Shipments done by Travellers

On arrival I went to the airport (easy to find) and asked for the cargo-area... There they put me in contact with Homebound Packers & Shippers LTD -The major freight-company. Thai Air also informed me about the freight-rate, which is from Dhaka to Bangkok 0.84 cent's a kg plus 14 USD diverse charges. Not too bad, compared with Kathmandu.

The agent is pretty expensive... to start he wanted 180 USD... But his service was excellent. For this price I would get the folowing:

He would get me to a hotel (I could choose the rate)
The next day he would take me, and the bike to the packing area the bike would be prepared and packed.
He would drop me off at my hotel.
He would arrange for my ticket and the bike would (did not even have to ask) be on the same flight.
He would bring me to the airport. I did not have to do anything...

Unfortunately he did forget to explain abut the volume/kg rules and later this resulted in a high cargo-price. Since there was not much to do about it at that time he lowered his own price with about 50 % and loaded me with excuses and presents (anyone want a key-ring ;-)

Because I also blame myself for this I did not make more trouble.

The bike did not go into a wooden crate, and when I explained my concern about this the agent gave me a letter in which he stated to be responsible for the replacement value (prices were listed on it acording to my wishes) if anything would be missing. This responsibility would be in effect till the moment I had taken possesion of my bike in Bangkok... A watertight security.

The cost. Prices in USD.

Freight cost $543.00
Agent $100.00
airticket $254.00

In the end a pricey flight, but if I had compacted the bike more... it would have been cheaper. Would I have flown from Kathmandu.. the same would have happened...

One remark: Change your bangladesh money in Dhaka... Outside bangladesh no one will accept it...

A story will follow soon... Mostly about the customs adventures in bangkok... where I was asked for heavy bribes many times... A warning for others... bangkok apparently has or is changing... Greetings Maarten

We're in Bangkok - great place! We just got our bike back from the shippers and were delighted with the service. I also know that Marco and Sybil used the same company to ship their bikes to Chile. The cost was really low. We managed to scrounge a pallet from the local BMW dealer, so that saved us a few hundred dollars. The crate came out at 2.4 cubic metres and weighed 380 kilos (!). The cost for the Japan end and shipping was about 27,000 yen - about $250. At Bangkok we paid about 1,800 baht - about $36. Both the Japanese and Thai offices of Nippon Express helped us with customs at no cost! The warehouse in Japan was in Tokyo. In Thailand it was about 40kms outside town - 3 buses and a hitch-hike, or maybe a $15 taxi ride. Hope this helps anybody following us. Simon and Georgie

This fella has done lots of bikes now - he can arrange the man to crate them (cost around US$80 per crate included above). He will come to your hotel and do all the measuring for the crate, collect you on the day and take you to the airport so that it is all done properly. Charges in Bangkok - not 100% sure (getting old and forgetful) but we seem to think around US$125 per bike.

Went to Hellman's in Buenos Aires to ship my large cruiser to Chicago on the return leg of Ushuaia journey. Gabby quoted me $400 without seeing the bike (suspect!). The $400 swelled to $800 plus an additional $300 crating charges and $50 Aduana fees. I still considered it within reason and contracted with Hellmans' to have my bike shipped to Chicago. I was assured repeatedly by Gabby that there will not be any other charge and that my bike will be made available to me in Chicago within 5 weeks. Well, the 5 weeks was accurate but the Hellmans office in Chicago wanted another $475 as DDC (delivery charges)!. I was furious. The fact that this was completely unexpected and was not intimated to me in advance brought only a 'talk to Buenos Aires about that., it is not our fault'!. There was not much I could do but pay before incurring additional charges for warehousing. Had I known all the hassles and the 'true' total costs involved in sea shipping, I would have airlifted the bike! Fellow bikers, be aware of 'half a quote' and get everything in writing. I will NEVER use Hellmans again.

I was quite happy with this company. There is a large choice of shippers at Panama's airport, so we shopped around. We were skeptical at first- their yard was messy and the bikes were tied to flimsy palettes, but everything arrived on schedule, in one piece, and even the rear view mirrors I didn't remove hadn't been broken. They were also the cheapest (compared to Copa cargo, for example) and so that is why I can recommend this shipper.

At Quito airport their office is hard to find, to clear customs you need the airbill first, which you can obtain from the large brick building about ten blocks from the airport entrance. Sorry I have no better contact info. The last office in the long line of customs agent offices has lots of experience with motorcycles from Panama, they did a good job for us for $50 each. We were done in a few hours. Can't remember the name.