Does anyone have links for US grey market importers?
It might be interesting to find out what kind of bikes you can get legally in this country through a professional grey importer. I hear that they will do all the paperwork and make it legal, for a hefty profit of course. Still might be interesting.
Trev
Try doing a search for a specific bike, like NSR250, RGV250, ZZR400, GSXR 400, that kinda stuff. It's been quite a while since I've looked up any of those bikes but I did do a little looking around a few years ago & was able to find a coupla outfits that did at least some importing. & BTW, they were quite expensive. You could pick up a nice 2-3 year old officially imported SuperSport 600 for the prices they were asking for grey import 400's. What kinda bike are you looking for?
Dang it! Ya got me thinking again - - - & I hate it when that happens. I was having this fuzzy memory about a "Grey Bike Mecca" website or some such name & I finally found it. It's "Grey Motorcycle Mecca" & it's at
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/5733/index.html
Take a peek. It's not an importer's site, but it might eventually lead you to one if you poke your way through all the links (the ones that still work that is). Have fun.
do a search here for cbr400 or gsxr 400 on this forum. I seem to remember soemone posting a link to a for sale forum (not the same as above) of grey market bikes. But they WERE more expensive...I seem to remember that a 80's cbr400 was about $6500 ...or about the cost of a slightly used 600 as stated above.
I know Speedwerkes in Delaware brings in bikes.
Look at http://www.speedwerksracing.com/index.html
Strangely there is no mention of grey bikes on the web site. I know as of last year they were bringing in Japanese bikes via Europe. Maybe worth a phone call if your serious. The shop has a pretty good reputation.
I'm thinking ahead to the next bike, a few years down the road but I am wondering what the costs are. My thought is that if you are going to keep the thing for a long time, the extra $$ might not be so bad.
Plus you could be the only guy on your block with a ..... :thumb:
JK, that doesn't matter to me.
I'm frustrated, for instance, that there is a 750 version of the Kawasaki Z1000 that is apparently not available here. I don't want a liter naked bike, I want a 750. Just one example. There are some current 400s from Suzuki that look cool too; size and handling of the GS but with a little more power but not as strong as a 600.
Just investigating. Thanks for the links! I've got a long slow trip to Japan for business meetings so I may go surfing :) I'll let you know if I find anything.
Trev
Quote from: tmckay...I've got a long slow trip to Japan for business meetings so I may go surfing :) I'll let you know if I find anything.
If you end up going to Japan, you gotta schedule some time to get to the motorcycle "mall" district they have. I've read a little about it here & there & apparently it's an awesome motorcyclist's toy box. If you go & get to investigate any of this, especially the grey import thing, you gotta give us a full report! I'm jealous!! :cheers:
Bob thanks!
I did a search and found out the "morotcycle mall" district is in Ueno, about 7 minutes by train from the Tokyo station, on my way back to the airport.
And, Ueno has a national science museum and an art museum as well :lol:
I have not given up; my only fear is getting lost long enough to miss my plane home. I might try to go Friday night and stay over or go very, very early Saturday morning (I wake up at 4:30am everyday anyway :x :P )
Trev
Could you point me to the info on the 'motorcycle mall'? I'll definitely have to check that out next time I'm in Tokyo. Maybe I just walked in the wrong direction last time I passed through Ueno, not that I expected to see motorcycle shops :)