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Shipping bike from UK to Canada/America
Looking to find the easiest and cheapest way to get our bike to either the US or Canada from the UK. Any help greatly appreciated.
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cheap and easy, just come to Paris
EXACIEL AMC LOGISTIQUE ZA du Moulin 9 Rue du Noyer 95700 ROISSY EN FRANCE (near Charles de Gaulle airport) TEL +33 1 34 38 58 58 FAX +33 1 34 38 58 50 ask for Patrice Deslage the motorbike goes on a palet (no box) but only to Montreal via Air Transat usually the price runs around 1400€ you can fly with your bike if you need à (free) translator just say so ride safe Yves |
when I looked into this...
The cheapest and easiest outbound shipping is by Ro-Ro using a company called Wallenius Wilhelmsen, I've not personally used them but they're highly recommended.
The cheapest and easiest return shipping is another Ro-Ro called Aladdin Freight which operates out of California. Again, not used them but I've only heard good things. These are the firms I plan to use for my eventual North American Odyssey, unless I find better elsewhere. jeiger |
I can also recommend Exaciel Logistics in Paris - I have dropped my ST1100 off with them several times for shipment to Canada. The folks there are pleasant, and they know what they are doing.
I suggest that you also contact an American company by name of Motorcycle Express, and get a quote from them. They are very experienced in shipping motos trans-Atlantic. When shipping out of Paris, Motorcycle Express uses Exaciel Logistics, so, what you will really be doing is just comparing prices, because the service rendered will be identical. It is my understanding that it is more expensive to ship a moto out of the UK to North America than it is to ship it out of Paris or Germany. At least, that was the way it was several years ago, when I last investigated prices. It seems that the price difference was caused by additional ground handling charges in the UK. Michael |
Cheapest reliable shipper I've used was Stefan Knopf (http://www.knopftours.com/Web-Site/Welcome.html) in his regular containers. Dates and destinations are limited, but he does a good job with minimal (or no) preparation necessary for about US$1000 all told.
The answers you're getting are all over the map because some prefer roro, some like air freight, some containerized....with each having definite advantages and disadvantages. Also, most find Europe cheaper than UK, as indicated above. Plus: "easiest" and "cheapest" are not often properly located within the same sentence. Hope that's helpful. Mark |
Both types of Freight
In 2007-08 I used both shipping methods:-
Outbound: Southampton UK -to- Halifax NS Canada. RoRo with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. 8 days to cross the pond + a day at each end. An excellent service. Cost at the time was around GBP 600. Return: Lester B Pearson Int'l Airport, Toronto ON Canada -to- London Gatwick UK. Air freight with Air Transat. I flew with bike on the same flight. More expensive, as you would expect - approx USD 1,800 for a 700 lb (320 kg) motorcycle - but obviously very quick. The shipping handlers at YYZ Cargo Zone dropped and damaged the bike: smashed-up mirror and its housing - damaged pannier - scratched-up screen. It took nearly 12 months to get any compensation out of Air Transat. The bike was a '05 Honda ST1300 Pan-European. Happy New Year! bier . |
PS
Thinking about it? Because shipping with Air Transat involved a straightforward 'open' palette, if I had my time again, especially with so much plastic (ST 1300), I would remove the mirrors/housings and safely stow these away. Also protect vulnerable exposed areas with some sort of wrapping. My bad for not thinking about and taking these basic precautions beforehand, if I'm really fair to Air Transat.
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Hi Keith:
Very sorry to hear that the Air Transat folks damaged your moto. I've shipped trans-Atlantic by Air Transat quite a few times (both directions), and I have always asked permission from the guys in the freight shed to allow me to load my own moto onto the pallet and strap it down myself. The cargo shed guys at both the Canadian and the European ends have always been very co-operative about letting me secure my moto myself. When I am finished my work, the bike is either tied down on a pallet, ready to go into a container, or (less often) just rolled into the container and tied down within the container, with the side-stand deployed. I don't think that the workers in the freight shed particularly want to have to maneuver the moto onto a pallet (or into a container, if a pallet is not being used) by themselves. My experience is that they are as concerned as I am about the risk of dropping the bike during the process. The guys are very familiar with handling palletized freight, and very familiar with handling containers (ULDs), but not at familiar with handling large motos. To facilitate getting permission to load your moto onto the pallet yourself, or load it into the container yourself, it might help to arrive at the freight shed outside of daytime business hours (8-5), after all the bosses have gone home. If the staff bring up security as an issue (i.e. "We can't let you into the freight shed because it is a controlled area, etc."), you might want to offer to load the bike onto the pallet or into the container out in the parking lot. Generally, it won't be a problem for the freight shed guys to find a forklift out in the parking lot that they can use to lift the palletized (or containerized) moto up from the parking lot onto the loading dock. Once they have it on the loading dock, it's no different than any other palletized freight. I've attached a few pictures below showing various shipments that I have made. In every case, I did the loading and the tie-down. If you are putting it on a pallet, it might be helpful to pre-print some labels (in the local language) indicating that certain parts of the moto, such as the mirrors and the panniers, should not be used as hand-holds. Then stick the labels onto the appropriate parts of the bike. Michael Pallet Shipping http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...ean/Paris1.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...ean/Paris2.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...ean/Paris3.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...ean/Paris4.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...ean/Paris5.jpg Container Shipping http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...Motoincan1.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...Motoincan2.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...Motoincan3.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...Motoincan4.jpg http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...Motoincan5.jpg |
Interesting thread. I'm thinking of doing the same this summer, so hopefully I can get the transportation done for a reasonable price.
