Bill Of Sale For Snowmobile: Fill & Download for Free

A long long time ago in a far off place lived two young parents . Yes once we were young . Around 1968 / 69.I worked at a small Honda Dealership in Michigan and it was a wonderful place to work . Outside of our normal workday there were four of us employees that raced in half mile and short track dirt oval events . Of course we raced Honda’s . Our store had a reputation for racing and the owner Rod McKusick was well known at the Honda headquarters in Southern California .One day , Rod announced to us that our store was chosen to test three new prototype Honda’s . We had no idea what they would be until they arrived . It was really a shock .As in all three cases nothing else like them existed at the time . We were told it was part of a contest among their designers to come up with new marketable products ?They arrived by truck and as we unloaded them it was certainly like a fanciful Xmas . First off was Honda’s version of a mini snow mobile . Second was a motorized shopping cart , third and last to come was some kind of moon buggy . Called an ATC90 .The snow mobile was similar in size and shape to a go -cart , a small track in back with the motor above it and the rider sitting in a hard bucket about ten inches off the ground and two skis ahead of you where the front wheels might have been . It was steered with a steering wheel . We we’re also snow mobile dealers and this was of great interest to us . The snow mobile had many shortcomings . It was fun to drive in a snowy parking lot and would move ok in a couple of inches of snow . But because all the weight was far behind the skis , it refused to turn . At any speed it would just plow straight ahead , regardless which way you turned the steering . So after a few hours of everybody trying it out it was pushed to the back of our warehouse to collect dust .The second item was the motorized shopping cart . Very similar to what you would find at any grocery store . Made of wire like most are but it had steerable wheels that were controlled like a tank by twisting each side of the push handle and a small Honda motor low in the carriage . Honda felt that since Americans were some what spoiled they would rather drive there grocery’s home in this cart rather than push it home . It went about ten Miles per hour and we set up a small oval in the warehouse and took turns trying to see who could set the best time for a lap . Honda must not have understood that Americans all had cars and only used carts in the store or parking lot . There was no market for this motorized shopping cart and it was not practical , starting with a pull starter , exhaust fumes , and marginal handling at speed , it soon found a place sitting next to the snowmobile in the back of the warehouse .Third was this three wheeled balloon tired vehicle. Within moments of the first ride we found that the rider sitting above the rear tires made it a little light in the front , the slightest blip of the throttle caused a minor wheelie . With a gaggle of racers for employees we were all riding the ATC on its back wheels and having wheelie contests . Due to it’s low gearing and balance you could literally ride it indefinitely on just the rear tires with the front wheel high in the air . It was too easy to do and when we let our family members try to ride it often they would flip over backwards or fall off . It had issues but was so much fun , it would go thru sand , mud or water , you could do all sorts of tricks on it . Our store was in a rural area ( farmers everywhere). Each of us spent hours and hours driving it . Customers were fascinated with it . My wife and I had a bit of pull at the store so it spent a great deal of time at our home and being a salesman, I made the rounds of all the farms showing it off and getting their input . The Munsil family had a huge farm with many cattle . That spring was very wet and one day I went to visit them . They had a problem , the fields were flooded and they were having a very difficult time retrieving cattle .Mr Munsil tried the ATC and was all smiles , he said it would be perfect for chores in the field . He had a large family and wanted to order six of them on the spot . I had to explain it was just a test vehicle. He said when available he wanted the first six ! He also suggested we install a trailer hitch on the back for pulling carts and small implements . Yes a utility vehicle?We were expected to test these new inventions for six months and then return them with an evaluation of each and suggestions . We did just that , we suggested the snow machine had shortcomings but if they could make it steer it would sell . Honda did launch this machine in 1970 but immediately did a recall and stopped production .We explained that there was no market for the cart and no suggestions that might help .With the ATC we were so excited about it the possibilities were endless . But it did have some serious issues and safety concerns . We told of a number of problems and easy cures .1. The first machine had standard motorcycle foot pegs , they were too short , people would put their feet down and then be run over by their own tires . There had been injuries and we created longer foot pegs . We suggested they do this and add a wire platform so that your feet couldn’t be put down in front of the rear tires ..2. it needed lights for night use .3. it needed a trailer receiver at the back for pulling carts or implements . It should be considered a utility vehicle as well as recreation .4. The machine was seriously prone to flipping over backwards and needed A wheelie bar to safe guard against this . You will notice in some of these photos that we installed a trailer hitch , you will see