Shipping a motorcycle to New Zealand is not for the faint hearted. I’ve spent weeks of time, on and off, getting clear about what’s required to be able to do this. At the moment, I’m deep into building my shipping crate as you can see in the following photographs.
I’ve had to deal with New Zealand Biosecurity which is why the entire crate is made from plywood to prevent the possible entry of pests into New Zealand.
I’ve had to deal with New Zealand customs to get clear about import duties.
I’ve had to determine how a vehicle which is new to New Zealand, is registered and inspected for compliance with NZ laws. Bring proof of ownership.
This last, in turn, led me to have to get a letter from Honda USA stating that this motorcycle was originally sold in the US and there are no outstanding recalls against it. That was not easy getting a vast corporation like Honda to deign to send me such an obscure letter on their letterhead.
And, finally, I’ve had to located a shipper here in the US who was willing to ship the crate with my motorcycle in it without charging an arm and a leg. We finally settled for a single leg which seemed to be valued at about $1200 – from my home to the dock in Littleton.
Most folks have told me I’m basically daft for doing this. “Why don’t you buy one there?”
I guess some folks just don’t appreciate genius – it’s the only explanation I can think of <smile>.
And, never one to let an opportunity for doing something techo-whizzie get by me, I’ve managed to build my crate with a bit of Titanium. Note the gray plate that the motorcycle’s stand rests upon. Boeing surplus Titanium, don’t you know. Just think how nice that’s going to look out on the coffee table to impress all my friends in New Zealand?
That’s not a crate for a motorcycle, its a bomb shelter. Good Job.
MD
I’m thinking of shipping my Ducati 1098 to New Zealand because it would cost me many thousands more to sell mine here and buy one there than it would be to ship mine there. May I ask what was the shipping company that did it for $1200?
Curtis, I’ve sent you a private E-mail detailing who, what, where and when. Good luck on all of this and GET A DUPLICATE TITLE in your hand before you give the shipping folks your original. Cheers!
Hi I’m a native NZer and I am trying to import a bike from the states into NZ and it seems pretty hard. I have been told by one of the guys I have been dealing with over in the states that he shipped a harley to someone in NZ for $2500, this seems expensive. The reason I want to do it is because the bikes are so much cheaper in the USA (excluding the shipping) I want to buy a Triumph bonneville or speedmaster and they are around $7000 USD heaps cheaper than NZ . The only way I think I can make it worth while is if I share a container with someone and ship it back by sea. Any suggestions. Shayne. Hamilton Police
Shayne,
$2500 USD is high. That’s the sort of price I got when I first began to shop around. Eventually, I got it down to about $1500 USD. I signed up with a shipping company here in the Seattle area and what they do is collect a bunch of crates to be shipped to NZ and then they ship them all in the same 20′ or 40′ container.
Interesting you should mention a Triumph Bonneville. I was just in a local motorcycle dealer here where I live and they have one that a fellow traded in after having it for only a short while. They want $6500 USD for it, I think but they might negotiate. It looked perfect to me. They are at: http://www.monroemotorsports.net/
But, part of the $1500 USD I paid was to cover picking my crated motorcycle up here 50 km outside of Seattle and then sending it all the way down to Los Angeles (2000 km) by truck before it was put on a ship bound for NZ. Seems like, if you bought your bike in the Los Angeles area and then had it shipped it right out of Los Angeles harbor, you’d get the best deal on shipping prices because there would be no trucking involved.
Another point to consider is that if you buy it from a motorcycle dealer (regardless of whether the actual bike is new or used), that dealer, who probably receives his new motorcycles in motorcycle shipping crates, could simply pop your motorcycle into one of the used shipping crates and it’ll be ready to ship to NZ – no muss – no fuss.
Use the Contact Me page here on the samadhisoft.com web site and drop me a note and we can chat more about all of this off-line and I’ll give you the contact data for the shipping company I used and answer any other questions you might have.
Cheers!
