anyone ever done this? i have a friend who lives in thailand, where the honda CZ-i scooter/moped (110cc 4-stroke PGM-FI, 100mph, 134mpg) is widely available for about $1050 USD (about 37,000 THB...the automatic transmission version, the Click-i is $200 more)...we thought it MIGHT be possible to get it shipped to the united states

the newest model (yet to be released) gets upwards of 190mpg, but i doubt we'll see it here any time in the next 5-10 years because honda's been quoted as saying they don't think there's a US market (and i wouldn't really want it right now, anyway, since parts would be expensive and hard to find...the CZ-i/Click-i is so abundant that finding replacement parts is easy and cheap)

http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/08/honda-czi-110-does-100mph-retu.html
http://www.gizmag.com/hondas-100-mph-110cc-pgm-fi-prototype/9762/

have any of y'all ever done something like this? what are the odds of it being seized by customs? any idea of the best way of going about this? guesses as to what it would cost to ship?

also, i don't know how much y'all care about the legalities of such things, but considering it is street legal all but officially (emissions, signals, tires, etc. are all "approved"...there are a number of boards dedicated to this), i'm not especially worried about getting into trouble over it...if you have some suggestions or opinions you would prefer not to post, shoot me a pm...in the meantime, flame away

[Edited on April 27, 2009 at 10:36 AM. Reason : links]

4/27/2009 10:33:44 AM

UPS or something on the like, that or a good freight co. Id recco getting it delivered to a local business if you do it freight, the local companies kill you on charges to deliver to your house.

I wouldnt think customs would care too much. Esp if its for personal use. And you aint smuggling anything in it. People ship cars often all over.

4/27/2009 12:12:52 PM

good luck. i shipped a tl1000r engine from canada and it sat at customs for 3-4 months b4 it arrived at my door. and that was with me calling very frequently. the canadian customs lady knew me by first name by the time i got the shit

4/27/2009 12:52:34 PM

its a tarp, fuck the nigerians

4/29/2009 8:57:34 AM

its a tarp, fuck the thaigerians

4/29/2009 9:08:36 AM

its a tarp

5/1/2009 9:05:11 AM

it's nothing at the moment

5/1/2009 2:46:44 PM

i don't know for sure, but i don't see why it would be a problem since scooters don't have to pass emissions or crash standards in the same manner an auto does. however, you might run into issues of getting it titled/registered. since it's larger than 50cc. as you probably know, technically that would qualify it as a motorcycle here. it should come with a manufacturer's certificate of origin, but it's possible the vin would be flagged as "off road only" by the dmv. there has been a crackdown on this in recent years with people trying to make the chinese dual sports legal, convert dirt bikes, or 4 wheelers. you'd probably never have any problems though, especially if you removed any indications of it's size like stickers, etc. just something to be aware of.

worst case, and if you want it bad enough, have your friend tear it down and ship it as several boxes of parts. no telling how much extra that might cost though.

bottom line, there's a number of other ways you could at least get it in the country, but whether or not it would be 100% legal to operate would be the big question.

5/1/2009 3:49:25 PM

Quote :

" SMUGGLING SCOOTER PARTS "

5/2/2009 10:41:01 PM

damn thats a nice scooter.

I've also looked into this recently trying to get a Honda super cub from vietnam. from what i remember its a pain in the a$$ to get it to pass custom. one of the guys i work with did successfully get one from vietnam many years so its not impossible but I do remember he said there was a lot of work....good luck and post any updates if you are going through with it.

5/3/2009 11:17:36 AM

Quote :

" SMUGGLING SCOOTER PARTS"

I agree, box it in a half dozen boxes, screw the government.

