After reassembly, I was out of time, as the bike had to be dropped off in Heidelberg at Stefan Knopf's Knopf Motorradreisen shop. He arranged for air freighting the bike to me in San Francisco. Stefan is an all around good guy and master of motorcycle transport; he also got my R1100RS delivered to Europe.

I flew home a few days later and then received an email from Stefan with the flight details for the bike. On the appointed day, I drove my little pickup to the Air France cargo building at SFO.

I had brought a selection of import forms that I got from the US Customs web site. I needn't have bothered. The process was extremely simple and informal. The woman at the Air France counter gave me a printout with the flight and freight information. I walked around the corner to the Customs office and handed that over. They had me fill in a third of one of the forms I brought, charged me about $10 for processing and signed off. It was so quick I almost forgot to get a copy of the document, which I knew I'd need later to get the bike registered.

I walked back to Air France, handed over the release form, and the woman told me which door to park by. Soon the bike — uncrated and strapped to an aluminum pallete — was forklifted into the truck!

When I got it home, I unwrapped and unstrapped the bike, which was in fine condition. I got it off the truck and then, of course, immediately fired it up. It started right away. (See all the pictures below.)

Although importation into the US was trivial, one can never overestimate the troubles that the DMV can create. So, I did a lot of research and also talked to some people about what they did in a similar situation. What I wanted to do was not only get the bike registered, but also get an "Antique Motorcycle" license plate, at least until I find a 1928 California license plate that I can use under the "Year of Manufacture" (YOM) plan. The antique plate is not exceptional in any way except that the colors, red on white, are different and there's a one time charge for the plate. But, first things first.

I went down to the DMV office with my bill of sale copy, the German Fahrzeugbrief (equivalent to a title), my importation papers and a half filled in VIN inspection form. One thing I needed to do was qualify for the Use Tax "yacht" exemption. California charges a Use Tax on all vehicles and boats, equivalent to the current sales tax. When you register a vehicle, you must pay the Use Tax unless you can prove you have paid sales tax somewhere else, and this amount is deducted from the Use Tax. (This is not uncommon, Washington state has the same system.)

What is uncommon is that there is an exemption. If you are registering a vehicle that you have, as a California resident, owned but kept outside of California for a certain period, then the Use Tax is waived. When I first heard about this, the time limit was at least 90 days; but in 2003, during the Gray Davis recall/Arnold Schwarzenegger governor election, it became an issue, and the legislature increased the limit to 1 year, but with a sunset clause. After 2007 it returned to 90 days. (If you're really bored, you can read about the California Revenue and Taxation Code § 6248 here. It's written in such a way that it only claims Use Tax when the registration occurs within the period; and since nothing else is said, therefore no Use Tax is due outside the period.)

There's no good reason for this measure, other than to give rich people a tax break. The basic idea is that you buy a yacht, for delivery to Baja California. Then you spend 3 months sailing around down there before returning to California and registering it. Et voilá! No taxes for you! But if they're giving it away, there's also no good reason why I shouldn't be able to do this also.

After the customary 20 minute wait outside, a DMV agent filled in the inspection form and signed off. Then I spent about 30 minutes talking to an agent, and then the agent's supervisor, about getting the bike registered and avoiding the Use Tax, since by then I had already owned the R52 for 22 months in Germany. Eventually they decided that, because of the German documents, everything would have to go to Sacramento for processing. I had also not tried to get the antique plate yet, as that was clearly a step too far. They gave me a temporary registration and a paper temporary tag (good for 3 months!), and I was on my way.

About 6 weeks later I received a letter from the DMV. It was short and succinct: they would not issue me a title and registration unless I presented them with the original bill of sale. This seemed very odd; the bill of sale is just a piece of paper between the buyer and seller. The title is the official document that they surely wanted in orginal. There was a phone number and I called to see if I could get some clarification. The agent at the other end was brusque and unforthcoming with any explanation. The deal was an original bill of sale or no title.

This left me very concerned. The Germans have a fascination with original documents — it is difficult to get one and more difficult if it becomes lost. Fortunately for me, Uwe was very helpful, especially as he had long closed the fiscal year that included the sale, and he quickly sent me his original. With that forwarded on to Sacramento, and another phone call to discuss the Use Tax issue, I eventually received my blue on white California license plate, stickers, registration and, Hallelujah!, the title.

With all this in hand, it seemed almost foolish to venture once again into the DMV, but never-the-less, that is just what I did. I brought them my new plate, not even mounted yet, and spent some more time with the clerk and his supervisor. I think they had never seen that kind of plate, and I know that I was better informed about it than they were. So, they took back my plate and gave me another temporary paper tag good for 3 months. Eventually I did receive the plate, and now my R52 is officially Antique Motorcycle 195.

As Shipped

Underneath

On Its Own Two Feet

From the Other Side

Try It Out!

Let It Warm Up

Ready to Ride!

As Shipped

n/a