Shipments done by Travellers

Process was very easy. Follow Air Cargo signs at Tocumen Airport. Guard at gate will direct you to Girag office (if you don

After phoning around many people and companies Beer was the only person who:

Could speak excellent english fluently
Had a very very good understanding of what is required to ship a motorbike as he has done it for many people already!

Excellent price and very professionally handled. Everything went very smoothly. The crate was very well made and included in the 600 dollars.

The bike came into Copenhagen excactly 30 days later as he stated

Recommended

First of all:
Do not forget to clean your bike really good!!!!!
But if we got through, you will do as well ;-)

800,00 Aus $ Shipping = 470 Euro
390,00 NZ $ Handling in NZ = 205 Euro
75,00 NZ $ MAF = 40 Euro

All together: 715 Euro

We paid 800 Aus $ (470 Euro)to ship 2 XT 600 Tenere in 2 crates.
We got a crate from a Suzuki shop in a suburb of Melbourne for free. In town, on Elizabeth street they wanted to charge us 30-80 Aus $ (18-47 Euro) for 1 crate.
Hermes will make a crate for you as well!!!!
We took of the frontwheels and the handlebars, but if they make a crate for you, you do not have to!
We put nearly all our luggage in the box.
We crated everything at Hermes, the workers where very friendly and they helped us.
Later it got inspected by Customs very quickly.
At the NZ side we contacted Profreight (contact for Hermes in NZ) to find out when the bike was available.
We had to pay 390,94 NZ $ to their bank account.
Then we did some paperwork and paid (75 NZ $ = 40 Euro) for the MAF.
The MAF is at the airport of Christchurch.
At the Custom office at the airport as well, they stamped the carnets without having a look at the bikes! And it was for free!!
But do not forget to sign your carnet at the front page!!!!
A lot of people, included us, never did that before!!!!
The bikes were in the Hilton Hillsborough - warehouse where we met the MAF inspector who had a quick look at the bikes, maybe 5 minutes.

That is what we had to pay for the MAF:
Inspection of 2 used motorcycles and transport NZ $ 75,00 = 40 Euro

In the end we had to pay a lot in New Zealand!
So if you want to transport your bike, think also of sending it by air!!!!
Because usually, there are not so many extra costs at the airport. And it takes only 2 days!!

It took about 2 weeks to transport them from Australia to New Zealand by ship!!
Do not forget to clean your bike really good!!!!!

If you want to drive your vehicle in New Zealand, then you need a Warrant of Fitness (WOF). At a garage they will check, if your bike is in a good condition.

That cost you another 40,00 NZ $ = 21 Euro

You will get a sticker for your bike

Then you need a registration.!

We got it from the Automobilclub (AA).

The cost for 6 months are 102,50 NZ $ = 54 Euro

You will get a sticker for your bike.

If you leave the country, before the 6 months are over and stop your registration, then you can claim money back from the government

For that you have to fill out a form and need an address or a bank in New Zealand.

So if you want, you can give that money to friends, who helped you in New Zealand!!

The guys at the Automobilclub (AA) were very helpful, they also offered us a 6 months free membership, because we are members of the german Automobilclub (ADAC). Just show your membershipcard!!

Here is a link to The Land of transport:

http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/factsheets/35.html

Good luck!!

To ship to Australia you need to have your bike as clean as possible for quarantine. This entails stripping it down to get rid of every trace of mud and grease.
In Dilli I had it cleaned at A1 cleaners. You have to clean it first to see how long it takes to get a price but allow $80-100 (american)and 2 days. This was with me and the boys doing it. A1 is directly across the road from where you load the bike at Perkins.

The bike does not need to be crated, it is tied into the container and payment is on the total area so take off the mirrors , panniers, top box etc and tuck them in beside or under to make a smaller volume. My total cost was $245

The ship took 2 days from Dilli to Darwin and it was delayed a couple of days which is normal so just be patient.

In Darwin there is a couple of days delay while they get all the shipments on paperwork and then you can begin to organise custom and quarantine inspections.
The unloading cost was $Aus 45 and the quarantine inspection $Aus90

Total approx $400
You will have to fly by Airnorth
www.airnorth.com.au

about $250 depending on date

Will give you all the details so hopefully you will learn from the mistakes I made.

