I took my MC test in Costa Mesa in January, queued up round the corner for about 2 hours, and the test took about 3 minutes!

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...lls+Tests&aq=f

it takes longer to watch to the youtube videos than it does to do the test.

HAHAHAHAHA......That is laughable, I don't think that I'll be up all night fretting about taking that test

There is probably a written test but you may be able to view the booklet and study online to get yourself way ahead of the game.

Quite right, there is. I ticked the box on the application to include MC without thinking too much about it, they gave me an extra written test (MC specific) which I duly completed at the same time as the other one. I hadn't read the handbook but still passed (got a couple wrong). it's all just common sense stuff, if you've ridden on the roads anywhere you can't really fail.

This page has the entire test. http://permittests4free.com/2009/05/

speedtriple, When I was planing on moving to the US I spoke to the Triumph head office to ask the same question. I was told it wasn't worth the trouble and there was always the risk of my bike being held in customs for months before being rejected. You'd then have to pay to ship it back to the UK. Get what you can for it in the UK and get another one out here.
Instead of thinking about not getting your money back for all the extras, think about the time and money saved in trying to ship it over here and the big hit you'll take when you try and sell a non US bike. You'd be lucky to get scrap value for it as nobody will want it.
My New Mexico bike test consisted of me taking my UK licence into the DMV and asking them to add the bike entitlement to my US license.

Another vote for selling it in the UK - I've successfully taken several bikes with me, but the newest one dates from 1981, plus I live over the border from CA and registering random vehicles here seems to be easier than it is in CA.

They arrived last year in July and I finally got my act (and the paperwork) together to apply for a title for the first of three bikes. Insurance is also an issue, most big name insurers will not touch a 'grey import' with someone else's bargepole. This means I have to have a bike for daily use in order to qualify for classic insurance with a reputable classic vehicle insurer. Of course it's extremely hard to have to buy another bike .

An alternative to taking the bike test in several states is to complete the MSF course - I did my 'advanced rider course' here in NV last year, re-learned a lot about low speed control that I found extremely useful and the pass certificate they'll give you if you don't have an MC entitlement yet will get you said entitlement. A Saturday well spent IMHO.

I have some experience with the shipment. It cost about $1700 to get a container between CA and the UK, and it takes some 2 months. I would not recommend shipping a motorcycle from the UK to CA. When the stuff is onboard on the see, the salty climate can do its job on metal parts of your bike. Bikes are very cheap in the USA, you can buy one there much cheaper than in the UK.

I disagree with the 'bikes are much cheaper than in the UK' - good ones aren't really and depending on where your tastes lie, they're more expensive over here. Old airhead BMWs, for example.

Oh, and there was no damage from the salty air to my bikes either.

With the 25 year rule you are good till 1986 now. As they are legal imports they not not technically "grey imports". I have 5 vehicles all legal imports insured with Farm Bureau in Virginia, I just call our agent and give him the deatails and the VIN.

They're legal imports but they're not US models (and the VIN is the giveaway) so even though the DMV will issue a title for it the insurance can still tell that they weren't initially sold in the US, and thus don't like insuring them even though in two cases two of the three bikes were models sold in the US.

I am not disputing the fact they are not US models. Lots of Land Rovers are brought in under the 25 year rule and over here on the East Coast insurance is not an issue. My 5 Rovers hardly have any effect on our insurance. Maybe in Nevada they are more picky

That might be the case, or the insurance companies I tend to deal with are just picky.

Which insurance companies are you dealing with ?.

In this case, State Farm and Allstate.

Just kinda sorta resurrecting this thread - I got the NV title for the first bike in the mail on the weekend and in this case, the title is specifially branded "non us vehicle". Don't know if that's considered a step up or a step down from "Salvage" . So they're clearly marked as different here in NV, don't know if that applies to other states as well.