Flying bike Amsterdam-Sydney, going through customs
 

Hi all,
After a lot of reading, dreaming, saving and planning I am now close to going on my big trip. I'm planning to fly my bike (and myself) from the Netherlands to Sydney, Australia. The idea is to look up friends there, ride around the country for a while and then cross over to Indonesia and ride back home via southeast Asia, India, Stans, Iran, Turkey, Greece and eastern Europe.
Needless to say I'm looking forward to this trip but there are still a few hurdles in the way that worry me a bit.

Here is one of them:
I have requested quotes for shipping at a few different companies and the prices are not too far appart.
The only big difference is what comes after the bike has arrived. One company doesn't know what it's going to cost to get the bike trough customs and past the biohazard quarantine people who are looking for bugs.
Another company says they can reccomend an agent who can take care of all formalities for arround $950.
Ouchie!
That seems to be a lot of cash for getting a bunch of stamps on forms.
Does anyone have (recent) experience with this?
I have read here it's not possible anymore to do it all yourself because the people you need to see are on the 'air side' of the airport so security clearance is needed. True??
So if anyone has advice for the process of getting the bike out of the airport, or has advice regarding a company that is good for the transport from Amsterdam to Sydney it would be much appreciated.

For the reccord: I know I have to make sure the bike is free from dirt and bugs and such. I'm going to take the bike appart to grease all bearings and make sure everything is good to go. While it is in pieces I will clean it to make it look so nice that the quarantine boys at Sydney airport will want to buy it from me :thumbup1:

First issue: Make sure you've studied the government regulations regarding temporary imports of foreign vehicles. Albeit, I believe the customs people in Sydney shoukld be better informed than in Perth, where I flew my bike. There they expected me to get an Oz registration, which would have cost a cople of hundred Ozzie Dollars doh But fortunately I managed to persuade them that that was totaly unnecessary and stuck to my German rego.


Second issue: Quarantine. Make sure that your bike is clean EVERYWHERE. I forgot to brush the underside of the mudguards and the official nearly got a fit. Fortunately we could solve the issue in harmony.
By the way, even the tent pegs where scrutinized.


Third issue: The bike has to undergo a local road-worthiness test, meaning that lights, brakes etc. are checked. The officer tried to tell me that he had to keep the bike for a day to sort out the complete technical data, like wheight, height, width etc.etc. I referred to the CDP, which lists all the necessary data. Somehow he accepted that.


But talking to some Aussies they admitted that the guys in Perth had much less experience than the people in Sydney - so I'm sure you'll meet less problems there.

Thanks for the tips Vaufi!
I have already looked at the regulations but of course beacause of the diffrent rules for diffrent states there is a bit of confusion but I think that will be ok in the end.
And cleaning...I think I will just take a day taking the bike completely appart, shining all parts with silicone spray after cleaning so it gets that factory-new look, might help :)

I just hope I can find a way where I don't have to pay close to a thousand $Aus to get the bike cleared. A grand to do the paperwork seems a bit rich to me.

As long as you pick up your bike yourself at the customs office it shouldn't cost you anything. Just don't forget the carnet documents.
What is expensive is to take an agent to do the work for you.....


Unfortunately to organise the transport of your bike you are forced to get things done by a freight forwarder. That roughly doubles the price. I have just talked to a guy working in this business in Hamburg/Germany. Years ago you could organise evrything yourself. This is not possible anymore. But to get your bike out of customs yourself in the foreign country is still possible.


Check this link: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/busi/...y-importations




Good luck!

Thanks Vaufi!

I'll see what I can find on the governement site and also see if I can find an e-mail addres for Sydney airport. See if they can point me in the direction of someone who has concrete tips on the do's and don'ts over there.
Some more things for the ever expanding to-do list...