Cheers.

I'll try and post the odd update here, but if anyone's desperate to follow my progress then keep an eye on www.dashmoto.net (plus the usual twitter/flickr/etc linked from there)

For NickW909 - I saw your PM, can't reply because my site membership has expired, my PM storage is therefore at about 4x capacity, and I can't be bothered to sort either out until I get home, so here's the reply instead:


Hi Nick,

I shipped with James Cargo, who were great. Round trip cost was about �2100 to Newark, NJ. The majority of my luggage and my riding gear went with it.

Newark is a ****hole by the way. Particularly Irvington where the agents James Cargo use are based. Plan things so you've got time to get the hell out of town on the day you get the bike if you plan to ship into Newark.

To get the bike into the US, you need to apply for a Temporary Import Exemption Letter. Basically it says the bike hasn't been type-approved for the US but it's OK because you promise to take it away again afterwards.

It's fairly easy and free to get, just takes a few weeks. This thread on the HUBB more or less covers it in the first post...

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...approval-51514

The guys who man the imports@epa.gov email address are really helpful.

They didn't actually ask to see it when I went through Customs, but I did need to show it the one time I got pulled over by a cop.

Then you need insurance. I used MotorcycleExpress, think it was about �300 or something for three months, including breakdown and an agreed value of about �4000.

That's more or less it. There's a couple more forms to fill in in customs, but as long as you've got the vehicle documents they just fill them out and get you to sign them there.

Hope that helps.

I looked out for you at the Overland Expo but didn't see your bike any where? But.... just reading your blog it all becomes clear. Really sorry man, I hope you make the best out of it while you're here. There's **** loads to see and do! Take it easy

I've had fun, don't worry.

Cheers for the info.


Nick.

It's alive!

https://phaven-prod.s3.amazonaws.com...m_DSC_5021.JPG

Good to see you back on the road.

What was broken?

Nick

Still don't know, I've just put the original motor back in, stripping the broken one can wait for a while.

So I was about half way through the second day of the Carlisle Centennial Rally when I decided that what I really wanted was an XT-R with a 23 litre tank...

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/379/wvqf.jpg

:D

(actually, the subframe snapped, possibly unsurprisingly given the amount of rough-roads use it's seen and the extra weight of nav gear that's been fitted for the last few thousand miles. Oops)

i have to admit i've not followed all of this thread over the months but i can say with some certainty that doesn't look much like the bike you started out with !!!