Dennis
I am in Dammam- Saudi Arabia, need to send my bike across, any advice please- i have a Buell
Phillip, here’s a place to start, at least. Michelle arranged my shipping from Seattle to Christchurch, New Zealand. If she can’t arrange yours, she’ll probably be able to put you onto the folks who can.
Michelle Horne
Export Agent
Global Transportation Services
1930 6th Ave South
Seattle, WA 98134
Direct phone: (206) 267-3629
Phone: (206) 624-4354
Fax: (206) 624-2116
Cheers!
Dennis
samadhisoft.com
my name is jim dorner from windsor, ontario, canada. i just read your piece on shipping your bike to nz. we are in the process of shipping 3 for the month of feb. ’09. did you ever make it ? and most important what are my chances of shipping ours. your help and experience will be appreciated. jim dorner
Hey, Jim. I’ll drop you an E-mail and see if I can help answer your questions. Cheers!
Hi Dennis,
I am in New Zealand now and bought a BMW bike that I really like and would like to ship back to the US. Was hoping to get some info from you if you had the time. I am flexible in terms of where i ship from in NZ and where I pick up in the US. Any suggestions as to where and who I should contact. Thanks
Dave
Glad I found your site Dennis!
I’m planning to move down to either Auckland or Wellington from the US within the year. I have a Ducati Monster. I’ve hauled it from one coast to the other and then back again! My mechanic made me a crate very similar to yours. It’s held up well and the bike hasn’t gotten one scratch! I do, however, have 2×4’s to hold the walls together. I guess it wouldn’t take too much work to replace them with plywood to pass NZ’s codes.
How’s life down under? What about the local motorcycle crowd? You ride often?
-IZ
Life was a good a few weeks ago. I was down from December 11th through January 21. Short trip this year. Beautiful weather. I took several rides including another one up to Golden bay. I’m going to post a new post on samadhisoft.com soon describing that adventure.
I’ve met some motorcycle folks down there and they’ve all been quite friendly. They told me that there’s a lot of rides happening all year including one on the South Island in the Winter that they call the “Brass Monkey”. If you were going to end up in Christchurch, I could tell you an excellent m/c shop if you ever need work.
I’m moving down full-time this next November. Let me know if you’re going to be on the South Island at any point.
Cheers!
I am trying to figure out how to buy a NZ Honda motorcycle (model only available there) and get it shipped to the U.S. Anyone know how to go about this?
I am in the UK at the moment and have found a new Royal Emfield I’d like to buy and send to NZ. Emotional choice really!!
Can you point me in the direction of a reliable, affordable shipper please and can you let me know what the duty rate might be into NZ – I know I’ll be paying GST.
Thanks
Barry
Barry, Sorry, I cannot be of any help. My shipping was from Seattle here in the USA to Christchurch in New Zealand and I used a local free-lance shipper. I’d suggest calling some of the big shipping companies in the UK – the kinds of places that ship the 20′ and 40′ containers on cargo ships. Either they can give you a quote or they will refer you to a smaller shipper that they work with who can work up a quote for you. Good luck!
Dennis
Hi Dennis. Great info!
I am in Las Vegas & my wife & I are thinking about shipping a bike/sidecar rig to NZ & touring for 2-3 months on both islands. We have been to NZ before, but never really had the time to explore at our own pace.
Any details about the shipping company would be greatly appreciated. Also, what was the time frame for delivery?
Thanks.
Richard,
Talk with Michele Horne,Export Agent at Global Transportation Services at 206-267-3629. She’ll be able to help you or put you onto the right folks.
If you go onto this Blog and search for “motorcycle shipping”, several posts will present themselves. They are all probably worth reading in preparation for shipping your bike.
Once your bike is placed on the ship, it takes about three weeks to get to New Zealand. It generally arrives in Auckland or Tauranga which are both on the north end of the North Island.
Good luck!
Hey.
I have a Duc. 1098 i want to ship to Christchurch when i make my return home. Where do i start?
Cheers.
Corey,
I’ve learned some stuff about shipping since last time around. I’m going to ship a second bike down soon. This time, I ‘m going to use the folks here: http://www.upakweship.com/
I’m shipping from Seattle to Christchurch and they’ve quoted me $9 USD per cubic foot. Your mileage may vary.
