LA to Seattle on train incl bike

[breva73]

Hi.

I start planning my tripp for next year to west Canada and Alaska.
Becaus of the huge distances and save some time riding on the interstate, I thought to use the train from LA to Seattle.
My research was not successful. Only on the east coast they run a train.
In Europe they have several trains running from north Germany down to Italy, France, incl your vessel.

Are ther any other posibilities?

r/,

Mike

[MountainMan]

Hey Mike,

Don't know about train service but if you can at all afford the time and just want to avoid the interstate, a highly recommended option would be to ride the coastal highway up the California and Oregon coast. It's not to be missed if at all possible.

You don't mention it, but how much time do you have to get to Alaska? Are you planning on taking the ferry back south so you don't have to ride back or are you shipping your bike from there?

[breva73]

Hi.

The main thing is just the time, not the riding, the time frame I have is 6-8 weeks, it depents on my company. I know the cost way, I did it in 92 the other way around. I did a rough calculation on the total trip and it is 12000 miles. And if I could save 2400 would be great. I don´t want to spent every day 300 miles and more on the motorcycle and have no time for sightseeing.
The bike is in LA, Corona, and before I start I have to do a service, that takes away time again.
In Europe some companys offer this, they have 9seater busses and haul a trailer with all the bikes.

r/,
Mike

[MountainMan]

Hey Mike,

I haven't heard of any companies transporting people and the bike but for straight bike shipping there is a pile of them, a google search will turn up the most popular ones. They may know if any combined transportation services exist.

You might be able to organize the whole thing so that the timing works out and saves you some time, but it may be tough to do. I'm guessing that for most people, once they factor in the costs of transport there and back, the incremental time savings isn't probably great enough to warrant the expense and they end up biting the bullet and riding for two straight, boring days on the interstate.

Other vague options that may or may not be relevant include having the bike shipped ahead of time to Seattle and picking it up there. Or if you are really brave, you could post to see if any HU members would be willing to deliver the bike to Seattle for you.

Whatever you end up doing, have a great ride and drop me an email when you pass through B.C.

[markharf]

Originally Posted by MountainMan

....see if any HU members would be willing to deliver the bike to Seattle for you....

Hmmmmm. What kind of bike was that? And what time of year?

[breva73]

MountainMan, guess your right, time saving compare to the cost is gainless.
To shipping the bike ahead is not possible because I have to to some things to mount. Burkbusters, a new seat and maybe alu panniers.

It would be greate to find someone for a hook up, but just in time when I am ready to leave LA? If someone needs to go north with his truck / van, need someone to rotate driving and have some space left for the KLR, why not. But this would be luck.

First of all I need to set up the time frame, I have two options, May/June or August/September. I will find this out in the next few weeks.

markharf, it is a 09 KLR650

Thanks
r/,
Mike