Veteran motorcyclists everywhere secretly lust for the opportunity to trace down a rumor or stumble onto the whereabouts of a vintage motorcycle. The idea of locating that “barn fresh” Vincent Black Shadow or Honda Cub fuels the dreams for many of us. The longer you have been riding, the greater the interest you have in acquiring a restorable copy of a great motorcycle you once owned or wished you had owned. From my personal experience I can describe how a 28-year odyssey recently resulted in my acquiring a Velocette that began as a rumor. We moved to Honolulu in 1970. Needing to hook up with the dirt bike crowd, I visited the local shops and off-road playgrounds. As I made new friends I would inquire as to the whereabouts of any Velocettes. To a man, they all responded that there had been one around, but no one had seen it for several years, and furthermore no one could remember who owned it. The perfect rumor! An island, a relatively small geographic region, and somewhere within it stood the Velocette that someday I knew I would own.
Velocette was the only marque sold and serviced by Motorcycle Equipment Co., 1558 India St., San Diego, Calif. As a teenager I would bicycle to the shop to watch the owner, Gus, wrench on Velos. He would indulge my questions with simple answers, and slowly I developed an understanding of the old-world craftsmanship that went into producing the Velos. Gus gave me a cutaway rendering of a Velocette Veeline Clubman that still hangs on my office wall. A reminder that someday I would own a Velo. In 1971 we moved to Maui, but periodically I would be in Honolulu and would inquire wherever I was about any Velo sightings. At one point in 1998 Randy Wong, who operates TLC Motorcycles, a salvage operation, suggested I contact an old-timer who was selling off a collection of bikes that at one time numbered around 35 motorcycles. Bingo! Not only did I find the Velo but I also found a 1909 Thor, a 1913 Harley board-track racer, a Parilla Wildcat Scrambler, a Scott Flying Squirrel, a Suzuki rotary, a Moto Morini 21/2, a 1933 Indian in-line four-cylinder and a pallet load of Greeves dirt bikes. And everything was for sale. It took several months to convince the 86-year-old owner that I was worthy enough to become the third owner of the Velo. He had acquired it in 1974. I somehow passed his test of character and now own a complete 1959 Velocette Endurance. We simply poured some gas into it, kicked it over about 50 times and it roared life. Now it is on Maui and undergoing a thorough cleaning and sprucing up. I hope to ride it as an unrestored original.
Long-distance buying So that accounts for my 15 minutes of fame in the “barn fresh” category. But what of all those other dreams we enthusiasts indulge in, that lead us to the notion that we could import from a foreign country that special motorcycle that we have not found in our search of garage sales, swap meets or from that rumor of a great bike belonging to a friend of a friend of a friend? As we pour over the journals each month, we spot ads from foreign countries describing bikes from our ever-growing “want” list. You also notice the ads for companies that specialize in importing your foreign purchase for you. They claim to use air freight, clear Customs and handle all the paperwork. They claim to take all the worry and hassle out of importing a vehicle from a foreign country. If you have seriously given any thought to importing a bike from overseas you have probably talked to enough enthusiasts to also hear horror stories of import deals going sour. Bikes impounded by Customs. Bikes being returned to the seller because the import did not meet EPA or DOT minimum standards. Or worse yet, a buyer who in order to meet the EPA/DOT standards, sent the bike to a specially sanctioned company that for a fee equivalent to the purchase of a new Toyota Tundra will “certify” the bike as EPA/DOT compliant. The end result is that nearly a year later the new owner has invested probably 10 times what he paid for the bike and now hates the thing with a passion. I decided to learn as much as I could about the process and the pitfalls of buying a vintage bike overseas and importing it into the USA. The first and foremost thing you need to know is that the EPA will permit you to import a motor vehicle without hesitation, providing you have documentation that demonstrates that the bike is at least 21 years old. Anything newer is subject to emissions and safety concerns that are not worth even discussing. The “grey market” is filled with horror stories of well-intentioned purchases being returned to the port of origin. Do not even entertain the idea of purchasing a vintage motorcycle unless it is at least 21 years old. To get a handle on the EPA regulations governing the purchase of a motorcycle from overseas request the “U.S. EPA Automotive Imports Facts Manual” from any office of the Environmental Protection Agency. This can usually be handled by telephone or through the Internet. If you locate the bike of your dreams via a print ad you may choose to write, phone or fax the seller to get details and pricing on the bike. If you locate the seller via the World Wide Web you will end up using e-mail to conduct the transaction. Writing and e-mailing are the preferred methods since it allows both parties in the negotiation to keep records of what was agreed upon. Keep written records of all correspondence and conversations. Request color photographs. Solicit third-party inspections if you have overseas contacts near the seller’s location. Patience is the watchword when purchasing things from unknown sellers in foreign markets. Vintage motorcycle owners are a trusting lot. We swap parts and services in this country frequently on the basis of mutual trust and respect for one another. It is a mini-industry that operates on integrity and a love for vintage iron. Having given ourselves a pat on the back, it must be noted that an overseas purchase is fraught with risks that we are unfamiliar with, such as the varying export regulations from county to country, the constantly fluctuating currency exchange, and crating and ground transportation problems that may be done differently abroad. An overseas seller who is advertising in American journals or on the WWW is definitely schooled in what he believes his bike is worth. He will have already discounted the currency exchange rates. Regardless of whether the price is quoted in dollars or lira or pounds or rubles, the seller has adjusted the price to what he feels is the worldwide market value. With sellers from English-speaking countries there maybe little room for negotiation. In other countries negotiating is an art form. Be prepared to haggle somewhat. The sellers expect it. And you will feel better if you pay somewhat less