My VX Arrived

[jimbo]

My VX arrived, in perfect condition, after 12 very tense, gut-wrenching days in shipping by a questionable company.

Whew!!!

Life is good.

[TDUB]

Congrats!

What did you get?

[Thickness]

Take care of it,and have fun with it.Get ready for plenty of open-mouth stares.I`ve had mine since the end of April,and I`m having a blast.Took a 1000 mi. road trip last week.

[jimbo]

TDUB - 2001 Foxfire Red w/roofracks and 12000 miles. Not a scratch on it. Worth all the trouble of getting it out of MASS. (where they don't like people from other states buying their cars - absolutely no temporary transit tags for out of state buyers).

Thickness -Where'd ya go on your roadtrip?

[thedutchguy]

I'm still waiting for mine, due to arive the 14th in amsterdam.
This will be the first ever vehicross in the netherlands!

[t2p]

I need help .......... I want a VX in every (avail) color ........

[PeteVX]

thedutchguy...congrats on bringing a vx to the netherlands, where in the netherlands are you? I'm origionally from Hull in England (now live in minneapolis) I lived 3 miles from the ferry terminal so we used to spend a lot of time in Holland, particularly Rotterdam, Amsterdam and we used to ride upto Assen to watch the bike races a lot.
Cant tell you how much i miss that!!!! I've had some of the best, funniest and wasted times of my life over there!

I know shipping can be a headache, i brought one of my bikes to the states with me when i moved, shipping was easy, beurocratic paperwork was a nightmare!!

good luck!

Pete

[t2p]

Congrats Jimbo .........
.
PeteVX: Are you speaking of bike as in 'bicycle' ..... or 'motorcycle' ? .....
.
..... Assen ........... must be motorcycle ......... I seem to remember reading about Assen ..... do they/did they hold a GP there ?

[PeteVX]

yep, motorcycle, we used to watch the GP's and 24 hour endurance, if you know bikes mine is a yamaha TRX 850 motor in a TDM chassis with an RC30 single sided polished swing arm and custom made stainless pipes that exit under the seat like a Ducati 916 and mx bars all painted in a metallic blue.
Though since moving here 5 years ago i've probably done less than 500 miles on it.....never seem to find time to ride and people at least here in minneapolis drive so badly its not even funny!!!

Pete

[t2p]

PeteVX:
.
Sounds neat. Just barely familiar with the TRX and TDM .... and RC30 (Honda) - and (of course) the 916.
.
I'm semi familiar with the Yam .... TD ....... TZ ...... bikes ...... I'm a TZ and RZ kind of person ....... 2 stroke junkie ........ still kicking myself in the arse for not purchasing a new RZ350 in the late 80's when I had a chance ........ sure would not mind an Aprilia 250 in the garage ..........
.
I currently ride - as often as you unfortunately - a Kaw Ninja 250 on the road. Still have a few off road bikes (also) - Suz 125 and Kaw 200.

[visconte]

how people in Minneapolis can drive worse than they do in the UK? UK and Europe are worser places to drive!

[PeteVX]

Hah Hah!! Funny visconte, this is going to set off another debate but I've been lucky enough (I think!!) to have driven all over the world, including places like russia, poland and east germany and i have never experienced drivers like i have seen here. I think part of it is the ridiculously easy drivers exam, when i took my bike test a few years ago they were allowing people to take the exam in different languages!!! I mean, come on!!!

I was run off the road the 1st week of riding my bike by a woman reading a magazine on the steering wheel in rush hour traffic, each time she turned a page she veered into another lane!!

That was just the start... and some of the young girls i see driving along seem to be the worst, talking on cellphones, putting makeup on, shaving or whatever then swerving accross 4 lanes with no indication cos they almost missed their exit..


....I dunno maybe i'm getting old and grumpy or something

[PeteVX]

Ohh and you also all drive on the wrong side of the road too!!

Hah!

t2p, yeah, i grew up with 2 strokes, RD yams and stuff, wish i'd kept a few too, also raced a honda cr500 ex GP bike for a bit too but then as i got older and could afford it went to 4 strokes.

I have an XR400 that i ride a few times a year, it feels safer riding offroad except the guys i ride with ride every weekend and race enduros a bit too so are pretty quick and i have a hard time keeping up. I did save up last year for a ktm exc 450 was just about to buy it thenended up getting divorced so it all went to the lawyer ... still bumming about that!

Q...why are divorces so expensive?

A...'cos they're worth it!!!

[visconte]

...most right-handed people find it more logical to steer with the left hand and shift or read magazines and do their make-up at the same time with the right hand.

[AlaskaVX]

Originally posted by PeteVX
Ohh and you also all drive on the wrong side of the road too!!

