Shipping bikes to the USA

[twizzle]

At these prices, you just as well buy a bike in the US and give it away at the end of the trip……( or co-ordinate a handover to somebody on here to be able to collect it and do another trip

 

[twizzle]

I know of somebody on here, who pre covid left a GS in a storage box on the west coast…..

It’s probably still there…..although the battery will be flat !!!!

 

[ThreeDawg]

This is the quote I got in May for air freight to NY GBP 1870.00

I know you asked for sea, but as someone else suggested you could be waiting ages for your bike to arrive, I see using the sea for return as it can take as long as they want.

This price includes collection, packing, freight, fuel surcharges, documentation, handling and export clearances. You will then need to pay any import formalities and import clearances on arrival of the motorcycle in the USA. Any storages or additional disbursements are excluded.
For temporary import into the U.S you will require prior approval from the EPA.
US arrivals quote based on crate being collected from Newark Liberty International Airport, taken to depot for uncrating, ready for you to ride away:

$425 Customs Clearance
$95 Handling
$220 Airline Terminals
$250 US Customs Bond fee
$750 Collect crated bike from EWR airport and uncrate so its ready for him to collect and ride away from our warehouse is in Elizabeth NJ

Ooyah! I think I paid abot $450 all in to get my bike in Santiago last November. I did uncrate it meself though.

Take it to Cape Town - cheap and much more fun that the boring old US.

 

[fizzer]

Not heard many good things about their service if I'm being honest.

Oh ok .I used them 8 years ago and they were at the time brilliant.but times do change I quest

 

[Decompressing]

hmmmm. Big bucks whether flying or by sea then!. Riders-Share is distinctly looking the way to go for me.

Thanks very much for all the info everybody, really appreciated.

 

[SIM]

Ooyah! I think I paid abot $450 all in to get my bike in Santiago last November. I did uncrate it meself though.

Take it to Cape Town - cheap and much more fun that the boring old US.

It was for a pan America trip, I am planning. Have a mate who wants to ride some of America, so got a price for NY and was then going to head over Anchorage and up, turn round then come down to Ushuaia.

That is a good price for Santiago, who was that with?

 

[ThreeDawg]

Well its the people at the Chilean end D&D Cargo? That price was for getting it out of an airport - cheaper than a ship port. We uncrated it ourselves and did the oaperwork ourselves (with a bit of help, ahem)

 

[OnHellas]

Well its the people at the Chilean end D&D Cargo? That price was for getting it out of an airport - cheaper than a ship port. We uncrated it ourselves and did the oaperwork ourselves (with a bit of help, ahem)

So to clarify, you paid $450 to get the bike from the aircraft to the warehouse and get all the relevant documents sorted. You then uncreated it yourself.

How much was the air freight and was it from the UK to Chile or from somewhere else?

 

[ThreeDawg]

That's correct. I'll try to dig out all the invoices a bit later today. I just came across the bill for shipping it back from Bogotà yesterday, so I'll put that in too.

Shipping has definitely become more expensive (it went mental during Covid and of course never came down to previous levels) so you always need to look at every option.

For our upcoming Australia trip I'm buying a bike out there, (easier for me to do as my daughter and partner live in Sydney) because flying the GS out was going to be mental expensive.

Just be aware, prices change all the time, and some destinations are cheaper than others.

 

[ThreeDawg]

OK, so the cost of airfreight (last November) to Chile from London was £2200 This included crating and transport to the airport from the shippers in Feltham. The bike flew with Air Canada via Toronto. On to which you have to add the fees mentioned above at the other end.

As a comparison, shipping by sea:

Seafreight London to Santiago: GB £1,295. This includes crating, customs formalities in the UK and seafreight to arrival at Santiago port.

Below are the Chilean arrival charges, which you would pay directly to our agent:
Customs Assistence USD 270,00

Desconsolidacion(*) USD 30,00/USD 30,00 per cbm, approximately USD 105

Apertura (*) USD 45,00

Doc. Fee (*) USD 144,45

Recepcion in warehouse USD 65,00 per cbm, approximately USD 227.50

Delivery indirect (*) USD 65,00 per cbm, approximately USD 227.50

Warehouse (*) aprox. USD 15,00 per día/cbm, approximately USD 52.50

Warehouse Doc. Fee* USD 180,00

(*) = afecto a 19% IVA

So a substantial saving, but if that boat is late, yer screwed.

Coming back from Bogota was US$2840 broken down as folows:

Crating/loading $290
Dangerous goods fee $140
Due carrier (?) $50
Shipping (again Air Canada) $1711
Fuel surcharge $73
Security fee $97
Agent fee $190
Customs inspection $40
Local tax $117
Caf fee (coffee!?) $133

Then you have to add on the fees for uncrating etc in London, £380

That was with Cargorider from Bogota to Motofreight in Feltham. Seems sodding expensive, and it was. You have to decide between hiring, buying and selling or shipping and that is dependent on a number of factors. For me, doing an open jaw trip through multiple countries I was happy to pay. Plus I really like having my own bike.

