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Question on US Bikes

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I bought a used Goldwing and brought it in saving about $4K. Aside from the forementioned damage checkouts one aspect is the proper USA export.
You don't have to do it as Canada doesn't enforce the USA laws. However if you took the bike back to the USA and had a problem where the VIN was checked they might ask why you were riding a New York State registered bike with Ontario plates. You would also have a problem with selling the bike back into the USA with dual registrations.
 
Paul1000RR said:
Your biggest concern should be whether it has been imported correctly and its "brand" on the ownership. If it was imported incorrectly you will not be able to plate it and ride it, same thing goes if it has a salvage title.

In the end that $1000 you're going to save probably isn't worth it, since when its time to resell potential buyers will be asking the same questions of you and many will simply pass on a usa bike.

And for all of those who are going to run in here and claim that usa bike have the same value look at the price of that bike, the fact that it isnt sold yet, and this thread that the OP made. :D
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ViperZ said:
Don't listen to Paul1000rr - the more he writes on any topic, the more you see that he is clueless.

The only difference between most used US bikes and Canadian bikes is that one was originally sold in USA and the other was originally sold in Canada (California bikes may have stricter catalitic converter regulations). On my CBR, I pressed one button on the cluster and it switched speedometer and odometer from mph/miles to km/h / km. The only thing that stayed 'American' is the digital engine temperature gauge is in Fahrenheit. If the bike is properly imported and Ontario plated (i.e. clear title), who cares.

Personally, I would prefer the seller to do all the importing paperwork before I'd buy that bike. As someone else mentioned, you want the bike to be properly imported and have a clear title to get it registered in Ontario.
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Can you point out the "clueless" parts in my post?
 
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Paul1000RR said:
Can you point out the "clueless" parts in my post?
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In the end that $1000 you're going to save probably isn't worth it, since when its time to resell potential buyers will be asking the same questions of you and many will simply pass on a usa bike.

And for all of those who are going to run in here and claim that usa bike have the same value look at the price of that bike, the fact that it isnt sold yet, and this thread that the OP made
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All this is bullsh*t. If the bike is properly registered, there will be no 'same questions'. If you are so scared of US bikes, please don't claim that they are not worth the same. The main reason why US bikes are cheaper is because PEOPLE PAID LESS FOR THEM, so essentially giving a better deal to the next owner. I know people who have bought and sold US bikes with no problems.

That particular bike is not sold most likely because it is NOT IMPORTED, NOT REGISTERED and 99 percent chance that it has chinese aftermarket fairings, which points to an accident in many cases.
 
Paul1000RR said:
Your biggest concern should be whether it has been imported correctly and its "brand" on the ownership. If it was imported incorrectly you will not be able to plate it and ride it, same thing goes if it has a salvage title.

In the end that $1000 you're going to save probably isn't worth it, since when its time to resell potential buyers will be asking the same questions of you and many will simply pass on a usa bike.

And for all of those who are going to run in here and claim that usa bike have the same value look at the price of that bike, the fact that it isnt sold yet, and this thread that the OP made. :D
Click to expand...

ViperZ said:
All this is bullsh*t. If the bike is properly registered, there will be no 'same questions'. If you are so scared of US bikes, please don't claim that they are not worth the same. The main reason why US bikes are cheaper is because PEOPLE PAID LESS FOR THEM, so essentially giving a better deal to the next owner. I know people who have bought and sold US bikes with no problems.

That particular bike is not sold most likely because it is NOT IMPORTED, NOT REGISTERED and 99 percent chance that it has chinese aftermarket fairings, which points to an accident in many cases.
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So he shouldn't be concerned whether it has been imported and registered properly? As well as checking the "brand" of a bike before purchase is BS as well?

And im not afraid of US bikes, but there is a percentage of people who will not want to purchase a bike or even a car from the USA, therefore you just eliminated that % of potential buyers. This is a fact, go ahead and create a poll on here asking whether people prefer canadian bikes or ones from USA.



Let me ask you another question, and to anyone who thinks buying a bike/car from the usa is such a great deal.

If you buy a bike from the usa for 5,000 and then sell it for 4,000 at a later time isn't it basically the same as me buying one from canada for 6,000 and reselling it for 5000?
Only difference is the person going to the states has to go down there, get a clearance letter, import the bike, get the modifications/inspection completed when they return. This is all costs money and people need to add this into the equation.
Unless you're buying a brand new bike and there is a significant amount of savings and you plan to keep it for quite some time its a complete waste of time in my opinion.

And ViperZ, just because you fail to understand something it doesn't mean that the person writing is clueless. ;)
 
ViperZ said:
All this is bullsh*t. If the bike is properly registered, there will be no 'same questions'.
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When my friend was looking for a bike she had me come look at a nice 09 R6 she was interested in. She had already talked to the seller twice, and looked at the bike. We went to look at it together, to seal the deal. I pointed out that it was a USA bike and she got all panicked "Why didn't you tell me it was USA bike??! you bastard!". The seller was ****** "why does everyone keep walking away because it's a USA bike?!? It's not under warranty, who cares?!". He dropped the price another $700 from the best deal she had negotiated with him, she bought it.

I'm not sure if it's better to just tell people up front it's a USA bike, or just hope they don't notice/find out? Just be aware, like Paul said, when you go to sell it, it probably won't be as easy as it would be if you had a local bike.
 
