Taking a bike to Australia via New Zealand

A friend of mine wants his mother to bring a used bike to him in Australia but he's uncovered restrictions on bringing anything that has come in contact to dirt into both countries.

Does anyone know how to deal with these issues without completely sterilizing the bike?

Thanks in advance.

well, he could spend 100bux, and get it repainted.
get rid of tires, tube,chain, etc that won't be worth the hassel.

Got a link or any info on the restrictions?

I'm taking my bike home on the same route in January. I plan to wash it pretty damn thoroughly so that there is not an ounce of dirt anywhere near it. Same goes for my shoes and armour 'cause they will check that too.

I'll also be declaring it to customs not trying to sneak through the 'nothing to declare' route. They are more likely to be forgiving if you front up and say that you have a bike, that you are aware that they need to have a look at it and offer it for their inspection rather than be sneaky.

You could consider paying a shop to wash it and get them to write a quick letter stating that they have cleaned it. I don't know if that will help anything, I wasn't planning on it myself.

Leaving the tyres behind is a good suggestion. I will be ditching the ones off mine except for a new nevegal that's only been ridden once so by the time I clean it it will look brand new.

Wash it and remove the tires, don't bring the tires. They will want to inspect it and are usually good about it if it looks clean.

Give it a really good cleaning.

I am heading to Australia today, do you want me to ask the customs agent about the requirements?

Wash it and remove the tires, don't bring the tires. They will want to inspect it and are usually good about it if it looks clean.

Give it a really good cleaning.

I am heading to Australia today, do you want me to ask the customs agent about the requirements?

Took a bike with me in Dec 2000. Gave the bike a good clean, cleaned the tires too.

No problems getting it through with the tires on. Keep in mind I'd cleaned them.

yeah, it should be no problem if it is clean. I think they are more concerned about clumps of dirt which could harbour insects.

Yep, seeds, fungi any foreign pathogens.

If you show up with everything squeaky clean you should be fine, if they find dirt on one thing they will tear your luggage apart looking for any more.

Plenty of stories out there of international football teams getting their gear fine tooth combed because one guy was found with dirty boots.

get some car tire cleaner for that "new" look

from my personal experiences with sailing gear they want clean and dry.

my windsurfing buddy's just had to make sure their bags and gear were clean and dry

dont think you will have too much hassle

when i brought my bike into australia it was pretty dirty and they were worried about the same thing. so they cleaned it for me at the melbourne airport but it took them like 30 mins…lol

I brought my bike to Brisbane in August. I made sure it was spotless, which isn't such a bad thing to do for your bike anyway. I bought brand new tires just for the occasion.

They never ended up even checking the bike at Aussie customs but better safe than sorry!

Note that New Zealand is much stricter about this stuff than Australia.

A diligent cleaning and fresh tires oughtta do it.

A friend of mine wants his mother to bring a used bike to him in Australia but he's uncovered restrictions on bringing anything that has come in contact to dirt into both countries.

Does anyone know how to deal with these issues without completely sterilizing the bike?

Thanks in advance.

I took my wife back home in 2005. We took our hiking boots with mud. At Auckland international MAF cleaned our boots for us. They dipped them in some sort of solution to kill any unwanted invader.

I doubt they will clean your bike as Kiwi men hate cleaning, my wife will vouch for that…;-)

I suggest contacting MAF: http://www.maf.govt.nz/mafnet/index.htm

I've brought a bike into australia twice now, first time i had gave it a really good clean and had a shop box it up. No problems whatsoever. By good clean i mean purely just a hose down and a bit of scrub with a toothbrush.

Second time was feeling lazy, gave it a hose off and a bit of a wipe down with a cloth. THey opened, all they really check is the tire treads for dirt, mine still had mud in it and they looked at it, seemed dry so they let me through hesitantly.

My recommendation is purely make sure your tires are clean and dry. No need to buy new ones or any "tire care" products.

Be upfront and honest, let them know you cleaned it well etc.

cheers.

yah just hose it down and clean it like normal ,worse comes to worse they will take the tyre's and clean it for you and give it back to you in 5 minutes. At least thats what happen to me when i still had dirt on my tyre's. If you think your bike isnt clean enough then tick what ever box on the decleration card that you fill out on the plane and they will check it for you and clean it if its really that bad.

Normally they wont make a big deal over it at all if you have at least cleaned it like normal.