Shipping Motorcycle from Houston to Paris
 

I am interested in shipping my bike in to Paris (and back). I am primarily interested in air freight. Any recommendation? How would I get started? Do I just call airlines?

You could call the airlines directly.

There are also companies that specialize in shipping motorcycles by air internationally - Motorcycle Express is one such company.

I used them many years ago to ship my bike by air from Canada to Europe, and I was very happy with their service.

You might want to browse through the discussions in the Trip Transport and Trip Paperwork sections of this forum - pretty much everything you need or want to know has been addressed in those two forums.

If you plan to ship the bike in the summer months, it might be less expensive (and certainly less of a security headache) to ride up to either Montreal or Toronto in Canada and ship the bike to Europe from Canada.

Michael

I am considering putting the bike on the back of my truck and riding to Montreal and use Air Canada.

Has anyone crossed the Canadian border with a bike mounted on the bed of a truck? Any issues? I am asking because when I cross into Mexico, it is 1 vehicle per person.

No one will care (although best if they both belong to you and you can articulate a plan which doesn't include leaving either one in Canada).

Simpler to just ride to wherever you're shipping the bike from. Any time of year that riding in northern France is appealing, riding the Appalachians into eastern Canada or the Rockies/Sierra/Coast Range into western Canada will be a lot more fun than driving a pickup truck. Sez I.

It is extremely hard to air freight a moto out of the US because they are considered hazardous cargo and thats a no-no since 9/11. Like others said, best bet is to ship out of Canada, I shipped 2 DRs out of Toronto to Venice in September this year, pretty painless experience. Its a seasonal (april to end of September) discount with Air Canada, otherwise I was quoted at 3x the price for 'off season' so keep that in mind. Also, might be a bit easier to fly into Frankfurt as that terminal gets the most motos and they are familier with the process. The guys in Venice didn't have a clue because it was a Saturday and no one gave a shit, lol. Air Canada Cargo webpage has all the info and if you call them, they are super helpful. Good luck!

It is 1,800 miles from Houston to Montreal (one way) so it would be a lot of miles on the bike before I even get started riding in France and the rest of Europe.

From everyone's responses, Air Canada and flying out of Montreal makes the most sense.

Any trip preparation I need to look into?

Well, more like 1600 miles, depending. 1500 to Toronto.

You'll decide whether the extra hassle and expense shipping from Houston is worth saving yourself the trip. It's not exactly "extremely hard" shipping out of the States, but it's undeniably a pain in the butt. If you're looking for alternatives, Stefan Knopf does periodic bulk shipments to and from Germany, and although his schedule is limited he's fair and reliable, which is a lot more than can be said about most American shippers.

And: driving a truck and then figuring out what to do with it while you're in Europe might not be effortless in itself, and it definitely costs money. Personally, when I shipped my bike to Europe I first rode across from West Coast to East Coast--3000 miles of mostly-scenic, mostly-fun riding. If you don't enjoy riding a bike, what's the point?

I don't know what you mean by "trip preparation." There are countless threads here and elsewhere about prepping your bike, what to bring with or leave behind, routes to take, and more. If you've got a bike unavailable in Europe, think about taking the usual spare parts with you; if you're headed someplace exotic after Paris, think about what that might mean. Otherwise, it's Europe--not the Belgian Congo.

Hope that's helpful. You do sound like you haven't done much of your own research, and your questions are kind've vague--not the best strategy for gathering clear answers.

Mark

The only concern that Canada Customs will have is whether you intend to leave either one of the vehicles (the truck or the moto) in Canada.

You haven't said what you plan to do with the truck once you load the moto onto the plane, so, I presume you plan to drive the truck back to the USA before you fly your body to Europe. If this is the case, when you enter Canada, you might want to have some paperwork (some correspondence with the shipping company) that indicates your intent to ship the moto out of Canada by air. I think if you show that documentation to the customs people and advise them that you plan to then turn around and drive the truck back into the USA, you should be fine.

Be aware, though, that once the motorcycle arrives at the airport in Europe, warehouse charges (storage charges) are typically about $100 a day, this because the storage charges are based on the cubic volume of the moto. So, you don't want to leave the moto sitting unclaimed at an airport in Europe for any longer than a day at the most.

Don't rule out other airlines operating out of Montreal, such as Air Transat. I've shipped with Air Transat a couple of times, and been very satisfied with them.

Shipping out of Canada will certainly be easier than shipping out of the USA, simply because there is less fear, uncertainty, & doubt associated with airports and airplanes in Canada than there is in the USA.

You will need to obtain "green card" insurance for the motorcycle, before you and it arrive in Europe, this so you can legally ride it in Europe. It might be prudent for you to get an IDP (International Driver Permit), which is basically a translation of your home driver licence that shows you are legally permitted to ride a motorcycle.

Finally, be sure you arrive at the Montreal airport with less than 1/4 of a tank of gas in the moto.

Here's a link to a post I made decades ago about how the paperwork process goes when shipping 'Dangerous Goods' by air (a motorcycle, being a flammable liquid-powered vehicle, is considered to be a DG): Rules for shipping motorcycles by air freight.

As I suggested in my first response to your question, spend a few hours studying what has been posted in the "Trip Transport" and "Trip Paperwork" sections of this forum, and you will find everything you need to know.

Michael