Here we discuss everything related to riding, maintenance and gear.
This is the 2017 bobber I had when we lived in Switzerland. And my wife's 50th anniversary Vespa.
When we bought these nobody told me I couldn't bring them home to Canada. So when we came home we had to sell them both. I miss that bike every day. But recently got a new-to-me 2018 that I will mod until it looks just like that one.
Hi. I used to have a dirt bike and crotch rocket when I was young and stupid. But never a "hard-core know what I'm talking about" biker. I haven't had a bike going on 30 years now.
I just happened to see your post, and I live your bike. You called it a bobber. What's a bobber? Is that a type of bike? If so, what brand name and model was your 2017 bobber?
Just looking at that thing is giving me the "I want a bike again" bug.
That's a Triumph Bonneville Bobber. Closest thing that I can relate it to is like a convertible, you have a car make x, then they also make the x convertible, well there's a Bonneville and a Bonneville Bobber, and some other brands make bobbers of their bikes too. It's basically a stripped down version that's lighter and only sits one person on it.
Darn it, too bad you couldn't ship them home as parts. (Radar, MASH) It would be funny to look up the rules, it's possible removing the wheels or handlebars or something simple renders the entire thing as "parts." (Still, I feel your pain.)
Either way it would have to be registered as self-built. And the insurance/reg hits are significant. At least I could replace mine after a couple of years looking. My wife's vespa is not available over here at all with the package she had.
Why wasn't it possible to bring them to Canada?
Canada and Switzerland do not have a mutual vehicle exchange program for anything that isn't at least 15 years old. I would have had to ship the bike in parts, rebuild it in Canada, and register it as home-built, which is not a ton of fun for insurance and registration.
TIL: Vehicle exchange programs are a thing.
Never heard of them before. Maybe because Germany seems to be really relaxed in this regard. You may have to pay some taxes (e.g. VAT if new) when importing, that's it. No country restrictions that I know of.
If I had bought it 15km away in Germany I would have been fine :( Anything in the EU would be fine, but working with switz is (as usual) a bureaucratic mess.