but I don't really want to be stuck at the border looking for a quick storage unit rental.

Any advice or tips?

Gregg

[relic]

I'm familiar with bikes going the other way, I've imported from the US into Canada and we have a lot of red tape and hoops to jump through.
I know this is of no consequence to your question other than;
My advice would be to contact the US border/customs, whatever agency it is that governs vehicle imports and get the straight facts. Maybe its a simple process but just to be certain that is what I'd do.

I say this because if you ask about getting a US bike into Canada you'll get ten different answers and none will be totally correct. Plus our rules change often enough, so having info on the CURRENT rules is always good. As you say, you don't want to get to the border and find you are missing something.

Just my two cents. (Cdn which is only about 1.6 cents US):)

If anyone here ever wonders about selling to one of us from the GWN its easy from the sellers end. And if anyone here ever wants to sell an 03 to a Canadian, contact me first. Hahaha.

Ken

[Alberta Mike]

You mean you are just showing up at the border with a bike and a bill of sale (probably hand written)? Hmmmm, I think you'd better contact border service and ask a few questions. You don't want to get hung up for sure. Just a guess on my part, I've never done it but I know with cars, etc. there is a lot of paperwork. Most people with cars use a licensed broker, not sure how all of that works.

[Hydraulic Jack]

Certainly you can ask Customs or look it up online, but your question will apply coming back home, not crossing into Canada, so it would be US Customs you need to ask. May we assume this is a vintage Hodie you are getting?

My guess is that if you showed up at the border, as a US citizen, crossing back into the US, they aren't even going to look at the bike. They have never gone through anything of mine in all the times I have crossed back and forth. If the bike has Canadian plates on it, take them off. Then it is just your trail bike. Hundreds of guys travel back and forth for hunting with bikes and quads. Even shotguns. Have proof of ownership in hand, but don't volunteer anything unless asked. Just leave the paper in your glove box. After all, it isn't illegal to buy a bike, the need for paying Customs on a repatriated 40 something year old bike is less than nil (fraction of value, and what's an old bike worth??), and you aren't trying to smuggle something in, it is simply your motorcycle.

Customs and Border Patrol are more interested in ISIS than Hodakas. The worst that would happen is you would have to pay duty, and even then the border guys won't have a clue what to charge. Been there, done that.

[relic]

Again, I can only speak to bringing one into Canada and if you just cross the border with a bike here and hope they don't notice you will never be able to title or plate it in Canada. That's fine if you just want a play bike that will be used on your own property. I won't bore the forum with details but I know people here who have done this. And it didn't work out well.
But our importing rules are over the top anal.
Hopefully yours are much easier.
Ken

[viclioce]

I found this doing a quick search. Read through this. Make sure your Bill of Sale is under $400 US. Also make sure it's clean and not carrying any mud. That can stop you deadcat the border. Finally indicate it's a Parts bike only. There will be less questions about it. Tell them you have one at home and you purchased it for parts to fix another bike you own. Here's the page I read. Victor

http://www.bordercenter.org/chem/vehicles.htm

It should be exempt from 1975 EPA regulations since it was exempt when manufactured? Don't even mention that it's a 2 stroke. They probably won't know what a Hodaka is. Just say it's an off road bike and will be used for frame & tank parts.

[MTRob]

Being from Montana right next to the border, beiing about 100 miles from the border. We had ourbikes in the back of our trucks and they just wanted to know what and how long we would be in Lethbridge Alberta, We said racing for the week end. being from Montana they really gave use no trouble. When we would go up to Canada for cross country races the Border Patrol gave use no problem on the Canada side. But coming back to the US is was always the problem. Did you buy those bikes in Canada and every questions you could think of. I can't imagine what its like today. Just check the rules.
MTRob

[kc57]

The last bike I got from BC , I paid the guy a little extra to bring it across the border. He did not have any problems