Maybe it's important to clarify the shipping situation post COVID- and how it is much more complicated in these early days of return to travel.

From our shared experience from Russia to Japan to Korea to elsewhere, it's clear that things have changed over the last 3 years.

The break in continued transport services from all the lock-downs, the diminished travel and tourism affecting the quantity and availability of available modes of shipping have made the hurdles of motorcycle shipping regress to the olden days.

In 2019, before we decided to overwinter the bikes in Japan, we were in contact with Wendy Choi (like everyone else) who provided us an air shipping quotation to Vancouver for our two small bikes (advantage small bike) about 2000 USD each.

In the spring of 2023, after Japan finally let us back into the country to recover the motorcycles, we reconnected with Wendy Choi for another quotation to Vancouver. She is still in business in a new address so has survived COVID for better or worse. The estimated price in 2023 now was raised to slightly more than 7000 USD per motorcycle. She explained to us that COVID had changed the number and availability of planes, affected the amount of cargo being moved thus changed the price per kilogram and ultimately because of COVID probably the shipping systems and processes were changed (or at the very least atrophied from lack of use). Clearly she had a hard time connecting with her previous suppliers because it took a long time to get this information to us.

Well with this shocking information we decided to go to sea shipping route. In 2023 we contacted no less than 8 different shipping agencies that we have good sources of contact, and ultimately we only received one response.

The downside of sea shipping, as you understand well, is the transport time and the extra cost associated with recovery and customs clearance at the other side.

Coincidentally on the latest podcast from Adventure Rider Radio, the guest speakers made note of this additional complexity post COVID transport from their south -american perspective.

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2023 back in Japan on the road after COVID, 2019 Paris Siberia Japan tbd -2010 WR250R; 2015-2016 Paris-Mongolia and Paris-Silk Road; 2011-2013 Canada Ushuaia