RTW / Alaska: Ride -> Ship -> Store -> Repeat – How?
 

Hello,

I want to make a RTW trip on a motorcycle, but due to family/work constraints, this will have to be done in legs. The duration of each leg looks to be only 4-5 weeks, then fly home for about a year, then fly back and continue. Not perfect I know, and its gonna cost me extra, but for me it´s the only way to go at the moment. Well, actually not right now, the start of the trip is probably still a few years away, but there is something related to logistics, that I´m not sure of... and I understand that things can and will change. But I ask now anyway.

The first leg will most likely be from Europe through mostly Russia to Vladivostok, and then onwards to South Korea and possibly Japan. From S.Korea (or Japan) I plan to ship the bike(s) (there may be two bikes, as my brother could be joining me on his motorcycle) by sea or by air to North America. Anchorage, Alaska could be the place to send to.

So now here´s the thing: I can arrange shipping from S.Korea (or Japan), but can I arrange clearing the shipment into the US, AND getting the vehicle storaged there for about 1 year, WITHOUT having to fly there myself? I would fly there, a year later, to continue the trip, but I´d rather skip the need to fly there twice in order to get the bike stuff sorted for storage. I have no contacts in Alaska at the moment, I do have a friend in Los Angeles, but don´t know, if he can help with Alaska at all. And that place would be much better for my plans.

Of course I could send the bike home, and then about a year later send it to Alaska, but once again that would up the costs. Or, I could buy something in the US, and this way skip this problem entirely, but for now I´m still thinking that unless it proves out too complicated, I want go with the bike that I have now. Storing could happen again somewhere in the Americas, but then I won´t have the problem of shipping/clearing customs any more.

I made a trip from Europe to Australia several years ago, so I do have some idea about shipping stuff (....or at least back then I had, maybe it is by now all different!!) It is my understanding, that in reality, the arriving shipment MUST be cleared from the customs, they won´t keep it in storage without a hefty fee per day. If I manage to locate, say, a motorcycle dealer in Alaska, who accepts to pick up the shipment from the port and store it at his shop, is customs clearance into the US do-able, without the owner of the vehicle being present himself?

Thank you in advance for any advice on this!

anybody care to take a wild guess?

My wild guess . . .
 

I live in Anchorage, Alaska, but am currently in Baku on my way to Mongolia. My research discloses that it is very difficult to get anyone to ship the bike from let's say Japan, directly to Anchorage. Your best plan will likely be to ship from Japan to your friend in LA, as you need a consignee that can handle getting the bike to a place it can be stored until the next leg. Shipping companies, I have found, make money in only two ways: when your bike is in transit, and when it is sitting still in their yard. They will give you a few days to pick it up, but then they start charging for it to sit there. To get my bike to Europe, I had to ship it via DHL to Seattle, where it was picked up by a truck company and trucked to Long Beach, where it was loaded in a container with two other bikes, put on a ship, and taken to Bremen, Germany.

I used Ron Turnage - Sales Representative
Schumacher Cargo Logistics, Inc.
550 W. 135th Street
Gardena (Los Angeles), CA 90248
Telephone: 562 408-6677 Ext 229 - Fax: 562 408-6636
E-Mail: ron@sclusa.com - Web Site: International Moving, Car, Motorcycle and Boat Shipping

They did a good job. I know the vessel my bike came to Europe on started its voyage in China with stops in Korea and Japan on its way to the US West Coast. My pricing went something like Anchorage to Seattle, $700, Seattle to Long Beach, $700, Long Beach to Bremen, $750.

Hope that helps. Good luck.