Registering an out of state bike with CA DMV

[palerider]

Many hoops to jump through. Seems less hassle to bring it in from another country!

(tongue firmly in cheek)

I've been noodling the idea of buying a British 2016 ES/AS so I could get the auto-clutch, driving it around Europe for a year and putting on 7501 miles, then shipping it to CA and registering it here. One of these days I will do the research and post it.

You're a brave man. Not only will you deal with U.S. Customs, Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, DOT, and EPA; but California and CARB as well. This will be book-worthy. But first, be prepared to travel in Europe for 2-years https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcmath:/dmv_content_en/dmv/pubs/reg_hdbk/ch12/ch12_15

Holy crap! Thanks (I think). I can do one year, but I'm not sure about two years driving around Europe.

As a Palerider from southern CA you will certainly be a pale rider after two years riding around Europe just to prepare for the onslaught of paper work needed to get the bike into CA. Is having a clutchless bike that important? Are you handicapped? Just curious!!

Yes.

I don't think two years would be on the table. One year I would seriously consider. I am also wondering whether anyone makes a quick-shifter for the 2016 ES. Having only to clutch at stops would be bearable.

 

[El Toro]

The way I read it, it looks like you could bring in a 2016 in 2018 and it would not be considered new. Why not just look for a low mileage 2016 in 2018. Or maybe you could find a low mileage 2014 this year.

Another option would be to grab a low mileage '06 through '09 that's already here. You're not going to get a warranty from the US importer anyway.

 

[TomInPA]

Or you could always plead to Yamaha to make a US version of this available. The point being, no one but a manufacturer has the resources to certify a motorcycle for U.S. sale. There are no shortcuts. A premium U.S. AE/AS is the only way this is happening, and Yamaha lost their ass last time they did the AE and it sat in dealer showrooms pending discounts to the A model.

I blame the U.S. consumer that could not wrap his head around the idea of a high performance auto-clutch with paddle shifter. I mean, we don't exactly drive the high-end European sports cars here that are similarly equipped.

 

[majicmaker]

I've looked into this and it's definitely not gonna happen.

 

[palerider]

The way I read it, it looks like you could bring in a 2016 in 2018 and it would not be considered new. Why not just look for a low mileage 2016 in 2018. Or maybe you could find a low mileage 2014 this year.
Another option would be to grab a low mileage '06 through '09 that's already here. You're not going to get a warranty from the US importer anyway.

I already have an 06 and am still in love, but I find myself lusting after all the ES goodies.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Someone needs to take their FJR to those Rekluse guys. That would do the trick. I am NOT kidding. I bet it would be cool.

 

[El Toro]

Me too (on the lusting after ODOT's Gen 13 model). Although my experience with the K1600GTL and its techno-goodies was disappointing at best, and I suppose the ES, which has a lot of those same goodies, could also disappoint.

I bought an '06 new, and an '09 new. I traded both away, but recent arthritis in my left hand caused me to go looking again. I would really love to have MCATrophy's bike ... but the best I could do were a used '08 and a used '09, both with under 6000 miles on their clocks.

The '08 ended up needing an ECU, but I was fortunate that the dealer where I bought it sucked it up and did the diagnosis and repair at no cost to me. The '09 was one of the last '09s blown out of the warehouse, and it still has a Y.E.S. plan on it until April of 2017. But that one also has clutch stutter issues. On the bright side, Yamaha seems to be willing to deal with them on the warranty. On the less bright side, the best and brightest at Yamaha appear to be promoted based on how little they authorize. So they will nickel and dime it to death ... but I think it will eventually be sorted.

 

[palerider]

My '06 has a clutch-chatter issue, but only when it's cold; goes away when the bike warms up. I did a clutch soak, but that didn't help. It's not really that much of a problem, except for when my wife's along. There's an uphill stoplight about a quarter mile from the house. When the light turns green and we have to start uphill with a cold engine, the chatter makes her a little apprehensive.

I just read a bit about the 2016 that suggests that the slipper-assisted clutch will be easier to operate. I'll try an extended test drive in March. If the clutch is easy, I might be able to live with it. I love the auto-clutch, but there are things I miss about having a manual clutch, and it would be great to have a true over-drive.

 

[El Toro]

Comparing the '08 which does not chatter, to the '09 which has chattered, it is my sense that the real issue is the amount of slip that occurs on cold acceleration from a stop. The '09 definitely tries to engage, but then disengages, at lower rpm. The '08 does not begin to seriously engage until a higher rpm level for this cold acceleration from a stop circumstance.