Last time, I built the crate myself entirely out of plywood (can’t use regular wood or the Bio inspector folks in NZ will hit you with a fine to sterilize it or burn it upon arrival to prevent wood pests getting into NZ).
This time, I’m going to buy a metal pallet made of aluminum for $25 from a Triumph motorcycle dealer in Bellingham, Washington, and then all I have to do is make a cover (sides and top) that I can tie down to the pallet. These aluminum pallets are made for shipping motorcycles.
The last thing to think about is that since you are paying per cubic foot, it will behoove you to pack a ton of stuff around the motorcycle so that you get your money’s worth.
To use UPakWeShip, you’ll have to prep the entire pallet in a ready to ship form yourself and deliver down to the harbor. And, on the other end, you’ll have to come down to the harbor at Littleton and you’ll have to pay the inspection fees and such on the NZ end.
Other things to remember:
– You HAVE to drain all the gas from the motorcycle before shipping.
– You have to pressure wash your bike ALL OVER to get all the dirt, leaves and biological stuff off it. If the NZ inspector thinks it is not clean upon arrival, he will get it cleaned at your expense.
– Get a duplicate title and put it aside because they CAN get lost. The shipper has to take your title (temporarily) because US customs won’t let you bike leave the USA unless they’ve seen that you are the legal owner. On the other end, NZ won’t let you register your bike there without a valid US title.
– Read all the articles I’ve written on this site about motorcycle shipping. There are a lot of details you’ll need to get right to prevent hassles later.
– Go to the NZ customs site and read all about bringing in vehicles.
Good luck and cheers on all of this,
Dennis
Hi! Considering shipping a custom built chopper from NYC to New Zealand. What were your costs from start to finish, including materials for crate, import/export duties, etc. I am selling it to someone in N.Z. so does would I have to pay anything other than the cost of building the crate and the shipping and would the rest (duties, etc.) be up to the purchaser??? I have a clean title. Thanks for any help.
My costs were, roughly:
$1000 USD to ship it Seattle to Christchurch
$200 USD for the wood and stuff to build the crate
$195 USD for the truck to come out from Seattle to Monroe, Washington, to pick up the crated M/C and take it into Seattle.
On the New Zealand end:
$300 NZD for incoming harbor costs
$150 NZD for customs and Biosecurity fees
Sorry, I can’t recall exactly what these costs were but these are pretty good estimates.
Note that when I shipped my bike to NZ, I was a new immigrant to NZ and it was part of my personal goods. So, they dispensed with charging me the 12.5% tax. But, I had to sign a paper saying I would not sell it for two years or I’d have to pay the tax if I did.
So, I suspect you’ll pay a 12.5% tax on entry for the value of the bike.
If you go to my Blog at http://www.samadhisoft.com and search for ‘motorcycle’, you’ll find a lot of additional details about the crate and shipping and such.
One piece of advice – get a second copy of your title in your hand now because you will have to turn your title document over to the shipping folks and they lost mine and then it was a huge mess on the NZ end when my bike arrived and I had no legal title to show them. This time, I went to the State of Washington and told them I’d lost my title and they issued me a new one so I have one for the shippers and one in my pocket for the NZ end in case the shippers lose the first one. I’m not talking about making a Xerox copy – I’m talking about getting a second valid original of the title to your bike.
Cheers!
Dennis
Hello, I want to take my 2006 Tiger to Christchurch. All the information I can find is just too scattered and too complicated. How did you do this? Have you thought of making it into a book. Thanks for any help, Greg
Greg,
Most of what you’ll want to know is already written here on my Blog. Just search for all the posts about motorcycles and read through them and their comments you’ll have it. After that, if you still have questions, let me know.
Dennis
even i’m shiippin my motorcycle to auckland from mumbai india and they’re chargin me 20000 Rs thats bout 500$ but what are procedures i need to do before shippin and how to contact nz customs
Mohit,
The main thing you need to do before shipping is to clean the bike. Pressure wash it and get all under the fenders and anyplace that dirt might be. When your bike arrives in NZ, the bio-security folks are going to have a good look at it and if they think it might be carrying foreign soil or biological material like leaves or whatever, they will clean it for you and it will cost you.
