Shipments done by Travellers

Here some info about flying 2 bikes from Kuala Lumpur, Malasyia to Perth in Australia. We decided to fly because it is very much quicker and the money which I would spend on waiting I spend on flying. Flying from KL is really easy and you definitly do not need a shipping agent. We phoned MAS Kargo before, then they told us, we just have to come to the airport and ship the bikes. That sounded too easy for us, but it was true!! We drove our bikes to MAS Kargo at the Cargo terminal of the airport, which is 75 km from the city of KL!!! You have to get a free pass, to enter the cargo area everybody is very helpful and interested. We did the following steps:

1) We went to Malaysian Airlines Cargo (MAS Kargo) and reserved the space for the bikes, they gave you a confirmation. Then they weight the bikes. They gave us a declaration of goods.

2) We drove to Customs (3rd floor) and request a form to fill in, we paid about 20 Ringit

3) Let the form check on the 1st floor, we had to drive the bikes 100 meters to the guys who checked the bikes. Numberplate, Enginenumber, that's it. Went back to the 1. floor and got the carnets stamped

4) Back to MAS Kargo where you drain the petrol and disconnect the battery, tape up the leads and wrap up the battery.

5) We covered it up with plastic! We even left our luggage strapped on the bike and nobody even bothered opening it up to check it. Price for 2 bikes (XT 600 Teneres) in Ringits, (roughly 4.7 ringit to the Euro) MAS Cargo: - Weight charge (see below) 2649.92 - Airway bill fees 5.00 - Terminal charge(416 x 0.20) 83.20 - Security charges 158.08 - Due Carrier (?) 582.40 - Dangerous goods fees 76.00 -------------- 3554.60 Customs: - Export tax 20.00 Total cost = 3574.60 = roughly 760 Euro

They have 2 brackets for weight charge: - 7.38 ringit per kilo for up to 202 kilo - 6.37 ringit per kilo for up to 250 kilo Getting in to Perth (Mo-Fri) was easier then we expected:

1) Hand in you Airwaybill at Quantas airfreight (no MAS cargo here)

2) We went to Customs which is just opposite and tell them you have a carnet, if you have one. But don't really need one. But it is very easy with carnet.

3) We had to go to the Quarantine and pay 90 Aus $ The quarantine guy checked the bikes. He was very friendly, he looked with a torch under the fenders and under the bikes, not too bad!! :-) He chedked the enginenumbers, and a little bit of the luggage, that was it! We cleaned the bikes in KL and washed everything in a washing mashine in KL

4) When they sign you can pay your warehouse charges and fill the tank with petrol, connect the battery and of you go. Guys in warehouse were extrememly friendly, interested and helpful though! Prices: Ware house charges: 148.00 Aus $ We heard that they are extremely difficult so we cleaned the bikes thoroughly before flying it. Telephone in Perth: MASKargo: 94.78.28.70 Flight Reservation: 13.26.27 After that it was more difficult to get a kind of rgistration asnd insurance for our bikes. We entered on te Carnet basis. The most important issue is to have the vehicle in a very clean condition. Especially the underside, mudguards, tyres are inspected by the quarantine office. So make sure to have it well cleaned before getting it ready for freight.

The fees in Oz (applies to Western Australia) are as follows:

1. The freighter (Quantas in my case) asked 148 Aus $ handling charge.

2. Customs were free.

3. Quarantine inspection (AQIS) wanted 90 Aus $

4. The vehicle inspection centre cost us 114 Aus $ This was necessary in order to get my bike registered. A kind of roadworthiness test.

5. Licensing office charged us 149.30 Aus $ For 6 months insurance mandatory 3rd partyor 2 bikes.

Normally you do not need to have your vehicle registered, when entering a country on a temporary import basis, but for Oz this is compulsory. You do not register it in the general sense, getting an Oz registration no., but your registration no is entered in the computer system.

In Perth the freighters are all near the international airport, so is of course customs and quarantine. Quantas is situated in the Affleck Rd. The vehicle inspection can be done in Perth East, 20 Bronte St. The licensing deptm is in the Sutherland St. Streetmap can be aquired at the inspection centre. Go here, because we did it in Joondaloop and they had no clue!!

Of the five shipments I did on my trip, this was the easiest and most straightforward. After calling Qantas in advance and getting conflicting infomation from the sales people, we went direct to the cargo terminal in Sydney.

We had contacted agents and had gotten quotes of anywhere from $3,000-$5,000AUD. All of the agents also required that we crate the bike. Qantas was the only airline that would deal with us directly, the others would only deal with agents.

