Importing Scooter to US (California)

[Nalin Patel]

I'm thinking of importing a new Vespa scooter from India (manufactured in
India), to register in California. Does anyone have info on emmissions
standards for scooter registration in CA? Any other regulations / fees that
I'll have to watch out for?

The emmissions info I have on this scooter:
Carbon Monoxide: 14 g/kwh
Hydrocarbons: 3.5 g/kwh
Nitrogen oxide: 18g /kwh

Thanks for your help.

+ Nalin

[Ray Koerzendorfer]

"Nalin Patel" <nali...@home.com> wrote in message
news:t3Lu6.56033$jg1.1...@news1.alsv1.occa.home.com...

> I'm thinking of importing a new Vespa scooter from India (manufactured in
> India), to register in California. Does anyone have info on emmissions
> standards for scooter registration in CA?

California does not have emissions regulations for
motorycles/scooters as far as I know. You definitely
would need a Factory Statement of Origin and a bill
of sale though. You might want to contact the
Ca. DMV directly for exactly what the procedures are.
>

[Tom Green]

This is very handy information, I'm about to import a new PX200E to
California from New Zealand (http://www.scooterworld.co.nz/VespaPX.html).
With the exchange rate and all, it appears a bargain at about US$3000
delivered to San Francisco. I too am uncertain whether:

1) A US customs import tariff would apply
(a read of docs re: 2-strokes at http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/ implied
maybe)
2) A new 2-stroke is even allowed into California.
3) CA DMV will register the scooter once it is stateside.

I contacted a guy selling a 2000 PX125 some time back and he said he had the
dealer in Italy forge paperwork saying it was a 1980, thus he had no
problems bringing it in - to Colorado.

I'll give a shout if I learn anything about this.

"Ray Koerzendorfer" <sct...@home.com> wrote in message
news:PxTu6.65855$o7.27...@news1.rdc1.sdca.home.com...

[Ian Mckiver]

Tom,
I know state laws vary, but I am in the process of buying a (Y2K)
PX200E from someone who failed to get it past US (Wisconsin) Customs
(and he had it boxed up as scooter parts). It has cost him a great deal
of money to ship from (and now back to) the UK. I know what his advice
to you would be :-(
Cheers,
Ian.

--
Ian J McKiver

"Beyond words lies experience;
Beyond experience lies Truth.
Make this Truth your own"

"Memorial" - Star Trek Voyager

[Greg Green]

The Scooter (in New Zealand) has the following tag on it:

"This motorcycle conforms to US Code of Federal Regulation 40 CFR 86.410-80
Engine VSE1M manufactured by Piaggio&C.Spa"

I found that US Code of Federal Regulation 40 CFR 86.410-80 is used by
several other countries, such as Singapore, as a standard for emissions.

So I called a customs officer at the Port of San Francisco and was presented
with the list of restrictions on the entry of a scooter. Apparently it will
cost $1000 for formal entry as well as several additional bonds and fees.
The justification for these fees is that the vehicle was not manufactured in
compliance with our Federal Clean Air Act and Department of Transportation
(DOT) safety requirements. This is regardless of the age of the scoot,
unless it is 25 years old or older. Silly, if you ask me, since I already
have a 1980 P200.

This much said, I don't see how I could buy the scoot but I'd still like to.

Gabriel Sanchez owner of Monarch Scooters in Los Angeles
www.monarchscooters.com purchased a beautiful 1968 SS180 from New Zealand
and had it shipped over, but he will not tell me how he got it over. If any
of you know how to get a newer P-series into the U.S., please let me know.
I'm encouraged by the note below from the www.vespa.org site, but I don't
know what other means to pursue.

--------------http://www.vespa.org/faq.htm--------------------------
Where can I buy a new Vespa in the United States?
The short (but incomplete) answer is you can't. Piaggio hasn't imported new
vehicles into the U.S. for over 15 years. A small number of vehicles have
been imported for the "grey market" or under private ownership, but Piaggio
is not now marketing in the U.S. There is always some talk that formal
importation of Piaggio vehicles is going to resume, but that has yet to come
to pass. If you're only interested in new vehicles you'll have to import it
yourself, or find someone willing to bring one in for you. Start by asking
for advice from the U.S. scooter shops. (see the links page for shops with
Web sites, and also the shops listing on the Scooter Scene Web site) and
online newsgroups like Alt.Scooter and Web BBS's (also see the links page.)

[foo]

A 1968 bike is more than 25 years old, thus no problem.

- Jeff Saunders

[Tom Green]

It is elementary, my dear Watson.

"foo" <f...@bar.com> wrote in message news:3AD5482A...@bar.com...

[lisacmcm...@gmail.com]

Hello Nalin, To best answer your question in the state of California you must have the emissions sticker from the manufacturer on your scooter or it will not be registered. Also the vehicle manufactured in India will not have the VIN # in the USA's system and you will not be able to register it anywhere should it even make it through US Customs. The bike could be impounded and never returned to you. It is very difficult and expensive to ship, modify and have a scooter like this registered in the USA. Should it be a vintage bike over 25 years old then you would be better off and it can easily be imported, but not newer models. I wish you my best, but honestly you would be better off selling it in India and buying another one once you reach the USA that you would not have trouble with.

Kindest Regards,

L

[Christ...@deathtochristianity.pl]

On Mon, 01 Apr 2019 20:31:35 -0400, Dennis Lee Bieber
<wlf...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 1 Apr 2019 12:18:09 -0700 (PDT), lisacmcm...@gmail.com
>declaimed the following:

>
>>On Friday, March 23, 2001 at 8:44:09 AM UTC-8, Nalin Patel wrote:
>>> I'm thinking of importing a new Vespa scooter from India (manufactured in
>>> India), to register in California. Does anyone have info on emmissions
>>> standards for scooter registration in CA? Any other regulations / fees that
>>> I'll have to watch out for?
>

>>Hello Nalin, To best answer your question in the state of California you must have the emissions sticker from the manufacturer on your scooter or it will not be registered. Also the vehicle manufactured in India will not have the VIN # in the USA's system and you will not be able to register it anywhere should it even make it through US Customs. The bike
>
>

> It is probably even worse... A US emission sticker may not be
>sufficient -- it will likely have to carry a CARB (California Air Resources
>Board) sticker. If it is a two-cycle engine, there is basically no chance
>(I mention this as I believe India manufactures using 60s production models
>-- manual (twist grip) transmission and possibly two-cycle engines).
>
> Piaggio does import California legal models (my first bike was a Vespa
>GT200). I'm now in Michigan with a California spec Aprilia Scarabeo GT 500
>ABS -- which uses a Piaggio 460cc engine.


The original message is over 18 years old, If that person is still
alive I just dont think they will get the message.

Two stroke engines were the best!! When I was a kid I had a 2 stroke
80 cc dirt bike that would do at least 50 mph I loved that bike

--

____/~~~sine qua non~~~\____