it’s fairly long .That was because we designed it to allow for doing wheelies while making contact with the ground in time to avoid going over backwards . It was a simple wheelie bar that served double duty as a hitch . A great idea that with little cost or effort converted the ATC from toy to utility and made it much safer in the process . Our wheelie bar / hitch was the perfect addition.5 . The choice of tires was useful because they got great traction and could be blown up to make it actually float on water . But they had a tendency to bounce like a beach ball and since the machine had three wheels it didn’t have great stability, if you hit a bump on one rear tire and not on the other , the ATC would go into horrible gyrations and often flip over . A harder tire design with knobs would be a better choice . Although a skilled rider could maintain balance on an ATC , as it was first built it was a dangerous machine in the hands of beginners .We sent a very lengthy report to Honda , above all stating we wanted this product in the line up to sell and that it had to be slightly modified to be safe . That it was very dangerous as first supplied .About 12 months later we received the first shipments of new ATC ‘s . They were indentical to our proto type .None of our recommendations or safety concerns had been addressed . They sold like crazy and many people were injured . We did a good business installing our own design wheelie bar/ hitch . Honda made some changes , some very quickly like wider foot pegs , much later harder tires , eventually years later a foot guard , headlights and tail lights . But as for the wheelie bar and trailer hitch they turned a deaf ear, or should that be a death Ear .Eventually the out cry from parents of dead children and aggressive lawyers got the attention of law makers . The number of deaths from flip overs and bad crashes were of astronomical numbers and a law was passed outlawing the sale of three wheelers . Unsafe at any speed .In the first photo of my wife and child you can see the big balloon tires and the extended foot pegs we installed .In the next photo take a look at the rear mud guard . Notice the missing pieces center rear . That was from numerous tip overs while doing wheelies . Then look below that and you can see our extended trailer hitch which solved that problem but that Honda ignored .in the group of beach photos you can see the progression of changes we made , longerfoot pegs , a headlight added , and that life saving hitch .This was a great invention , which had wonderful chances for pleasure and utility work . Honda’s attitude originally was that by installing a hitch it would suggest it could be used for pulling heavy loads and would leed to increased warranty claims ? They could see it was appealing as is and refused to change it . In the end they paid millions in damages and lost the right to sell the product .Then quads took over and never looked back .But in 1969 we sure had fun .A side note to the Honda Fox . At one time I had a very large collection of Honda motorcycles from the 1950’s thru seventies . I decided I would like to find a Honda Fox . I assumed it would be rare and knew they had been recalled . I did research and contacted many old dealers . Finally , heard of one in Wisconsin who had been a Fox dealer and called him . What I found out was that he was the only dealer to receive them , if my memory serves me right he got 9 of them . Then sold one almost immediately. With in a day or two Honda called him and told him all the units were being recalled and to return them . There was a problem with them . He told them one had been sold and he was instructed to repurchase it . The buyer refused . Numerous offers were made but he wouldn’t sell . How accurate that is I don’t know , but I have never found one anywhere ?

Let me break down some costs you’ll have in your first year of riding.Paperwork: this will vary by state but where I ride it’s $10 per year to register, plus $30 per year for a trail pass if you ride on public trails. Title transfers or first time registration comes with extra fees and sales tax.Oil: a jug of 2 stroke oil costs between 20 to 40 dollars depending on brand and type. A gallon lasts me a few years.Fuel: most snowmobiles get terrible mileage. Plan on roughly 10 mpg. If you ride 500 miles in a winter you’d spend $150 on gas.If you don’t already own snow clothes, boots, and a helmet you’ll need to spend some money. Buying name brand snowmobile-specific gear can easily rack up a bill of over $1,000, but if you gear up at the thrift store and get a cheap generic helmet you could probably keep it under $200.The sled will have some wear and tear items that you won’t need to deal with at first if it’s new. Carbides and the drive belt each cost $50-100, but they should last several years of normal riding. If you do extreme riding you might wear out your track, which can cost over $500 and are a lot of garage labor to replace. But a modest trail sled might never need a new track over its whole life.If you don’t crash or abuse your engine, normal routine maintenance is very cheap and easy to do yourself, even on a decades-old machine. All that’s typically needed is a carburetor cleaning and new spark plugs every couple years, and perhaps a replacement headlight/taillight bulb. Most new sleds don’t even have carbs anymore due to the popularity of EFI engines.The market for used snowmobiles is totally flooded so you can buy one from the 1980’s or 90’s for just a few hundred bucks. One or two thousand will buy you a very nice machine from the 90’s or 2000’s. An entry level brand new snowmobile costs between 5 to 7 grand, and if you want absolute top of the line you might spend a little over $15k.

