Heading to the Baltics
 

Not sure if I will do a ride report as I know how much work that can take, and I am not convinced the interest exists for a short trip as opposed to the long distance trips undertaken by many. But I thought the general experience of shipping a bike may be of interest. So this is the start of my trip, shipping my bike out of Manchester for a jaunt around the Baltics.

The plan is to ship the bike to Italy, ferry to Greece and then ride through Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzogivina, and Croatia. We may also take in Macedonia and Serbia. As you can see the plan is pretty loose, but we intend to head off road as much as possible. The only commitment is the return flight.

I haven't shipped the bike before as I enjoy the romance of riding my bike to the destination, somehow it feels like cheating to ship the bike and fly in. But it does make sense, and when your time constrained it means more riding in your chosen destination rather then a long slog on the motorways. Surprisingly, I also think it is cheaper this way, which is a bonus.

Bike all loaded and ready for the off - I have tried to pack light, what you see is it, and that includes all my camping gear for 3 weeks.

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps00581428.jpg


The bike was loaded into a purpose made stillage for loading onto the back of a truck. The extra bag on the riders seat isn't me over packing and forgetting I have to get on the bike to ride it - honestly :laugh:

It's a bag that will be left with the stillage when we collect the bike and contains all my riding gear (Helmet/jacket/boots/etc) This means we can fly hand luggage only - bonus

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5563fd29.jpg

The whole bike and luggage was then wrapped for protection and security. The film will not be removed before we are present to collect the bike. Here it is stacked with my mates bike ready for the journey

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8d7a1ff3.jpg

Any tips, hints and must dos are more than welcome, although at this stage I feel a little overloaded with information.