5/3/2009 3:38:50 PM

or ride it across the bering strait in january if you were really baller

5/5/2009 7:55:36 AM

Could get something like an Interceptor for ~$600 if you like that small motorcycle look. They claim it will do 65 mph. Not sure on the fuel economy. But much cheaper and would save you a lot of hassle on a scooter.

http://www.minipocketrockets.com/r32-4-stroke-super-pocket-bike/

5/5/2009 7:25:23 PM

title and license though

5/5/2009 7:37:08 PM

^^ i thought about something like that, but ruled it out for a couple of reasons:

1.) i'm a big guy at 6' and 220lbs and i usually have a backpack on...i think it might be a bit much for a pocket bike
2.) i actually use my current 50cc scoot or rebel 250 as my primary transportation unless it's raining, so i need something that can handle a lot of day-to-day use
3.) the tank on those things is less than .6 gallons, which means that even though the mileage isn't awful (about 80mpg, what my rebel gets), i'd have to fill it up every day
4.) small tires on anything bigger than 50cc makes me nervous

i don't know, the CZ-i just seems like a perfect fit for what i want (around-town cruising able to keep up with traffic at 50-55mph)...i'd consider selling the 50cc scoot if the license/insurance bill becomes a law (because, then, what's the point?), and sell the rebel for a bigger bike (i CAN take the 250 on the highway, but i don't because it's too small and scares me)...and considering that even with outrageous shipping charges the CZ-i shouldn't be more than about $1500-1600, it's a solid honda for almost $1k less than solid 50cc scoots around here)

5/6/2009 8:18:52 AM

alright, my friend checked on this for me and the guy at the dealer said that he didn't think shipping it would be a problem, but that they couldn't provide a certificate of origin for the bike (i don't know why, but i would suspect that thailand doesn't require them and so any bike purchased from there won't come with one)

my friend isn't especially mechanically inclined, so breaking down the bike probably isn't very feasible (though i think that would make things much easier in the long run )

okay, so what problems do you think i'll run into? stuck at customs and never released to me? i don't mind a wait, even if i have to call on a regular basis...it's worth it to me and there's no huge rush (though i'd like to get it with enough time to actually ride it most of the season )

5/7/2009 7:56:32 AM

Just want to say that's a hell of a nice scoot for the $. Like the larger wheels. I'd rock one for my little commute. I bet I could do at least 80% of my daily driving tasks on one of those things.

5/7/2009 11:55:33 AM

okay, prices are this, shipped:

Honda Wave 110i (kick start): $1363
Honda Wave 110i (electric start): $1420
Honda CZ-i (kick start only): $1349

i wish i could figure out the functional differences between the Wave and the CZ-i...though i'd really like electric start (i believe it has kick start, too), so the Wave might be my only option...all of them are air-cooled and use PGM-FI (Honda's new fuel injection tech that supposedly gives 25% more power and 18% better fuel economy over their 100cc carburated engines)



[Edited on May 8, 2009 at 11:38 AM. Reason : image]

5/8/2009 11:37:53 AM

^I've riden the wave many times and they are awesome. I actually never noticed the difference between the different models but this was also a few years ago so it's possible they didn't have them all back then.

5/8/2009 3:18:40 PM

yeah, i originally chose the CZ-i because that's what the new 190mpg one will be (and they referenced the currently-available CZ-i in the article)...now i realize that they all share the same underbone, and the Wave is the one that's most popular (replaced the Cub in most places, IIRC)...AFAIK, all Honda 110cc PGM-FI engines are exactly the same (which makes sense)...they keep referring to the Wave as a "family" bike, but i'm not sure what that means

i wish i could find info on the Wave 125i (which has been out for several years now), but no luck since i don't read thai

5/8/2009 4:01:04 PM

dat 190% mpg

5/18/2009 1:48:34 PM

Quote :

"Could get something like an Interceptor for ~$600 if you like that small motorcycle look. They claim it will do 65 mph. Not sure on the fuel economy. But much cheaper and would save you a lot of hassle on a scooter."

it's not a scooter though, so you'd need license and liability insurance. I can't imagine the hassle it'd be to get one of those licensed and insured, has anyone tried that?