Here, i saved you the time of creating a poll. Googled it quickly and saw this poll on another forum, link is included.

poll_zps6b2ddff1.jpg
 
chiefswallow said:
When my friend was looking for a bike she had me come look at a nice 09 R6 she was interested in. She had already talked to the seller twice, and looked at the bike. We went to look at it together, to seal the deal. I pointed out that it was a USA bike and she got all panicked "Why didn't you tell me it was USA bike??! you bastard!". The seller was ****** "why does everyone keep walking away because it's a USA bike?!? It's not under warranty, who cares?!". He dropped the price another $700 from the best deal she had negotiated with him, she bought it.

I'm not sure if it's better to just tell people up front it's a USA bike, or just hope they don't notice/find out? Just be aware, like Paul said, when you go to sell it, it probably won't be as easy as it would be if you had a local bike.
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Thank you for proving my point :lmao:

Same thing goes for quebec. As soon as you mention a bike or car is from there majority of people run. Ive been there, bought a bike from montreal many years ago and it wasn't that easy to sell even though it was a one owner mint bike.
 
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Paul1000RR said:
Thank you for proving my point :lmao:

Same thing goes for quebec. As soon as you mention a bike or car is from there majority of people run. Ive been there, bought a bike from montreal many years ago and it wasn't that easy to sell even though it was a one owner mint bike.
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Will a bike from Brampton cost more or less than a bike in Pickering?
 
Easy fix. Don't tell them. To me I feel no way if I was hiding the fact it's an American bike. Nor would I lower the price because of it.

But if I was the one buying I always ask if its Canadian so I can use that as a bargaining chip. Doesn't always work as some people do not care.

So I use it for my advantage both buying or selling
 
ViperZ said:
All this is bullsh*t. If the bike is properly registered, there will be no 'same questions'. If you are so scared of US bikes, please don't claim that they are not worth the same. The main reason why US bikes are cheaper is because PEOPLE PAID LESS FOR THEM, so essentially giving a better deal to the next owner. I know people who have bought and sold US bikes with no problems.

That particular bike is not sold most likely because it is NOT IMPORTED, NOT REGISTERED and 99 percent chance that it has chinese aftermarket fairings, which points to an accident in many cases.
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While mechanically, the vehicle may be the same, the value of an import will be always lower, simply because the pool of people who are willing to acquire such vehicle is smaller. Their reasons are irrelevant. Market laws.
 
djez said:
Will a bike from Brampton cost more or less than a bike in Pickering?
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Both registered in the same province. Your point is mute. People are scared of purchasing vehicles from out of the province because they fear that something is hidden or not disclosed. Whether they are right or no, a different story.

Generally the further away a vehicle was originally located, the more sceptical a buyer becomes. It also has a lot to do with local laws dealing with titles and damages.
 
The thing is there is no difference between bikes, they were all made in Japan/ italy/etc imported to America where the ones that goes into Canada had to be taxed multiple times and sold by dealers at more dollars vs the one that went to US that can be bought cheaper. You can argue safety check etc, aside from lighting requirement that gets chopped off anyway, modern bikes have no difference.
I still don't get how the value for a used bike will depreciate if it came from other place but was legally imported/registered locally.

The only reason I see is because people know the above fact that it should be sold cheaper because the seller got it cheaper.

Back to topic, only hiccup i encountered with buying a modified US bike and importing it yourself is that you need to make sure it has stock lights, reflectors so that you can easily pass RIV inspection.
 
It has not much to do with the original price but a lot with the fear of unknown.

Not everything in life is reasonable. End result is that, generally speaking, a US bike will be more difficult to sell than the exact same local bike. For that reason, you may be able to negotiate a better deal or the seller will post at a lower price point.
 
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djez said:
The thing is there is no difference between bikes
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As far as R6/R1 go the canadian one is different from the USA one in that the canadian one has a factory immobilizer, microchipped keys, etc. Expensive to replace from Yamaha, would account for a higher value when new vs. USA bike.
 
So has anybody told the OP to run away from handing money over for a tracked, salvage titled bike that isn't even imported into Ontario yet, let alone plated?
The ostrich seat is pimp though.
 
Slight twist, but what about buying a bike (new) from a US dealership? Had the 2013 CBR600RRA came out in red here I would have bought one, but we only got tricolour (US got red). If I don't like the RRA colour in 2014, I'm thinking about importing a new 2013 in red while they are hopefully on clearance for the newer model/year.

1000rr said:
I have a 2008 CBR1000RR from the US and any warranty work I needed done the bike had to be brought back to a US dealer to be repaired or I had to pay myself to have it repaired here.
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Can anyone else confirm this? I did ask a service tech at Clarington Powerhouse this question, and he said as soon as it is imported to Canada it looses the US warranty as well (since it is no longer registered in that country).
 
Paul1000RR said:
Here, i saved you the time of creating a poll. Googled it quickly and saw this poll on another forum, link is included.

poll_zps6b2ddff1.jpg
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You simply don't get it. I bought my bike from the States *mint* 2.5 years ago. I can still easily sell it to that "smaller" interested pool of people for more than I bought it for. That's how the market works. And the poll that you posted is just shows that people who have over-spent on their Canadian cars simply want a way to get back at smarter people who paid less for the same car.

Anyway, I hope I answered OP's question and concerns.
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