From Miami Florida to Cancun Mexico - April, 2017

so the plan was to send my DR650 from Calgary Alberta Canada to Tulum Mexico...hmmm how to? after a bunch of research and some luck here is what happened...

-found a fellow rider named Tim who was on his way to Baja with a truck and trailer and offered to bring my bike to Las Vegas for free..I tried to pay him but he refused as he is just one of those rare nice guys...

-i found storage in Las Vegas and the bike would stay there for 6 months until i could figure the next steps. I used Cubesmart self storage (no major issues) about $30 a month...

-while the bike was in storage my friend Nick was willing to drive the bike to Miami for me as my 2 options to ship the bike to Mexico were either via Hyde Shipping in Fort Lauderdale or Linea Peninsular in Panama City (Florida). I paid Nick $600USD as we agreed that amount would cover the basic costs whether he rides or myself. Nick was happy to go and booked his flight to Vegas. He ended covering 4500kms taking mostly back roads Vegas to Miami. The battery was dead when he arrived so he installed a fresh one. The back tire was gone a day's ride out of Miami so a new one was installed in Pensacola FL. *not cheap :( but no choice...

-i arranged a new storage spot a Life Storage in Ft Ldl. (service is so-so but it was difficult to find moto storage). Anyways "iron butt" Nick finally makes it. On the stock seat!!

-by now i have made all pre-arrangments with Hyde Shipping. Joe Rodriguez and Orlando Lopez were amazing to work with with...Very easy process...i ended up paying $363 USD...the bike needs to be tied down to any type of pallet or metal skid...does not have to be fully crated...

-so when i arrived a month later than Nick in Miami and finally Ft Ldl to pick up the bike the battery was dead again...i had pre-arranged a skid and delivery to the shipping yard with Broward Motorsports...i called them about the dead bike and they picked me and the bike up to go back to the dealership. Lenny the driver was a super guy and we chatted about my travels to 24 countries on a bike (i had shipped in the past from Miami to Venezuela with Lan Airlines)...at the shop i met Dylan the service adviser...all great guys who helped out a stranger...the total costs was $50 for the crate and $50 for delivery to the dock yard + $50 to pick me up

-so i picked up some spare parts for the trip and Lenny dropped me off at the Hyde Shipping depot. We tied tied down the bike together and i thanked him with some beer money :)...by now i could really use one myself

-the guys at the Hyde depot were very helpful-the whole process of waiting took a few hours to finish the manifest and get customs papers in order...i dropped off the bike on a monday...they shippped out on thursday and the bike arrived the following Tuesday as promised.

-now onto to Mexico...The day the bike arrived i had to locate the Hyde office in Cancun. Very easy with a gps..i was in and out in 5 minutes...then of to Puerto Morelos to retrieve the bike...the process took about 2 hours and went very smooth...lots of paperwork and photocopies and then it's finally over..I brought my bike over on a tourist permit but i planned to leave the bike in the state (Quintana Roo) forever as Qroo is a free zone...a few days later i drove the bike down to the Mexico/Belize border.

Found the Banjercito office on the Mexico side and cancel my tourist permit...the bike is now legal in the state of QRoo only with no further paperwork...

oh yeah almost forgot $40USD port charge out of mexico.