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Do keep in mind what Mark wrote above:
Quote:
Drop the moto off at the freight shed, tie it up, take a taxi to the passenger terminal, fly on the same plane as your moto, land, take a taxi to the freight shed at the destination, visit the customs guys (they usually don't want to see the moto, but it is essential you bring the ownership and proof of insurance with you), pay the freight shed charges (typically $100 to $200 at the destination, this is in addition to the price you are quoted for transport), unpack the thing, be riding down the road between 2 and 4 hours after you landed. In theory, you are not supposed to have anything in the panniers or any luggage attached to the bike. In theory. In practice, the freight shed guys are generally pretty permissive, as long as you show them what's inside your stuff (and make darn sure you don't have any Dangerous Goods packed in there), they typically cut you a lot of slack, as you can see in the photos above. Michael |
Try: Chris Merson
Tel: 01494535524 C.Merson@dynamic-intl.com I just got a quote to ship my Tenere to Montreal from the UK for £1090. Cheers Mark |
Michael & Julia,
When are you thinking of travelling to the USA/Canada ? I am also looking for quotes and am awaiting one currently from James Cargo...will post this when received. If you are travelling in Maywe MAY be able to get a reduction for two bikes. Does anyone know if that is possbble ?? Dave |
Hello,
Please feel free to contact me on jamie@hillshipping.com , we have good rates to ship to the USA. We use a loading depot in Grays , Essex and we can arrange crating to keep the bike nice and secure. We have agents in the USA who help with customs clearance etc. We also able to offer full cover marine insurance if required. Please take a look at our blog to see some example shipments : HILL SHIPPING WWW.HILLSHIPPING.COM All the best, Jamie HILL SHIPPING JAMIE@HILLSHIPPING.COM |
Dave:
I'm not planning to ship my bike this year - I've only been contributing information to this discussion to help others. Michael |
I used 2wglobal.com a few times from Zeebrugge to the USA RORO and back, great service. They also ship from the UK.
I also used jamescargo a few times for airfreight from LHR to the USA, great service, a little more expensive than RORO but faster and less risk for damage |
Thanks to all those that have contributed to answering my question.
We will shipping probably around June some time at this stage. We were also interested to hear which might be the easiest country to enter, Canada or America? And which of these two might be cheaper? |
My guess is that Canada would be the easier country to enter, simply because the Canadians are not as frightened as the Americans are.
Having said that, just make sure your motorcycles are really clean if you ship them into Canada - the Americans are worried about terrorists and dirty bombs, the Canadians are more worried about potato bugs and other agricultural pests. Michael |
I would also say Canada, I have no experience of shipping into the US but the Canadians were certainly friendly and helpful, that went for the officials as well as the people.
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The people, generally speaking, are no different in either country in my honest opinion. Overwhelmingly good, kind, decent and generous folk .. and I really do mean that.
It’s just that the US has ‘a bit’ more reason to be concerned about protecting its borders compared to Canada. You understand my point, I’m sure. . |
I concur with Keith's comments above about people being pretty much the same in both countries.
I have, however, noticed that there are small but significant differences in the behaviour of customs officials in the two countries: 1) The American customs and immigration officials can sometimes be quite belligerent - it's almost as if they have this "I've got a gun, and that makes me all-powerful, and my job is to protect my fellow citizens against aliens like you." 2) The Canadian customs and immigration officials, on the other hand, tend to be a lot less high and mighty, but can sometimes be a little bit dumb. I recall importing my (Canadian purchased, Canadian registered, Canadian plated) moto back into Canada by air once, and having enormous difficulty convincing the customs person that it was "Canadian goods returning", and therefore no different than a Canadian vehicle returning into Canada at a land border crossing. After finally overcoming that conceptual hurdle, the same customs official stated that the Agricultural inspection folks would need to inspect it for possible presence of bugs or other insects on any dirt that might be on the tires. I told the woman that there was no dirt on the bike - I had very carefully cleaned it before shipping it - and she told me that she was not qualified to assess agricultural hazards. I then had a heck of a time convincing her that I was not asking her to assess the presence of agricultural hazards, I was only asking her to assess the presence or absence of dirt on the bike - something she finally agreed that she might, just perhaps, have the skill and competence to do... So, I guess the bottom line is that it's a bit of a crap-shoot no matter which country you go to, the only thing that differs is the rationale behind the potential headaches that the customs officials might create for you. Be sure that you are in a very calm and relaxed frame of mind when you go to clear the bike out of customs, no matter which country you go to. :) Michael |
Does Air Transat ask you drain the fuel from the tank completely? Siphon then let idle untill it dies?
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Hi jfman,
We didn't use Air Transat to get our bike from Southampton to Halifax, we ended up using Wallenius Wilhelmsen, they were very helpful and it only took around a week to get across. Customs in Halifax were extremely helpful also. For this way of shipping we dropped off the bike as it was and picked it up again at the other end. Easy. |
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