5/19/2009 5:55:03 AM

Quote :

".they keep referring to the Wave as a "family" bike, but i'm not sure what that means"

This is what that means:

5/19/2009 8:47:15 AM

[Edited on May 19, 2009 at 8:48 AM. Reason : dbl post]

5/19/2009 8:48:29 AM

that's nuts

5/19/2009 9:30:58 AM

welcome to the third world?

5/19/2009 2:22:52 PM

thats called scooting it in your mom's ass

5/20/2009 2:47:47 PM

well, i feel like i'm getting closer...a friend suggested a few forums and it seems like the Click-i (automatic transmission instead of manual) is going to be the easiest to get since it's much more popular than either the Wave 110i or the CZ-i

also, prices are a bit higher than i was hoping, but it's looking like i can buy one, get it shipped to my door via a non-sketch carrier, and have papers (certificate of origination included) for about $1800...that's also using Paypal, which i feel MUCH more comfortable about because if something goes sour, i at least have a chance at getting my money back

if it all works out, i'll come back and document the whole thing for future reference...if i'm reading the US customs stuff right, there's no duty owed on a bike imported from Thailand less than 250cc

5/22/2009 11:21:48 AM

paypal blows

5/26/2009 11:47:03 AM

alright, so far i have everything lined up...the seller, the shipper, the customs broker

bike: $1150
packing/shipping/customs: $550
TOTAL: $1700

the problem i'm running into now is the EPA stuff...the bike far exceeds EPA standards (and does conform to DOT requirements), but it doesn't come with US emissions sticker (for obvious reasons)...now, as far as i can tell, there are a couple of ways around this:

1.) as mentioned earlier, have it dismantled and sent as various components which then makes it expensive and a pain in the arse when everything is back together (what if they left out a screw or some component or something?) and it would be expensive, which defeats the purpose of this exercise

2.) pay a independent commercial importer (ICI) to legally test the bike and then tell the EPA and myself what i already know - that it conforms to all EPA standards...the cost of this (shipping since there aren't any around here, as well as paying the company to test) is prohibitive

3.) go the "research, investigations, studies, demonstrations or training" route whereby i request from the EPA an exemption...under this provision, i can still operate the vehicle on public roads "provided such operation is an integral part of the test program" [testing exemption from section 203(a)(3) of the clean air act]

i don't have to be part of a research group or anything to request this exemption...and, quite honestly, i don't think the EPA is going to care overmuch about a tiny 110cc engine that exceeds their own standards...i'm thinking i might try this and see what happens, assuming i can get them to waive the Customs bond and set no time limitation on the "testing"

i know this seems like a lot of work for something so relatively pointless...but i'm enjoy it nonetheless

[Edited on June 17, 2009 at 9:31 AM. Reason : .]

6/17/2009 9:28:49 AM

buy US emissions sticker, mail to thailand, place on bike, profit?

6/17/2009 9:36:11 AM

^ i've debated that...i need to check out these stickers to see what they look like and what kind of information they have on them and how feasible it would be for me to just send him one

might be doable, reading this thread (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200594...doesn't really have to do with imports, but about those emissions stickers)...might not be relevant, but since Customs isn't the DMV, i don't know how closely they would look at this (if they look at it at all...it's up to them if they want to bother or just give it a pass, but they might actually check it out)




my other option is do the exception thing and return a heap of scrap to customs for destruction after the allotted time...i don't know that they would know the difference

[Edited on June 17, 2009 at 11:33 AM. Reason : link/pics]

6/17/2009 11:11:50 AM

ah, the fake emissions sticker might be a backup...according to EPA form 3520-1 (for road-legal vehicles), code EE allows me to get a letter from honda stating that the emissions on these are the same as their new 2010 SH150i (which is $5k new and is the same engine save for bore size)...i might give this a shot and see what honda says...

6/17/2009 12:20:45 PM

yall worry about this shit too much

6/21/2009 10:14:49 AM

okay, so the scoot is officially paid for and is now going through the paperwork shuffle in thailand...should be on a boat within 2 weeks and then a month (or so) in transit...it was $1150 for the bike and $650 for paperwork/customs/packing/shipping

7/15/2009 8:37:58 AM

i was just wondering about the status of this the other day. damn that thing is going to be awesome. now i really want one.