Once warmed up, they behave similarly, both delivering excellent slow acceleration from a stop.

Interestingly, at least to me, is that the '09's stuttering seems to be diminishing with use. Yamaha told my dealer that it could be as simple as an oil change. I can say with confidence that the oil change did not lead to an immediate diminishment of the stutter. But I can also say with some confidence that the stuttering seems to be diminishing now that we're a week away from that oil change.

 

[palerider]

Comparing the '08 which does not chatter, to the '09 which has chattered, it is my sense that the real issue is the amount of slip that occurs on cold acceleration from a stop. The '09 definitely tries to engage, but then disengages, at lower rpm. The '08 does not begin to seriously engage until a higher rpm level for this cold acceleration from a stop circumstance.
Once warmed up, they behave similarly, both delivering excellent slow acceleration from a stop.

That sounds right to me.

 

[BanjoBoy]

My '06 has a clutch-chatter issue, but only when it's cold; goes away when the bike warms up. I did a clutch soak, but that didn't help. It's not really that much of a problem, except for when my wife's along. There's an uphill stoplight about a quarter mile from the house. When the light turns green and we have to start uphill with a cold engine, the chatter makes her a little apprehensive.
I just read a bit about the 2016 that suggests that the slipper-assisted clutch will be easier to operate. I'll try an extended test drive in March. If the clutch is easy, I might be able to live with it. I love the auto-clutch, but there are things I miss about having a manual clutch, and it would be great to have a true over-drive.

Hmmmmm, my '07 AE chatter when cold too, but my '07 A didn't. I figured it's an AE thang?

 

[El Toro]

Hmmmmm, my '07 AE chatter when cold too, but my '07 A didn't. I figured it's an AE thang?

I'm 100% sure that this is an AE phenomenon. Non YCC-S clutches may chatter, but I've never had a bike that I couldn't figure out how to coordinate the clutch and throttle for a smooth take off, even when very cold.

YCC-S is a different animal, and the rider only controls the throttle, as you well know since you're an owner too. I work the problem by feathering the throttle, where in a normal bike, where I have control of both throttle and clutch, I can coordinate the throttle position and the clutch position effectively together.

So the problem looks to me like a coordination between the throttle position and the load, and how the computer decides to couple the two by engagement of the clutch. On the bikes that stutter, it appears to me that there is some misadjustment, or some other unexpected unsmooth thing going on so that the computer is not as good at feathering as a skilled human would be. The oddest part of this is that it seems to go away once the stuttering bikes are warmed up.

Yamaha's advice to my dealer was to try the oil change, and if that didn't get it, to make some adjustment to the cold idle speed (can't remember if they wanted it to go up or down, but it almost seems to me as though if you were trying to fix this problem, you'd go up).

The advice from others who have sorted this out has included the clutch soak, and also clutch fluid replacement and bleeding.

My '08 does not exhibit this problem at all, but I do notice that the clutch does not start to engage until the engine is at a higher rpm, and then it would appear that the road load can be matched better to the engine's load capability as the clutch transitions from disengaged to engaged.

I've got the Y.E.S. coverage in place until April 2017, so I'm just going to let Yamaha piddle with their "let's try this" approach. The bike will be back to the dealer for tires before the riding season, and they can try a few more things at that time if it hasn't sorted itself out with the oil change.

 

[Malve]

We had a helluva time registering a 49 states bike we bought used for my wife. The previous owner had brought it i from out of state and somehow had it registered with only a couple thousand miles on it. He may have been military so perhaps that's how he got it done.

Unfortunately, he took the tags with him upon delivery. We were told repeatedly that we could NOT register the bike in CA and after about a half dozen visits which included several calls with Sacramento, we had an awesome DMV gal (yes, I said that) go to bat for us and make it happen.

 

[palerider]

We had a helluva time registering a 49 states bike we bought used for my wife. The previous owner had brought it i from out of state and somehow had it registered with only a couple thousand miles on it. He may have been military so perhaps that's how he got it done.
Unfortunately, he took the tags with him upon delivery. We were told repeatedly that we could NOT register the bike in CA and after about a half dozen visits which included several calls with Sacramento, we had an awesome DMV gal (yes, I said that) go to bat for us and make it happen.

Did you get her name? I might need her.