I've sent my Honda ST1100 from Canada (Toronto) to Europe and back twice, on every trip it went uncrated. The air carrier will just put the bike in a large container and tie it down within the container, then the container goes into the aircraft like any other container. The only need is to disconnect the battery, and show up with less than a gallon of fuel in the tank.
The cubic volume occupied by the motorcycle when shipped this way is far greater than what would normally be occupied by a shipment of similar weight (my moto weighs about 350 kg). So, unless you want to pay a crazy price for all that cubic space, you need to find an air carrier who has an excess of cubic space on the aircraft, but not much spare weight capacity. Charter carriers who use L-1011's on the North Atlantic often fit this profile - there's enough room to play tennis in the belly of the aircraft, but the plane is within 1,000 kg of max weight.
I have used Motorcycle Express to handle all of my shipments, and I have been very satisfied with them. I kind of doubt that you will be able to beat their price by much if you arrange it independently, and they really take the grief out of the paperwork at both ends.
If you want to see a picture of the bike in the container, go here: http://www.micapeak.com/tmp/mmoore/C...rXinXParis.jpg
PanEuropean
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