Pre-shipping the motorcycle

[farm1810]

I have seen the "fly and ride" rental ads on the internet, but I love our RSTD with the mods we have made. And, it seems to me that it would be cheaper for a 1 - 2 week tour to ship the bike, pick it up and use it for the vacation, bring it back, have it shipped back, etc, than the cost of renting a bike. We are in Delaware and both employed so considering going cross country (which would be great!) is out of the range of our vacation days! But, we might be able to afford to ship the bike, buy econo plane tickets both ways and do something really great! Has anyone done this?

[twigg]

I have seen the "fly and ride" rental ads on the internet, but I love our RSTD with the mods we have made. And, it seems to me that it would be cheaper for a 1 - 2 week tour to ship the bike, pick it up and use it for the vacation, bring it back, have it shipped back, etc, than the cost of renting a bike. We are in Delaware and both employed so considering going cross country (which would be great!) is out of the range of our vacation days! But, we might be able to afford to ship the bike, buy econo plane tickets both ways and do something really great! Has anyone done this?

 

That makes a great deal of sense.

 

Find a shipper who has facilities to hold your bike for collection for about a week. Ship it later and it might not get there.

[Ozlander]

A group in Kansas shipped 14 bikes to Frankfurt Germany back in 2000. We rode around Europe (7 countries) for 16 days, then shipped them home. :cool10:

[eusa1]

Have it shipped to another member a few days ahead of your Arrival to make sure everything is in order and without damage so corrections could be made in time to enjoy your ride.

[Shamue]

My wife and I have different length vacation days off. Usually I have had a couple more days and have done this several times crossing the country. I leave 2 or 3 days early and beat it across the country. She arrives via air and I pick her up at the airport. We start our vacation together and ride back home touring. On a couple of the trips we spent more time exploring and she was dropped off at an airport to fly home to get back to work, while I rode home. Have thought of your idea, but my priority is riding and since I deal with freight companies every day, I didn't want to arrive at the starting point and find my

ride damaged in anyway. Expecially it being damaged to the point I couldn't ride. Also I would check into the cost of crating to protect your MC and freight. I would like to be able to do what you describe, but my experience with freight companys that I deal with on a daily basis is not good. This has nothing to do with the drivers, but the number of times the material is transfered from truck to truck on it route across the country.

Hope you find a solution and have a great vacation.

 

Have it shipped to another member a few days ahead of your Arrival to make sure everything is in order and without damage so corrections could be made in time to enjoy your ride.

[Yamamike]

"This has nothing to do with the drivers, but the number of times the material is transferred from truck to truck on it route across the country."

I'm with ya Shamue...I work for a pump distributor and I swear sometime the forklift operators in the transfer facilities have competitions to see who can roll a piece of equipment the furthest before damage occurs:whistling:

[sgn]

Never used them but a friend has and the service was excellent.

 

http://www.haulbikes.com/zonemap.html#zones

 

 

 

 

 

I have seen the "fly and ride" rental ads on the internet, but I love our RSTD with the mods we have made. And, it seems to me that it would be cheaper for a 1 - 2 week tour to ship the bike, pick it up and use it for the vacation, bring it back, have it shipped back, etc, than the cost of renting a bike. We are in Delaware and both employed so considering going cross country (which would be great!) is out of the range of our vacation days! But, we might be able to afford to ship the bike, buy econo plane tickets both ways and do something really great! Has anyone done this?

[MJ44]

I just had a bike with sidecar shipped from Chicago to here(north of Pittsburgh, PA), house to house, using uship.com

 

The guys at A2BCUthere picked it up Thursday at 9:45 my time and delivered it at 11 am Friday - in an enclosed trailer. Cheaper than the other places I looked into before trying uship

 

All in one piece, without a scratch.

[MasterBruce]

I just hauled my two bikes from Canada to Houston within 5 days. All stuff worked well. Delivery was punctuate, had nice communication with shippers. I got this deal at very reasonable price. Had zero issues.

----------------------

Reliable motorcycle shipping companies

[friesman]

I just hauled my two bikes from Canada to Houston within 5 days. All stuff worked well. Delivery was punctuate, had nice communication with shippers. I got this deal at very reasonable price. Had zero issues.

----------------------

Reliable motorcycle shipping companies

 

I am curious, what the cost to ship was and what point in Canada you shipped from. I am looking for a newer bike and there are a couple in th Houston area the ads looked good.

 

Brian

[Solodadof2]

I ship several bikes a year and have found overall that uship is a hit and miss for meeting the set times. So keep that in mind as you ship. also make sure your shipper is insured for hauling your bike and tell them how you want it strapped. Federal is a pretty reliable group and the bike will be enclosed the whole time, but they will have a long lead time. You can expect in the united states an average of $600 for shipping.

 

Have you thought about just hauling it yourself? Price of 2 airfare tickets, bike shipping compared to hauling the bike and having a backup vehicle for inclimate weather??

[MikeWa]

Most Harley dealers provide this service. I just don't know if they will ship off brand bikes.

 

Mike

[Squidley]

Never used them but a friend has and the service was excellent.

 

http://www.haulbikes.com/zonemap.html#zones

 

 

I used, or I should say, a buyer that bought a 250 enduro from me used this company. I have to say I was very impressed with this outfit. The truck was a beauty as well as the trailer. It was set up to haul bikes and it was strapped down well. I would have no reservation in using them myself.

 

I have also done the Uship to get my Harley from Detroit down to Houston. That, as mentioned, is a crap shoot. Make sure they are bonded and insured and have good feedback with hauling bikes. Not every Joe Shmuck knows how to strap a bike down....

[Pegasus1300]

In 2002 a bunch of shipped our bikes from Salt lake City UT to Boston Mass. The company held them for us and then we rode back to SLC after seeing the sightd on the east coast Great trip. If you are an AMA member they have shipping contractors who are experienced in bike shipping and will give you a discount.

Ita a great way to go if you want to ride at someplace far away but don't have the time to ride there.I like the idea of shipping to a member to hold for you for a while. That might make it easier.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

This may or may not work for you, but have you thought about an Amtrak tour?

 

The bike is strapped to the pallet, then loaded on an auto-train, then ships WITH you as you ride the train to the destination. This will take a few days, depending on where your going.

 

Then you unload the bike, and ride off into the sunset with your honey!

 

 

 

http://www.amtrakvacations.com/rail-getaways

 

 

http://www.amtrakvacations.com/AutoTrain

 

 

http://www.amtrak.com/auto-train-boarding-and-vehicle-requirements

 

 

If time is extremely critical, you could just ship the bike by rail ahead of time, and then fly to the same city..

Edited January 13, 2013 by tx2sturgis

[MasterBruce]

If you don't want enough hassle and want to get your bike shipped at economical price I suggest you to visit our motorcycle shipping resource on web. Read the reviews, request your quote and compare with other competitors and come to us. We never disappoint our service consumers. Customer satisfaction and optimal service is our main passion.