Dear sir,

I would like to explain a few things regarding exports of bikes to the USA and import regulations.

The USA government has imposed severe restrictions on importing bikes into the USA. Most of the Japanese bikes you see on the road, came in using one of the three following methods.

1. Bikes that were brought before any regulations were set.
2. Bikes that were brought and were licensed by the manufacturer - a very expensive process.
3. Bikes that were brought in and were registered illegaly.

There are regulations that were imposed through the EPA and they were devised to protect the enviroment. It does not matter that we bikers think that there are factories and old cars that create a lot more pollution than a late model RVF or similar... There is a 6% tax imposed ( please verify this information )on all bikes imported to the USA and when you have your bike registered you will have to have miles indication on the speedometer and the headlight should be changed to fit traffic rules in the USA.

Most of the bikes that cross the Pacific and get into the States are race bike like the RS and the TZ. There are no problems with these bikes. Also other models that are modified for racing and od not have the parts that make them street legal, are allowed in.

We know that some people import their bikes by making them look like racers. That involves removing parts as :

Headlight

Mirrors

Rear foot pegs

Indicators

Number plate bracket ( normally a plastic sub frame )

Rear seat

Side stand

Some other parts are added to make the bike into a race bike. They are mostly external markers and covers over the headlight and seat.

I heard that it is possible to register bikes that are not regularly imported into the USA but we do not know how. We do not handle import proceedures into the USA and all the information we give here regarding USA laws and how people import their bikes is what we heard from customers.

If inspite of all these difficulties, you think you can import a bike into the USA, we will be glad to help.