Despite recent disenchantment about Customs' denial of duty concessions for sporting vehicles coming into the Island, that Government department is being praised by another motor-sport organisation for assisting it in a similar matter with a foreign country.

Grant Goudge of the Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Club (BMRC) revealed yesterday that the association has been slapped with hefty duties to take bikes for 12 Bermudian riders into Canada for a competition - though the bikes will only be there for two weeks.

Assistant Collector of Customs Larry Conn is apparently negotiating with his Canadian counterparts to resolve the situation.

"We've got 12 bikes on their way to Canada for local riders to compete in an event and the Canadian government has put on a Cdn$11,000 bond that we have to pay on the bikes (seven per cent of their value) though we're only going up to there to race and bring the bikes straight back," explained Goudge.

Though the money is refundable, his concern is that it's difficult to raise such an amount which could "take four to six months to get back" given the bureaucracy.

"This has made the shipping bill for us 12 guys a total of Cdn$13,000. I've got to say the agencies on this end have been very helpful. Mr. Conn has worked on our behalf with Canadian Customs and we've got our fingers crossed that the Canadian government might quash that bond. We don't know yet," said Goudge, a former executive member of the club and one of the main organisers for this trip.

The motorcycling competitor is concerned that such regulations - if also strictly enforced here - will cripple the development of motorsports.

Bermuda's participation in the North American Motorcycle Union Challenge Cup in Halifax (August 8-11) is an exploratory step to establishing links between the local motorcycling fraternity and counterparts overseas.

"Hopefully this will be the start of much bigger things. We are trying to get American and Canadian riders to compete against us here. It would be ludicrous to charge those guys 33 percent duty to bring in their bikes. If they're coming to compete, they're obviously going back. Government should look at abolishing this (duties for sport vehicles/equipment which will be here temporarily) because otherwise you won't get cross-border competition. It will be financially impossible.

"It's a question of common sense and Customs verifying what comes in and what goes out. As long as they make sure stuff is not just coming over here duty-free and disappearing that should take care of things. I don't see boat owners in the Newport-Bermuda Race putting down 33 percent duty on their yachts. There's got to be a level playing field."

Goudge said that two years ago a foreign minibike rider competed here and the BMRC paid duty on his cycle. The money was refunded when he left. However, Government says no refund policy exists.