Problems flying bike into India
 

Hi all,

I have a dilema that I need some advice / help on.

Having travelled to Turkey on the bike, I now need to fly it into India from Istanbul. Not keen on taking the three of us (girlfriend, me, bike) through Iran / Pakistan at the moment.

According to the agents / airline (Lufthansa) that I have spoken to so far nobody wants to ship personal effects to India from Turkey! Another issue they have is that the bikes needs to be crated (no problem for me though) and that for some reason the agent in India that I have spoken to wants me to have special permission written from the Indian government to allow me to ride the bike around India. Insanity prevails, so I'm hoping to get some answers next week. If anyone can possibly shed some light on this, or supply some names / emails of helpful people, I'd be a happy chappy,

Cheers,

Brian

The problems of shipping bikes into India are well known, as well as the cure:

ship it to Kathmandu - no problems getting it out of customs there.

Cheers

Lars

Thanks
 

Cheers Lars,

I started that line of enquiry (shipping to Nepal) as soon as I started having problems with India.

The problem with sending via Turkey is that its not a regular trade route Turk - India or Nepal.

I havent spoken to anyone that knows about the problem, so it seems that its not a well know as you might think, have you seen any postings here or information about the difficulties - I am VERY keen to learn what exactly is the problem.

I know India from previous trips, and my thinking is...if you can get in by land easily, why the problems in the air...?

reply to colesyboy
 

just had a look at your websıte- are u the guy who dıd the presentatıon at rıpley last year- you look lıke hım and he rode an afrıca twın through usa

ım currently ın ankara lıstenıng to planet rock on the web and waıtıng for my ıran vısa- the last 20 days have been lookıng at the hubb and checkıng the advıse- ıt seems to me that there ıs not too much of a problem wıth ıran and pakıstan or no more than flyıng out of london ect.

The embassy / fco wıll always gıve theır "best advıce" but ı thınk the experts are the people who are goıng or have just gone through at the moment lıke the ones reportıng ınto the hubb.

As thıs ıs my 1st trıp ı dont actually know too much but thıs ıs the feedback ı am seeıng from the hubb + ım lookıng for mates to go through wıth (jokıng)

ım off as soon as ı get my ıran vısa anyway

andy laurence

Yes, me
 

Hi Andy,

Yes the same man - well its a freaky coincidence because I was in Ankara hospital for 3 days, 2 days ago! My girlfriend fell off a horse at full gallop so we are having a bit of down time for a week or 2 here about 3 hours drive west of you in Eshkesir.

Good to hear you are going through Iran and Pakistan, because I wanted to do this originally, but as my girlfriend is Danish (remember the danish mohammed cartoon problem?) her family is not best pleased at the idea of taking her through there.

Not sure what is going to happen now, as I dont have Iran and PAkistan on the Carnet, only India. So that effectively stops me from riding through.

Just have to wait until I find the right solution to get the bike to India....I may even have to fly it to Thailand at this rate!

Have fun mate, enjoy Turkey for the rest of your time here - I love this place, but not their driving!

Brian

Heres the deal....
 

So far this is what I have gathered. All the shipping agents in Delhi are being pretty hesitant about importing the bike.

What they seem to need so far are:

Carnet of course
Document from someone stating what the purpose of bringing the bike in is
Bribes - around 5000 to grease the system

From the people I have spoken to so far and from postings here, its seems a bigger bet that Mumbai will be less corrupt and more organised....apparently.

So Mumbai it is, right into monsoon season.

The quote I have had so far for the flight is 600.00 pounds, this is everything (airway bill, dangerous good cert, security surcharge, fuel surcharge, Turkey customs fees, including the agents building a crate for the bike...) apart from the Indian customs and agent fees.

Will post a shipping entry when / if its done. The company I am using is good and could be a good contact point - I have a feeling that over the coming months I wont the be only one doing this route...what with Iran / Pakistan problems abound.....

Brian

Shipping to Delhi should not be a problem
 

Hi Brian,

I have flown in my bike in 2005 to Delhi from Tajikistan. See my report in the HU shipping database. I used Globalink in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, maybe they have an office in Turkey? They have a HQ in the US.

When getting into Delhi Wednesday night, I got my bike Friday late afternoon. Less than 48 hours! This is what worked for me:

- Carnet (of course.. without is a big hassle from what I have heard)
- Check after you have landed all the time with your carrier's office at the Delhi airport wheather it has come out of clearance. It took mine more than 24 hours
- Then go to the Customs House and start the procedure. I got appointed a guy who did everything for me, and I was running behind him. It took me one day and 15 USD. Official shipping companies quoted me at 100 USD, but I decided to do it 'myself'. Funny enough I only found out at the end of the successful day that the guy was not an government guy but actually a one man company. There must be dozens over there in the Customs House.
- Yes we did some bribing. It just speeds up the process. Otherwise it would have taken me 3-4 days. I think it cost me 80 USD. Your decision

So, just go ahead. I found all the Indians very helpful, and especially my personal import agent. He makes sure you deal with Kafka efficiently.

Martijn

Great!
 

Thanks Martijn! It's nice to hear of someone that has actually flown a bike into Delhi, I was beginning to think that I was the only one that had ever contemplated this!

That is great news, becuase I really dont want to go to Mumbai at the moment, becuase we will have to put the bike on a train to get out of the Monsoon as much as possible.

I'll check your post in the shipping section.

Wicked!

Brian,

you are right: bad rumors are no reason not to try.

Stupid first post of me.

Cheers

Lars

Best quote so far for New Delhi
 

600 pounds with Enco, Istanbul.

Dropped bike off today, doing the biz tomorrow, all crated and turkey side paid for inc. flight of course.

Now to actually get it off the ground and sorting the Delhi side out.

Cheers,

Brian

Monumental Cock up
 

By the people that shipped my bike from Turkey to New Delhi India.

They cocked up the price - 900 pounds instead of 600 pounds. They cocked up the timing, meaning that it took them a week to get the bike packaged up and sent - so that I was still running around like a headless chicken in cargo customs offices one and a half hours before my flight to Delhi.

DO NOT USE ENCO Cargo - I'll put a report in the database.

Bike now with us and we are in Punjab, so all happy in the end. But if you fly the bike from Turkey to India, get a printed quote first and ensure that you check, double check and triple check that the agents know what they are doing.

They said the bike could be shrink wrapped and quoted me accordingly. We bought our tickets to India, then they changed the rules on the day we were flying out.

Stiff faxes and emails sent to head offices, probably will get filled in the bin. They didnt really want to take this shipment on. Mail me for other agents that will definately be better!

Indian side cost around 86 quid - 20 quid bribes, the rest in customs fees (got a reciept for the customs fees). More incompetance at that place also - don't trust a big sikh guy called Kanwal Deep, he's a rubbish agent!

Cheers,

Brian

Feedback?
 

Hi Andy

I'd appreciate any feedback on how you get on with the Iran/Pakistan overland. I'ts currently on my itinerary for next year, and don't fancy the hassle/expense of Air/Shipping.

Good luck Matey. Lenzzzzzzzz

reply to lenzzzzz
 

hello mate

check out www.shapeupworldtour.blogspot.com for all info on the trip

or

andylaurence2004@yahoo.com

of course i will be happy to help where i can

touch wood ok at the moment

andy

Hey Andy
 

Good to hear you made it through Iran, well done mate!

We're in Amritsar - the pak / india border, heading off to Dharmasala soon, keep in touch as you are nearby!

Brian