Good advice, however it's worth considering taking the bike. A CdP is indeed expensive for USA- or Canada-registered bikes/vehicles, however less so in many other countries. Check with ADAC for costs.

The inspection entering Australia is rigorous however we had out vehicle "deep cleaned" before shipping and it was released with no further cleaning needed on opening in Brisbane.

We found that navigating the state/territory-based insurance challenges was not easy but finally found that insurance in one state/territory covers you for all of them, and once we realised this bought insurance in Queensland with no problems.

We found (seafreight not airfreight, 4x4 not bike) that it was financially better to ship our own vehicle than to buy/sell in Australia. This may not be true airfreighting a bike.

Hi Alan,

This would be very nice thank you very much !

thx for suggesting Calgary - this option was not on my list - I was focusing on Vancouver - but will check Calgary too

fly in/out from/to canada is the first fixed step because entry/leaving is easier compared to US - will choose same entry/exit location to reuse crate - as crated air is cheaper an safer and allows to place certain luagge in the crate too

second i fixed is the area - create a loop from my starting point covering west US / Canada / Alaska - as I plan to start in March/April 2025 it will be going down to the US first and loop up to alaska via canada in June/July - going back down south in september and leave in october from canada to OZ

thx to all the lovely people here for the input !

Hi Michael !

Thx for joining the discussion - always good to hear various opinions

Very nice idea to consider ferry down from alaska to Vancouver - which I think is almost set as start/end point (have to check calgary)

I also read about uncrated air freight - but as I also read crated is cheaper - and allows you to transport stuff like Helmet or bulky things like panniers more safe and directly with the bike - so i will go for this

Air from Anchorage as you mentioned maybe not the best idea due to the non direct connection - won´t go there

I´ve already read about the measures to be taken when importing anything into OZ - But I think cleaning a bike is less a hassle then cleaning an offroader (I have an offroader too which I use properly so I know a bit about it) - will also ship with new tires mounted as they will need to be changed after NA anyway - I´ve heard this is a good idea to approach the customs super clean... and in terms of temprary import I´ve read that there are major differences in between the OZ region - I have been warned to attempt that in QL, NSW and Vic - Have been told it´s much easier in WA and SA - so I will eighter ship to Perth or Adelaide

Insurance is something I still have to figure out - I have some friends livin in SA I will ask if they can reach out for me to the companys and maybe help me with that.... as soon as I find something I´ll post it here :)

Thx again for your advices - very much appreciated

cheers

Hi Mark,

thx for the details - I will start with research on that whole ferry topic as an alternative way to go back south from alaska as I really like the idea - have been using ferry´s a lot during my motorcycle travels in europe and always enjoyed it

cheers
Jonas

Hi again :)

You´re right about the CdP - its not that bad in Germany - and it´s returned after the trip - not concerned about that

.... if you have a good advice regarding insurance covering all territory would be super kind if you could post it here ? -

... yeah cleaning is a big one - but i´m confident i´ll be able to clean the bike prior to shipping from canada spotless - will reserve enough time for this + install unused tires

greetings from germany
Jonas

Lots of good infos. My two cents worth
- March/April in the North-Eastern USA can still be pretty chilly
- CDP from the ADAC is no problem at all and not very expensive
- OZ in summertime can be VERY hot. The locals usually travel around their country during their winter.
- Dunno about temporary imports in the mentioned OZ states. Perth was ok for me, though still a PITA. Make sure to print the government regulations on temporary imports BEFORE you go to the Perth licensing office. The guys told me I had to register my bike in OZ before I could travel there. This is not correct.



By the way - where are you based? Far away from Munich?
Enjoy your planning process :D

Hey there,

And also thank you for joining :)

Yeah I still have to think about the time when to start ... NorthEast is off the schedule but pretty sure it´s equal in NorthWest and Vancouver around March .... maybe I move a bit towards April :)

Agree on the Cdp thing - no issue

And yes - for OZ i will have to figure out when to go where - found good advice on that topic on the website of rainer rawer - also lots of track info ... I will adjust accordingly to avoid heat/rain in the respective regions :)

... based in Dresden - Saxony - so not too far away

cheers
Jonas

I know you have friends in Australia and a lot of people will disagree with what I’m going to say but, in my opinion, there is a lot of time wasting there.
There is a lot of nothing and it all looks pretty much the same ie the mountains in Victoria look the same as the mountains in NSW and Queensland. The coast is the same. You can be in a country town in WA and ride over 4K km to a country town in Queensland and the people will look, dress and sound the same. The architecture will be the same and so will the food - and that 4K km ride is a lot of nothingness on a 250 - at least I did it on a 500 :mchappy:

I appreciate we’re spoiled in Europe and there’s no other continent with such diversity in close contact but to be in touch with locals and the land I would not choose one of the most baron, sparsely populated and richest countries in the world.

