Any experience / knowledge about shipping Denver CO to Toronto or Montreal? I intend to ride the Canadian Maritimes but sure do not want to ride across the US of Flatonia from here to there first.

I've been talking to trucking companies but coordinating their schedule and getting my air ticket is a huge hassle...

z

I am in the auto shipping business in the USA. i could probably get a carrier to bring your bike to my place in NY for reasonable (no commission to me for HU members) I'd hold it till you flew to NYC and you could ride to the Maritimes from NYC. I rode to the HU meet in Nova Scotia last year and all the roads were curvy and interesting.

Mitch

Air Canada discounted shipping to South America has been discontinued!

I just had an email from Russ at Air Canada saying that "due to unforeseen customs and logistics demands the ship your bike program has been discontinued to South American destinations." They will ship at their non-discounted rate which was quoted at about $2,200 plus the cost of a dangerous goods certificate.

I guess the good news is they will still ship to SA...

Wally
Cleveland, OH

Just a head up. Call Air-Canada about the Motorcycle shipping to Europe. Stated they have not heard anything yet. Hopefully they might know more in February.

Just another update on the Air Canada deal.
Spoke with a representative with the Cargo department. He stated that they defiantly are going to be offering the transatlantic motorcycle shipping deal again this year. But, was uncertain when Air Canada would advertise it.
I’m watching closely, will update you if anything new comes up.

I just called Air Canada (15 Feb) and they were uninterested in working any kind of deal before the "season" starts. They did not know if the deal was going to happen this year. Unfortunately for me, I need to ship my bike the first week of March and so far the quote was $1600.

This morning the Frankfurt Air Canada Air Cargo Office (say that 5 time really fast) sent me the 2018 shipping rates Frankfurt - Canada

I brought a bike home from Europe last year using this service and we are shipping a newer bike back over this spring. For convenience, we are arriving on a Sunday and will have Stefan Knopf pick up our MC and take if to his facility in Heidelberg.

On weekends there is a different AC freight office used for importation (different office location than where the MC will be sitting) who are, less accustomed, to receiving motorcycles. I am not that keen on going back and forth between Cargo offices located quite some distance on a Sunday.

If we were flying in on a weekday I would deal with the MC myself

Other European Countries and Canada to Europe Rates should also be available on the various countries' Air Canada websites over the next few weeks.

Motorcycle Shipping

https://www.aircanada.com/cargo/en/s...otorcycle.html


Track your shipment

http://www.aircanada.com/cargo/en/tools-forms/


E booking tool

https://cargoservices.aircanadacargo...ster-owner.jsp

Would you be willing to tell us how much they are charging you? Or direct our attention to any pricing which is included in the links you just posted? Thanks.

Seeing the world on your motorcycle has never been easier. By combining motorcycle and air travel, our Fly Your Bike program expands your horizons. Have your motorcycle transported to a destination, pick it up, and begin your adventure on wheels. Our flexible program means you can return the bike from any city we serve, and travel on any flight, leaving you free to design the itinerary you want.

Motorcycles can be flown to and from the following cities: • Calgary • Athens • Edinburg • London (LHR) • Rome • Montréal • Brussels • Frankfurt • Manchester • Venice • Toronto • Casablanca • Geneva • Milan • Zurich • Vancouver • Dublin • Glasgow • Paris



https://www.aircanada.com/cargo/shar...rochure_en.pdf

Hi Mark,

The pricing isn't listed as of yet.

Your best bet is to call Air Canada Cargo.

Last year when I brought my 990 home from Frankfurt It was about $1700 cdn if I remember correctly.

There are some price factors that change the base rate

1. If you fly on a paid ticket it is less expensive.

I flew both ways on Aeroplan points with United and saved approx 500 cdn on taxes . I flew Vancouver-San Fran- Frankfurt return. so I saved the cost of a return flight

2. The price in Europe is paid in Euros and depending on the airport you fly out of the cost for handling changes. Paris was a few hundred Euros more expensive to fly out of than Frankfurt.


