Hi Guys.....me and my brother decided to tour west coast of America for a month on our bikes a 1200 monster and a 1098s tricolour net sept 2024 ...we rather take our bikes then rent, apart from the obvious of shipping and getting the EPA, anyone here who has done this trip advice be most welcomed
Theres a dedicated touring section on here. https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/forums/touring.47/ Good luck with the trip, not done it myself but sounds epic.
Not done it on a bike, but a few years ago, drove from Vegas, through palm springs, down to San Diego, then followed the coast road( think its highway 1) up to San Francisco, then down through yosemiti and sequoia Park and back to Vegas. Absolutely fantastic road trip
hi..awesome the plan is we start from san Fran as we air freighting the bikes (quicker) and end up in Jacksonville to ship the bikes back with sea freight ..
Curious here, would it not be cheaper and administratively easier to buy bikes there, use them and them sell them again? The cost of the freight there and back, the cost of importation duties and any other taxes, customs agents fees etc etc must be significant. Then you presumably will have to prove the bikes meet California emissions standards and register the bikes for the road there in order to be able to obtain insurance? I’ve never looked into shipping my own bike but I have looked into a big US road trip and the cost of rental was sky high such that purchasing and selling a bike became a much more cost effective option.
I've had some mates go several times, buy a bike there, do the tour, and then bring the bike back home, sell and make a profit on the bike.
you right the rental for a month outweighs the shipping costs obviously insurance and breakdown to which any option has to be met is a necessaity, I think the beauty of this trip is that we be wanting to take our own bikes ( can you imagine forking out for a 1098s tricolour and a monster 1200 over there ) and having done various bike trips in Europe it just be part of the experience that will be more immense with greater memories.... hopefully , understandable the shipping costs and getting the EPA (which shouldn't be a problem as I got a letter from the Ducati Homologation dept stating the emissions to satisfy TFL regarding the Ulez thus been exempted from any fines ) and since its only on a temporary basis the shipping company I spoke to who are very experience in this are more than willing to help with all the paper works to satisfy entry into the country once we get the EPA to which they advised me to get before booking the shipping , if you interested and its a Bucket list for you you more than welcome to join us on a month tour ..
didn't think Ducati's were cheaper in America plus we have too pay around 20% ( I think its around that number could be higher )import duties before customs release the bikes .. I could be wrong happy to be advised on this
UK Import duty on a motorcycle with an engine >250cc is 6%. You’ll also have to pay 20% vat on the cost of the bike + duty + shipping. I understand the desire to take your own bikes, at the very least you know the state of repair and reliability of them as opposed to something you purchase 2nd hand but you may want to take a look at https://iconicmotorbikeauctions.com/ in Santa Monica CA they’ll source, prep and then resell a bike for you. Maybe shipping your own is the best way, it would be handy to know as I’m sure there are a few on here would like to do a long distance trip across the USA. Thanks for the offer re joining you but my holidays and big trips are all semi-arranged until 2025. However, please do keep us posted on how it all goes.
thanks...will do got email from the contractor to the US EPA regarding entry into the US advised us to put application around feb 24. that shouldn't be a problem, will start a blog/YouTube nearer the time when all the preps are done .will let you all know in due course ....cheers
Might be worth giving this a read about a Brit shipping his bike to the USA. https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/coming-to-america.41209/ It’s a great read if you want some ideas of places to visit and practical advice, he did this epic trip a few years ago. The stuff about bike imports and shipping is at the beginning but it’s a good way to waste a day reading the whole thread
Many moons age I hired a Harley and spent 3 weeks riding a big loop through California, Arizona, Utah & Nevada... and yes it's easy to take the piss out of Harley's but after riding those roads you can see why they have evolved into such machines. During 2.5k or so miles there was only a couple of occasions where I wished I had summat more sporty. The Highway 1 coast road & up in the hills around Yosemite. But even then the views where often so spectacular that you wanted to kick back anyway. On any of the other roads the Harley was the thing to have. Many of the main multi lane highways had truly awful road surfaces some with horrid rain grooves cut into them that ran parallel to the direction of travel. They also had a good deal of HGV traffic running on them. So if you do take your own bikes make sure you do some homework & chose routes that will better suit their abilities.
Hi Mate...what an awesome riding experience and thanks for sharing it with me. making me more eager now ha ha. was you solo ? thats a good advice on the road conditions and defineitly don't want to F' around with motorist over there either
Went with the good lady on the pillion & had a rough route planned out and just ate & slept in diners & motels at the end of each day. Outside of the major conurbations the road surfaces & traffic aren't that bad but they're not really suitable for a 1098s. So as I say do your homework on the route because I'm sure there are plenty of places where you could enjoy yourself.