Roger at the Qantas Freight terminal was incredibly helpful and accomodating. Not only we were able to ship the bike uncrated, but Roger calculated the weight based on the actual weight and not the larger volumetric weight. Our bike with all the gear came in at 300 kilos, volumetric weight would have been close to 400 kilos.

The only thing we had to do on our own was get the Dangerous Goods Form. There is a company nearby called Dangerous Goods Management (DGM) which can take care of this for you. Roger will help you coordinate this.

Roger will schedule your flight according to your needs, the Sydney-LAX flight goes once a day. He got our flight scheduled the day after we dropped off the bike.

The other important thing you will need to do is schedule Australian Customs to check your bike prior to shipping and stamp out the carnet. The Customs office is right next to the International Terminal. We scheduled Customs and dropped off the bike to Qantas at the same time. Easy. Again, Roger can help you coordinate this.

The bike just needs to have the fuel at 1/4 tank and the battery disconnected.

Cost Breakdown for one 1989 Honda Transalp:
$4.60/kg x 300kg = $1380AUD
Surcharges and other charges $311AUD
Dangerous Goods Form $95.70AUD
Pickup at Qantas at LAX $30USD
Total $1827AUD

Picking up the bike in Los Angeles is easy too. You will first need to go to the Qantas Freight office and collect the paperwork. Then over to US Customs to process the carnet and your shipping paperwork. US Customs is not very familiar with the carnet, so that may take some time. We returned home with a California registered motorcycle so it was pretty simple for us. After US Customs clears your papers (no charge) you can go back to Qantas Freight to collect your bike. Qantas will charge you a $30USD fee to collect your bike.

Another traveller I met had a similar positive experience with Qantas shipping his motorcycle from Brisbane. I think Qantas is the way to go for air shipping from Australia, but you will have to deal directly with the folks at the cargo terminal.

The bike will be shipped on a Malaysian Airlines aircraft- but Malaysian doesn't handle the transaction. It took me quite a few phone calls to figure that out! The company you'll be dealing with is called Delfino. Sol is the person to contact. On initial contact with Sol, she will want the height/length/width of the bike in centimeters, and the weight in kilos. They will want you to retain a customs broker at a cost of $150, this is included in the price of $1300. Sol retained a broker for me and I never met her. They just do the paperwork and co-ordinate with Sol. (A customs broker: Alejandra 4313-5493 or 4313-2619). Sol told me they didn't want their own people spending 3-5 hours on company time walking people through the complicated customs process. I simply rode the bike to the cargo area of the BA airport and asked for the customs area. Once there I asked for the Delfino office. Go upstairs and turn left (there are only 2 floors), Delfino is the second to the last door on the right. Once you make contact there, they'll let you know what to do. You'll ride the bike into a large building where it will be weighed. They'll drain the fuel for you. They will want the battery disconnected- I convinced them to let me just remove the fuses as this is much faster on a Dakar! You'll watch them wrap up the bike, sign some paperwork and be on your way. You have the option of paying in Buenos Aires or in Capetown- best to pay in BA to guarantee the price. There was a handling fee at the Capetown airport, around $50usd I believe.

Robbie was great. Always quick communication via email. I got the bike to LA (via a US domestic carrrier) and it was loaded in a container with a few other vehicles. I paid after the bike got to NZ. He took care of the entry paperwork and arranged shipping from Dunedin to Auckland for me, which was an additional NZ$180. All of it was cheaper than domestic shipping in the US! I would recomend him and use his serices in the future if I bring another bike over.

Contact Dave wright and he will give you directions to the office in downtown Buenos Aires and explain the prosedure on flying your bike out of BA. He speaks English , German and spanish and is very helpfull.
I took my bike to the cargo section of the internationl airport, i was helped to put it on a pallet and strap it down. The customs was done for me by the Lufthansa rep it all took no more than a couple of hours, very easy in deed. The bike arrived on time at London Heathrow and the custom clearence was done by Menizies world cargo (phone 7503155) I picked up the bike two days later incurring a storage charge of 45 pounds.I was very pleased with the service Lufthansa provided.
Two floors above the Lufthansa cargo office in Buenos Aires is the office for Lufthansa passanger flights, so if you need a flight out of Argentina you can try them as well. If you need any help with shipping out of Buenos Aires or if you are just arriving its well worth meeting up with Javier and Sandra at Dakar motos (see there website),they can give you all kinds of help.
Hope this helps Skip

Stranger in a srange land