Shipping a Motorcycle?

Has anyone here ever shipped a motorcycle?

I posted my bike in a couple of places and have had several people from out of state inquire about shipping. I know what to look out for with regard to scammers, but I don't know what needs to be done to prep a bike for shipping. I assume that it needs to go on a pallet, but beyond that, I don't know what else needs to be done or who does it.

Any suggestions?

ship? have them fly out and ride it home!

aside from that....stop by your local bike dealer ship and ask for a pallet. then look at fedex freight

Doesn't Forward Air ship bikes?

Thanks. I hadn't thought about getting a pallet from a dealer. That would make it a lot easier.

Check with some trucking companies. Air will be 5x road freight. I've seen them fully crated for ocean shipping, that probably added 250.00 just for the box. Yeah, a bike dealer should have everything you need in his trash. Good luck.

Forward Air does have a special service for shipping motorcycles, they provide a shipping container of some kind. I think it's dock-to-dock, so you have to drop the bike off and pick it up at the shipping company, but I've been told it works very well and the price is reasonable.

I've never even heard of Forward Air. I'll have to check it out.

Forward Air has a soild rep!

There are several others out there Atlas Motor Freight i think has a service they come to you with plallet and straps you put bike in and strap it they deliver and take pallet back. check the AMA web site there a few that run adds every month.

http://www.ama-cycle.org/

Lots of helpful info here. Thanks.

http://www.motorcycleshippingsolutions.com/

I used JC Motors several times when I worked at the shop, with great success. They provide a pallet, tie downs and cover; pick it up, roll it on, strap it down. I'd suggest checking on door-to-door service for residential addresses, but my shop was dock-less, and they didn't charge extra for a liftgate truck.

http://www.motorcycleshippers.com/

when I bought my bike from NH, the dealer used Forward Air. They work between most major airports. Mine was sent from NH to their terminal in Jamaica near JFK, relatively cheap as I recall and very fast (next day) shipment. I would use them again if need be with no worries.

When I sold mine the company just came and picked it up -- no pre-packaging necessary. Dealers always have a pretty good idea of who is good and who is garbage in the area as well.

Forward Air FTMFW.

I used them back when I had to use a crate from the dealership I used to work at and drag the thing to the airport on my crappy 3 rail trailer (an adventure w/ a Cagiva 650 Elefant in a Harley full dress bagger crate behind an '88 Civic Si) but now you just book it online and the bring the reuasble crate. Roll it in, tie it down, done.

Woody wrote: Thanks. I hadn't thought about getting a pallet from a dealer. That would make it a lot easier.

+1 when I sold my Honda Hawk GT, I went to the local suzuki dealer and they gave me a crate for a sv650, and my bike fit like it was ment to be in there. YMMV. I don't remember who the shipper was, but it was shipped from NJ to ID with no problems.

I've used Forward Air twice, no problems. Both times I built my own crates from 2x4's. Just be sure that there's no oil or gas in it and if they can see the battery they will generally want it to be removed.

I have used a company called haul Bikes. Their entire business is shipping motorcycles. They do not make you drain fluids, have terrific rates and do a great job for very little money. I shipped my Norton, Triumph, and BSA with them. Their web address is http://haulbikes.com/

Update:

The bike sold and the buyer chose http://haulbikes.com/ . They picked it up this afternoon.

They were very professional and I'd recommend them to anyone. The truck and trailer were beautiful and it was set up specifically for (surprise!) hauling bikes.

I asked the driver what the cost was to ship this bike from Connecticut to Georgia and he said he thought about $400. He said that he has had as many as 45 bikes in the truck at one time.

HawgDawg96 = canoe shipping

michalina wrote: I don't have any idea related to shipping a motor bike, but you can search all the courier services with the help of the Google Los Angeles Courier Service

Canoe?