May not apply entirely to you, but here's a friend's write-up when he bought a bike from Oregon and brought it into BC:
I think the best dealer to see in Vancouver would be John Valk BMW. There is also Pacific Yamaha BMW. But I'd start with John Valk.
Everything I've heard about the Recall Clearance Letter has been confusing and mixed up. My advice would be to expect to have to pay the 500 dollar fee, but from what I've read it depends on the dealer and the day of the week, as some folks have been able to register without paying and some folks have. It's screwy. But it's a great time to be a Canadian buying a bike from the USA none the less. Note that as far as the Recall Clearance Letter is concerned, that isn't needed to import the bike, just to register it in BC.
Here are some links I put together when I was importing my bike. As I remember it here are the steps to importing a bike from beginning to end.
1 - You've found your bike, and agreed on a price. Pay the man and get a bill of sale from him, which can be as simple as a letter saying the he sold you the bike for such and such a price. You'll need this letter for exporting from the US. Also, you'll need a copy of his title certificate for the paperwork.
2 - Decide on a border crossing, contact said border crossing by phone, explain you're importing a bike, they'll put you through to the right office, and then they will send you in the mail a package containing all the papers you will need to fill out. Then you fax them back and they keep them on file, waiting for you to show up at the border with the bike. NOTE: they say that they don't do it on the weekends, but I totally missed this part when I imported my bike, and I arrived on Sunday afternoon, and they did if for me anyway.
3 - You show up at the border with your new bike and all the paperwork, and proceed to the "export office". You take a number, sit down and listen to the nice music. They call your number, you go up, give them your name, they pull your previously faxed paper work and go over it with you, stamp your documents, then they send you to the customs broker with your papers, you pay another fee (not really sure what it's for, but it's not very much, something like 40 bucks as I recall.. he stamps it and sends you back again to the export office (these different folks are all within walking distance of each other, for example it was all different booths at the border when I did it, not like you have to go into town or anything, and again they will point and say "go over there now".)
4 - You've left the US Customs export office, and you ride on over to the Canadian Customs Import Office. They look at your papers and bill of sale and you fill out some kind of import document, two sides, easy stuff, then give it back. They look at the price you paid, charge the GST and PST and an import fee of 18 bucks (that's what it was for me) and then you're done. You ride home. Bike has been exported from the US and imported to Canada.
5 - Contact the Registrar of Imported Vehicles. Then you get a package from them in the mail. You get an inspection done at Canadian Tire (which makes no sense because they only look at the bike and kick the tires and then give you check mark in the "passed inspection box) and you fill out the rest of the forms, fax or send it back to them, and they send you a sticker for the bike (it goes on the frame to show it is now a Canadian bike), and certification of registration. This step is where you might run into the issue of needing a Recall Clearance Document. When I imported my bike, all I needed was a hand written note on the BMW dealers letterhead that the bike is safe, and any or all recalls to the bike have been done. The seller got this for me for no charge from the dealer in Oregon that he had his services done at. It was easy. BUT BUT BUT... now, because of the CA dollar being so good in an attempt to keep sales in Canada, BMW Canada has declared that the only way for them to certify a bike as safe and providing the recall clearance letter, is for a Canadian dealer to go over the bike and then provide a special Recall Clearance Letter - to the tune of $500.00 dollars CDN. It's a big time corporate money grab. Here's the part where it gets hit and miss. I've heard that sometimes when you send your papers back to the Registrar of Imported Vehicles they accept just a simple letter from the US dealer saying that it's recalls have been done (like what I provided). But sometimes they will say "Hey wait a minute, this letter from South Sound isn't good enough, you need to get the $500.00 Recall Clearance Letter from a Canadian Dealer". At which point you're off to John Valk to get the RCL for $500.
Of course the problem with all of this is that you can't register and insure your bike without the stamped approval from the Registrar of Imported Vehicles. I had an OREGON plate on my bike, which I kept on the bike until I had the paperwork in and approved. They didn't like that very much when I went to insure the bike, saying that I'd been riding around uninsured for 2 weeks. My bad.
This may all seem convoluted, and it is to some extent, but it's not as complicated as it all sounds.
1. Paper work for export.(before you pick up the bike and send to border crossing US export office)
2. Paperwork for import.(given to you at the CA border import Kiosk after you export at the US Export Kiosk)
3. Paperwork for Registrar of Imported Vehicles.(Paper work via mail or fax, once you're home with your bike)
So step three is the only variable. You may or may not need the fancy rip off Recall letter from BMW Canada. My advice is to see if the US dealer will provide you with a simple document on their letterhead that states that all the recalls have been done; they may or may not provide it to you. If not, then you have to get the fancy BMW Canada letter. But if the US dealer does provide you with something on their letterhead, it still may not be accepted at the RIV office, in which case you'll need the BMW letter, which you get from John Valk (or whatever dealer you go to.) I haven't confused you too much I hope. It's really not that complicated, and if your paper work is in place before you go, it's a really quick process. It's a good time for canucks to buy in the US, even if you have to pay the 500 bucks.
Importing a Vehicle from the US
CanadianDriver How to import a used car into Canada -
http://www.canadiandriver.com/2003/09/15/feature-how-to-import-a-used-car.htm how to import -
http://www.riv.ca/ImportingAVehicle.aspx http--www.riv.ca-english-US_vehicle_admissibility.pdf -
http://www.riv.ca/english/US_vehicle_admissibility.pdf Importing a vehicle into Canada -
http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/Import.html Vehicle Importing -
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4
