Rather than get into a lot of detail I thought I'd share a link to our long trip in Australia - have a browse and it may give you some ideas. There's a map in the last post.

Suggestion - fly into Calgary or Vancouver, loop up to Alaska and back down through Yukon and BC, then follow the Rockies south into Arizona, Utah etc, and fly out of Los Angeles to Australia - OR Vancouver, as out of USA can be a hassle. Canada is easier.
In other words a big tall loop of the western half of the continent, and save the east for another trip.

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Hello Jonas:

Apropos of shipping your moto by air from North America to Australia, here are some things to think about:

1) Anchorage, Alaska is a major air freight hub - one of the largest air freight hubs in the world - but there are no direct flights from Anchorage to Australia. This means your moto would have to be transferred from one aircraft to another somewhere in Asia. That increases the risk of screw-ups, and also will increase the cost of shipping. You will need to crate the moto if you ship it out from Anchorage.

2) Air Canada flies direct from Vancouver to several cities in Australia. Air Canada is also experienced shipping uncrated motorcycles, they have a program specific to shipping motos, although I don't know if they include Australia in that program. Might make sense to investigate shipping out of Vancouver. If your trip ends in Alaska, there are lots of ferries you (and your moto) can take from Alaska to ports nearby Vancouver (e.g. Seattle, or Ketchikan, or Prince George). The ferry trip down the west coast from Alaska to southern ports can be spectacular depending on what route the ferry takes.

3) Importing a foreign moto into Australia, even for temporary tourist purposes, is going to be a major PITA. You will need a carnet (expensive) and you will also encounter very strict agricultural inspection regulations that will probably require you to have the moto steam-cleaned or otherwise sterilized either prior to or upon arrival. There will also be the challenge of getting the moto insured in Oz. Do your homework carefully on this topic, I think you will probably discover that it will be cheaper to just buy a moto in Australia & sell it (or discard it) when you are finished, rather than paying two air freight trips (inwards & outwards) and paying for the carnet, the agricultural protection measures, etc.

Michael

Only going to add that Ketchikan is landlocked (although you can ship there if you want), and nowhere near Vancouver. Prince George is far inland, but Prince Rupert is on the Alaska ferry route. However, last I checked stops here were infrequent at best, and it's 1500 km by road to Vancouver (as it happens, via Prince George). And the terminus of the Alaska ferry system is Bellingham, not Seattle.

Taking ferries in one direction is fine, but it's expensive and requires some advance planning, especially if you want a cabin or plan to get off and back on again at various ports.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

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

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 Homer,

Thx for the advice ..... for the Australian part I will still have to figure out when to go where to avoid the big wet and also heat .... do you have an advice when to go to WA ? ....

I think about temporarily joining tours or team up for the tough stuff like Great Sandy / Gibson / Tanami .... read the books ... watched the vids...

As my time is limited and I really like to be on my own bike which I can rely on - I decided not to buy/sell locally - but thought about it too in the beginning

cheers
Jonas

We initially spent time in Queensland, NSW, SA, and WA from March to June, we were in Northern NT in July to avoid The Wet (although we plan to return in this season at some point to experience the different environment), we were in the Red Centre in August, then Queensland, back into NSW, and then into Victoria and Tasmania in October and November. Even in November the road to Cradle Mountain was closed for snow so we re-routed returning 3 weeks later.

We crossed the Simpson on our own (one other vehicle per day for the first 4 days), however in a 4x4. We saw a group of bikes heading west on the 5th day. For what it's worth I would not try any of the deserts in Australia on my own (and I have experience travelling solo on a bike in the Kalahari).

Hi Jonas

I cannot really comment on the WA stuff. WA is virtually a seperate country to us in the East.

But, there are more than enough amazing remote riding, both desert and bush, in the regions east of centre.

The attached link has the major tracks. Unless you have support, If it were me, I would look at those from Alice Springs East.

Most of those have daily travellers - so at least you can get assistance.

Have fun.

Outback tracks in Australia

https://youtu.be/kvCHXUZ2Ouc?si=cLwLcFvtbTnOw73C

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 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

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do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
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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

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

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 !