Monday, December 15, 2008

Would you buy a smuggled Royal Enfield?


Honesty is the best policy and the fellow in Dewey, Ariz. who has a smuggled Royal Enfield Bullet to sell certainly tries his best to lay it all out. His description of the bike on eBay:

"A 1955 Royal Enfield Bullet 500cc motorcycle with 322 original miles. Now, I know what you are thinking, how could it only have 322 original miles on a 1955 model? Well the answer is that this bike was shipped to the USA in 2003 from India piece by piece until the entire bike was here, and then assembled. So this was not the normal Royal Enfield motorcycle that was imported in to the USA cause it was a bike that was designed to be sold in India."

The seller has been an eBay member since 2003 and has 100 per cent positive feedback. No doubt, his great honesty has served him well.

Obviously, the Royal Enfield factory would prefer that people didn't do this since it spends a lot of money preparing motorcycles for foreign markets and certifying that they meet the standards that apply. Usually the customs services will prevent private importers from sneaking the bikes in and, even if they don't, the bikes will lack the paperwork needed to register them.

In this case, the eBay seller says he has a valid "1955 Arizona" registration for the motorcycle. He presumes that other states would accept that as proof the bike can be registered where the buyer lives. His "Buy It Now" price is $3,500 if you want to find out if he's right. Let us know how it goes.


2 comments:

  1. Anonymous12/15/2008

    He has 100% positive feedback, but how many sales?

    And what if he forgot a part?

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is VERY funny! But, actually, this guy seems to know his stuff, if you believe the feedback. What is almost disarmingly charming is his frank admission of how it was done. Obviously, he sees nothing wrong with it. Personally, I just can't get past the problem of having to call the bike something it isn't.

    ReplyDelete

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