The original plan was to finish the trip in San Diego and ship the bike back from there using a consolidation service (I think about £1400 + fees?) but I didn't really want the bike sitting around in a warehouse for week and weeks, so I contacted Westjet who run a seasonal service to the UK from LA. https://www.westjetcargo.com/en-ca/what-we-ship/motorcycles

This came in from Westjet: I would say at this point to consider around $3500 USD + DGR Fee $150 and screening $0.10/kg.

All very costly, but hell, so is a new GS. I've got an old GS and a ton of amazing memories, so I'm happy with spending the money on shipping.

Mrs 3D uncrating the bike in Santiago. We found a drill soon after to finish the job...

 

[SIM]

OK, so the cost of airfreight (last November) to Chile from London was £2200 This included crating and transport to the airport from the shippers in Feltham. The bike flew with Air Canada via Toronto. On to which you have to add the fees mentioned above at the other end.

As a comparison, shipping by sea:

Seafreight London to Santiago: GB £1,295. This includes crating, customs formalities in the UK and seafreight to arrival at Santiago port.

Below are the Chilean arrival charges, which you would pay directly to our agent:
Customs Assistence USD 270,00

Desconsolidacion(*) USD 30,00/USD 30,00 per cbm, approximately USD 105

Apertura (*) USD 45,00

Doc. Fee (*) USD 144,45

Recepcion in warehouse USD 65,00 per cbm, approximately USD 227.50

Delivery indirect (*) USD 65,00 per cbm, approximately USD 227.50

Warehouse (*) aprox. USD 15,00 per día/cbm, approximately USD 52.50

Warehouse Doc. Fee* USD 180,00

(*) = afecto a 19% IVA

So a substantial saving, but if that boat is late, yer screwed.

Coming back from Bogota was US$2840 broken down as folows:

Crating/loading $290
Dangerous goods fee $140
Due carrier (?) $50
Shipping (again Air Canada) $1711
Fuel surcharge $73
Security fee $97
Agent fee $190
Customs inspection $40
Local tax $117
Caf fee (coffee!?) $133

Then you have to add on the fees for uncrating etc in London, £380

That was with Cargorider from Bogota to Motofreight in Feltham. Seems sodding expensive, and it was. You have to decide between hiring, buying and selling or shipping and that is dependent on a number of factors. For me, doing an open jaw trip through multiple countries I was happy to pay. Plus I really like having my own bike.

The original plan was to finish the trip in San Diego and ship the bike back from there using a consolidation service (I think about £1400 + fees?) but I didn't really want the bike sitting around in a warehouse for week and weeks, so I contacted Westjet who run a seasonal service to the UK from LA. https://www.westjetcargo.com/en-ca/what-we-ship/motorcycles

This came in from Westjet: I would say at this point to consider around $3500 USD + DGR Fee $150 and screening $0.10/kg.

All very costly, but hell, so is a new GS. I've got an old GS and a ton of amazing memories, so I'm happy with spending the money on shipping.

Mrs 3D uncrating the bike in Santiago. We found a drill soon after to finish the job...

How long and where did you get to on your trip. Was it easy two up on the roads or are most tarmac these days. Cheers

 

[ThreeDawg]

The trip was about 15 weeks. Started in Santiago, then north through Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia finishing in Bogotà. Frankly no way to treat a 27 year old bike, but it was a blast.
Two up was fine, although there were some dicey moments on hilly streets in places like La Paz. You could do it all on tarmac, but there's plenty of good gravel, sand, mud, landslides depending on your bike and ability

It was intense! If you're interested: https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/...three-dawgs-south-american-adventure.1739933/

 

[SIM]

The trip was about 15 weeks. Started in Santiago, then north through Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia finishing in Bogotà. Frankly no way to treat a 27 year old bike, but it was a blast.
Two up was fine, although there were some dicey moments on hilly streets in places like La Paz. You could do it all on tarmac, but there's plenty of good gravel, sand, mud, landslides depending on your bike and ability

It was intense! If you're interested: https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/...three-dawgs-south-american-adventure.1739933/

That sounds great, I am certainly interested, been the trip I have wanted to do since getting into biking, kids will be old enough to look after themselves on a few years, so first thing will be to head over

I will enjoy reading your trip report, nice to see you did it on 27 years old bike, it fills me with confidence that my 89 GS may be able to do it!!!

 

[gspod]

That sounds great, I am certainly interested, been the trip I have wanted to do since getting into biking, kids will be old enough to look after themselves on a few years, so first thing will be to head over

I will enjoy reading your trip report, nice to see you did it on 27 years old bike, it fills me with confidence that my 89 GS may be able to do it!!!

How low can we go.

A few people have asked me to do this RR so I’ll do my best but please bear with me, I’m not particularly computer literate. At the end of August 2022 my wife (A) and I (D) flew ourselves and our bikes from Paris to Montreal. With no real time limit but a finite amount of money and a poor track...

www.ukgser.com

Second half is South America and I’m still writing it but it may be of interest.