Gents this may not be the right place to post this but i'll give it a try. 2003 R1150 in good shape and must go. My company is relocating me to Africa and i need to sell my GS. email for details and photos. rhanning@eagle.org hanning3000@yahoo.com
Hey guys, I have some questions about having a bike in, and getting the bike to S. Korea (KLR650). I tentatively plan on moving over there in late fall/early winter from the US to teach English (time for a career change for a bit, I'm currently an ecologist with USFS). The plan is to ship the bike to SEA, ride around Thailand and Laos (maybe Cambodia) for a few months, then ship the bike to S. Korea, live there for a year or two and teach, then ferry over to Russia and head west (maybe teach there as well). How feasible is this (the Korea part)? I want to keep my USA registration. I'm wondering if I need a S. Korean motorcycle license. I'm sure I need insurance... Is there a popular shipping company I should know about? I've checked Horizons Unlimited and there is very little info there on what I'm trying to do. Any help would be appreciated. Quick background: I've ridden all over SEA on a bike I bought in Laos a few years ago (125cc Honda Bonus). That same time period I visited S. Korea for three weeks and loved it (which is why I want to move there for a bit). I'm not new at travel or at riding, but I am at shipping and at living anywhere for more than a few months...
I'm no expert, but I have a friend that imported a Harley, intending to stay for only a couple of years, and they CRUSHED him with import duties - he had to pay the equivalent of $7000 USD in non-refundable import fees on a 2012 Harley Fat Boy. He would have been much better off buying used here and selling later, even if he took a substantial loss on the sale. There may be a better way using Carnets and whatnot, I don't know much about going that route...there may be a time limit on thier validity. Bottom line, do your homework and know what to expect before deciding to ship a bike here.
So I dropped the bike off at the moving company yesterday, and they drained and crated it, making it ready to go. Then this afternoon the transpo office called me and said that they won't move my household goods until I take the bike out of them. FUCK! So now I'm back to square one, trying to figure out how to get the bike to Korea. The Army is trying to make Korea a desirable assignment. As far as I'm concerned, it's getting less and less desirable as I get close to going.
Hmm... that's bad. Any ideas how long you can bring a bike in for and not "import" it? I want to keep my original plates and all that. I know people ship them there from all over then take the ferry to Russia...
I'm having a similar problem. I am command sponsored but my orders state I can only bring one POV - either a motorcycle or a car. And it's very specific about motorcycles being counted as a POV even though it is in the household goods shipment. I'm thinking about trying to ship both anyway. It doesn't seem like transportation and the car shippers have much to do with each other so maybe they wouldn't realize what I'm doing. Worst case, I'd have to pay for the 400 lbs. of weight that the bike added to my shipment? Anyone know more about this and see any problems? I tried getting the contact info for a motorcycle mentor in Korea but my "sponsor" and the S1 haven't been responding. I'm wondering about this whole policy being designed to discourage people from bringing motorcycles to Korea.
Oldbutspry, I think you hit the nail on the head. The military has been taking a much less favorable attitude toward motorcycle in the past five years. It seems that they want to make it more and more uncomfortable for military members to own and ride motorcycles. If you try to ship the bike along with your HHG, as well as a POV through regular auto shipping channels, you're taking the same chance I was. I hoped that the transportation office here would be oblivious (due to past experience with them being oblivious when we moved here, and not helping AT ALL when we tried to make a claim against our movers) but that didn't work because apparently they can be aware when it comes to screwing the service members, but not when helping them. There is a disconnect between the movers and the transportation office, and between DPS and transportation, but the transpo office has the final say on what goes out. To top it off, the transpo trolls discouraged me from even bringing a bike through commercial means because they don't think I'm even allowed to have one. I looked at the USFK regulations and they say I am allowed it, so F transpo and their useless opinions. Anyway, I rant - the bottom line is that you may end up in a similar predicament as me, with transpo telling you that they won't ship your HHG until you remove the motorcycle. And if you're going accompanied, that may throw a monkey wrench into getting out of the US. For me, I have two weeks until I actually board a plane, so I have time to work it out.
