Gentlemen:

There is no need for either shippers (we owners), shipping agents (the folks who receive the shipment) or air carriers (the airlines that carry the bike) to speculate or guess at what the requirements for shipping a motorcycle by air are.

Everything has been set out in great detail in the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) handbook, which is the official guidebook for shipping dangerous goods (DGs) by air.

Motorcycles are classed as "Vehicles, Flammable Liquid Powered". This is UN classification 3166. Precise instructions for how the vehicle must be configured for shipping can be found in Packing Instruction 900, which explains the rules for shipping UN 3166 classified objects.

Every shipping agent and every air carrier is required by law to have a copy of the current year's version of the IATA DGR handbook on hand at the location where shipments are accepted. A new version of the DGR book is issued every year and takes effect Jan 1 of each year.

10 years ago, I made a post here on the HUBB that explained this process in detail, including pictures of the then current (2006) DGR for shipping motorcycles. It is possible that either the rules governing UN 3166 shipments or the packing instructions may have changed slightly since then, so, don't rely on my 10 year old post. But it is highly unlikely that the rules or packing instructions have changed substantially since 2006.

Here's a link to my post from 2006: 2006 Rules for shipping motorcycles by air freight. After you have read it, go visit your shipping agent or the cargo department of your air carrier, and ask to look at their 2016 DGR book. Then look up UN 3166 and packing instruction 900, and "only read the black ink" - in other words, don't read any invisible ink, don't listen to any old wives' tales, just read the rules that are written in the DGR book, because they are all that matter.

Individual countries and/or individual air carriers may impose more strenuous regulations on any form of DG shipments, however, when this is done, the exceptions by country and by carrier are printed in the 'variations' list in the back of the DGR book. Again, only read the black ink, don't try and read the invisible ink and don't attach any credibility to yada-yada you hear from uninformed persons.

Michael
(Retired Aircraft Pilot & DGR instructor who has shipped his ST1100 by air many times).