Regards,

Bill

Here are some tips (from the voice of experience) for those who plan to air freight a motorcycle into Canada:

1) Make sure that the motorcycle is immaculately clean! That means no bugs on the windshield, forks, etc., and no dirt of any kind on the tires or under the fenders.

The Canadian customs folks are not well experienced in clearing air cargo shipments of motorcycles into the country... it is an uncommon event for them. This means that they will try and think of all the possible problems that need to be considered, and one of those problems will be the potential impact on Canadian agriculture of any 'foreign soil' or 'insects' that might be travelling along with the bike. The customs officials themselves don't have the training necessary to evaluate dirt or bug guts, which means that they will call for an Agricultural Inspector if there is any doubt. That will delay clearance by a day (thus costing you another full day of warehouse charges), and there is a fee of over $100 for an agricultural inspection.

If the bike is immaculately clean, you can always say to the customs inspector "Sure, I appreciate that you don't have the training to evaluate dirt or bug guts, but you are able to evaluate whether or not there is in fact any dirt or bug guts on the bike... so, have a look, if you find anything, by all means call the agricultural inspector, but if you don't find anything and the bike is so clean that you could eat off it, perhaps you could let it through without calling an agricultural inspector?" I've gone through that routine 3 time now bringing my Canadian bike back to Canada, and every time, the customs inspector has looked at it, said "Damn, it's clean... you could eat off the tires, I guess there's no need to call the Ag guys."

2) Make at least 3 sets of photocopies of your passport, your driver licence, your motorcycle ownership documents, your licence plate documents, etc. and bring those sets with you when you go to customs to clear the bike. You will have to have the originals of everything with you, but the Customs folks really appreciate it when you can give them a nice set of photocopies of everything (stapled together, even) so they don't have to worry about losing one of your original documents as they move around the office, etc.

3) If at all possible, have your insurance documentation showing that you have proper insurance for riding in North America with you at the time you go to customs to clear the bike. Strictly speaking, the customs folks should not be concerned about whether or not the bike is roadworthy or correctly insured, but if you do have the insurance documents, and those documents are included in the copy-sets referred to in point 2) above, it greatly reassures the Customs officials that you know what you are doing.

4) Don't put anything in the panniers that could cause Customs headaches. This means no cigarettes, no booze (even if it is within your duty-free allowance), and for sure, no dangerous goods such as camping stove fuel, chemicals, etc. It's perfectly OK to stuff the panniers with clothing, helmets, that kind of stuff. The goal here is that you want the Customs officer to be able to make the decision to clear the bike out of Customs for you without having to go and visually inspect the thing. So don't complicate the process.

5) Be aware that the freight warehouses charge enormous, outrageous fees for storing incoming freight. The fees are based on a combination of the cubic size of the object and the weight of the object. For a large touring moto (BMW GS or similar), it's about $100 a day, and you don't get the first day (the day of arrival) free. So, as soon as you get your body through immigration and pick up your luggage, get your ass over to the customs hall at the freight terminal and try and get that moto cleared the same day you arrive.

6) Also be aware that the freight warehouses typically don't have road-level access on the public (meaning, non-airside) side of the building. They are all built with truck loading docks that are elevated about 1 meter off the ground, so that big trucks can back up to the dock and roll goods on and off. In the old days (pre-2001), the freight guys would let you ride the moto out the airside of the building and then around the building to exit through the gate that fenced off the secure part of the airfield. Those days are gone now. So, be prepared to go searching for a friendly truck-driver who has a liftgate on the back of his/her truck. You roll the bike out of the warehouse into the (empty) truck, the truck pulls forward 10 feet, you then put the bike on the liftgate and the driver lowers it to the ground. A $20 tip for that courtesy is appropriate.

