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senna_T

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Donating Members
  • Member For: 14y 9m 2d

Wondering it anyone can help? . I like many others have recently decided that I want to get back on a bike - however this time , I don't want to buy either a naked sports bike and or full sports bike - had those , and unless you riding with a group and going flat out through the twisties they can be a lot of hard work at low speeds ..

I 've decided this time to purchase a Harley ( I have had a very close look at the Victory , and yes they 're a lot of bike for your hard earned, but as discussed earlier by others , a cruiser other than a Harley will always be the ugly cousin to the Harley).

So... As with my hobby car's, the bikes , also only get out on those special rides , or during day light savings , get to have a blast after work and catch up with friends for a coffee or two , a few laughs an then back home ... So , as they tend to sit around , I offen move them on, and find I end up selling them with very little k's in new condition and end up doing a lot of money as a result.

Years ago I placed a deposit on a softail deluxe , with chrome forward controls , chrome grips , hand levers , tune, exhaust mod's, and addition of dual disk front brake with braided lines , as I found coming off the Ducati 916SP at the time , I thought the Harley needed as much help as possible to stop as both the front and rear standard brakes were useless.

But do to a road accident , I returned back to Peter Stevens and explained my situation and they were more than happy to refund my deposit and cancel my order.

Now.....I returned to Peter Stevens / Harley Heaven , and thought yes I would love a custom softail delux @ between $32000 to $45000 pending spec'...but I can not accept shelling that sor of cash, knowing my history / form with my bikes , so I had a chance to catch up by accident to a chap of similar age , during one of my many visits to Harley Heaven , and he pulled me aside after listening to me squeal over the asking price, and asked me quietly had I considered importing the bike I wanted from the US?

He gave me some example based on his own experience , and I could wait to get fast enough to check the information for myself.

So..... Yes , bikes from the US are cheap ( when comparing apples against apples from our local available bikes) , however, the trick and hurdles are in the transport from US to your local port.

Research shows , you can select your bike from the US and then pay a motor trader in Aust to arrange shipment, import through customs and local registration or you can apply to import the bike as a private buyer and then navigate the custom issues on your own .

I have found so far ,if I was purchased a 2000 mile 2009 standard softail from the US , I could expect to pay AUD around $9000-$11500 and then using a motor trader to do the door to door service , would suggest that that bike will end up costing me around $17000 - $19000 depending who you use - a saving of around AUD $5000 - $8000 on a second / demo bike sourced locally , however , remember , you seen the bike in photo's and not first hand.

Has anyone had any experience that they could share in relation to importing a bike from the US and in particular a Harley ?

Many thanks in advance

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  • Member For: 17y 1m 20d
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: SW Sydney

One of the guys at work looked at doing this too with a V-Rod - would've saved a few grand too - but found that the compliance requirements and the shipping meant that for all the trouble you might as well buy locally and enjoy some form of warranty if bought from a dealer. Also, you don't lose anywhere near as much on Harley's as you do other bikes - almost pointless looking at a second hand unit less than 5 years old when comparing price with a new bike.

Also remember that if it's re-sale you are concerned about the Imported bike will have a lower resale value to match it's lower purchase price since it is not a locally delivered model.

Have you looked at the Breakout at all? A lot of good features standard and a relatively low starting price compared to the Softy

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  • Member For: 14y 9m 2d

Agree , buying the wrong bike , due to price , ends up catching up with you at the other end - at time of selling .. Unless , someone , is able to show me a way to import a US bike into Aust , with a significant reduction in price compared to the local market - then , I agree , I will be forced to pick up a bike locally ..

Another option , I had considered , was to purchase a bike that had been damaged (muffler damage, bend forks , side covers , rear tin, and tank damage) , I soon will not have a license - and thought I would purchase a older bike , and could spend sometime in the garage with it , bringing it back to something I liked ... Any thought concerning buying a damaged bike , would be most appreciated again .

I have had a look at the breakout - however , I am pretty much fixated on a softail custom delux - see attached

harley-davidson-softail-deluxe-06.jpg

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  • 8 months later...
  • Donating Members
  • Member For: 14y 2m 20d
  • Gender: Male

Well I thought id bring up an old thread for the sake of me buying my new daily/toy the other week, picked up a 2010 Yamaha R1. I know theyre not the fastest of the sportsbike range but the crossplane crankshaft sound is what got me and they sound rank with a set of pipes. It come with K&N air filter, 15t front sprocket and GYTR carbon pipes. Sounds mental and with the less teeth sprocket the acceleration is nuts, cant wait to hit the drag strip with it. Not the best pic but will get more when I finally get it back home.

20140904_123935_zpscilwzcxe.jpg

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  • All stock bar the k&n panel filter
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  • Member For: 12y 14d
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Perth

Nice one Matt! I actually got back out on my bike the other day, for the first time in about 5 months. Felt bloody great! I forgot how different it is to driving a car. Enjoy your new beast bud and stay safe.

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  • Member For: 14y 2m 20d
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Thanks Bud, yeahs its a lot of fun, a whole different experience to the car. Its a big learning curve from a 250 that's for but just been taking it easy and steppin it up slowly. Its easy to see how someone with no self control or experience could easily come undone on a bike like that.

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  • WOT?
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  • Member For: 11y 1m 2d
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Frankston, 3199

Went to start mine on the weekend - flat battery :(

I've been charging it every couple of weeks when not riding it. Must have skipped a couple

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Will do skids for food
  • Silver Donating Members
  • Member For: 12y 4m 23d
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Perth SOR

I officially finished my drag bike build today.

The short story is....

2001 GSXR1000 with 2007 tail and and a 2007 race fairing.

Painted in House of Kolour Candy Apple Tangerine and Pearl white in the style of the 2007 GSXR paint scheme.

Motor is a stock internals 1000 but with ceramic coated pistons and was completely stripped, freshened up and rebuilt.

Turbo is a TD04 with a 28mm Tail external wastegate and Turbosmart Eboost2 controller with gear based boost control.

Running a fukcing massive Waldon fuel pump and ID2000 injectors because the bike is on methanol and I want enough head room in the system for when I go Carillo or Wosner rods, pistons and do a turbo upgrade later.

Swingarm is about 9" over standard so the bike sits at 65" wheelbase and running a Shinko Reactor 27" x 7" flat slick, air shifter with auto shift option and Hays T3 Convertible clutch set up as a full slider with a two step limiter and antilag that can be switched on if I need to really scare myself !

Bike has recently dynoed at 323hp at the wheel (237kw) and 165 ft/lbs of torque (about double the torque of a stock GSXR) at 13psi.

Boost controller is set at 220hp 1st gear, 260hp 2nd gear and full noise from third onwards.

No sh1t, this thing is so tough, if we were in prison, it'd make me suck it's dick.

My first ride is this Sunday at Kwinana Motorplex test and tune where we'll try and dial in the clutch and rear suspension.

It'll be running in Competition Bike and the class index for DD/CBI is 8.90 sec, so I need to be there or better.

I'll probably limit boost to 9psi and 260hp and see how well it does against the index as there is the issue of stock conrods to consider. But I can always wind it up if I need to, and in Comp Bike, there are guys who run half a second under their index so there will be times.

Sorry for photo quality.

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