I don’t know your history, or where you’ve been already - but my choices for your kind of trip and time scale would be
Alaska to Patagonia.
Circumnavigation of Africa - perfect for a WRR
Through the Stans to Mongolia

Wishing you a great trip bier

Oops - didn't include the link. It occurs to me to add the blogs for Canada and South America

Here’s the 2010-2011 South America trip:

Sur América contra el reloj


The 2019 Australia trip:

Discoverthedreaming


The Canada trip

https://aroundcanada2022and2023.blogspot.com/



Most of the posts are in both English and Spanish - scroll through them to your preferred language.

We have individual posts in another blog from shorter trips in America (more in Argentina and Brazil, Central America, and North America) if there are specific focussed questions.

@FlipFlop my friends had the same warnings in respect to the landscape of OZ. And yes, I'm a South African expat and I love the diversity of Africa in every aspect.
None the less - I enjoyed cruising through OZ. I loved the endless horizon, the emptiness, the vast landscapes. I loved the contacts with the locals, probably because they have a very similar mentality as the South Africans :innocent: I did at least 25 kkms there and was never bored.


When you live in densely populated Europe it is so relaxing to travel in countries like OZ or the Americas ..... :mchappy:
Oh, and not to forget the barren lands of Namibia. Fantastic riding in a region full of emptiness. Same applies IMHO to the OZ Outback ;o)

Yes - we drove 45,000 km and could happily go back and do another 45,000 km.

The Australia leg
 

Just on the Western Australia proposed leg, March or April are still 30-35 deg Celsius but do hit the 39’s. Don’t underestimate the dangers. Aboriginals die out there when their cars break down - and it’s their backyard :)

But the main issue is if your bike breaks in the Great Sandy / Gibson / Tanami Deserts the recovery costs will be more than the bikes value. Think of paying a tow truck for four days straight….

There’s a few YouTube vids of bikes breaking and the issues they faced getting it back.

Just one other thing, due to the costs of freight, you could buy and sell here. Just need an address to register it to and a few of us on here can help with that.

Have fun.

Hey there :)

Thank you very much for contributing to the discussion.

I´m glad you brought this up because it made me reflect about the whole idea and what i want from it for myself again - and I came to the same conclusion again....

I try to explain

I read a lot - in general - and I have read like maybe 20 books which have been written by motorcyclists - went from early stuff like Ted Simon, Elspeth Beard onwards to Dan Walsh - Chris Scott of course - J Peter Thoemig .... and loads and loads of more up to date books written by German motorcycle travelers - covering multiyear RTW trips as well as multi month adventure stuff in certain regions or continents. Plus numerous blogs from all over the world documenting the travels of people just happening right now.

Yes - I also thought about the classic routes like Alaska to Patagonia, Africa or the Stans to Australia in the beginning.... but after reading all that reports it was clear to me that i want to go to the US, Canada, Alaska, and OZ because:

I will be traveling on my own - so for me it´s clear that I must speak the language of the country - why? - Because I just don´t want to end up alone in front of my tent or at the Bar, I don´t want to talk exclusively to other travelers I will meet - I want to be able to chat with the people living at the side of the road when I stop somewhere or when I need help etc. - I know you can get around the World by pointing at things you need - but that's just not the way I want to travel

.... and as English is the only language I can speak beside German - and knowing I will not be able to learn another one - up to a level where I can have real conversations - there are only English speaking country's left :)

Another thing I don´t want to do is a) the border dance and b) the roadside police checkpoint stuff - being at the mercy of corrupt or just mean people enjoying the power they have in the situation - with no possibility to achieve justice on my own is not a situation I want to be in during my holiday ...

Plus: I want to feel safe - I can´t imagine traveling an unstable region - knowing it can all be over because some crazy warlord went mental, or some random riot is closing borders and the whole route is not working out anymore at all.....

Some say stuff like this is part of the adventure adding some spice to the life on the road - but not for me

I am aware that for many people this will sound boring, conceited ... stuffy - But for my holiday I want to go to places where chances are high that I can have - a good time - no hassle - nice landscape - wild camping

That´s why I think the combination of the US, Canada, Alaska and OZ is just perfect - for me

Thank you very much for your wishes :) I will have a blog later to keep the forum updated

cheers Jonas

Thx Alan !

I´ll check this out soon :)