Considering Nelson, BC Trip

Summerville · Apr 22, 2018

Anyone have some beta on snowbiking this area or would like to meet up there? I was thinking a Mon-Wed riding early in May, coming up from Northwest USA. Any advice on traveling with snow bike across the border and permits?

coryf89 · Apr 23, 2018

Don’t need permits. We take the bikes from Calgary to Moab all the time. Bring your passport and you’re good to go.

Not too sure nice the snow will be in B.C. in May though...

Jaynelson · Apr 24, 2018

No worries on running out of snow here ....you might have to ride a little dirt for access, but there will be tons up top. If you stop by our shop Main Jet Motorsports in Nelson we will get you pointed in the right direction. Open Tuesday to Sat. Any other info send me a PM and I can help out,

Jason

Revv Up · Apr 24, 2018

Probably a good idea to register the bike and skid serial numbers on your side as your coming through, that’s what I did on the way to Moab and it made returning smooth sailing.

Jaynelson · Apr 24, 2018

^ Good call. You won't need a permit so to speak....but definitely want paperwork for proof of ownership (title, registration, whatever you want to call it).

coryf89 · Apr 25, 2018

Been to Moab 3 times this year already. Rzrs in enclosed trailers and everything. They couldn’t care less about paperwork at the border. They’re not DOT and they’re not fish cops.

You could be coming up here to do a photo shoot with it in the back of your truck for all they know. Why do you need ins and reg for that?

Jaynelson · Apr 25, 2018

I wouldn’t cross the border with a vehicle I couldn’t prove ownership on....that could get weird on ya. Just because you get away with something doesn’t make it a good idea

needpowder · Apr 25, 2018

coryf89 said:
Been to Moab 3 times this year already. Rzrs in enclosed trailers and everything. They couldn’t care less about paperwork at the border. They’re not DOT and they’re not fish cops.

You could be coming up here to do a photo shoot with it in the back of your truck for all they know. Why do you need ins and reg for that?

That would be coming up there to work. Whole other can of worms trust me I know.

coryf89 · Apr 25, 2018

needpowder said:
That would be coming up there to work. Whole other can of worms trust me I know.

taking a pic of my bike with a mountain background for my facebook profile pic is considered working??

you get my point. like I said, 3 times for us, enclosed trailers and everything and weve been waived on through every time, not a care in the world. ill let you know how my may 15th trip goes too.

first time we werent sure... I had a buddy with a non insured bike. he went and insured and registered it for the trip. what a waste of time and money that was. didnt need it and not a single soul cared.

sure it doesnt hurt to have it, but if youre planning on cancelling a trip and losing sleep over this because you think youre gonna get shut down at the border is wrong.

like I said, theyre not highway enforcement, BLM officers, or canadian fish and wildlife officers. those are the guys that care. the border cops? nah. they dont ask to see reg and insurance on my car either and I travel into the states 20-30x a year. whats the diff between the bikes?

if youre not doing anything illegal, you got NOTHING to worry about. think about it. if youre planning on buying a bike and sneaking it across, thats a tad scary. 1 guy and 2-3 bikes?? thats a bit odd.. they can tell when youre lying/nervous and up to something from a mile away.

Summerville · Apr 25, 2018

Thanks for all the help, sounds too easy! What about other things like having full fuel containers or any other snowbike related things besides firearms.

Jaynelson · Apr 25, 2018

coryf89 said:
taking a pic of my bike with a mountain background for my facebook profile pic is considered working??

you get my point. like I said, 3 times for us, enclosed trailers and everything and weve been waived on through every time, not a care in the world. ill let you know how my may 15th trip goes too.

first time we werent sure... I had a buddy with a non insured bike. he went and insured and registered it for the trip. what a waste of time and money that was. didnt need it and not a single soul cared.

sure it doesnt hurt to have it, but if youre planning on cancelling a trip and losing sleep over this because you think youre gonna get shut down at the border is wrong.

like I said, theyre not highway enforcement, BLM officers, or canadian fish and wildlife officers. those are the guys that care. the border cops? nah. they dont ask to see reg and insurance on my car either and I travel into the states 20-30x a year. whats the diff between the bikes?

if youre not doing anything illegal, you got NOTHING to worry about. think about it. if youre planning on buying a bike and sneaking it across, thats a tad scary. 1 guy and 2-3 bikes?? thats a bit odd.. they can tell when youre lying/nervous and up to something from a mile away.

