I’m in the process of getting various quotes for shipping my bike from the UK to Canada, I’m finding crated is about £80 more than uncrated (ro-ro). What are the advantages/disadvantages of each, is shipping crated worth the extra?
thanks P

Check out Kuehne & Nagel, Colnbrook, near London Heathrow. They will airfreight bike uncrated to Canada in a container. Some airlines will only accept crated bikes. Air Canada does not have this requirement.

Hi Paul

Also check out this link for a summary of the Air or Sea question:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tri...ers.php#AirSea

Do get a quote from Wallenius Wilhelmsen, who are specialists in vehicle transport (ro-ro) and do ship motorcycles. Wallenius has been recommended by several travellers on the Europe to North America route.

http://www.2wglobal.com/WEP/WEP.jsp

Good luck and let us know how you go!

------------------
Susan Johnson

"It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You've got to dig from week to week
To get Results or Roses."
Edgar Guest

'One world, two wheels'
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

__________________
Susan Johnson

Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

thanks all. I've had a few quotes all roughly the same amount. When I decide on a shipper I'll let you know

I just got home a week ago, shipped my bike crated from toronto to barcelona (thru england) when i left, then back uncrated from Marseilles France to Toronto (thru paris), in my experience uncrated was by far less hassle and cheaper, bike was absolutely fine, not a mark on it, p.s. be aware of Canada's customs, make sure your bike is absolutely clean.

Hi Sharon,
which company did you use>to canada,how much?

Bryan, Air France, who were very good, I only had about 3 hours to find and deal with the bike before i had to fly out myself (long story), and i knew no french and they knew no english, it cost about 700 euros, and could have been cheaper if i had the time to make it smaller.

Is that air or sea? If it's air I'd be very interested becouse that works out roughly the same as the quotes I'm getting for sea,and by the time I add in port charges may acually be quite a bit cheaper. Who did you contact to organise this.

Paul,
tried to e-mail you but no joy,
the air france deal looks good,
let me know any info?
thanks

Basically, rode up to air france cargo at the airport in Marseilles France after getting off the "boat" from Tunisia, rolled up, asked them if it was possible to send it to toronto uncrated, as is, within 20 min had a price ... had to empty tank, take out battery, and remove front fairing (strapped it around seat), signed some papers and they wheeled it away. literally took about 2 hours total. There was some discussion on removing the front wheel to make it smaller/lower, thus cheaper, but in the end this would have been too hard for them to move it around, so they opted, i guess, not to charge extra for the size and keep the convenience of moving it . Honestly, i only had about 4 hours to deal with the bike and thought i might end up storing it somewhere and have to deal with it later but it went smoother then shipping it from toronto my hometown. From Toronto to Barcelona, took off front wheel and front fairing ( to make smaller)strapped bike down to a skid then wrapped the bike in pallet wrap. this cost about 900 canadian dollars, had a company look after paperwork ect., with air france as well.
p.s. from france to toronto i did have to pay extra charges, on toronto side, as the bike was dirty, had to pay agriculture canada $100 to inspect it twice and $175 for a company to come to the airport and clean it, so...make sure it is clean when it comes to canada. Also, there was much more red tape canada side then france and spain side. Took longer to get home and longer to get it out of customs.

Hi Sharon
Who did you get to look after the paperwork for you? Was that everything all in?
Thanks
Debbie :-)

Sharon's post was in 2003 so there is a chance she might not respond.

Debbie: See the "PS" I added to my post in the other discussion you posted an inquiry to - Toronto-Vancouver Customs near Airport.

Michael