Shipping Motorcycle from Turkey to Mexico. How to find agents?
 

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum, but I'm in desperate need of your help!

In the middle of summer, we are planning to move from Turkey to Mexico (Cancun) and we want to ship our Honda VTX 1800 motorcycle (by sea).

We have reached out to many companies here and around the world, but no one is responding. I'm almost losing hope as it has been one and a half months of searching, and time is running out. One of the main questions that worries me (aside from how to ship the bike across the ocean) is how to find agents. It seems like a complete mystery to me!

Could someone please recommend any contacts/companies that might be able to assist?
Can anyone share insights on how to find agents and give me a fishing rod so I can learn to catch the fish?)))

Wishing you all kindness, and thank you in advance for your support!

Are you MOVING / MIGRATING permanently, or temporarily for a few months?
VERY BIG difference.
IF MOVING or MIGRATING: shipping is the easy part! Have you checked into Mexican regulations re permanent importation? Are you permanent immigrants? It's not a simple thing to just bring it with you. When permanently changing countries, the bike - or car - has to pass local regulations, and it may not be possible - into Canada for instance it's almost impossible unless it's "vintage", and very expensive if it's not. You will almost certainly have to pay import duties and taxes, which can be substantial some countries are 300% of the value of the bike!
IF you're moving your household, it can go in the same container as everything else.

It's PROBABLY not worth bringing it! Sell it, and buy locally. Yes I know that's painful, but it will be WELL worth it.

If TEMPORARILY importing, as in you're planning on touring the country for up to 90 days, then leaving to go somewhere else, then no big problem with all of the above, it's very straightforward.

So that brings us to shipping it. Have you checked out the Shipping section of the site? There are a number of shipping agents listed on the Links link on that page too.

Finally, why not by air? It will get there MUCH quicker and more reliably. All discussed on the above page.

Hope that helps!

Indeed, we are moving. At least for 4 years. We have already checked that it's possible and the entry fees are not too high. We plan to obtain residency, and the motorcycle will be legally present in Mexico once our residency is approved. If we don't get the visa, we'll apply for a six-month tourist visa and handle problems as they arise :)

We chose sea transportation because we cannot move at the same time as the motorcycle. We need to send it earlier since the motorcycle's registration in Turkey is expiring, and we cannot renew it as we are not Turkish citizens. For the same reason, we are not allowed to sell it within Turkey.

We are required to export the bike from the country before the beginning of July. Meanwhile, we are dealing with visas for Mexico and will be able to leave Turkey only closer to the end of July.

And yeah, I totally checked out the "delivery" page, and let me tell you, it was helpful for us! I also went through the "Shipments by Travellers" tab, but it seems like most of them are dealing with shipments to/from the US, Europe, and Canada. There are a few I haven't reached out to yet, but I'm planning to do that today.

I just wanted to say a big thank you for advice you've given me so far. I would be glad if you have more advice)

So, thanks again, and I really appreciate your support!

I don't have any clear answers for you, but I wonder if you've looked at doing things the way others have done them, i.e., following established pathways. That might mean shipping your bike from the EU, which is right next door. It might mean shipping into the US (or Canada), which is often done. It might mean a temporary import into Mexico while you work on the details.

Shipping vehicles directly into Mexico by sea or air for whatever purpose is not known for being easy or straightforward. Shipping from Turkey to Mexico would probably put you in very rarified company--perhaps in a category of one. It seems likely that riding across the border to Bulgaria and storing temporarily at Motocamp (or elsewhere) would give you some breathing room while allowing you to do more or less what others have done before you.

My only other thought is that the mere fact of uninsurability shouldn't prevent ownership of a motorcycle--there must be lots of uninsured bikes in Turkey, and lots which are intermittently insured. Do you need to export the bike because it will be uninsured, or due to some other reason involving the terms of its presence in Turkey?

Hope that's helpful, but if I'm off-target please feel free to ignore all or part.

Mark

Unfortunately, we currently don't have the possibility to obtain a visa for the EU or the US (it would take too much time in our case). However, thanks to your advice, we will consider the option of storing our belongings in Bulgaria if there are no other alternatives.

Regarding your question about motorcycle insurance in Turkey - I misled you, I meant registration :rolleyes3: We have a residence permit in Turkey, and the motorcycle (imported by us to Turkey) has a same registration period (I'll correct this mistake in my previous comment).

This period is coming to an end, and since we don't intend to extend our registration, we are obligated to export the motorcycle from the country.

Thank you very much for your time and your advice)