7/15/2009 4:32:24 PM

sweet scoot! How difficult will it be to get replacement parts over here?

7/15/2009 6:06:13 PM

^^ i know, i'm stoked! the last big hurtle will be customs, if they decide to make trouble...i called to make sure i had all the right paperwork and the officer i spoke with (supposedly the one i would actually be seeing to get the scoot released) said that i had all he'd be looking for, so as long as i had it in order, i'd be good...here's hoping!

^ i think cosmetic parts will be more difficult than mechanical ones...the guy i'm buying from in thailand gave me some quotes on common parts i had asked him about and they were cheaper new and shipped than comparable parts for my honda metropolitan from a powersports dealer (which is still cheaper than bike bandit)...the biggest drawback will be the transit time, but i'm looking at 2 weeks versus a few days or a week here

really, considering honda has sold more than 1 million of this particular engine configuration in thailand and the philippines in the past 3 years, i assume i can find a supplier online to buy from...i just haven't bothered to look since this one is a 2008 and only has 1500 kilometers on it (less than 1k miles)

7/15/2009 6:33:28 PM

sell it to me if you ever get it

7/17/2009 7:18:37 AM

i give it a week before it gets jacked

7/18/2009 9:44:23 PM

shipped on the 16th

8/20/2009 9:34:42 AM

this thread has become very relevant to my interests. i love a good scheme.

[Edited on August 20, 2009 at 10:57 AM. Reason : also, one of the few wild idea garage threads to actually deliver (literally?). gg]

8/20/2009 10:51:51 AM

Either that or some Nigerian is bragging about how he stole a bunch of money from some dumb American.

8/20/2009 12:29:43 PM

^^^whats the eta of it getting to your house?

8/20/2009 12:35:38 PM

Just because the E-mail starts with, Dear Old Friend, doesn't actually make him your friend.

8/20/2009 12:57:58 PM

^^^^ i'm not counting chickens before they are released to me by US Customs and the chance of seizure/destruction/me crying is gone

Customs will be the real hurtle...finding someone willing to do all of this wasn't THAT hard, once the details were worked out on my end (shoot, all he had to do was accept my money, crate it, and have it shipped)...making sure I have all the paperwork together on my end and the hope that the Customs official(s) is (are) content to pass it through with minimal hassle is what still scares me

^^^ entirely possible...trust me, i've entertained that option as a real possibility...but at least now i have a bill of lading, which makes me feel better

^^ excellent question...my guy in thailand said he had no way of knowing, so he didn't want to give me any dates...my guess is 3-4 weeks (though i just received an email from him that gave me a number of the company in new york that should have the tracking information for the ship, so i think i'm going to go call now)

[Edited on August 20, 2009 at 1:38 PM. Reason : carats]

8/20/2009 1:36:44 PM

this online tracking system is pretty cool...so the boat actually doesn't leave singapore until 5pm tomorrow (local, so 4am our time since they're 13 hours ahead)...scheduled to be in new york at 8am on september 15th

i'm not quite sure what happens after that...my bill of lading lists the port of discharge as new york and the place of delivery as wilmington...so i assume that it then travels from new york to wilmington, but i don't know how (boat or rail) and from that point, i don't think i can track it

i suspect it's going to be a bit more than a month before i'm able to pick it up...not sure if they'll call me or shoot me an email or what

8/20/2009 2:11:50 PM

ship went through the suez canal 2 days ago...will be in cagliari tomorrow

still on schedule (3 more weeks!)

9/4/2009 8:31:13 AM

that's a lotta fuckin money for a scooter.

9/4/2009 6:54:15 PM

compared to chinese pieces of crap that can't make 2k without breaking, it sure is

not for a honda, though (note that my metropolitan went about 17k before needing serious work)

9/4/2009 10:57:12 PM