Trip Planning

Shipping the Bike

everything you need to know to ship it yourself by either boat or air...

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Introduction

Air or Sea?

After shipping our own bike many times, and watching and hearing about hundreds more shipments, we have come to the conclusion that overall, the best method to send your bike is via air.

Sea shipping sounds cheaper, but the port fees are much higher, often off-setting any savings. And by the time you factor in being without the bike for weeks or even months, it's just not worth the small savings you may get in the end. An important thing to watch for is that sea shipments are extraordinarily unreliable for time. The shipper will often quote for instance 6-8 weeks to ship from Vancouver to Europe by sea. Experience has shown that this is at best an optimistic guess, at worst a flat lie. Yes it can be done in six weeks, but not if the boat is rerouted to Nigeria! Twelve weeks is not unheard of, and then there's the dock strikes...

We know of one traveller who arranged shipping for her bike from England to Ecuador 12 weeks in advance of her planned vacation in South America. On arrival in Ecuador, she went to the shipping company's office looking for her bike. They knew nothing about it. It was still in the UK, awaiting a boat. She didn't enjoy the bus for the next two months. :)

At least with an airplane they can always put it on another flight and it will only be a matter of days before it arrives.

Unfortunately US airlines are getting paranoid about shipping bikes - they class them as "dangerous goods" - and often refuse to carry them at all. All you can do is call all the airlines freight departments and find out if they will do it. Not the head office etc. - their automatic reaction is NO. If you find one make sure you talk to the guys in the freight department that actually handle it - what they will tell you is often very different from the official story from head office and passenger people. Do a search using the search bar above on "dangerous goods" to find much more about solutions and ways to deal with the problem.

NOTE: You may get told you can't ship the battery with the bike - that is not true as of 2006 - you MUST however completely disconnect it and tape the terminals securely.

Lufthansa and other European airlines, as well as South American and Asian airlines will generally take a bike. You may have to work through an agent, but it is usually not too expensive for their services, and they will take care of all the paperwork for you.

For a good description of the crating process, see Chris and Erin Ratay's website. Chris also made this comment on the Air vs Sea question on the HUBB:

"Receiving a bike at the airport in Buenos Aires is much cheaper than at the seaport. ($60 vs $400). I've heard that Uruguay is a bit more expensive.

A friend shipped his bike to Valpariso (near Santiago), Chile, and paid US$7 -- yes, only SEVEN Dollars to reclaim his bike. I was with him, and the whole process was done in one day. The customs offices are walking distance from where the containers get unpacked."

Also, there are numerous more posts on the HUBB on this topic, in the Trip Transport forum.

Actual Shipments by Travellers

See the Shipping pages for information on air and sea shipments by actual travellers to or from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, North America (incl. Central America) and South America.

For each shipment, the details include Shipping Date, Cost, Shipper Contact details and a Description of the experience, in some cases very detailed and extremely useful information about the requirements for crating or the paperwork involved at the destination location.

See below for popular motorcycle shippers.

Transport Index Page

Shipping Companies and Information

ALL shipments Quick Search:

ALL shipments by Continent

ALL shipments by Country

My shipments:

Enter a new shipment you have made.

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James Cargo

Services
International freight shippers specialising in International Bike / Motorcycle Shipping and more. All countries, sea or air, multi-bike shipments. Be sure to mention Horizons Unlimited for the best service!