Once bio-security has signed off, then you have to carry papers to the customs folks. And they will want to know if the bike is for resale or for your personal use. If it is for your personal use, they’ll make you sign a form agreeing to pay the 12.5% tax if you sell the bike before three years.
Once bio-security and customs have signed off, you can get physical possession of your bike from the shipping company but you still cannot legally drive it until you’ve shown Land Transport New Zealand that you have the original title, and you have had the bike inspected in New Zealand for brakes and signal lights and such. Once that’s done, you can register the bike in NZ and ride it.
Easy, eh?
Cheers!
Dennis
Hi
I am thinking of importing a 1986 Vespa from South Africa, any advise regarding this?
Vince
Hi Dennis, I did this myself a few years ago and I’m thinking of getting another bike in. I live in Chch, NZ and used kiwishipping.co.nz in LA. They took care of everything for me. The total cost was around NZ$1,000 from their wharehouse in LA. Would be a little more expensive now but a really good hassle free service. The biggest cost seems to be getting the bike delivered to the Warehouse in LA but i guess if you were already at that end there would be no problem.
Mate, I’m just daydreaming about that ” oneday”.
I have a 22 year 0ld Softail Custom that I’d love to take o/s someday.
I came across your Blog whilst trolling for a clue as to whats involved.
The point of my note.?
Just to say Thank You and Good on Yah Mate for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Take Care, Keep the Shiny side up.
Dirk, Vic’ Aus.
I am trying to find information on importing a race bike from US into NZ but cant find anything. Do you know if the rules and expectations are the same for a bike that is not intended for the road.
just wanna say your blog is the most informative peice of info i have found, good on you
We only ship motorcycles via air cargo since via ocean the paperwork involved in the USA and overseas can delay the rest of the shipments we consolidate in the container. Since we provide a scheduled service we can not afford delays to our clients. Therefore the only way is via air or by waiting at one of our stations in the USA for a critical mass of motorcycles to be on hand in order to make the operation profitable. The problem is the first client get to wait and wait until that critical amount of bikes is completed. We went through this years ago and all we got was complains. If you want your bike you don’t have to build a bomb shelter, an open crate will do and via air cargo only with APX
Thanks
Andy
Ceo
Great Blog……….My husband and I are kiwis and are considering shipping our bikes home after several years living in the middle east. Oman…. We have 3 bikes, 2 Harley davidson and 1 Bigdog K9. Is it possible to ship the 3 into new Zealand at the same time. We,d like to store them and use them when we return for holidays etc. Cheers
I cannot imagine why you couldn’t ship them all in together. If you read my posts on motorcycle shipping into NZ, you’ll see all the relevant stuff. Customs will want to know if you are going to sell them and make you sign a form agreeing that you will not if you want to avoid their tax. Biosecurity will want them clean or they will clean them for you and charge you. You’ll need to have titles proving that you truly ‘own’ them.
If you clean them, bring them in, have the titles, store them and don’t sell them, I can’t see what the problem will be. I’ve brought two of them in at separate times and it all went well.
Hi Dennis, Hope you are enjoying living here in NZ and are enjoying the riding. Probably asking too much here but i don’t suppose you’ve heard of anyone actually shipping a bike to Australia for a 1-2 month holiday then shipping it back to NZ, we want to tour Vic & Tassie for six to eight weeks and the rental prices over there are ridiculous ?? (so are the security deposits that disappear if the bike is stolen – which are around 5k) If you know anyone who can help us with this that would be great. Cheers Jen & Greg.
Greg & Jenn, No, sorry, I haven’t heard of anyone doing that but I don’t think it means it isn’t done. In fact, I’m sure it is. Send out some queries to some of the big motorcycle groups around NZ and I bet you’ll find some folks that have done this. Cheers!
Hi Dennis 🙂
Nice info and kind of understand it (Never imported anything before).
