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Bike shipment from Australia - Get Routed - Be warned Bike shipment from Australia - Get Routed - Be warned
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Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 27 Oct 2010
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I recently asked Qantas about freighting my 2005 1200GS from Aus to NZ. When talking to them on the phone all they said was that I needed to go through a freight forwarder.
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  #2  
Old 27 Oct 2010
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Hi Guys,

I shipped with a company called "ct freight" in Sydney to Malaysia and found them to be perfect. I rode my bike to their yard, put it in a create I had a friend bring over in his ute for me, had the customs inspection done right in front of me before wrapping it in pallet wrap and waving goodbye.

A few days later I flew to Malaysia and booked myself into a hotel. In the morning the cargo guys picked me up and brought me to their storage facility where they had already completed most of the paperwork. They then helped me put the bike back together and brought me to the exit where I showed some ID before heading off down the motorway ( in the wrong direction). Everything else was flawless.

On the other hand I got totally ****ed over by a company called freightline on the way back in, Another story.
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  #3  
Old 27 Oct 2010
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In Apr 2008, I sent my DL650 by sea from Sydney to Helsinki with this company:
　
Home: Tradelanes Global Solutions
　
(they´re in Melbourne, but used their agents in Sydney)
　
I had the bike already crated, they just picked it up (it´s possible they could have handled crating, too, if needed). The paperwork was smooth, they responded quickly to e-mails & calls, and their price was actually surprisingly cheap, at about 500 euros (I was quoted elsewhere roughly 600-1200 euros by sea, and 1500-2000 by air).
　
It wasnt a complete success, though. Things on the minus side were:
　
- Original ETA was 42 days, but in reality it took ~60 to arrive, the claimed reason was the container had missed a change of vessel in Singapore - I´ve no info that this wasn´t true, it probably was... but it also seemed to take a long time, before the shipment left Sydney
　
- Picking it up at Helsinki port was a rip-off at over 150 euros (and I picked it up on the first possible day, so no overstay charges)
　
But both of these could well be out of their hands. And the bike arrived in good condition. So all in all, I´d recommend them.
　
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  #4  
Old 27 Oct 2010
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Location: fremantle western australia
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Thanks for the replies so far,keep em coming.A big worry is a delay like you experienced with Tradelanes pecha72 or the one with get routed.ive emailed CT freight to see what they have to say.
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  #5  
Old 27 Oct 2010
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Well, it seems quite common, that seafreight gets delayed for days or even weeks. May not be a whole lot a shipping agent can do, if that happens.

A bunch of riders once sent a container full of bikes from here to Alaska (by sea across Atlantic, then by truck thru North America)... and they timed their own arrival with the ETA of the shipment & ended up waiting for about a week in Anchorage. Were very pissed, when nobody seemed to know, exactly when the bikes would arrive.

If your trip is not finished, and you dont have a lot of extra time, then it may be a good idea to reach deeper into your pocket, and send by air. That usually moves on time, and even if there are delays, its normally just hours or a maximum few days.
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  #6  
Old 11 Dec 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quandary View Post
I recently asked Qantas about freighting my 2005 1200GS from Aus to NZ. When talking to them on the phone all they said was that I needed to go through a freight forwarder.
I received the same answer from Qantas. No mention of bike age at all.

When I spoke with the freight forwarder he said the bike could go in a wide bodied or narrow bodied aircraft, depending on the destination. If in a narrow bodied aircraft, the bike will have to lie down and therefore must be emptied of fuel and oil. Just fuel should be emptied for wide bodied.

As I was enquiring about freighting to Indonesia, the wide bodied flight go from the major capital cities, narrow bodied from Darwin. Now I need to decide departure point and which bike I take...:confused1:
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  #7  
Old 11 Dec 2010
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On the 10th of November I flew my bike from Sydney to Auckland with Qantas, the process was easy, the guy's on the counter put me in touch with a dangerous goods firm who worked with me, as I wanted to get the bike down there on a dry day, as it has to be clean, they charged Au$125, I took the bike down on the day, disconnected the battery, had a quarter of a tank of petrol.
The Qantas staff, weighed the bike 320kg, then I left the bike in there warehouse. Went back and did the paperwork, paid Au$1100 and walked away!
The bike flew in the day after me, I went down to New Zealand freight after completing the carnet in the customs office in the centre of Auckland, the quarantine guy took five minutes to look at the bike, NZ$25.50, NZ freight charged NZ$30 for paperwork and the bike was brought out! Qantas did a fantastic job strapping my bike into one of their containers, Simple easy service!
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  #8  
Old 21 Dec 2010
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The perfect forum response
Hey Ham46, that is near enough to the most perfect HUB response I have ever read. All the cost data and details in one quick and concise post. Now I just need to find someone who has the same info re Perth to Guatemala and Costa Rice to Perth.

This topic turned seems to have turned into a Dave Milligan warning bulletin. Thanks everyone, I feel appropriately warned about Dave and had a good chuckle at the website.
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  #9  
Old 26 Apr 2016
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Herefordsire
Posts: 22
So, what company's would you guys recommend for bike shipping into Australia??
I am riding from the UK to Vladivostok and then ferry to Japan in 2017. After a couple of weeks in Japan Il then be organizing shipping my bike (or air freight if its cheaper) to somewhere in Oz. Its just proving difficult finding where is cheapest and which company's to go with as lots aren't replying to my E-mails for quotes!

Cheers!
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  #10  
Old 27 Apr 2016
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If it were me I'd fly, plenty of wide bodied aircraft flying into Oz from Japan. Given time constraints and "unforeseen" charges that go with shipping, I wouldn't consider it for a second, 6 odd weeks versus a day or 3, no shipping agents or B/S either, it's a no brainer!
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