Shipping Companies and Information - Alphabetical This is by no means a complete list. We're happy to add new links here. If you know of a company which you can recommend, please tell us. If you have had a bad experience with any of the companies which are listed here, please let us know so we can remove them from the list. Note: We list these companies for your convenience. We do not endorse any of them. We will eventually be providing a facility for travellers to rate and comment on the services provided by tour and rental companies. In the meantime, you are reminded to make appropriate enquiries and check references.
	Shipping Companies and/or Agents
Air Parcel Express	Shipping company. Ocean or air. Has online quoting and calculating sections.
Belgian Railways (Nederlands) (English) (Français) (Deutsch)	From: Roelandt Herbert, Belgium "It is possible to transport your motorcycle from Belgium to France, Austria, Italy or Switzerland by train. This is also possible for motorcycles with sidecar and/ or trailer. You can travel on the same train yourself. I used the Narbonne route a few times in wintertime and I found it very convenient. It brings you overnight close to the Spanish border, you do not have to pay for the road and expensive petrol, no problems with traffic or weather conditions and saves one day of travel and accommodation. More information on www.nmbs.be, in railway stations or travel agents. Denderleeuw railway station tel.: +32-9.241.26.26 Bressoux railway station tel.: +32-4.229.25.83 "
Berklay Express	Specialise in Motorcycle shipping to and from USA, international.
DB AutoZug	A subsidiary of DB Reise & Touristik AG, specializes in shipping motor vehicles. Covers Germany, France, Italy, and Austria.
French Motorail	"Let French Motorail drive you and your car to the South of France. No airport hassles, car rental, extra mileage, motorway tolls or overnight hotels to worry about, and no driving included! With prices starting from under £50* per person, you can spend the petrol money filling the car with delicious souvenirs and return home relaxed and refreshed."
Freight Logistics Corporation	Lucas Yap has been recommended by a number of travellers shipping from Port Klang, Malaysia to Australia - see the Shipping page. Please tell Lucas where you heard about him. "His work is very professional and he is an extremely helpful guy. Because so many people have been using him to ship their bikes recently, Lucas has put together a small costing website. Here is the address: http://www.geocities.com/flcmy4bikers There is some useful information on this including sailing schedule, various charges for Malaysian shipping and general information." Lucas Yap Freight Logistics Corporation Suite 13-09, 13th Floor, Crown House 217, Persiaran Raja Musa 42000 Port Klang Selangor Telephone: (603) 3165 5730 / 3730 Fax: (603) 3165 3731 Mobile: (6012) 312 1325 Website: http://www.geocities.com/flcmy4bikers/ Email: flc@myjaring.net or Lucas' email: lucasflc@myjaring.net
Federal Companies	"Since 1990 we've shipped more than 70,000 motorcycles to people vacationing, moving, buying, and selling. We have our own method of securing motorcycles and ATVs on specialty designed pallets to provide total protection thereby eliminating the need for costly crating and passing those very savings on to you!" USA only.
Gateway Cargo Systems	"Dedicated shipping service into New Zealand from through-out the globe...(We) manages both 'less than container load' and 'full container load' ocean-freight and can provide a full door to door service depending on your requirements."
Get Routed!	Run by Dave Milligan and Maggie Wolfenden, with a combined experience of over 48 years, including 19 years organising tours and 6 years bike shipping. Your choice as to whether to take his tour arrangements or not-but he combines the bikes into one container so as to lower the shipping costs. Ship from OZ to NZ.
Grimaldi Ferighter Cruises	West Africa and South America, shipping bikes, 4x4's, caravans etc. from Europe. Clcik the English link for more
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics	Has been used and recommended by a number of travellers for shipments from South America. With 341 offices in 134 countries, they are likely to have local staff in most locations, which will be much less hassle than using agents in the less developed countries.
James Cargo Services	International freight shippers specialising in International Bike / Motorcycle Shipping and more. All countries, sea or air, multi-bike shipments, containers to USA from the UK and back for events like Sturgis and more. Be sure to mention Horizons Unlimited for the best service!
Motortransport Netherlands	Motortransport Netherlands - Motorcycle shipping from Rotterdam, Netherlands to USA, Australia, Asia and other locations. From : "We are a transport company with our own warehouse and customs facilities in Rotterdam. But first of all I am a person that wants to ride on my motorcycle and my wife as well and that is the reason why I am shipping motorcycles from Rotterdam. I have experience in transport for almost 20 years. The motorcycle can be brought to our warehouse and I arrange everything, documents etc. We offer a great back up (most by e-mail) so we can guide the persons with no loss of time and they have only to report and everything is arranged. We all speak English. And we have a website." A number of travellers have used this service and recommend it - see the Shipping page. Please tell Peet where you heard about him.
Shipping Masters	Motorcycle shipping within USA for US$300 and up. Crated (2-5 days) or non-crated (2-4 weeks). "Ship motorcycles coast to coast under $300- At Shippingmasters, we research the motorcycle shipping and transport rates of numerous shipping companies to help you find the lowest motorcycle shipping rates available."
Union Transport	UTi is an air/ocean freight forwarder and customs broker, with more than 400 offices in 135 countries. Their worldwide directory provides useful contact info including addresses, telephone numbers and contact names.
Wallenius Wilhelmsen	Specialists in vehicle transport worldwide (and they do ship motorcycles!). Wallenius has been recommended by several travellers on the Europe to North America route. They have offices / agents in the US, Canada, Panama, Mexico, Germany, Belgium, France, Sweden, Finland, Great Britain, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Norway, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Thailand. Contact details.
	Shipping Directories
Horizons Unlimited: Shipping the bike	For the best source of information, including shipments that motorcycle travellers have done in the past - over 400 at this writing! - go to the Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Shipping information page
A-Z Freight Gateway	Basically a directory of contact information (including addresses and telephone numbers), by country for airlines, airlines sales agents, cargo agents/ freight forwarders, cargo handling agents and couriers. To answer the frequently asked question: 'I'm in _____, how do I find contact details for shipping the bike to wherever I'm going next.'
International Ferries directory	Listing of ferries in countries around the world.
Shipping to India Info	Travellers info on shipping bikes in and out of India

