Oops, I just appeared!
I don't have the paperwork here to get the names of the companies off of, but here's basically what I did.
My A10 was at a friend's house in Chatham, I had paid for it, and the UK title had been signed off by the seller, ready to transfer to me.
NOTE - you need to have either a Friend, like in the club or someone who is willing to go to some trouble for you for love, or a Dealer, who will handle crating and pickup for money and you trust them. DON'T depend on a random private seller to handle shipment for you!
The friend called a shipping company in the UK. I'll get their name tonight I hope. They required that the bike already be crated. So he procured a leftover crate from a New Motorcycle Dealer, they gave it to him for free, they normally throw them away, and he strapped it down good and wrapped it in plastic and all.
The shipping company picked up the bike at his house, and took it all the way to a bonded warehouse in Virginia Beach, Virginia (after stopping in Newark, NJ, the actual "port of entry"). They charged $770 to transport it from his house in Chatham to the VA Beach warehouse. US Customs charged $100 to have the container inspected, this is a "random" inspection and if they pick your container, they charge you for their inspection.
At this point, you either have to go to the nearest US Customs officer PERSONALLY (they don't deal with mail or electronics), and fill out the paperwork that will allow them to release it from the warehouse OR hire a broker to do that for you.
You have to have the signed-off UK title or other document to prove that you have a right to have possession of the bike, a signed affadavit that the bike is over 25 years old and does not have to pass USA emissions tests, and a signed affadavit that the bike does not require EPA crash testing. (This is why you can't import neat new European cars and bikes to the USA).
Customs also charges a very small Duty fee (like $40; this is something like $1800 if it's going the other way to England). IF you hire a Broker (I used "E&B Enterprises", they did a good job for me), they will charge about $150 for handling the Customs transactions for you, they go to the Customs offices every day. The warehouse will charge about $75 for three weeks storage.
When the Broker notifies you that Customs has released the bike, they will send you the appropriate paperwork; you can take that and go to the Warehouse and they will help you load the crated bike onto your truck or trailer after you pay their fee (the warehouse I was at took ONLY checks - no cash or credit cards!).
So it's about $1100 all told to get the bike onto your trailer on the East Coast. If you're shipping to the West Coast, or if the selling dealer is charging you for crating and handling, it'll be more.
It's a lot of hassle but worth it for the right bike ....
Lannis
