From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Perth, Australia - December, 2012

It's a ro-ro!
Contact Malaysia Airlines at 0387771815 to create an Airway Bill Number and get a quote per kilo. Mine was 11,18 Malaysian Ringgits per kilo. They will tell you that they charge per kilo and not per volume but the people that will charge you later know better and will measure the volume. They are quite nice though and will take into account that there's a lot of empty volume there and may reduce the measurements of your bike if you are nice enough.

After getting your AWB number, you will need to contact them on 0387772017 to book your AWB on a flight. I think all of their passenger flights are available for cargo but you can check that on their webpage. In my case I booked on MH125, the 9:40AM flight to Perth. You don't need to fly on that plane. I flew AirAsia on the same day.

You need to deliver the bike 1 day before the flight (I delivered it on a Sunday) at the cargo terminal (follow signs to KLIA and LCCT until you see signs for Kargo). Then it will be weighed and measured and the infamous volumetric weight calculation will be done (volume/6000 = volumetric weight) and you can pay the shipment by credit card. If you had your carnet stamped when arriving, you will have to go to customs. If not, customs won't know what to do and will tell you to just go without stamping. I reduced the empty volume by unhanging the panniers so my shipment was made of 3 parcels, I also removed the windscreen. You have to disconnect the battery and have less than one quarter of the tank full. Disregard any comment about emptying the oil. Once you are done, they will wrap your bike in plastic but not the wheels so that they can move it around.

Now the Australian side: Go to the cargo area, it's very close to the international terminal (walking distance). You are looking for a company called Menzies (or something like that) on 40, Sugarbird Lady Road. You will pay handling and get your Airway bill there. They will tell you what to do next but here's a preview: go to customs 500m away under the blazing sun to get your carnet stamped, then go back 300m to AQIS to pay for a quarantine inspection and book one (hopefully for the following 10 minutes), go back to Menzies (still under the blazing sun) and get your bike inspected for insects and foreign dirt. The contents of the panniers will be inspected too. They weren't very picky but they did look under the mudguards and scraped a bit of grime from the sprocket cover or center stand and rubbed it between two fingers to check if it was just grime or it carried potential contamination.

After that, you are almost ready to ride away. You need to go back out the warehouse into the office and around the building to collect your bike at the front door of the warehouse. Ah! The sweet smell of bureaucracy!