I’m looking at buying a new Yamaha R6 from the states in the coming months and importing it to Auckland as it’ll save about 5k with nearly 90cents to the USD. Any tips for someone newbie as me going about this? I looked on the Nzta website about all the things about importing a vehicle but they seem pretty confusing.
Also how many weeks did it probably take you to get everything done?
Cheers
Marc, You can pay to have the crate built. To avoid biosecurity hassles, have them make it all of plywood because it is treated so biosecurity knows it won’t have bugs in it. Gas tank empty and battery disconnected or removed. Make sure you’ve got a valid title. When it arrives here in NZ, the first person you’ll see is the biosecurity inspector and they’ll want to be there when you open the crate. They’ll be looking for dirt, leaves, or anything biological. After that, you’ll have to go to the biosecurity office and pay them for the inspection and get their release form. Then you are off to customs and they will either charge you a big tax or get you to sign a paper asserting that you will not sell the bike for three years. Then back to the shipping yard where it arrived and show them the customs and biosecurity releases and then you get to pay them and then you can ride you machine away. But soon after, you’d best visit the vehicle registration folks and get a WOF as well. If the bike is over 500cc’s they are going to charge you in the order of $500 NZD to register it. It’s gotten really pricey for big bikes. Good luck and cheers!
Can you tell me whereabouts in NZ you ship the bikes to? and an approx cost. I was looking at a bike in texas which they say they can ship to LA for around $US750.
I shipped to Christchurch but I think you can ship to any of the major towns where NZ Customs and Biosecurity have offices. It cost me about 1200 to 1500 USD to ship, as I recall. I made the shipping crates myself and dealt directly with a shipping company. I believe there are companies that will do everything for you (pickup, crating, shipping and delivery) but it’ll probabaly cost you a $1000 more (just a guess). Dennis
Great blog with a lot useful information. My question is: I would like to ship
an antique motorcycle “sidecar only” from Auckland New Zealand to the USA.
I live in the New York / New Jersey area – so I would like to arrange an entry to the USA at Newark or New York. (If that is practical) I can pick up the crate from the clearing house.
The sidecar crate dimensions needed are as follows:
Length 2.16m
Width 0.975m
Height 1.43m
Weight of the sidecar is about 280 pounds.
I surely would appreciate someone giving me the name / contact info for reliable and reasonable shipping – probably a shared container situation. There is no oil or gasoline contained in the sidecar. It was originally made in England.
Sincerely,
Jon in New Jersey, USA
Jon,
I don’t think I can be of much help. I shipped from the USA to NZ and it was several years ago now. I’d Google “International Motorcycle Shipping” and I’d talk to the folks you find and tell them what you are up to and get their advice. And I wouldn’t just trust the first one. Keep calling three of four until you have some sense that you are getting the straight stuff on what’s available and what’s possible. Sometimes, it just takes a lot of patience and legwork to noodle out the best way to get it done.
Hi Dennis,
My son had this big plan to study abroad at Canterbury Univ. and in his free time he was plannng to travel the NZ countryside. He got to NZ last Feb ’11 and purchased a 2000 BMW F650 GS and within the week they had the big earthquake! Canterbury Univ. was closed indefinately so he had to transfer to Newcastle Univ. in Aust. He left his motorcycle in a friends garage in Christchurch. We have been trying to sell it for the past year. Had some bites but have not sold it. We’d like to sell it or ship it back to the US. Any ideas regarding shipping from NZ to Kansas?
Carol, Google “Motorcycle shipping international” and chat with several of those companies. Some will be abel to help, some won’t and the prices will vary a lot. Just keep working the problem until you’ve got a quote and conditions you like. If you decide to perhaps sell the bike here in New Zealand, let me know. Cheers!
Hi friends
I am planning to bring Royal Enfield brand new from India to Auckland NZ, but dont know th procedure as well as whom to contact here in NZ and also whom in India too ?? almost like blank paper, can someone please inform me whole procedure and approx cost to ship and register it in nz, the price of the bike is about 2000-2500 NZD
cheers