Shipping a Bike

[adheimke]

Has anyone shipped a bike over a longer distance?

In my case I need to move my R1200GS from Northern VA to PHX, AZ. It has to move in early February, and though the proper thing to do would be to ride it, a very tight timeline and possible winter weather mean I'll likely have to ship it and then meet it out there.

Has anyone had a good experience with any of the companies doing motorcycle shipping? Or a bad experience with a company to avoid?

Thanks!

 

[3putt]

If you're going to ship it you better act fast. I've shipped a few bikes and it's always taken a few weeks for the shipper to come get it. I've had great luck with haulbikes.com. That said I just sold a Yamaha that's going to Texas and the shipping rates are pretty high for some reason. What used to run around $500 is getting quoted at $800.

If you get stuck and need someone to ride it to AZ let me know.

 

[mikegalbicka]

I used Uship.com to find RPM Unlimited. Rocky and his crew did a great job. $250 from Atlantla to Lakeland, Florida in a large enclosed trailer.

 

[mkrouse]

My take on shipping...

I shipped a 1997 VFR from North Carolina to Arizona. Fork seals were blown after just several miles of test riding. Carrier was a friendly sort but they loaded their trailer side to side with minimum number of doors and many stops to load / unload. Constant shifting of the 15 bikes onboard. My guess is that they honked those front forks down multiple times during the course of the trip.

Next time I'm going with a carrier that mounts the bike once onto a wooden carrier that is forked lifted on and off at the various terminal stops. As in Mayflower. which moved my R90S to New Jersey. Maybe $200 more than my pickup truck / cattle trailer guy? Fork seals were $400.

 

[classicvw]

No offense to the OP, but this has been discussed many times, twice I think in the past month alone.
Do a search for shipping and you'll get a ton of input. I'm tired of typing my three paragraph reply, sorry.

Three words- Keyboard Motorcycle Shippers.

 

[adheimke]

Sorry for Noobin'

 

[mikegalbicka]

Sorry for Noobin'

Not to worry. The easy search function does not work that well. Just type shipping into it and see what you get. The reults are not helpful at all. You have to use advanced search procedures not apparent to the average user unfortunately.

 

[lee]

Sorry for Noobin'

No reason to apologize, the search function does not work well on this site. Last night I tried a search, plus tried to search the forum with Google and all the results were at least 7 years old. I did find one about shipping to Europe, but that would not help you much.
I do remember some resent threads on shipping but I didn't have any luck finding them.
Hopefully someone who has better luck searching will help you out.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[jad01]

I used Federal and had a good experience: http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?70101-recommended-MC-shipper&highlight=shipping

 

[lee]

I used Federal and had a good experience: http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?70101-recommended-MC-shipper&highlight=shipping

Thanks Jim for helping a new member.
Besides the threads you listed, Kurt's reply in post #4 is very helpful.

I've been using google's site search feature. Go to google and type "site:bmwmoa.org xxxx" where xxxx is what you're searching for. You can use quotes around xxxx to help isolate your search phrase. I've been having pretty good luck with that.

 

[165280]

i've had a few questionable movers who said they could load it onto the semi and move it with the rest of my furniture. I've also had horrible experience with Atlas moving company for losing a few things that i could not get them to cover.

Because of that, i dont mind renting a truck and trailer and just doing the drive myself.

 

[Dmftoy1]

I've shipped two bikes recently using Schumacher Logistics and in both cases was satisfied. Fwiw

 

[martyhill]

i've had a few questionable movers who said they could load it onto the semi and move it with the rest of my furniture. I've also had horrible experience with Atlas moving company for losing a few things that i could not get them to cover.

Because of that, i dont mind renting a truck and trailer and just doing the drive myself.

The OP is talking almost coast to coast. You would rent and drive the truck that far?
I also would use Federal.

 

[classicvw]

The OP is talking almost coast to coast. You would rent and drive the truck that far?
I also would use Federal.

Ive bought a few bikes long distance and have a solid SUV with a trailer and been tempted to drive it myself. Well, gas was double what it is now, and you gotta figure multiple nights in a motel, etc.

Even though the shipping cost sometimes seemed high to me, when you figure the driving, the gas, the motels, and what are DAYS of your time worth, and the things you aren't going to get done at home... Well it s a bargain. If they don't drop your bike. But I could just as easily drop it loading or unloading it from my trailer.

 

[akbeemer]

I shipped a R100RS to and from Germany without a scratch. The movers built a crate for it onsite and it was very well done at both ends. Of course, when the German crew built it they consumed a liter of beer each and a good part of a bottle of Chivas Regal.

 

[165280]

The OP is talking almost coast to coast. You would rent and drive the truck that far?
I also would use Federal.

yeah i can see your point. but I'm a single dood in a single apt. I'm sure the OP is in a different situation.

I have rented a Uhaul and trailer for my car when i had to move from california to tenessee. It wasnt so bad. When i moved from san francisco to los angeles, the company i was working for offerred relocation expense, so i hired a moving company. They've lost a few items that held sentimental value/irreplaceable. I spent months with their claims department only to get denied. All i could do at that point was kick the dirt and decide not to use moving companies if its something i'm capable of doing.

When i moved back to the bay area, rented a Uhaul and trailer. Maybe saved a few hundred but it was better peice of mind for me. YMMV

 

[Omega Man]

Sorry for Noobin'

For some reason "snark" factor has been kinda high on the forum. It's too bad some forget to check a post count before the kickin' starts- it's not like you asked 14 times already
Welcome to the forum! Don't be afraid to ask anything.
As for your question, no personal experience with shipping a bike but from what I have read, results have been mixed.
If I was going to ship a bike, I would make a crate that had the standard dimensions for forklift/pallet jack movement and take some of the rolling the bike around out of it.
Hope this helps.
Gary

 

[adheimke]

Thanks for the tips, guys...

Deployment schedule means I just don't have time to ride the bike, or even put it in a truck or tow it.

I'll book with one of the recommended companies tomorrow.

 

[classicvw]

For some reason "snark" factor has been kinda high on the forum. It's too bad some forget to check a post count before the kickin' starts- it's not like you asked 14 times already
Welcome to the forum! Don't be afraid to ask anything.
As for your question, no personal experience with shipping a bike but from what I have read, results have been mixed.
If I was going to ship a bike, I would make a crate that had the standard dimensions for forklift/pallet jack movement and take some of the rolling the bike around out of it.
Hope this helps.
Gary

OM, my reply was not "snarky". It was in fact, truthful, as there was info readily available with the search function. My intention was to quickly point him in the right direction, even though I did not have time for a lengthy post..... And I posted two forms of an apology in my four sentence posting. I think you're being hyper critical and looking for the negative.

 

[mikegalbicka]

info readily available with the search function.

Did you test your suggestion and were you happy with the results?