than the asking price. Money matters When you agree upon a price, make sure that you are agreeing on the price in dollars. You may pay for the purchase in lira, as I did with a recent purchase from Italy, but the value was negotiated in U.S. dollars. Before you send any money you should insist upon receiving a photocopy of the seller’s title or ownership papers that document the vehicle identification number and the date of manufacture. These will be presented to U.S. Customs at the point of entry. No bonafide papers, no deal! A wire transfer between your bank or brokerage firm and the seller’s bank is the easiest method. However, unless you deal with a money center bank or live in large city with banks familiar with overseas transactions you may have to resort to other means, particularly if the seller lives in a rural environment and his bank is not a sophisticated money center bank. As part of the negotiation, ask the seller to provide you with his bank’s international routing information for a wire-to-wire transfer. Have your bank determine if it is equipped to make the transfer. If so, all is well. If not, the transfer can also be handled by American Express. That firm is in the international currency business on a daily basis and is equipped to handle transfers worldwide. So is Western Union. However, a word of warning. Western Union has a substantial fee on either end of the transaction. The seller may balk at taking a discount on the receiving end. Check with your transfer agent ahead of time to make sure the seller will receive the agreed-upon value. Some foreign sellers would prefer to receive U.S. dollars. This makes it easy. But you must use a delivery system that provides (for yet another fee) a guarantee that the seller has received the mail. The U.S. postal system, FedEx and UPS all offer these tracking services. Your mailing must include a description and value of the contents. Small packages marked “gift” or “home computer accessory” or “promotional literature” are usually received by the seller unopened. Discuss this in detail with the seller before sending cash overseas.
The freight forwarder It is almost always cheaper to negotiate (within the purchase price) to include having the seller crate the motorcycle for shipment. Negotiate this feature of the deal along with the purchase price. If the seller is an enthusiast, he will know how to acquire the materials for a crate and get it properly accomplished. The fee is usually worth about $200. Finding a freight forwarder that will handle the crating and shipping is far more difficult than finding some one who can pick up the crate, handle the export documentation and get it on a ship or plane. Beware, your newly purchased motorcycle must be stripped of its battery and drained of all fuels. If the motorcycle is not a daily driver you should have the seller certify (with the help of the freight forwarder) that the fuel tank has been empty and dry for at least two years. If this is true and can be documented, it will remove the shipment from the dangerous cargo classification. This will save you a substantial amount of money. Alternatively, the motorcycle could be shipped without the fuel tank. The tank could be sent via separate carrier, once rinsed thoroughly and dried. There are companies that advertise in our journals that import motorcycles on a regular basis. They have freight forwarders all over the globe that are familiar with the entire process. They will quote you a price based on the make, model, country of origin and the ultimate destination. Do this early in the process. It is a sobering experience. Their expertise does not come cheaply! But since you are a self-starter and have read this far you probably realize there may be a clever solution to selecting a forwarder. There is, and it is most easily accessed on the Internet. If you are not hooked up to the WWW, find someone who is. Use a search engine to find a list of freight forwarders in the country of origin. Select several with e-mail addresses in the city nearest to the point of origin. Send a simple message. Example: Dear Sir: I have purchased a 1977 Moto Guzzi motorcycle, model 254. It is located in Turino, Italy. It is crated and ready for shipment. The seller’s name, address and phone number are _____. The dimensions are ___x___x___. The weight is estimated to be ___ kg. Please quote me for services and fees to pick up the crate and have it shipped via air freight (or ocean freight) to the following port of entry: _____. The consignee is: [name, address and phone number]. Please include your bank’s information for a wire-to-wire transfer from my bank. Sincerely, Gearhead Gearloose. If you live near an international airport (or seaport) you can designate yourself as the consignee. If not, you need to hook up with an enthusiast from such a location who will act as the consignee on your behalf and accept the shipment and clear Customs. A quick search through the rosters of AHRMA, the AMA or club affiliates, or a sympathetic dealer will usually find someone willing to help. When you or your surrogate goes to Customs, you will need a form, filled out, that is included with the EPA packet mentioned above (Form 3520-1). You will also need the original or a photocopy of the serial number or VIN and date of manufacture. You should also have a bill of sale in either dollars or the foreign currency. Customs can do the conversion on site. The declared value on the bill of sale is up to you and the seller. Customs has the option, but seldom exercises it on single shipments, to levy a 4-percent duty. Be prepared to pay this if necessary. Experience suggests that within most Customs departments are personnel with expertise on foreign shipments of vehicles. A telephone call ahead might save you a trip if the “expert” is not on duty that day. I have managed over the course of 12 months to locate on the WWW (thank you, Michael Moore) the above mentioned Moto Guzzi, purchase it in lira from a seller in Italy, have it crated, declared non-dangerous cargo, air-freighted to Los Angeles, clear Customs with the help of a fellow enthusiast (thank you, Steve Palumbo) and have it shipped via ocean freight to Maui for $1,450. This does not include the purchase price but reflects all other costs. The amount quoted by the professionals was $3,400, and I would have had to fly round trip to Honolulu to clear Customs and pay for inter-island shipping. Clearly, I saved over $2,200 by learning the process and by being very patient. Don’t wait any longer for that “barn fresh” classic. Buy what you want overseas and do it on your own terms! Laf Young (laf@maui.net), AHRMA #1183, rides, races and restores vintage bikes on Maui. [AHRMA Home] [News Flashes] [Events & Results] [WebMart] [Rulebook] [E-Mail Directory] |
