IMPORTING TO USA ADVICE
Owning an RGV in the United States can be a real challenge. From purchase to titling and riding the bike, there are many obstacles to overcome. In my 10 years of owning RGV's in the USA, I have encountered almost every obstacle that could de-rail ownership of these fantastic machines. With the knowledge I have gained over the last 10 years, I feel it is a good idea to pass it along to future RGV owners. It will hopefully save you some of the hassles that I went through and help you to enjoy the RGV without worry of looming disasters such as fines, confiscation, black listed VIN's and parts availability etc. The advice can also apply to other 2-strokes such as Aprilia's RS250.
Purchase: Finding an RGV in the USA is a bit easier in 2005 than it was back in 1995. Back then the bikes were few and far between and most came to our shores as Race Only restricted bikes. This meant they could not be titled to ride on the street. Since there was no official class for the RGV to compete in, no one wanted to spend money on a track day bike such as the RGV. Move ahead 10 years and most of these early machines that did get imported have been broken for parts or sold and found their way onto the street illegally. The Department of Motor Vehicle or DMV for short, was easy to fool back then as they were not wise to 2 stroke motorcycles. But an incident took place in California that changed all that. An NSR owner tried to sue the motorcycle shop that sold him the machine and Honda Motor Corp after a major crash. When Honda informed the parties involved in the lawsuit that they do not export NSR models to the United States a "Can of Worms" was opened. Since that time most of the loopholes in California have been closed and it is very difficult to title and register a Grey Market bike there now. What needs to be done if you are looking to import a Grey Market RGV,NSR,TZR is to surf the DMV websites for each state and find the loopholes in their regulations and get the bikes titled and registered in that manner. Most states don't baulk at a VIN number just because it does not have a 17 digit VIN. With all the special construction choppers being built it is just a formality that the VIN is less than 17 digits. Make sure you bring a stencil of the VIN number right off the frames steering stem with you when you go to the DMV that you have chosen, as that has helped me with any questions as to the validity of the VIN number. Keep in mind that any RGV currently titled will carry a higher selling price as it is guaranteed to be able to be owned and operated on US roads. All the hard work has been done already and you will have to pay as much as 1000 dollars more for a titled machine. Pricing is very straight forward. A VJ21 or VJ22 with no title and in rough shape will go for anywhere from 750 to 1,200 dollars. A bike in average condition with no title will go for roughly 2,500 to 3,500. A VJ 21 or VJ22 in near perfect condition with no title can sell for as high as 6,500 dollars. As for the 1996-1997 VJ23 SP expect to pay 5000 for one in rough shape with no title and upwards of 7,500 for one in average condition with no title. A mint condition VJ23 SP without a title can go as high as 9,500 dollars. As was stated previously the title alone will add 1,000 dollars to these prices.
Parts: Once you have found your Grey Market bike and have it titled and Registered, your next step is to secure a source for parts. One good thing about the RGV is that it shares the same motor as the Aprilia RS 250 which most of you know was an official import to the United States for the Aprilia Cup Challenge. So if you have a local Aprilia Dealer you can source most of your motor parts there. I have found the Aprilia parts prices to be inflated as much as 15-20% over Suzuki parts. If you have access to the parts microfiche online and can secure the part numbers you can run them by your local Suzuki Dealer and see if they come up as a valid part number. I am currently finishing a parts cross reference chart to save time in finding out what part numbers are available from US Suzuki so stay tuned. If you desire you can purchase parts new and used from some of the suppliers on the www.rgv.250.co.uk web page. They have a site sponsor that is very knowledgeable and helpful www.suzuki-spares.co.uk who will ship to the USA. The only drawback is the exchange rate and the high shipping cost from the UK and Europe. For this reason I use www.TSRworldwide.com or contact toru@tsrworldwide.com. If you supply him with the make and model and the part numbers requested, he can have them shipped directly from Japan in 7 to 10 working days. The prices are favourable and the shipping is very reasonable.
What suppliers in the USA can help with aftermarket items? If you have the need to replate a cylinder on your machine then I highly recommend Millennium Technologies. You can visit them at www.mt-llc.com. They have done all my work for years and will stand behind what work they have done. Other's include Boyesen Engineering, Race Tech Suspension, Goodridge Brake components, EBC, Ferrodo. Zero Gravity supply a top notch wind screen and Sharkskinz and Airtech supply aftermarket fairings, over in the UK an ex HRC guy makes special parts for the RGV and RS, these parts are sold by www.thetuningworks.com (sister site to
rgv250.co.uk) who will ship to the USA, it's a new site but building and new parts are always arriving. If you need to have your motor rebuilt you can contact www.af1racing.com. They did many of the Aprilia Cup Challenge bikes so they have a wealth of knowledge. I also recommend that you secure a Suzuki Shop Manual and learn to keep up a good maintenance schedule. This is probably the most important aspect of owning and operating an RGV. They are only as reliable as the person that owns them. So if you stay after things like cleaning the powervalves and adjusting the cables and changing your oil in the gearbox, you will be much happier and successful at owning one of these machines. A good piece of advice is to run the best injector oil you can afford as the cheaper brands tend to leave carbon deposits and residual sludge that builds up inside the motor so run the best you can afford. Read all the tech info on this site and forum. Linked in with the manual and you'll hardly need to visit the mechanics again.
Many Thanks to our anonymous USA contributor!
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http://www.rgv250.co.uk
http://www.thetuningworks.com