Noooooo we drive on the right side! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhah ahaha OMG that was so cheesy hahahahahahaha

Oh and dutchguy I will make it to amsterdam someday! Might be 20 years but I will make it!

[PeteVX]

It should be a requirement of life that everyone visits amsterdam at some point...it is just sooo laid back, where else do cigarette machines dispense pre-made joints, or you walk into a bar or coffee shop and there is one menu for food and drink and another for getting high a hundred different ways. Not that i would ever encourage that kind of thing...just so you understand.

...and then there's the red light district...........

[dutchie]

Pete!

You forget our beautiful wind mills, the dikes(scared to write it with an y) with the finger sized holes in it, our tulips, rembrandt, good ol' vincent, our traditional snack of chips with mayonaise, ketchup, peanut sauce and onions....our pannekoeken, the bicycles.....
Ok and the marihuana is good too;)


Your topic about Assen brought also back a lot of memories....

On the way back from Assen, my mates and I decided that what Kevin Schwantz can do we could do better. I woke up the next day in hospital with to broken legs(broken in 6 places) three broken ribs, a broken toe and a bad headache....
I still have two plates in my leg to prove it:D
I never touched a bike after that experience....I can't switch gears, since my left foot got messed up pretty bad...

[PeteVX]

Ouch!! ...i feel your pain!!

I got banged up about 12 years ago almost lost my left arm in a MX accident riding in the old soviet union of all places. didn't throw my leg over a bike again for about 5 years and was real nervous when i did....but after a couple of weeks it was ok again.

Funny about all the cultural stuff, i'd been going to Amsterdam since i was 16 (38 now) and only last year when visiting with my now ex-wife did we actually get to Ann Franks house, take a boat taxi and do some other touristy stuff, it was actually pretty neat.
I was really inpressed with the flower markets too, ohh lets not forget food, awesome collection of restraunts in amsterdam, and that mayonaise thing on the fries? whats that all about? the frogs do that too.

Once we were going to assen for the 24 hour endurance series, stopped of in amsterdam like we usually do, parked up the bikes and went for a wander. There were about 8 or 10 of us and somewhere along the line we got seperated and lost a few, eventually our group found our way back to the bikes, decided to ride onto assen knowing the rest would eventually turn up there.

We didn't see them again till we got back on the ferry again sunday night....apparently they got so wasted they spent all friday afternoon wandering around looking for where they parked their bikes, couldn't find them so went back to a coffee shop, met up with some rather nice dutch folk, some of them bikers, who led them to a party and thats where they stayed for the rest of the weekend, what a laugh!!

Favorite dutch thing? has to be your girls!!! talk about hot babes, even as a kid at school we had a dutch geography teacher called boreboley or something like that, we were all in love with her!

Anyway now i'm getting all homesick...

:(

Pete

[Robert]

Hej thedutchguy,

I have lots of friends in Holland. (Amsterdam and Groningen)
Congrats for the VehiCross and welcome to the Forum. It is a great group really.
I am still hesitating to bring mine to Europe/Hungary. In HU we have about 3 but only one with EU plate.
My main headache is the registration fee that is about $9,000 that I find outrageous. Just for curiosity stake how much did you pay for the shipping (Would you recommend them?) and how much do you have to pay for the registration?
If I ship mine I will ship it through Rotterdam probably and may be we can hook up for a meet.
Anyway enjoy it, it is a great vehicle!

Robert

[PeteVX]

Robert,

I'm not sure if Hungary is EU yet, but if i remember correctly import duty in england is about 9 or 10% then you can move vehicles through europe without paying anymore import duty or tax..its only paid in the country importation. There are registration taxes to pay too, i cant remember the amount but its not too high.

So if Hungary has a high import duty, maybe you could import to another EU country with a lower rate, you'd still be Ok to move freely around europe. I'm sure an international shipping or forwarding agent would know.

I shipped a motorcycle and crate full of stuff from England to the states a few years ago and it cost about $450 I remember the quotes i was getting varied wildy, i just kept calling till i found someone that i guess had regular deliveries going to where i wanted and gave me a good price.
good luck

pete

[Robert]

Thanks Pete,

Yes, Hungary is in the EU. (Just joined and that brought the new change) The registration fee that is currently $9,000 is only for registration and regardless where you registered the car before. (If you want a HU plate and you have to if you want to use it there) On the top of that you have to pay 10% custom and 25% VAT. Luckily I don't have to pay the custom and the VAT because I worked abroad 8 years (2 years UK, 5,5 US and half year Canada) and I can bring my personal belongings and cars back without those fees except the registration fee. It is only that expensive for big engines (with European measure) for smaller it is around $3,000. If I want to use the car in HU I have to register it there unfortunately.
Thanks for the info though but it seems that I have to live with that fact.

Robert