Shipping your bike--recommendations?

[tlh]

My buddy and I are considering a cross-country ride from the west coast to the east.  Rather than do a round trip, we've been thinking about riding from the west to the east and then having our bikes shipped back.  has anyone had experience with shipping your bike in a situation like this?  specifically i would be interested in experience around:

1) what's it cost?
2) what companies do this and which ones have you had good experience with?
3) how do you arrange to drop off and pick up?
4) Any general pointers or advice around shipping your bike cross-country

thanks!

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

I can't help on shipping however if I was going to do this I'd see if any VRCC members live at or near where I wanted to start from. I would then ask them if I could ship to there that way I would know my bike was in good hands.

[sandy]

A good booking company for shipping is www.shippingmasters.com They will find the best deals and present them to you. Joe's idea is a good one. FYI: I just returned from a trip to Nova Scotia. West of Kansas City, the winds are howling and East of St Louis it's raining cats and dogs. This is a bad year for MC travel.

[bscrive]

I had a bike shipped from Sarasota Florida to Ogdensburg NY last January.  It took six weeks by the time they picked it up until they dropped it off.  You are at the mercy of when they have pick ups and drop off times, you don't tell them when to pick it up they tell you.  You have call and set up a date and time for them to pick it up or drop it off at their depot.  You also have to be there to receive the bike on drop off or have someone there to sign for it.  We shipped it by DAS and it cost about $625.  When we got the bike it has some scratches on it but we don't know if it was the shipper or the receiving company or the seller.  We had the seller meet the shipper for pick up and we had a receiving company for the drop off.  The seller did tell me that it looked like the shipping guy almost dropped the bike a couple of times when he  put it on the lift gate.

I hope this helps some what.

When I had my valk shipped to me the seller used Forward Air and he crated the bike for me, the bike showed up without a mark on it.

[Madmike]

I live in Northern Canada and bought a bike from Beaumont Texas aout 5 years ago.  I had it shipped with JC Motors/Motorcycle shippers.  Once the contract was signed they gave a two or three day window for pickup during business hours from the previous owner's place of business in Beaumont.  They carted it to Everett Washington and stated they would have it there by a specific date - which they did - it was actually there early.  It was delivered to a "hub" which was a moving companies depot.  I picked the bike up from the depot after the arranged date.  They put the bike on a pallet designed for bike transport and tied it down.  

They did not want possession of the keys or any documents or loose parts.  They were very professional and did exactly what they said they would.  The cost of $10K of zero deductible insurance was $21 through them.  

I priced out a haul through a friend of mine that owns a moving company and these guys did it cheaper.  I was in camp up near the 60th parallel when I bought the bike.  I left camp and flew to Mexico for a vacation while the bike was being shipped.  When I got back to Canada I got my pickup from Vancouver and went back into to the States and picked up the bike for import to Canada.  Everything was accomplished by e-mail and FAX and there wasn't a hitch throughout my dealings with these guys.

http://www.motorcycleshippers.com/

I just went to the site and used the quote generator and could do the same move today for about $735 including some extra insurance - about $100 more than it cost me 5 years ago.

[eric in md]

u ship .com check it out. hey wait if i ride out from the east to west . you could ride it back to the east coast for me?  just kidding but a thought. 

[fudgie]

How you getting home? Take it with you. For the cost I'd ride it back. Take your time going east and haul ass back west. I'd think you would be home in 3 or 4 days.

[Trynt]

I had a VTX shipped from MS to MN.  Cost was  $750. They weren't exactly FedEx, but they took care with the bike.

http://alliedmotorcycleshipping.com/

[Farther]

If time allows, I would suggest the round trip ride too.  Go the north route one way and the south route the other.  I hope to do a trip from Ca/OR border (State of Jefferson) to Andersonville National Cemetary in Georgia to visit my parents grave site sometime in 2013 after I retire.  Please report back on your experience.

[Slvrvalk1]

I had a good experience with JC Motors several years ago shipping an Interstate from Denver to california.  I think it was around $650, but I do not remember exactly.  They strap it to a pallet and it came to me in perfect condition.  I just checked their web site (www.motorcycleshippers.com) and to get an Interstate from New York to California was quoted as $792.

Your results may vary.

Dave

[RonW]

Shipped a bike cross country with JC Motors (www.motorcycleshippers.com) and it was a positive experience. If you like, I'll get you the name of the representative that took care of things for me. All things through phone and Email. They also have a tracker that updates the current location.

[Flameout 86]

I shipped my tourer from Houston to Hartford, CT a couple of years ago by Federal shipping.  They advertise in several motorcycle mags.  They put it on a pallet.  I believe it took a little over a week from when I dropped it off till I picked it up and cost about $600.  They told me they ship about 1000 motorcycles a month.  They seem to know what they are doing.

Tom