For those who have crossed the border to go to a race, have you been hassled by customs at all? Is there anything to keep in mind when crossing back and forth with all your gear, parts, bikes, tires, pit equipment?
This point is HUGE. Make sure to get some forms at Canadian Customs before you cross of what you're bringing with you. 9 times out of 10 you'll be fine but every now and then you'll get someone that will want to question everything you have with you on the way back and make your day hell. Trust me, it's a crappy situation when you're asked to prove ownership of everything you have with you that's long since payed for.
If you ride a bike owned by someone else (sponsor, friend) get a letter written stating the VIN and that you are allowed to use the vehicle in the USA. I have also heard it is illigal to cross some state lines with a portable fuel tank. Don't know if this is true or not. I never had a problem going to Portland with fuel.
The border can get you a green card for the bike. I took in all my paperwrok (regi, parts etc.) and this was OK with them, they wrote it up without seeing the bike. Some will require the bike be present to provide the card. There was no charge to me and it took about 7.6 mins.
I have been hassled about my bike but never anything else. I don't take a regi with me and if they ask who owns the bike, even if its not mine, I just say its mine, no hassles that way. I have been searched but nothing major. Don't take meat across. Just be nice, if they ask if anything is staying, I make a joke and say yeah, my bodywork when I crash.
Can you get a green card if you haven't any registration papers for the bike? Mine was written off (salvage title) and has been a racer for years. I think I still have a crummy old receipt from ICBC indicating that was purchase as salvage and a hand written note of sale from the previous owner. What is the actual name of this green card document? It might help to search the customs website...
What if you dont have a VIN on your frame? I havent found one anyway. I have no paperwork saying the bike is mine? That answers my question I guess.
Re-found the document, no thanks to the gov't site. http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cm/d2-6-5/d2-6-5-e.pdf
I guess we should look into this next time. I guess I'll have to get the vin off my bike and check it.
if you have registration papers you don't need a green card. i had a green card for my 125GP bike because it's not a street bike and so couldn't be registered. you can register your race-converted-street bike even if it's not streetable, ie. if it has salvage status and you have no intention of making it street legal again you can still get it registered in your name. cheap too... like $25. this proves ownership and nationality of the bike so you can't be accused of trying to import it, and it's a form that is better understood than the green card, which is an all purpose thing for items with serial numbers... you can put the serial number of your rolex on it for example. i've been asked if i can prove that all the sh!t i'm bringing back is mine. i have a checklist that i use just to make sure that i don't forget anything so i keep that with me to show that everything that's coming back was mine already. i've been shaken down a bit on the way down too... specifically being questioned as to if i'm taking the bike down to sell it, so if you have a copy of your race registration confirmation email it might help with that... i always love that question... bike with huge competition numbers in the back of the truck... "what are you going to the states for?"...
i bought my bike from a dealer so i got a bill of sale and the ICBC slip showing the bike registered to the dealer. gave all that to the insurance dude and he transferred it into my name and printed me new ownership dox, so mine was easy. if you don't know who the bike is registered to get your insurance agent to do a search on it... it'll be in the system somewhere, and then you'll have to do some scrambling to get evidence of the chain of ownership to get it to you, and then they'll be able to register it in your name... so if it has salvage title it should be in the name of the breaker that bought it from the ICBC auction. you'll need a bill of sale from him to the next guy and the next guy to you, etc....
If its not 'dismantle only' then you can get it Provincially inspected and put on the road. You'll need the usual Transport Canada stuff: head/tail lights, signals, horn, mirror(s), reflectors and your bike has to be safe to operate (i.e no bald tires, worn pads, broken levers, sticky throttle etc.). Simon #280 is a certified MC PI. His shop, Simon Auto, is in Langley. Now that the free PR is out of the way, Simon, when are you coming over to my brother's shop?
oops! considering the flava of the thread i thought he was just asking how to get his race bike registered in his name to avoid border hassles... i know nothing about getting a salvage bike back to registerable for the street!