The car will be fine However you will have to “export” the car from the USA by Faxing paperwork to the planned point of exit from the USA at least 3 days in advance of crossing.Requirements for exporting a vehicle (including: snowmobile, ATV and Motorcycle)If you fail to do this you will have to take the car back to the USA, file the paperwork and wait 3 days before taking it back into Canada.Until this paperwork is dome properly you cannot register the car in Canada.This is US law that Canada follows in order that cars stolen in the USA cannot be sold in Canada.This is the full processStep 1: Check if your car is admissible into CanadaThe first step is to make sure that the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) and Transport Canada has deemed “your” car importable. For the most part, our Canadian regulations line up with those of our southern neighbour. Many cars can be brought in “as is,” while some will need metric odometers installed and daytime running lights added. This is a comprehensive list of what you can and can not bring over the border.Please note that there is no mention on that list of any cars older than 15 years (2002 as publishing date). That’s because all cars 15 years old or older are completely exempt from these rules. So if you have a classic car to import, don’t worry about the list.Step 2: Check the titleThe title is the single most important document when importing a car. A title proves ownership of the car. Without a title, in the eyes of the law, you don’t own the car you’re importing. If the car has a salvage title when you are in Canada it will have to have a structural integrity examination. The car must have a clear title to import. Check with local U.S. Department of Motor Vehicle offices to learn how to spot a bad title and ensure that you are getting a clean and clear title.Step 3: The infamous 72-hour export ruleThe 72-hour rule is a wonderful bit of red tape designed to make life just a little bit harder for those exporting a car from the U.S. That’s right, before you can import into Canada you have to export it from the U.S. Failure to do this will result in massive trouble if you ever set foot in the U.S. again. You must contact (usually by phone because they never respond to emails) the exact U.S. border crossingyou will be using at least 72 hours before you show up with a car to be exported (see Step 5). You will need to send them two things:A digital scan of the front and back of the titleYour Internal Transit Number (see below)Step 4: Getting an ITNFive years ago, any Joe Blow could import a car simply by proving he owned it, how much he paid for it, paying some tax and showing his passport. Someone somewhere thought that was too darn easy and came up with the Internal Transit Number (ITN). As far as I can tell, an ITN is just another rubber stamp process that lines professional importer’s pockets with money. Nevertheless, you must have an ITN to export a car and there are two ways to get one: Be a professional, licensed importer, or pay one. Sigh.I’ve always used Auto Import USA; they will set you up with an ITN for $150. They are not the only company that offers this service but they’re the only one I’ve used. No, I don’t get paid to endorse them but I have been pleased with their service so far. To get an ITN, you need to send the importer all of the following:A digital scan of the front and back of the titleValue of the carYour full Canadian addressYour phone numberYour Canadian passport numberThe importer will send all that and the ITN to the U.S. border. The U.S. border, ever friendly, will never respond if they received your paperwork or if it was faulty. Their official policy is complete radio silence until you show up in person at the border. There is no way to check that your ITN has been received, or declined. Yes, it’s silly.(In 2010 when I did this I did not have to do this)Step 5: The exportIf you’ve already called 72 hours ahead, you have a clean title in hand and the ITN paperwork, then you are ready to export. But first you have to find out where! Not every U.S. border crossing has an export office; you’ll have to call the crossings yourself to find out if they do or do not (most major crossings have them). Then you need to find out where that office is located. The export office is usually a non-descript building at the edge of the compound surrounded by 18-wheel semi-trucks. You will have to call the U.S. border and get them to explain to you where to find this office. Once you actually find the place, it’s a very straightforward procedure and then you’ll be on your way to Canada!Step 6: Import and taxNow that you’ve exported, the actual import is a cinch in comparison. Upon driving through the Canadian customs gate, inform them that you are importing a car and they’ll direct you to an easy-to-find spot where you can park and then head inside to pay taxes. How much tax? You will pay GST (and HST, depending on your province of entry) for the full amount of the vehicle as listed in the bill of sale. Customs will always fuss over the amount. Bring a print-out of the winning eBay ad or a photo of the bank draft in that amount, or anything else you can use to prove that you paid what you paid. You will also pay a $100 fee if the car has air conditioning and a flat $200 fee if the car is newer than 15 years old.(My experience is that if you owned the car for more than 6 months you are exempt from paying GST, HST or PST. But there is a $200 RIV fee. The taxes ar eonly if you recently bought the car in the US.)Once the car is legally into the country, you have 45 days to actually go to a registry where you can register and plate the car.