I have a few minutes to spare so I might as well make a start...........
Bilco had organised a pre-trip meeting in late March and Skybod had been kind enough to host it at the HQ of his worldwide business empire, in Manchester.
We arrived to find a decent turnout of people & bikes.
It was an excellent get together, Chris' attention to detail was 1st class & he balanced his clear enthusiasm for motorcycling in North America with potential pitfalls & things to be wary of. We were also warned about the amount of paperwork that would be involved
and given rough costs for the trip.
Additionally we met most of our fellow tripees (?) for the 1st time.
A combination of Chris's selling of the trip & the terrific people we meet left poor old Sarah in a right quandry for many weeks. She doesn't like bikes, she has no interest in bikes & less interest in going on a bike holiday. She doesn't like mountains, has never wanted to go to Canada & doesn't do less than 4* hotels. But despite all of this she couldn't get away from the thought that she was going to be really missing out if she didn't come on this one.
Having done very few miles on my GSA & being slightly concerned about it's height I was also able to try Bilco's low Sargeant seat. Decision made, I needed one of those.
Arkela's bike
Most of us were staying at a nearby Premier Inn so after the meeting we headed off there for a few beers* & some snap.
Like the dickhead I am I didn't take any photos of the food or the other tripees but I know others did so I'm hoping they might add them on here.
*Thanx to Gary for buying a round for roughly 20 people, I'm not sure anyone else realised you'd done so.
Costs so far
Return flights - £1,200
Bike shipping - £1,950
Accomodation up front - £330
New tyres - £215
Pre trip service £100-ish (I hope)
Garmin maps - £70
Bike insurance for USA & breakdown recovery insurance - £350
Container insurance - £210 (1.5% of the value of the bike)
Heathrow hotel & 3 weeks parking - £170.
Tie down straps - £35 (ish).
Just to clarify these costs, they are very personal, I have gone for the best insurances possible, upgraded my flights & not skimped on the Heathrow hotel.
This is going to be a one off trip for me & I am determined to make it as memorable & worry free (ha!) as possible.
When filling in the USA bike insurance paperwork I did get a nasty surprise. One of the questions relates to outstanding finance on the bike.
A quick call to BMW Finance confirmed how much was owing but also threw a rather large spanner in the works.
It transpires that if you have your bike on a PCP you are "not allowed to take it out of Europe sir"., in fact
I had a chat with one of their legal guys & he confirmed the same. "No sir. Not anywhere out of Europe".
Obviously my next questions were how would they know & what would they do if I did take it to America.
To cut a long story short there is potential for the finance company finding out & they have the right to ask customs to impound the bike, claim it back & I would forfeit her.
Oh.
What to do?
I'd already forked out a substantial sum in flights etc & didn't want to miss the trip but equally couldn't take the risk of losing the bike (no matter how unlikely in reality).
Oh the joys of having OCD.
Well a few quick phone calls later, a transfer of funds & my dear 76 year old mother is now effectively the temporary owner of a 1200 cc motorbike.
Bilco had organised a pre-trip meeting in late March and Skybod had been kind enough to host it at the HQ of his worldwide business empire, in Manchester.
We arrived to find a decent turnout of people & bikes.
It was an excellent get together, Chris' attention to detail was 1st class & he balanced his clear enthusiasm for motorcycling in North America with potential pitfalls & things to be wary of. We were also warned about the amount of paperwork that would be involved
and given rough costs for the trip.Additionally we met most of our fellow tripees (?) for the 1st time.
A combination of Chris's selling of the trip & the terrific people we meet left poor old Sarah in a right quandry for many weeks. She doesn't like bikes, she has no interest in bikes & less interest in going on a bike holiday. She doesn't like mountains, has never wanted to go to Canada & doesn't do less than 4* hotels. But despite all of this she couldn't get away from the thought that she was going to be really missing out if she didn't come on this one.
Having done very few miles on my GSA & being slightly concerned about it's height I was also able to try Bilco's low Sargeant seat. Decision made, I needed one of those.
Arkela's bike
Most of us were staying at a nearby Premier Inn so after the meeting we headed off there for a few beers* & some snap.
Like the dickhead I am I didn't take any photos of the food or the other tripees but I know others did so I'm hoping they might add them on here.
*Thanx to Gary for buying a round for roughly 20 people, I'm not sure anyone else realised you'd done so.
Costs so far
Return flights - £1,200
Bike shipping - £1,950
Accomodation up front - £330
New tyres - £215
Pre trip service £100-ish (I hope)
Garmin maps - £70
Bike insurance for USA & breakdown recovery insurance - £350
Container insurance - £210 (1.5% of the value of the bike)
Heathrow hotel & 3 weeks parking - £170.
Tie down straps - £35 (ish).
Just to clarify these costs, they are very personal, I have gone for the best insurances possible, upgraded my flights & not skimped on the Heathrow hotel.
This is going to be a one off trip for me & I am determined to make it as memorable & worry free (ha!) as possible.
When filling in the USA bike insurance paperwork I did get a nasty surprise. One of the questions relates to outstanding finance on the bike.
A quick call to BMW Finance confirmed how much was owing but also threw a rather large spanner in the works.
It transpires that if you have your bike on a PCP you are "not allowed to take it out of Europe sir".
, in fact I had a chat with one of their legal guys & he confirmed the same. "No sir. Not anywhere out of Europe".
Obviously my next questions were how would they know & what would they do if I did take it to America.
To cut a long story short there is potential for the finance company finding out & they have the right to ask customs to impound the bike, claim it back & I would forfeit her.
Oh.
What to do?
I'd already forked out a substantial sum in flights etc & didn't want to miss the trip but equally couldn't take the risk of losing the bike (no matter how unlikely in reality).
Oh the joys of having OCD.
Well a few quick phone calls later, a transfer of funds & my dear 76 year old mother is now effectively the temporary owner of a 1200 cc motorbike.
