Has anyone bought a bike in California then taken it home to another state? Seems that there are alot of nice bikes there but can't seem to get any info. Contacted DMV and they want you to register it in Cali first. Sounds crazy to me! It the hassle worth it???any info would help. Mahalo! And I've looked at bike in Hawaii but wasn't the one for me

 

Well I know in AZ if you buy one here to take elsewhere you do go to the DMV here to get temporary tags to use to drive it home.

Not really a full registration and only good for a few weeks I think.

 

Sorry but I live in Hawaii and want to buy a bike in California. Flying over not a problem, shipping not a problem. Just can't get a solid answer about if I can just buy it and drive to San Diego to put on ship. Title and reg? Taxes? Pretty sure that I'd pay the fees when I register it in Hawaii. Can I operate bike from where I buy it to SD?DMV in Cal was vague.

 

Well if you are buying from an individual and the bike would have plates on it, I'd just do it. (but be sure to get insurance right away)

You usually have a few days-weeks grace to register after a purchase and by then the bike will be on the boat.

However I am not a lawyer nor a cop in CA.

 

i cant imagine having to register it in california only to ship it back to hawaii. As long as you have the title in hand i would say comiefornia could suck it.

 

CALI sucks yes, but no all you would have to do is get a temp tag to ride it{ and of course the insurance needed to be legal} but you will be fine with that the temp reg. is just a few dollars and youll be fine!!!!!!!!! and again I cant begin to say how much Cali sucks.

 

Hey, watch your mouth...who do you think is supporting you people in the illegal immigration state? There's a guy in town here with a professionally painted sign in the rear window of his Chevy Dually "I SUPPORT ARIZONA" (he had California plates, by the way). My wife and I both gave him a big thumbs up as we rode by at the end of our Ortega ride yesterday. Lots of AZ plates in town, year round, as well.

And oh yeah, I had to turn on the A/C in my truck today...it was in the low 70s here.

Sorry, forget what I said above...you don't want to come to California, it sucks here.

As for the issue addressed in this thread...If it's a used bike, it seems to me that as long as you have insurance in Hawaii and have a copy of the required bill of sale, you could ride it to San Diego for shipping with no problem. Last time I bought a used bike, in 1991, I called my insurance the next day and got the title transfered 2 or 3 days later. (Of course I'm not a lawyer, and take no legal responsibility for my advice.) The only hang up could be the "used tax" (it's actually a sales tax for private transactions) that DMV has been collecting here for the last 20+ years.

You could always contact CA DMV to find out the requirements from the source...good luck with that.

Hell there are cars driving around here in California that haven't been registered to the last 5 owners...who all happen to be illegal aliens.

 

Im from the south but worked in california(railroad contractor) from the oregon border down to bakersfield. Northern california is an ok place to visit but i wouldnt live there. Mt. Shasta area is gorgeous in january though. I would love to ride a bike through there in the summer.

 

If you buy a bike with tags and plate then no problem. You have 10 days to register and change details but by then the bike will be gone. If you buy a bike with out of date tags you would still have 10 days. The only problem you would have is if the bike had no licence plate.
The problem is bringing bikes TO Cali where it has to meet their special emission regs.

 

That makes sense. As far as bringing vehicles into CA, the govt has tried to discourage that since the '70s. They even charged a $300 fee to get out of state cars registered here for a number of years, since repealed.

Back to the subject, I just remembered that I sold my '86 CB700SC to a guy in 1991. He was going to ship it to Argentina for resale. He said they were paying top dollar for certain bikes down there at that time. He told me he wasn't paying DMV a visit before shipping. I submitted a bill of sale to DMV to release my legal responsibility, and that was it.