buying a sidecar in Canada and transporting to USA

I have brought sidecars and motorcycles across (legally). You just have to prove ownership and declare the value for duty fees at US Customs.
I've also had Canadian sellers who brought their property across to the US and sold it here. If it is a licensed vehicle (bike, rig, or trailer) it will have to be inspected by US Customs for DOT compliance.
A sidecar, being classified as an accessory in the US won't need this inspection certificate.

Lonnie

Thanks Lonnie.

Do you remember what you paid for duty fees, can I assume it’s a percentage of the purchase price. The sidecar I am considering is a 2007 Champion and the sticker on the frame has a “Trike Conversion Kit I.D. No:” Will this sidecar have a title or is this just a model number?

Thanks, Barry

I think new stuff was about 8% but it's been quite a while.
A sidecar doesn't title it's an accessory.

Lonnie

lonnie is correct,..I actually bought my from a chap in N.Y and he brought it over for me,...no duty required there,..provincial sales tax is 8%, just have proper ownership and sales reciept with you and be prepared for them to call the shop or owner for clarification,...not a big deal,...I purchased a $5000.00 boat and trailer there years ago and it cost me an extra $400.00 or something at customs to bring it home,...good luck, crawf.

Thanks Lonnie and Crawf.

The sidecar I am looking at is a 2007 Champion Escort and the asking price is $2750. The color already matches my bike which is a big selling point for me. It also has a full convertible top with sides that will be great for my son. A complete set of mounts for a GL1800 are included but I will be installing it on a 2004 Yamaha Venture, so I am sure I will have additional cost into brackets. I thought this price was good but I checked Kelly Blue Book and its value is only $2875. To get it home will cost me a total of around $3200 including gas for me to make the 1000 mile journey. I will have to decide if it’s worth it or if I should continue my search.

Thanks again,
Barry

Used sidecars don't sell as many units as cars so the Kelley book doesn't get much input from dealers. Like sports cars, they are usually priced more on condition. Since there are very few sidecar dealers the book prices are just a wild guess.
For instance, there have been thousands of Velorex sidecars sold in the last decade but Kelly only shows prices up to 2002.

Lonnie

when buying anything privately,..showing a receipt for the" agreed upon price" is all required and taxes are paid on the "declared value" , as there is little in print reguarding legal value of this sidecar, could you not have bought it for a declared value of $500.00 ???? I'm just saying,..hehe... if all parties are on board, the receipt you have says it all,..hehe sound like a fair price,..a local dealer here is selling new velorex cars here for $3500.00 cash, to get a painted champ for that is great,..good luck, crawf.

Thanks again guys.

Lonnie. I thought it was something along those lines with the value. I have been casually looking for over a year and the market is certainly very thin when it comes to sidecars. From what I have seen others selling these Escorts for (even older) this is a good price even considering my cost to get it home. To me the fact that its color matched saves about $1000 (from what others have said here). I will pursue the purchase next time I am in contact with the owner.

Thanks,
Barry

If the sidecar says "made in USA" and it was exported then it should come back home for free. All you need is prove of ownership.

when does the government let anything happen .......FOR FREE!??????? LOL cheers crawf.

good point --- it mau be different now --- In the 80s I helped relative bring brack a car from Monterrey Mexico. We drove into the border checkpoint - showed proof of owership and proof it was built in the US. We went to the tax office, applied for title and plates and away he went.

Since a sidecar is not titled, it would seem that you could ride your bike into Canada, have the sidecar mounted in Canada, and ride it back to Michigan, without any problems. A long time ago, a small club that I rode with went from Mi, to a large leather store in Ontario, and bought jackets, and gloves, and just wore them coming back into Michigan, I am sure it wasn't legal, but it worked. Good luck with it.

I did decide to get this sidecar in Canada. The trip took 20 hours and was very easy. I crossed at Port Huron, Michigan. It cost me $6.00 to enter Canada and I had to answer some questions as to what I was going to do in their country. I had an enclosed snowmobile trailer and they never even looked inside. The gentleman I purchased it from was a pleasure to deal with and he even wanted me to call him to let him know I made it home safely. On returning the USA it cost $6.50 and was about 5:00PM, so I was about 8 cars deep in line as many lines were open. When it was my turn he looked at my driver’s license, passport and asked me to open the trailer. He looked at the left side very quickly and physically helped me close the trailer. He gave me my license and passport back and told me to have a good day. I left without asking any questions. The left side of the sidecar has a sticker from Champion that says made in the USA, so maybe Txart is correct that if returning to the country of origin there is no duty?

Now the fun begins. The sidecar is a 2007 Champion Escort and I received all the mounts for a 2007 GL1800, but I will be mounting this to a 2004 Yamaha Venture. I need to get mounts for my motorcycle and do further research on how to set this up. Fortunately I am not in a hurry. Thanks again everyone.

I might be interested in that mounting hardware if you can't use it.