7) Be sure you have a correct country identification sticker (white oval) on the back of your moto, indicating what country you are from (GB, F, CH, etc.). In Europe, it is acceptable to just have the country code on the left side of the (newer style) licence plates, but that is a relatively recent, Europe-only agreement. Here in North America, the 1949 road traffic convention still applies, and that convention mandates a white oval sticker to identify the country in which the bike is plated.

8) Be aware that the police in major cities (Toronto, Montreal, etc.) are not used to seeing overseas plates on vehicles, and you will likely get stopped a few times in the big cities. Once, I went out to the Toronto airport to help a UK rider (from here on the HUBB) clear his bike from customs, and on the way to my house, he was stopped by the police less than 5 miles into his North American tour. The police officer was adamant that it was illegal to operate a UK plated vehicle in Canada, and I was equally adamant that it was legal. I 'just happened' to have a copy of the 1949 Geneva Convention on International Road Traffic with me (what a coincidence...), and after 30 minutes of discussion, the cop phoning his head office, etc., we proceeded on our way.

Once you are out of the big cities, the cops will pay you much less attention, especially if you are on routes that overseas visitors frequent, such as the Trans Canada Highway, etc.

9) Whatever you do, don't use the electronically monitored toll road (Highway 407) that traverses the north of the city when you have European plates on the bike. The road is actually owned by a Spanish company that will have no trouble at all getting the toll money from you at your European address, but for any cop that sees you on that road, the foreign licence plate will be like waving a red flag in front of a bull... the cop will pull you over "for sure" because they will think you are trying to evade the toll.

Hope this info helps.

Michael

PS: So far as actually shipping the bike goes, a motorcycle is considered to be a "vehicle, flammable liquid powered" and is classified as UN number 3166. There is a packing instruction (I believe it is instruction 900) that explains that as long as it is not possible for the battery to tip over within the vehicle, it does not have to be removed or disconnected. Nor is it necessary to drain the fuel or the oil... just show up with 1/4 of a tank of fuel or less. It would be a very good idea for those who plan to ship their bike by air to visit the air freight facility a few days ahead of time, ask to have a look at the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations book (every office has a copy), and review the rules for UN 3166 (vehicles) and the packing instructions applicable to vehicles. Do not assume that the person receiving the moto on the day you show up to ship it will be familiar with the rules governing motorcycle shipments!

Oh yeah, something I forgot to mention above:

It is considered to be a really serious offence - on par with impaired driving - to operate a motor vehicle in Ontario without liability insurance. The minimum fine is $5,000, and the vehicle will be impounded immediately, which means it will be towed away from wherever it is on the side of the road at the moment you get stopped.

Vehicle insurance in Ontario is not cheap, this because in addition to the mandatory third party liability insurance, drivers are obliged (by provincial legislation) to carry a certain amount of insurance to look after their medical care, etc. if they are injured in an accident. This rule applies to all vehicles, not just motorcycles.

So, be sure you have your North American insurance in order before you get here. There are only a few companies that write insurance cover for out of country vehicles (tourist vehicles). It is not a common product, and it is certainly not as easy to get coverage for a European bike in Canada as it is to get coverage for a Canadian bike in Europe.

The good news is that once you obtain coverage in any one of the 10 provinces or 50 US states, that coverage is valid in all 10 provinces and all 50 states. Hence you don't have to buy the insurance in Ontario (and therefore you can avoid the obligatory medical coverage).

The insurance company will issue you with what we refer to as a 'pink slip', which is a form that is recognized in all 50 states and all 10 provinces. Insist on getting that pink slip, it is the only thing that the police accept.

Michael

Damn, that is an incredible deal. May have to include London on this year's itinerary.

Hi guys is this offer still available? London to Canada ? Would love to go to Canada

I called up Air Canada Cargo a few times this week because I was looking to fly my bike from Toronto to Buenos Aires. They informed me that even though the promotion just started in March, that they are no longer transporting motorcycles to any destination in South America. They stated that there have been many difficulties for their customers clearing customs and for reason stopped this service.
However they did nention that you can still fly the bike within Canada as well as to Europe at the discounted rates.