Any members in Western NY willing to store a bike for a couple days?

[garethw01]

Hey folks, I'm relatively new to the club so let me know if this isn't appropriate and I'll delete the post.

I live in Southcentral Ontario and I'm planning a 10 day trip out to Colorado later this summer. Given the cost of rental bikes I'm interested in taking my bike with me, but not as interested in the 22 hour ride or drive to get there, especially given my limited time. So I've decided I'm going to fly.

I'm looking into shipping my bike, but hope to avoid the extra customs and border expense and hassle. So it occurred to me that if I could drop my bike off on the US side of the border, it could be picked up and dropped off there by the shipping company much more simply at at less expense.

I'm posting to this to see if there are any fellow BMW MOA members in the Lewiston / Niagara Falls / Buffalo area who would be willing to help out by storing the bike until the shipping company picks it up and after they drop it off until I can retrieve it. I'd certainly be willing to make it worth your while.

Alternately can you recommend a business in the area who would do this for a reasonable fee?

Thanks!

 

[lee]

Welcome to the MOA.
If you don't have any luck here, try your Anonymous book. Look for members with a SS code. SS is storage space.
If you have not received your Anonymous, give the MOA office a call, 636-394-7277 and see if they can mail you one.

 

[garethw01]

If you don't have any luck here, try your Anonymous book. Look for members with a SS code. SS is storage space.
If you have not received your Anonymous, give the MOA office a call, 636-394-7277 and see if they can mail you one.

Thanks Lee. I was going to try that, wasn't sure it would be appropriate. I got my book last year when I first joined, now I just need to track it down!

 

[pffog]

I could find a place in the barn. I am about half way between Rochester and Buffalo, 45 minutes from the border.

 

[garethw01]

I could find a place in the barn. I am about half way between Rochester and Buffalo, 45 minutes from the border.

Thanks for the offer. Next trick is finding a shipper to take the bike there and back for a reasonable price. I put a listing up on uShip but haven't got any decent offers yet. Might be too far in advance...

 

[pffog]

what is your time frame?

 

[garethw01]

PM sent, thx.

 

[garethw01]

Best quote I've got for shipping so far is $1280 round trip from haulbikes.com and they need 3 weeks(!) to get it there. At that rate it will be cheaper to rent, at least for a short trip. If I was going for two weeks or longer, different story. Not to mention losing the use of my bike for 6 weeks (not a huge deal, I've got others).

Will have to see if I get any good offers on uShip, but not holding my breath.

 

[classicvw]

Best quote I've got for shipping so far is $1280 round trip from haulbikes.com and they need 3 weeks(!) to get it there. At that rate it will be cheaper to rent, at least for a short trip. If I was going for two weeks or longer, different story. Not to mention losing the use of my bike for 6 weeks (not a huge deal, I've got others).

Will have to see if I get any good offers on uShip, but not holding my breath.

That's actually not an out of line price for both ways. The price even will rise quite a bit more when you are not flexible on the pickup and arrival dates, like when you need it to arrive on an exact date. If you don't have someone on the Colorado end to receive it and hold it until you arrive, you probably are better off just renting out there.

I just used U-Ship for a one-way, WI to NJ. That's less of a distance than you are needing to ship. Most offers came in in the $600 range. I used the guy that came in at $449. Exactly one year ago I spent $291 for a similar distance- MI to NJ. Strange that fuel is half price now, and the quotes are coming in double the price from last year.

 

[garethw01]

That's actually not an out of line price for both ways. The price even will rise quite a bit more when you are not flexible on the pickup and arrival dates, like when you need it to arrive on an exact date. If you don't have someone on the Colorado end to receive it and hold it until you arrive, you probably are better off just renting out there.

I just used U-Ship for a one-way, WI to NJ. That's less of a distance than you are needing to ship. Most offers came in in the $600 range. I used the guy that came in at $449. Exactly one year ago I spent $291 for a similar distance- MI to NJ. Strange that fuel is half price now, and the quotes are coming in double the price from last year.

No, not out of line, but it never hurts to hope for a bargain I was going to contact an area BMW dealer in CO to book the bike in for annual service there and hope they would receive it. Read about someone else doing this on another thread. Then it doesn't have to arrive on a specific day, as long as it's no later than a few days before my arrival. I'm flexible coming back too. I haven't contacted them yet, was waiting to see if I could get a good deal on shipping first.

 

[classicvw]

No, not out of line, but it never hurts to hope for a bargain I was going to contact an area BMW dealer in CO to book the bike in for annual service there and hope they would receive it. Read about someone else doing this on another thread. Then it doesn't have to arrive on a specific day, as long as it's no later than a few days before my arrival. I'm flexible coming back too. I haven't contacted them yet, was waiting to see if I could get a good deal on shipping first.

I Agree. I wasn't meaning you should not hope for something better, I was just giving my recent experience as a guide. Hopefully someone may be going that way anyway and can take on one more bike for less money than others. Your dealer plan also sounds good.

 

[garethw01]

Well this trip might be on hold as my wife has invited our niece to come along, and she has accepted somewhat to my surprise. So unless I buy a bike with sidecar in the next 3 months or find a place that rents them looks like I'll be driving a cage.

 

[mikegalbicka]

Don't you just hate it when that happens! The best laid plans . . .