From Newport News, United States to Bremerhaven, Germany - May, 2010

I shipped my bike back through the same company that initially delivered it for me to Canada. This time though I shipped back from Newport News, VA, USA.

Whereas when I shipped out of Germany I didn't need a middle man, here, in the states you apparently have to use a forwarding company to mediate and arrange paperwork and pay charges. A bit of a pain if you didn't know that in advance (money wise) but can save time since they do save you runarounds with all the documentation and can answer questions.

My forwarding agent was Pride International in Baltimore:

Cynthia M. Milligan
CES- Certified Export Specialists
C-TPAT Certified Company
Pride International, Inc.
2200 Broening Highway Suite 241
Baltimore, Maryland 21224
Tel: 410-633-0033 Ext. 110
Fax: 410-633-0036

I paid them via a deposit into their account at a bank of your choosing and then had to arrange delivery of my bike with an escort at the port (another $75 for a one hour service!!!)

It's all fairly straight forward though the customs officer at the port (Homeland Security division…) said I was lucky to get processed on the day since I hadn't submitted my paperwork three days in advance before showing up - my forwarding agent had neglected to mention this little fact or simply didn't know. The guy was a motorbike rider himself and it wasn't busy at the time I showed with my escort. I just this down to travellers luck.

Pick up in Germany couldn't have been any easier. I showed first thing in the morning and with all the right documents was ready to roll home within an hour. No problems with the bike whatsoever (I had charged the battery before shipment) and all the stuff I had packed into my panniers (no problem to put things in there - I had asked and forwarder said it would be my responsibility - as opposed to the first shipping where i was told not to put anything in the boxes apart from tools) were still there (chained Helmet to bike too).

All in all it cost about $1100 i reckon, pretty much the same as i had paid over to Canada. And I think it was well worth it for nine months of travel!