Well the day finally came when I went to pick up my new BMW R1200RT motorcycle on Saturday morning from Cliffs of Danbury. We drove up for a 10am pick up and the sun was shining - everything in the world was good!
At the dealers the bike was warming up outside and looked stunning and ready to go. A few bits of paperwork and I would be away. BMW dealers seem to have a different view of what a dealership is - friendly, unhurried and almost relaxing. All the dealerships I have been in around the world have coffee and donuts or muffins and no pressure to buy - which in the US is a great attribute!
I signed the papers for the insurance and the registration and then Joanne the sales person came into the office and said it was snowing and can we hurry up - snowing it was bright sunshine a few moments ago. One look outside confirmed that it was in fact almost blizzard conditions - well a slight exaggeration maybe but big flakes and lots of them.
The bike handover was very quick as it had turned very cold and we were getting wet. So with some trepidation I set off to ride the 40 miles back to Greenwich. The roads were relatively clear, however as I hadn 't taken my formal test yet I am not allowed to travel on interstate highways etc. so we were consigned to back roads - you know the ones with little traffic where the snow gathers!
The ride back was slow to say the least as it had been 6 months since i had left my bike back in the UK and I hadn't got round to hiring one over here in the US. The BMW was very well behaved and the heated seat and grips were a very useful addition. My only problem was that there was so much snow gathering on the front of the bike I couldn't see through the screen!
We finally managed to get back 60 minutes later with only a few tense minutes with slippery snow patches.So why buy a bike in the middle of winter I hear you say? Well it is cheaper for one and I got a great deal but the main reason is that if we go back to the UK in September as planned I can take the bike with me and I don't have to pay tax on it. The rules seem to be that you have to live in the US for 12 months and own the vehicle for 6 months and then it is a change of registration, however if you own it for less than 6 months you have to put VAT, import duty etc. which seems to add up to around 30% of purchase price.
I will post some pictures etc. in the next few weeks as the weather gets brighter and hopefully warmer so I can get out and explore Connecticut.
