Modern Vespa

Hi,

Has anyone purchased a scooter in Italy and had it shipped to the eastern seaboard of the U.S. or Canada? If so, I'd appreciate info on what was involved and cost.

I'm in rural Sicily for the next several months and I plan to acquire a 125cc Vespa, probably a GTS Super or an LX, in the next two or three weeks. I may go with a new one depending on what would be involved in shipping it, and getting it certified, when I return to North America.

Thanks

Unfortunately this will be a waste of time and money as the bike cannot be certified for the U.S market because of emissions and D.O.T requirements, which means, it cannot be legally imported to the States.
You are better off buying one here in the States.
it will also cost you less.

+1
Alex is 100% correct. If you buy one and ship it, customs will seize it and it will be destroyed.........and you will be out of all of the money that you invested. Scooters and motorcycles that would pass all of the USA specs are not sold in Europe and you'll need to prove that it does. Won't happen.

What you could do is rent a used scooter to ride while you're there from a dealer who has something sitting on their floor. Or buy a used one from a dealer with an agreement that they would buy it back from you at X price when you're through using it provided it was in good running & cosmetic condition. Or, buy a used one from a private party and sell it when you get ready to leave.

Thanks, I suspected that.

Looks like I'll keep whatever I buy in Sicily, for use when I'm over here. I'm a little surprised that the new LX 3V engine wouldn't meet U.S. standards, but if it won't, it won't.

Thanks

It's not just the engine.
California also has its own sets of emissions that all U.S bike have to meet.
The engine will pass emissions, but there is the carbon canister to add for CA emissions and other things.
Every material on the bike has to be tested by the D.O.T to make sure it complies with U.S regulations.
It is just idiotic, but that's the way it is.

The 3v engine will be here sometimes next year.

The problem is not that the 3V engine won't meet US standards. In fact, there is little doubt that it will as Piaggio intends to import it to the US next year. The problem is that you are talking about a vehicle that has not been certified for import to the US. You bear all the costs, risks, and delays in quarantine, inspection, modifications, etc. It just isn't worth it as several others have pointed out. Come home, wait for the 150 3V to be availalble here, and buy one. Simpler, quicker, cheaper.

Thanks, but I'm getting a bike for use here in Sicily for the next several months and maybe for when I return next year, etc. The only question is whether I'm going to buy new or used, and as part of that decision I was interested in knowing what would be involved in shipping one back to North America.

Your beat bet is to call customs and find out what they say. Where you staying in Sicily? Wife and I were in tormina for a week and Francavilla di Sicilia for a week. We took the bus in and rented a vespa for the week and put 1000 km in it.
Lynn

And you got quite a bit of advice that whatever you choose to do in Sicily and what you later choose to do in the US are two different things - and only grief awaits if you mix them up. The rest is up to you.

Yeah, and you can't bring chorizo in from Spain, even if you buy it at duty free at the airport. It's the same product imported and sold all over, but a license fee has been pad.

Ah, but you may bring in scooter parts no problem.
How devious/ mechanically inclined are you?

I have done it including complete Rally 180 motor. No questions or anything...

Getting it reg'd & plated, hmmm, that's gonna be a challenge.

I read this thread with great interest - I bought a GTS300 super sport in the subtle ORANGE in the UK earlier this year - after riding it around for 3 months I then arranged for an import permit to allow shipping to Australia - this was a huge PITA and I would never go through this again - even though the reasons were financial (saved me approx $3000 even after shipping and customs approvals etc) - I would strongly recommend against doing this unless you enjoy dealing with mindless bureaucrats, vested interests or have too much time on your hands and enjoy reading the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989. I calculated that I spent 300 hours on this hence my time was worth just $10 per hour - less than minimum wage in Aus... Better to buy local and sell local all things considered (or set up your own import company ...)

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2004A03813

Hi,

I'm based in the Province of Ragusa in the southeast and will be here until the spring. I'm considering buying a place here.

Thanks for your first sentence suggesting that I go to the source (see post below).

The reason that I asked about shipping to the eastern seaboard of the U.S. or Canada is that it doesn't matter to me whether I keep the bike in New York or at my summer place in Atlantic Canada.

It turns out that Canada prohibits the private importation of vehicles from countries other than the U.S. unless the vehicle is more than 15 years old. So this spring I could import, apparently with little difficulty, a Vespa made before 1998. The Department of Transportation is considering a change that would prohibit the importation of vehicles less than 25 years old, but this proposed change is not yet in effect.

This opens the intriguing possibility of buying an older, maybe retro, Vespa or Lambretta or whatever here in Italy and shipping it home.

Thoughts on which models/years I should be on the lookout for?


P.S. Here are the Canadian Government sites that explain this:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safevehicles-importation-other-than-index-446.htm

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safevehicles-importation-15yearrule-index-448.htm

It's clear from the second link that a fair number of people are indeed using the 15 year exception. I haven't checked whether the U.S. also has some kind of exception.

The US exemption is 20 or 25 years (don't remember which, and too lazy to look it up), but that gives you an "order of magnitude.

To add to what V oodoo posted about bringing in an old scooter as "parts", that may fly for older machines to get past Customs, but you still have to get the scooter through the titling and licensing process, and the VIN on a Euro market machine spills the beans. There is a zero in the model year field that is a dead give away that is not a DOT/EPA certified machine.

Maybe just buy an old POS scooter, import an identical one in parts, rebuild the scooter using the 'parts' you have imported around the old POS scooter compliance plate...

Move to Hawaii and be a renegade. We have somebody who sent his ET back from Italy and rides it around without anything. He's been riding it for years and has had a cop skip over his very illegal scoot to give a ticket a fully legal one.. Seriously i wouldn't do it. Won't get out of customs.

Judy,

Read a few posts up. If the bike is 15 years old it will clear customs in Canada, and apparently if it is 20 or 25 years old it will clear in the U.S.

I didn't catch that you are now thinking about an older one. Not enough coffee this am. NY is overrated (i'm from upstate) you could always come to Hawaii. Kidding. Good luck on whatever you do. I have found US customs a PIA when i've shipped stuff back when living overseas. Worse (which is strange) when i'm not there to personally pick the stuff up. Go figure.