Shipments done by Travellers

I got in touch with Motorcycle Express about 2.5 weeks in advance to arrange the shipping from New York to London. Gail told me that they could also arrange my green card insurance and fly me and the bike on the same plane if I flew from Toronto instead of NY. Being able to ride the bike out of the airport the very same day sounded like a good deal to me. The price is not the best, but it would probably be nearly same with the storage, accommodation and taxi costs unless you can find a cargo plane on the same day as your own passenger plane.

1695 for shipping the bike. 100 for couriers, service charges and etc. 200 for agent and airline handling fees. In addition to these, I paid 450 for my own ticket and 264 for 8 weeks of European insurance.

Here is how the process went:

Gail forwarded me to a travel agent in Canada. Natalie Poulin. She reserved a plane ticket for me. Gail confirmed the cargo space on the flight. She then sent me the contract and forms I needed to fill as PDF. I filled and replied to her. Same thing for the insurance. I had to have an address in Toronto that she could send the important files to. They made it in time and all I had to do when I got to Toronto was sign the parts that had the ""Sign here!"" stickers. Easy enough. I was told to deliver the bike to the cargo terminal 48 hours before the flight. It's not very easy to find without some directions. There isn't usually anyone around to ask. The rule is you can't carry anything else with the bike since it's not crated. They strap it on a plate. But I had the hard cases attached and put some large items like sleeping bag and riding boots in there. I also left my empty gas stove in there because it's not allowed in the checked luggage unless it's brand new and never used... Empty won't work. It'll still smell gas. Another thing I had to do in Toronto was to buy a very cheap luggage ($20) to carry the stuff in the hard cases. It had to be under 20 kilograms but I was allowed to carry another 20 of camping equipment free of charge.

At the cargo warehouse, I checked in with the desk, they looked at my papers. The only thing they asked for and Gail did not send me was a security letter. But it did not seem to be a big deal. They asked me to copy the same information with weight, volume etc on another paper and sign. Next thing was to disconnect the battery and remove some gasoline from the tank because I still had a bit more than a gallon. I gave the bottle of gas to a breakfast truck and was offered a muffin with coffee in return. :) Cool. Make sure you have an extra key you can keep on the bike because if you don't the pilot can refuse to fly the bike if he wants to open the gas cap and visually verify the amount of gas. Hard luggage must remain unlocked. I also started an e-mail conversation with the suggested agent in Gatwick before I left Toronto. Stephan Gilbert. ( stephen(at)pbs-int.co.uk )

Once landed in Gatwick I got into passport control, luggage, customs, changed some money and then took a cab to the cargo terminal. Less than 10 dollars. I called the agent to let him know that I landed. I waited for about an hour more and the bike was cleared. All I had to do was to reconnect the battery, load my stuff on the bike and off to the closest gas station.

Overall, it was an easy process and went without any problems. The only down side is the price. But I think it would be hard and risky to try to save on this and the agent is not optional in this route. You have to have one. Good luck with yours.

The above cost is for 2 bikes, KTM 640E & Kawasaki KL250 in one crate, 2.5m3, 350kg. We crated the bikes ourselves - the Sydney agent was happy for us to do that in their warehouse - into 2 std steel moto crates with the front wheels & handlebars off. The 2 crates bolted together to make one before being wrapped in cardboard & plastic.

The bikes were crated up in Sydney on 24 April & were cleared to pickup in Auckland on 18 May. This was a week longer than expected, but this wasn't a problem as it was the homeward leg of the trip.

Cheapest shipping company in South America! Shipping fee was only US$326, HOWEVER the fees and charges in Australia were crazy with more than AU$1100. Anyway, the process is quite straight forward:

1)Book your journey with ECU

2)Go to customs in Valparaiso, check out the bike - they give you a piece of paper for export

3) Drop of your bike at the port, make sure that is very very very clean, otherwise you pay extra in Australia for steam cleaning, handling, storage etc.

4) Wait 6 weeks

5) Get yourself a custom agent, unless you got wheels, because carnet has to be stamped by Customs (office in town), cleared by AQIS (office at airport), inspected (at port) before they will release it. I paid AU$165 to get Seaway Customs Pty to do all the running.

6) Go to port and pick up your bike.

We traveled to and from the UK with Air Canada and the service was amazing! The people bent over backwards to help us out and we shipping two bikes and a uni-go trailer for $1300 total each way. No crating necessary just show up the day before and they strap them into a steel shipping container. I would recommend bring a handlebar strap but that is it.

Giles at James Cargo was extremely helpful. Explained everything over the phone and met me in person when I delivered the bike to Heathrow warehouse. He ran through some checks with me about the bike, I paid him by credit card and then left it all up to them. They transported the bike with the battery in it.

The USA end was very easy and free. I took the papers they gave me at the warehouse to US customs along with my vehicle registration and insurance. US customs gave me a temporary permit for my bike. I then went back to the warehouse, they brought the crated bike outside, I unpacked it and rode off. Simple.