It all started about Christmas last year, like it does to some of us, I knew I just needed (not wanted) a new V11 Sport, which I was going to import into New Zealand from the U.S. Having previously owned a V65 and not having owned a bike for 16 years it really was time. I had my heart set on a Green 2000/2001, but it seemed I was too late for a new one. I did not want to buy a pre owned one. Eventually I decided to go ahead and buy one of the many leftover 2002 Sport Naked models which were designated 2003 by M.G. I settled on a grey coloured one.The driving force behind the decision to import was the value of our dollar vs. the greenback. At the time ours was on a 7 year high. So on Feb 12th I paid $7145 for the bike and freight to have it delivered to my shipper's yard in Sun Valley from Marina Del Ray, CA. So far no problems, my shipper who deals in car parts and travels regularly to the U.S. was a bit behind schedule so I asked they hold off delivery until he arrived. When it was time, the sales manager who has since left was very unhelpful, it took my man in CA at least 4 calls to get the delivery made (he was just too busy to talk at the time...). From the onset I had been e-mailing these people asking that all the sales documentation be posted to me in New Zealand and copies be delivered with the bike. You guessed right, the bike eventually arrived in N.Z with no documentation at all, I was told the M.S.O. had been lost somewhere between the shop and my shipper!! After e-mails and phone calls, I received a faxed bill of sale which satisfied our Customs people. I picked the bike up on June 18th. I could not register the bike here unless I had original documentation, no faxed copies thank you very much. One reply to an e-mail requesting original documents was unbelievable, basically the sales person was told by the G.M. that he couldn't send anything more. I eventually contacted one of the co-owners who said it would be sorted. In the mean time I had been talking to the entry certifiers here and they were happy with me only needing this documentation. Once the much awaited letter arrived I was off to the testing station only to find the guy I was dealing with had left.The new man had no experience in dealing with new bikes like mine only zillions of used Japanese cars which we import into N.Z. After another two weeks of waiting for him to get guidance, yesterday July 28th, I finally got the bike on the road. The biggest problem was the headlight, after changing my lens to the right hand drive BMW ($125 N.Z.) part, it still had on dim, a slight kick up to the right. In order to get the big tick on the checksheet, I had to rotate the lens to the left!
Today was spent removing all the pollution crap (including tip over valve) and fitting licence plate. No fun taking the tank off, after removing the fuel line only to find the tap was still dribbling fuel out. Had to get the pump pliers on to the tap and put real pain on it to stop the gas coming out. I'm smiling now... When I paid for my bike in Feb. I could have bought the same bike here for $23995, mine owes me only $13,300 excluding on road costs of $490.
Given the fact I had never seen a V11 in the flesh until I picked mine up. As well as having no warranty with the 2002 model (warts and all) I am very,very pleased. For me it is back to basically learning to ride all over again, first impressions after a 2 mile ride each way to the testing station yesterday were all good.
To the technical side of this post, do other bikes when initially started, drip water(condensation) from the exhaust where the muffler is attached to the crossover? Everything is tight and in the right place.
Rob
02 V11 Sport Naked
