Information about shipping/flying out of Australia to Chile
 

hi there!

this is a report of flying my bike (Honda Africa Twin) out if Australia to Chile!

I just flew my bike out of Australia to Chile!

after a lot of offers I went with Ivan from bikesabroad.com.au
he answers the mails within hours! (does he ever sleep?)
his offer was the cheapest of all and the most complete, including crating, the 'no dangerous goods certificate' (basically a mechanic certificate that there's no more fuel in the thank => cheaper!) and transport to the airport.
all other offers where at least 1000usd more expensive and way less professional (no crating, no 'dangerous good certificate', no information about the clearance in Chile, etc).
shipping offers by boat were about 600usd cheaper, but there are always 1000usd clearance costs at the destination harbours and 40-70 days of shipping, so I went for flying.

I had to stamp out the Carnet by myself at the airport in Sydney, which was a matter of 10 minutes with the paperwork provided by Ivan.

the crating was done by Procycles in Hornsby near Sydney. I just left my bike there and they crated it up, including panniers, motorcycle jacket, boots, helmet, etc. they just removed the windshield, mirrors and the plate for the top case. the front wheel was still in place, just strapped down the forks massively (no issue for a few days, wouldn't do that for shipping of more than 30 days). so it was easy to uncrate the bike by myself.

in Santiago I went to the cargo company (LAN airlines/LATAM cargo) to get the original paperwork (payed 53000clp/80usd), then to the customs office (more paperwork, 1 hour, no fees), back to the LAN warehouse (another 86000clp/130usd) and I got my bike back!
nobody really speaks English there, but it works out, they know what to do.
I've read you need a 'proforma invoice' for the customs, but nobody asked for that (I prepared one by myself beforehand, didn't need it).

the next petrol station is about 4km from the cargo Airport, but I had enough fuel left in the tank (about 1L). Procycles didn't mind to empty the tank when I said that it's almost empty :)

Costs of bikesabroad: 3200aud/2350usd
clearance in Chile: 210usd

Great info Thankyou

Many thanks for this information. It is good of you to post it. I am thinking of doing something similar myself - I had heard that air freight, while a bit more expensive than sea freight, was a better way to go with fewer problems at the Chile end. All the best with your trip - how long are you planning to stay and where are you planning to go? Cheers - David

Glad you had a good experience with Ivan at Bikesabroad. We are in the process of using him too and will be flying to Chile in about 6 weeks. Can't wait.

Hi Doomi, I'm happy I've found your information. Actually I'm planning to do the opposite, sending my bike from Santiago to Sidney. Do you happen to have any contact in Santiago?
Thanks!

I‘m sorry, I don‘t have any contact in Santiago. Maybe just ask Ivan if he already did transport a bike this way.
And the only motorcycle shop I know there is a Honda dealer (https://www.colvin.cl). They are really nice guys (fixed my DCT there), but I don’t know if they are crating bikes or do anything with shipping at all.

Hi Ricardo

Why not just buy a bike here in Oz and save the lost freight $$.

I am sure someone here would have an address you can register it to... ;)

:)