 |
| This Royal Enfield got stuck in Customs. It must be exported. |
"Can I import a Royal Enfield motorcycle from India to the United States?"
The question comes up a lot.
There are people who have and people who say they can do it for you easily. But I have never tried it, and there is some evidence that it is not so easy.
Royal Enfield, of course, advises against it, for many reasons. One of them is that the company makes its money importing the motorcycles through official channels and selling them through dealers. There will be those who say you can beat the system by doing it yourself. I'm not so sure.
There is a Royal Enfield on eBay now, still in its crate, apparently "stuck in customs." The seller has a sad story to tell:
"I recently purchased this Royal Enfield from the U.S. government. It is a prisoner of the U.S. Customs who say that this evil bike will cause all kinds of problems in the USA as it does not meet U.S. Department of Transportation or environmental standards. The year, miles and model are unknown. I am working to get the model, year and mileage from the government. It is not easy to do so...
"How the U.S. government says that this beautiful Royal Enfield is not allowed in is beyond me. It must be exported. It is sitting under guard in a secure area to make sure that it does not escape into the U.S.
"All I know is that I can only sell it as an export and I am hoping a freedom loving Canadian will set it free. It is located in Linden, N.J. in a U.S. Customs secure storage area.
"I am very sorry that I can not take this Royal Enfield back to my house in New Jersey and ride it. It has classic styling and feel.
"Buyer is responsible to get the import papers done. Suggest that you hire an import broker to do all the paperwork.
"This bike should be a good deal for the buyer plus you will have the satisfaction of helping this bike get out of the U.S. Customs jail."
The facts are these: both EPA and DOT regs say that no vehicle under 25 years of age may be imported into the USA. There are exceptions for race bikes for racing only limited to an event, and for museums. But the ordinary Joe cannot import anything vehicle, car, bike or truck less than 25 years old.
ReplyDeleteAny information regarding Mexico? I'm a retired American ex-pat living in Central Mexico, and would love to do something with this.
ReplyDeleteHow does one buy this machine from the US Govt? Seems odd.
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone can buy it and ship it to the Bahamas and then take a jet ski and rubber raft from Miami and sneak it in. Register it as a kit.
ReplyDelete