Hey all,

I have a cousin in Ottowa that is looking to pick up his first bike, and he wants it to be a Harley. I was wondering if some of you fellow maple leafs could let me know if importing a used HD from the states is worth it, or is it cheaper and less of a pain to just buy in Canada. Thanks for any info ahead of time!

 

Sold a Deuce to a guy in Toronto. He had to pay for the speedo to be changed from MPH to KM and tax at the boarder if I remember correctly. We tried to say it was worth 8K but they did not buy that. They went off book value at the boarder. Also if you do it, remember they want the info faxed before you get there. It was a few yrs back.

 

I am also from Ottawa. I bought one from NC this year and was a pretty simple process. Had biked shipped to HD dealership close to border and paperwork to me. Dropped off paperwork to US customs and picked bike up 72 hours later. Pay one tax at Canadian customs and fill out RIV form http://www.riv.ca/Home.aspx . All RIV paperwork is done through email or fax so goes pretty quick. Harley also makes it easy to get recall letter of clearance http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/C...bmLocale=en_US
The whole process was done within a week. As far as speedometer, Canadian Tire does the safety on it for RIV and all they do/require is put 4 stickers at 20/40/60/80 KPH that are easily removed after the fact.
The local HD dealership told me that warranty could be transferred if safety was done and speedometer changed, but if extended warranty was purchased that this would not be required to do.

 

Didn't know Canadian tire could do that. That's cool. I lived in Toronto for 5 yrs and Love Canadian tire. Great store.

 

They do RIV inspections on all vehicles. Basically check lights, VIN, and basic check for modifications. Then stamp paperwork for final step to register the bike.

 

It's not a big deal, just a bit of running around, floyd2 hit all the pertinent points.

 

Bought 3 Harleys from the US. Painless, if you have a month of patience.
RIV.ca
and you have to get a recall letter from Harley.

PM if you need some help.

 

Just finished this process today actually. Simple to do. Well worth it. Paperwork, titles, bill of sale etc. must sit at the border for 72 hours. Pay provincial sales tax at the border. Fill out Form 1 on the riv.ca website, it costs, 200 or so, they check for recalls and give you Form 2, stating there are no recalls, than you dont need the letter from the manufacturer. Bring in your receipt and paper work to Canadian Tire where hey check over the bike, lights etc, i didnt have to change my speedo over and never had stickers put on. ended up saving about 5000 dollars on buying in the states.

 

I think that ou need to be careful that 'new bikes' need to be homogenized or something like that and that HD will charge an arm and a leg.
Also did hear that some Harley Dealers in Canada have not been honoring warranty on US Bikes (they can tell from the HD serial number)... again, this is 'hear say', but all others I know who got older bikes from the U.S are very happy they did so.
There are a few guys in Toronto that will do the import for you for a fee.

 

Just did it. Totally painless process, whoda thunk that dealing with 2 levels of government would be easy but it was.
I had a customs broker do the paperwork, cost about $175.00, well worth the $ compared to my time. Had my Night Train transported from NC to Toronto, cost me $400.00, used http://www.dreamridetransport.com/ and I highly recommend them great service and ya can't beat the price. Ya can also bring back 100 lbs of stuff with your bike so I had a buncha parts from the Doc shipped with the bike. No custom's or duties to pay.
Tom from Dream Ride can give ya the Broker info if ya choose to do it that way.
As for dealing with the government regulations the biggest worry is the recall notice, there were no recalls on my 08 so everything went well but you need a clear copy. The guy I bought my bike from gave him one n he faxed it to me.
Canadian dealers are loath to give ya any help cause you ain't spendin yur $ with them.
When ya take it to Canadian Tire all they really looked at was the VIN #'s & day time runnin lights, as for the speedo change they asked me if I really wanted the decals stuck on my speedo and didn't bother when I said no.
I'd do it again in a New York minute n I've been known to squeeze a nickle till the buffalo *****.

If yur cousin wants any more info pm me n I'll give ya whatever help I can