They care big time about title/registration if they suspect you may have purchased it out of country on your trip. I’ve sold a ton of sleds/bikes/etc down to the US, and also helped a few guys clean up the aftermath of trying to kink the system/skip the paperwork. Things can (and do) go bad at the border if you can’t prove ownership...trust me. They don’t care about insurance, so it’s not like registration alone is expensive so I really don’t understand trying to save $50 and running the risk of getting hassled at the border. To each their own tho

coryf89 · Apr 25, 2018

they couldnt care less about fuel either.

people in vancouver paying $1.55 CAD/L(4.60$ USD/gallon) right now are driving into seattle and filling up sliptanks for half price. pay the 5% GST/PST at the border and youre good to go. usually $200 is their magic number... anything less than $200 worth and theyll say "have a nice day" otherwise you gotta go in and pay $15 in fees.

guns, knives, tobacco and alcohol it gets very tricky though. but as far as the bikes thats smooth sailing.

coryf89 · Apr 25, 2018

Jaynelson said:
They care big time about title/registration if they suspect you may have purchased it out of country on your trip. I’ve sold a ton of sleds/bikes/etc down to the US, and also helped a few guys clean up the aftermath of trying to kink the system/skip the paperwork. Things can (and do) go bad at the border if you can’t prove ownership...trust me. They don’t care about insurance, so it’s not like registration alone is expensive so I really don’t understand trying to save $50 and running the risk of getting hassled at the border. To each their own tho

IF they suspect you. thats a HUGEEEEE if. youd have to be a complete sketchbag jackass whos actually smuggling a bike for them to suspect that. are you really that kind of a dude?? these guys are professionals. theyre not stupid. they can tell the difference between a clean cut guy and his toy wanting to go ride and someone trying to BS them and scam them.

also, not sure where youre from, but INS comes first, then registration. you can NOT register a bike without insurance. so its not $50 in fees. its hundreds, maybe thousands for full insurance AND registration.

my point is, the OP is NOT doing anything illegal or immoral and theyll pickup on that within .3 seconds. hes not gonna have any problems.

needpowder · Apr 25, 2018

Maybe crossing into the US is a little easier than crossing into Canada. I’ve been all around the world and found that the Canadian border is one of the toughest. When they searched our vehicles and found the film equipment realizing that we were going north to film without a work visa we were screwed. Didn’t matter that we were just passing through to get to Alaska. Should’ve taken a ferry. At least in Russia after they took your passport and scared the chit out of you they would finally come back and tell you what it would cost (would’ve been nice if they would ‘ve just done that first).

They didn’t check the tags on any of our sleds though at the canadian border. Probably didn’t even know what the current US registration looked like.

Jaynelson · Apr 25, 2018

coryf89 said:
IF they suspect you. thats a HUGEEEEE if. youd have to be a complete sketchbag jackass whos actually smuggling a bike for them to suspect that. are you really that kind of a dude?? these guys are professionals. theyre not stupid. they can tell the difference between a clean cut guy and his toy wanting to go ride and someone trying to BS them and scam them.

also, not sure where youre from, but INS comes first, then registration. you can NOT register a bike without insurance. so its not $50 in fees. its hundreds, maybe thousands for full insurance AND registration..

Easy big fella. Registration is a dangerous word, as different areas use that term in completely different contexts. Here in BC you definitely do not need insurance to have registration, and registration is cheap.

All I am saying is to have proof of ownership to cross the border is a really good idea. Depending where one is from...that could be called a title, registration, bill of sale from when you purchased it, whatever. Have something saying you own it....it’s a pretty simple concept and has nothing to do with appearing sketchy or not. I really don’t understand why you are so opposed to that notion, and so dead set on giving marginal advice on this.

Revv Up · Apr 25, 2018

The border guards don’t nessessarly need to see an ownership, they have a declaration to fill out with your bikes make, year and serial number, there just makings sure you coming back with the same one you left with.

ravenous · Apr 26, 2018

Coryf89 has some odd posts on this topic. Definitely some of the worst advice I've ever heard. To save monumental hassles just have proof of ownership when you cross the border. I know this from experience.

M5- · Apr 26, 2018

I cross the border all the time 30-40 times a year. I've been asked for proof of registration going both directions. It happens. Last week they asked for the registration for my truck. You'd be asking for trouble if you don't have it.

M5

assaultn · Apr 26, 2018

5 trips from Alberta to shred dunes in Idaho. 2 trucks 10 guys, both pulling enclosed with 5 bikes in each. Waved through 3 times. Had to prove ownership twice on way back into Canada. Guess we looked like a bunch of sketchbag jackasses hahaha

Summerville · May 10, 2018

Success

I can confirm border crossings at Nelway and Frontier were rather easy with a snowbike in the back and 5 fuel cans (20 gallons) on board. No paperwork for the machine was requested either direction. Where I ran into a problem was carrying that many fuel cans on the Balfour-Kootenay ferry. They only allow 1 fuel container per vehicle so I was lucky to stash the extras in other vehicles thanks to some local hospitality and still ride the free ferry for a scenic loop.

Considering Nelson, BC Trip

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