Motorcycle Express - Motorcycle Insurance Specialists

"Motorcycle Insurance Specialists including International Motorcycle Shipping (Air Freight-Uncrated), Temporary Motorcycle Insurance in the US/Canada and Green Card Insurance in Europe (Full Coverage available).

Eligibility Requirements for European insurance coverage:

You are not a citizen of the country in which you will be travelling or living.
You will keep US/Canadian license plates on your motorcycle
The motorcycle to be insured is not a sports- or high performance motorcycle or over 1500cc
You are at least 25 years of age and not over 65 years of age (Drivers over 65 MAY be eligible)
The motorcycle to be insured is not a rental, short term lease or buyback
You own the motorcycle to be insured
The motorcycle is not over 20 years old or valued over $30,000."

Michael (PanEuropean on the HUBB) said:
"I was quite pleasantly surprised to see that they (MC Express) are covering every country in Europe (and parts of Asia) with the sole exception of Iran and Iraq. In other words, for the first time in the last 4 years, they are now covering Bosnia and Hertzogovena, as well as Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romania. In past years, they have not covered Bosnia, Hertzogovena, and Serbia. Although I don't plan to visit these countries this year, it's quite remarkable to note that they are all finally covered."

For shipping, please follow the link and be sure to say "Horizons Unlimited" to get your $25 discount.

For insurance, please click the following links, fill in the form, mail it to MC Express and get your $15 discount:

For Foreigners traveling in US and Canada

For Americans and Canadians traveling in other countries

If you need more information please check out Motorcycle Express web page for shipping, US & Canada Insurance and Foreign Insurance. But make sure to fill the insurance forms above in order to get your discount and help to support HU.

Motorcycle Services
MC Air Shipping, (uncrated) USA / Canada / Europe and other areas. Say "Horizons Unlimited" to get your discount on Shipping AND insurance! Documentation arranged too.

Editors note:
We accept no responsibility for any of the above information in any way whatsoever. You are reminded to do your own research. Any commentary is strictly a personal opinion of the person supplying the information and is not to be construed as an endorsement of any kind.

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Trip Planning

Shipping the Bike

everything you need to know to ship it yourself by either boat or air...

Introduction

Air or Sea?

Actual Shipments by Travellers

ALL shipments Quick Search:

My shipments:

Shipping Companies and Information - Alphabetical

Shipping Companies and/or Agents

From: Roelandt Herbert, Belgium

Shipping Directories