I had a few problems finding a shipper out of Colombia back to Europe. It doesnt seem to the place that most people ship home from. I found out about a boat company called Horn Linie. Their website is http://www.hornlinie.com/. Couldnt get any information on shipping with them so walked into their office in Cartagena. They dont deal with the public so they told me to ring Hamburg in Germany. If you havent found Skype by this point in your travels, now might be a very good time to use it. I rang Hamburg, they told me it wasnt their job to organise it, I should ring Bogota. So I rang Bogota. They told me I couldnt go through them direct and I needed a shipping agent.
Step forward Luis La Rota. Now somewhere in the midst of this, you have to tell Horn Linie that you are intending to ship with them but I cant tell you whether that is Cartagena, Hamburg or Bogota. They all want to know but no one wants to deal with you. Also by this point I am guessing that you will understand what patience is.

Spent 1.5 days doing paperwork enough of it to finish off a rain forest. The port authority wont accept you just delivering your bike to the port so another agent is needed inside the port but Luis La Rota organises all of this. I felt he hadnt shipped a motorbike before but he seems to know his stuff. I never understood how the Horn Linie boat is advertised as Ro-Ro but they wanted the motorbike crated up to go back to Europe. So finally at the end of the 2nd day dealing with Luis and his team, my bike was inside the port area. It was left in a warehouse, no body managed to give me a straight answer on whether it was going in a crate, whether it was just gonna be strapped to a pallet or going home as it was. They didnt want anything left on the outside of the bike, the panniers were fine, and was told to leave an ignition key with the bike, no other keys needed. At this point I was told I had to come back the following morning (day 3) for a customs inspection of the bike.

Day 3, told this process would take 1.5 hours, it took 5 hrs. Did i mention patience? So finally after a customs clearance the bike was cleared to leave COlombia. I still had no answer on whether it was going in a crate or what was happening to it. I didnt like this feeling, and I all I could hear in my head was people saying dont leave the country and leave the bike in that country. Well I did, I left on this day 3 (4th January), knowing the bike wouldnt ship till 8th January.

So fast forward a couple of weeks to the retrieval process. The ro-ro boat calls at Dover, no motorbike offloading possible due to no ro-ro operation here, and then it calls at Antwerp. Due to bad weather, the boat doesnt call at Dover, and the motorbike is unloaded into Zeebrugge on Wed 24th Jan not Fri 26th Jan.

I got an email from Luis on the friday 26th saying dont forget to pick my motorbike up from Antwerp. Like I would even forget to pick my baby up from a foriegn port. Flew out of London City Airport on VLM airlines to Antwerp. Monday, found the office in the town, told needed customs paperwork of every country it has been in , and that the bike is actually in Zeebrugge not in Antwerp. Moment of insanity and just plain easy for me, flew back home to London, and drove back home. Arranged with a friend to go back to Zeebrugge, this time with spare key for the ignition and pannier box keys. Arrived into Zeebrugge, 3pm, the port office closed in 30 mins time, and final shut down was 4pm. They wouldnt deal with me today, had to come back tomorrow. Another night spent in Belgium.

Final outcome, Thursday morning 1st Feb, paperwork completed, Dock fees of 116.50euros paid, over to the other terminal to collect my bike. Bike is sat in a huge warehouse, pretty much alone, sat there on two wheels, no sign of pallets or crates, but apparently it has been in a huge container. Dead battery and wouldnt start, maybe another thing to think about before you ship it, keeping the battery and charging it before collection.

Rode straight out of the port area and on the road.

It is also possible to go home on the boat for est Euro1600 per person. Was told this can be booked up fully 6months in advance.

Break down of charges
Colombia

US$160 for Agency Fee, Documentation and formalities
COL$510,000 for Ocean Freight

Belgium

Euro 65 Custom formalities
Euro 1.50 Security surcharge
Euro 15 Import service charges
Euro 35 Adminstration Fee

My additional costs

Taxi rides in Cartagena
Photcopies again enough to finish off a 2nd rainforest
Flight and return to Belgium, hotel for 2 different nights, ferry return for a car, train one way for me and the motorbike, and more taxi rides.

Remember to take keys with you because when my bike appeared the ignition key had been lost
Remember to take paperwork with you of absolutly everything, all import and export papers you have, owners documents (titles) insurance for home, they didnt ask about tax or MOT , and driving license.
I got stopped by customs at the Eurotunnel and asked to open my panniers for inspection, it was a good job I went home and got the pannier keys, 2nd attempt is always good for me.

Good luck, ride safe and enjoy the journey