I still have a while as well - I don't report there until the end of July. I'll try to take my bike but if not then I will buy a bike there. If I buy a bike then I will get something not offered in the US with the intent of disassembling it and bringing it back to the US as parts. I see some interesting bikes on the Seoul Craigslist: XLR 250 Baja - was this offered in the US? I'm thinking not. CBR400rr
Kinda late to the thread. Curious how it all worked out in the end for the both of you...? I'm command sponsored as well, and have been here since January (PCS'd in from Germany). I'd heard that before that everyone was limited to one POV, but I didn't have any issues with my transpo office leaving Germany, and was able to ship both the bike and the Jeep. Weird... I guess it's possible that they just didn't catch it, but I'd find it very unlikely with the Germans that run the transpo office there. Makes me wonder if it's an issue with the wording on the orders, or possibly even the command sponsorship memo?? I copied and pasted an excerpt from my memo that pertains to the shipment of a POV... "[...] 7. b. You are authorized shipment of a POV in accordance with PPCIG. You are authorized shipment of HHGs IAW the JFTR for your grade and dependency status. Government quarters are furnished with stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and air conditioner. These are not authorized for shipment to this command. Please ensure adherence to these specifications." May very well be too late for the both of you, but may help someone else out later down the road. IMCOM-Pacific contact info regarding CSP requests... "POC for this message is CSP Korea at DSN (315) 723-2781, email: USARMY.YONGSAN.8-ARMY.LIST.CSP-KOREA@MAIL.MIL. Belkys M. Morales-Objio HR Specialist (Military) IMCOM-Pacific"
Depending on which base you're going to, it might work, might not. I'll say chances are it won't. You'll have to register both the car and the bike at the city DMV (Korean). They are really sharp and will stop you cold if you have more than one vehicle. Interestingly, I was authorized to SHIP one vehicle. Once here I was authorized to REGISTER 1 car and 1 motorcycle. The motorcycle is somewhat viewed as recreational, but each provost office views them differently (despite what the regs say!)
I think I quoted the documents earlier that had to do with Army POV rules. The AF, Navy and USMC have different rules. I had to pay $3k out of my own pocket to ship my motorcycle because I am unaccompanied, am not allowed to ship a POV, and a motorcycle is a POV. Even disregarding the motorcycle issue, I've been here for a week and a half and am already begging rides or taking cabs all over the place because even though I live on post, I still need to go to other locations, to social gatherings, etc. so the Army has its head up its ass thinking I could be here for two years and not need a car. Luckily I found one cheap that I am buying later this week. Thanks, Army, you fuckers. Assignment of (no) choice. The whole thing totally chaps my ass.
FYI, Yongsan in Seoul (at the registration office) keeps a list of people looking for free cars. I had a buddy who scored a free one for his unaccompanied tour. It wasn't a great car, but it did provide basic transportation. Glad you got your bike over there...sorry it was at your own expense. Enjoy the riding. South Korea has been my favorite place to ride, and you are coming up on some great riding wx...sept and oct.
Free car exchange? Suave! $3K to ship a bike sounds insane though. Methinks he could have done better with some research. There's a lot to be said for hoopties. If the base can't hook you up there's always Craigslist. Best time to buy is at the end of a university semester. Though if you figure out the cost of gas, etc. versus taxicabs, cabs aren't looking so bad. Only problem is sometimes they don't stop for round-eye and they seem to turn into pumpkins late at night. And of course language gaps. And you'll forever be suspecting that you're being taken for a ride New York City -style but truth is, the roads around places like Seoul are such spaghetti that usually you're getting a perfectly honest trip. It just feels like you're taking a detour through Okinawa. As for the language gaps, even complete idiot drivers will know all the bases. Navigating by subway station name is an easy band-aid if your destination is near one. Koreans (not just cab drivers) are not terrific at handling bad pronunciation and the transliterations to English can be nearly useless, so (if I can't figure out how to write the destination myself) I get someone to write the destination in Hangeul on a slip of paper. Hang onto the slips and use as necessary. Yes, you can use the translation services by cellphone, er, "hand-pone" but the abilities of the translators varies. One last item about taxicab trips: Sometimes a sneaky driver may try to get a few extra won out of you by insisting he doesn't have change. I call this the round-eye tax. So carry a variety of currency if possible.
Add 1330 to your phone contacts. You can call it anywhere in Korea and get translation help, directions, store hours, train schedules, whatever. Oh, and get with me once your bike is here.
If you have written up any of your rides here on the forum, please put a link in this thread. I'd like to see where you've been. I've written up a few in Day Trippin' of easy one day rides from Seoul with a bit of off road. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=910173
Your rides look very much like mine do, except that I don't take enough pics for a ride report. I sent you a PM.
Ok, my bike arrived Saturday, I registered it yesterday, and rode it to work yesterday and today. I've got to say that it is so much nicer riding the 1.5 miles to work through Daegu than it is driving in my little hoopdie car. I've already started cutting through traffic and taking off down any alley that looks like it goes in the generally right direction. So from what I understand this weekend is not a good weekend to go out and explore the countryside. So I think I'll ride my bicycle this weekend, but next weekend I might be up for a little exploratory riding, if anyone in the Daegu area is up for it. I put OSM on my Zumo, so I have a decent mapping program now.
I'm glad Koreans (or at least the ones that live in my apartment complex) are either honest or ignorant. I rode my bike home from work Tuesday and parked in the parking garage, but drove the car on Wednesday. Late last night I was looking for all the stuff I'd need for work today, and couldn't find my bike key. It was sitting in the ignition. For 30 hours or so. :eek1 Apparently everyone is either straight as an arrow and wouldn't think about stealing my nice new BMW or they just had no idea that the key is in the ignition. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd done that when I live in Atlanta or Newburgh, NY. I'm going to tie a bright piece of orange cloth to it from now on, so I notice it when I get off the bike. Of course, if I do forget it, the orange cloth will draw thieves' eyes to the key...
