if you're considering ordering stuff from Europe...

[m in sc]

this was the charge on a set of $1300 stainless chambers I ordered in may from Jim Lomas. UPS sent me the bill.

do not go down the political route on this,  im not and it cost me pretty dearly.  Just an FYI. curious to see what if any imprt fee is on the yambits order I placed is. Just be warned. these were stateside before I got the notice. 

[RDnuTZ]

ouch! that bites, sorry to hear that. I wonder if they used the date you ordered, the date JL invoiced you, recorded the sale or? I have been holding off ordering a couple of those modified baffles and maybe a Newtronics from Yambits until I was further into my projects but maybe should have pulled the trigger earlier based on your experience here 

[m in sc]

its the date it goes thru customs, hits stateside. I've dealt w this at work.

[quocle603]

I was going to do an order from crusin image, now I am afraid to pull any triggers.

[RDryan]

Wow that does seem like an outrageous fee to pay though. I take it the gov't charges are simply the new tariffs?

[m in sc]

yup. exactly.  ill let you all know what the yambits order fees will be
should know in a day or 2. as a side note..  hvc and economy sources from a lot of the same places, so its coming from them im sure as well (to cover their costs). I don't KNOW this, but Ed toomey did a whole post on this last week about his business as well. I looked at cruzin image over the weekend as well. the shipping was insane on the few items I had in the basket so im holding off as well. need some aftermarket vm34 intakes for another project,  they had them.  it can wait though

[RDryan]

Yeah I'be be curious in regards to the Yambits order. I too procrastinated on getting the baffles. I wanted them but I was being a cheapskate and I now regret this as that was like over four months ago.

On a side note and part of the reason I was being cheap is I think I found a new job...don't wanna jinx myself though. I mean it's only taken me like three months doing the job hunting thing.      This job is kind of interesting though. I'll be working for a company that specializes in heat treating metal parts mostly aerospace industry stuff and I think it maybe based in the UK as it's technically worldwide. They will train me to be a furnace operator and it's on the 2nd shift and if the clam flats ever seed in again I may be able to fit in a tide or two in the mornings or on weekends. Saying all this pending results of a background check and preliminary drug screening but I should be OK with that.

Saying all that as I just feel better spending money when I'm making it. That's all but it is kinda ironic that things are just getting so much more expensive practically day to day. Doesn't seem fair and I don't think hoarding bike parts is the answer although it sounds good. 

[m in sc]

lol. congrats on the new gig, hope it works out. I've been at my new job abouta year, and while I made really good money before, I make considerably more now.  luckily I was able to swallow this charge w zero issues,  but I have to think about 20 yrs ago, if I would have saved up 1300 bucks over a few mos, and then git hit w this the day before delivery... I would have been totally fucked. so, I get it.

[RDryan]

Thank you I'll do my best with this job, there's a lot to learn. I really have no previous experience at it but I did work at one of their customer's companies as a CNC machine operator about twenty years ago and I guess I impressed them with my recollection of the job.OTOH they stated that they had a hard time finding good workers, I made a good case for why I am a good worker. At least I think I did.

Yeah those pipes are not cheap at 1300$ never mind another 600$    I don't know how you do it with such a  big fleet of motorcycles but it's a pretty awesome collection.

[m in sc]

that was just one of those things I wanted. I don't spend like that all the time, and I do 99.9% of my own work. and I've been at it a while..  that t500 was 800 bucks as a basket case back in 2017. my lc hybrid was started in 2004. so, over 21 yrs, a lot of time and money went into it, I keep a lot of bikes for a LONG time. my 70 r5 for example, I 'paid' 1k for (was actually a partial trade) back in.. 2013 or so. Just this year I finally rebuilt the motor, and had maybe 1200 in that total rebuild. it always ran . but grand scheme of things, I have maybe 3.5k in that bike total. over 12 years? so amortize that out... I have no kids, no other bad habits, no other hobbies to speak of, and a relatively low cost of living overall.

and an extremely supportive wife. so, im lucky in that regard.  and yes, its unusual. its def not for everyone. so while the tarrif charge principally irritated me, I do realize how much of a gut punch that could be.

true story:  I had a 300 fee on a title for almost 30 years i refused to pay.  early, because 300 bucks would have been financially devastating. as time went on it was just a point of contention. so, last year as I do every year, I would bring it with me to the DMV, and the usual response was 'it has a fine'. last year, it dropped off and I re-instated it.(its a home-made bike title) .the point was the principle,  not the $ itself . at least the past 15 yrs.

[RDryan]

LOL, that's a great a story. It's like the registry granted you amnesty from their extortion but only after 30 years of holding out you won! I love it.

Well I'd say you did well to get good deals on some of those bikes. I guess that makes up for the oddball expensive stuff here and there. Actually when you think about it and I think it's crazy but a lot of guys that get modern four stroke sportbikes will also upgrade to a full ti exhaust and that gets pretty pricey. I'd say 2k is kinda cheap to do that. I know some will settle on a much cheap slip on, that's what I did for my Superduke GT. The full ti system for that bike made by Akrapovic or this other company Techmo I think was maybe over 3k. Even just getting a link pipe that eliminates the catalytic part is kinda rabbit hole as it leans the bike so your then obligated to do all ecu tuning/fuel remapping to compensate.Not to mention the invitation to remove smog related stuff. I just left it as is and come to find checking out forums that the bike is pretty well optimized power wise as stock from the factory. I do like the slip on though, it's smaller and lighter and actually I got that part reasonably cheap on Ebay 5 years ago, it's made by Delkevic. I think those are made in UK. So imagine it would be much more expensive now.

Yeah I guess the answer to avoid the tariffs is to get an aftermarket exhaust  made here in your home country or if it's not then maybe it's already stocked in a warehouse somewhere in the country? Or maybe just have a friend in Europe buy it for you and then send it to you? I dunno, definitely makes me think about this stuff. Like Vape ignitions will get a bit more pricier.

I do like your 70' R5 that is a pretty bike. There's a couple of 71' R5 for sale locally to me right now on marketplace. One is more of a barn find than the other and the asking prices are 2500$ to 3k so not too cheap. The 3k dollar one looks a whole lot cleaner,nicer shape and somewhat recently revived, cared for. Fair prices but probably would need some servicing who knows.     

[1976RD400C]

Yikes, I just made a $600 Yambits order.

[Striker1423]

Yeah, that's super lame, like I mentioned to you already about the cutoff. But for those who don't know, you can no longer import goods under $800 into the U.S. duty-free, as the "de minimis exemption" was ended on August 29, 2025. Now, all non-postal shipments valued at $800 or less are subject to applicable duties and taxes.

[m in sc]

here's the real bitch.  if they would have shipped the pipes when originally promised, they wouldn't have been hit by the tarrifs that went into effect Aug. 1st.

[RDnuTZ]

FWIW: the tariff issue seems to be a moving target and subject to change at any time. Original goal in UK negotiations was to get to ZERO tariffs on each side. I'm just gonna watch and wait- a US court decision came down the other day saying Trump has no authority to levy tariffs anyway- that power belongs to Congress. Lots of scrambling behind the scenes on that because the income from them is being counted on for budget and economic projections.

on Diminimis under $800.00 that one probably sticks as it allowed unlimited dumping of goods into US and was being exploited by other countries at our expense. Probably needed to go away even if temporary pain for anyone relying on affordable parts in that price range. I ordered a JIS impact driver bit set from Japan and it was shipped Aug 26th but they send untracked so who knows when it actually arrives in US. This was a cheap 1-time purchase and might cost me an extra $1.20 but it's needed so no reason to worry about it either way