Exporting XB12R to England

[simonw]

Hi all,

I live in England and hope someone can give me some advice from the other side of the pond!

I'm looking into the possibility of buying an XB12R in the USA, and putting it on a ship to export to England. Basically I have been waiting for the right one to come onto the market over here for a couple of years, with no success. I currently have an XB9R which after nearly 120,000 miles is getting a little tired...

XB12Rs do occasionally come onto the market in this country, but are very rare, and I am looking for a particular one, not just any- The bike I want to buy must be 2008 or later, in the white/blue colour scheme, preferably sub-10k miles on the clock, the lower the mileage the better.

So I have a few questions!

I'm hoping to spend up to around $6,000, although this could be affected slightly by the exchange rate. Does this sound reasonable for the year and mileage of bike I'm looking for?

As a general rule, do people feel that an American seller would be open to dealing with someone from the UK, bearing in mind the international transaction would inherently be slightly more complex than a domestic one?

How does the procedure work in the USA for dealing with the paperwork side of things to transfer the title?

I would probably have to buy a bike unseen other than in photographs, this would inevitably mean I would have to place a lot of trust in the seller (although you all seem to be a pretty decent bunch)- I'm inclined to think with a clean, low-mileage bike it would be quite difficult to go seriously wrong... Any thoughts on this? If I were to find a specific bike some time during the summer, is there any likelihood of a fellow Bueller living nearby going to have a look and giving me an unbiased opinion?

Any thoughts, advice, comments, general shooting down in flames, or indeed anything else, will be appreciated!

Thanks,
Simon.

 

[redrider]

there are some great low mile bikes around and 6000 is a good number but good luck with white and blue and the the less mods the better. I think this will be a hard thing to do because of England EPA regulations. Hope you can find what you want.[up]

 

[simonw]

As far as I am aware, the spec is the same for the US bikes and those originally sold in the UK, can anyone comment?

That leads me onto another question though, are there different specs depending on which state a bike was originally sold in? I remember from my days of owning a Honda VFR750 that the California bike is slightly different- does the same apply to Buells and is there any particular spec I should look for, or avoid?

 

[Red93stang]

The only difference in the Califonia bike is the charcoal canister hanging off to the left side of the bike.

I'm sure someone would be glad to go look at the bike prior to your purchase. If you find one in southern Missouri. I would be glad to go look at it. Springfield area mainly.

 

[firefighter1c57]

Simon, this is your lucky year. I've been researching the shit out of shipping a vehicle the other way, U.K. to the U.S. I've got quotes from several companies for transport charges, and I've looked a lot into import issues with the U.S., though many of those wont apply going the other way.

Title transfer into the U.S. requires the original U.K. title, and an import inspection at the port, with some document fees. Also, an accepted wash is required at the port of entry. In addition, there are some U.K. export document fees, and the vehicle requires a wash before leaving the U.K. I'd imagine most of this will able to you as well, but in the reverse.

Cheapest transport fee I've found thus far is 747 Sterling Pounds for Liverpool to Houston. You will come out on the really good end of the exchange rate. It's currently about 1 pound buys you about 1.50 U.S. dollar.

I know early in the Buell history, Euro models had smaller header pipes, I don't know if that lasted through all the XB models or not. The California model had, as mentioned, a charcoal canister. For U.S. import, a U.S. citizen is allowed to import one "none" compliant vehicle per lifetime. Vehicles older than 25 years do not apply. I'm not sure about U.K. rules obviously.

I'd be more than happy to look at any Buell for you here in the U.S.... In exchange, I'm looking at Esprits in the U.K. and could seriously us a looker in the U.K. to check out Esprits for me for a possible purchase.

 

[4eyelove]

I have a 2003 XB9R with 6K on it with white and blue plastics in Thetford area that I have been thinking about parting ways with. Let me know!

 

[buellbradski]

In my area I could go look at it if you work out the details and shipping with him.

 

[Renegade]

Shoot, I've got an 08 Anniversary Edition XB12R (white w/blue wheels). Pretty much bone stock. It has the S-Model handlebars currently installed (handlebars/top triple from an XB9S). I do have all the stock parts to put it back to the R-Model. I also had a custom exhaust just built for it (Devil Shotgun Exhaust from a Suzuki). The midpipe (header to canisters) isn't the prettiest, but it sounds wicked. It's got 6947 miles as of today. Clean and Clear Georgia Title in my name. Newer Continental ContiSport-Attack tires with only 1000 miles. I have all the maintenance records from the HD Dealer where this bike was bought from and serviced at (only one other owner than myself). If you're interested, PM me and we'll talk about this.

 

[user_deleted]

simon: exporting a bike to the UK from here in the USA is pretty simple. on the east coast Pembroke Marine services is the place of choice. i use them approx. 4 times a year to ship bikes to europe. the seller will need a clean unemcumbered title is sellers name, VIN on bike must match VIN on title, should be drained of fuel, bill of sale in agreed upon amount between seller and buyer goes with title. other than that and getting the bike to Pembroke Marine it is fairly easy. where it gets dicey as we say over here is a heavily modified bike, a bike missing alot of parts or heavily damaged as in wrecked. not that you even would be considering something like that but UK customs officials in all likelihood will reject it at port of call.