(Air)shipment from South-Africa to Argentina
 

Hi all,

I'm trying to plan a RTW trip next year and I'm hoping to find a way to ship my bike from South-Africa (preferably Johannesburg) to Argentina (preferably Buenos-Aires).

Anyone here who can help me with this ?

I air-freighted my bike from Johburg to Perth - but that was >10 years ago. But it was quite easy to find a freight forwarder. I organised a box at one of the bike shops around and the shipping agent did the rest.


They pick it up at any address, so you could probably crate your bike at the shop which supplies the box and have it picked up there.


The box which I got at that time was big enough to keep the panniers on the bike. But if you want to save money it is very important to reduce the volume of the crate, i.e. by removing the front wheel to reduce the height. But that means that you need to do some carpentry :(


Some airlines have special offers if you combine the transport of your bike and your flight.

Any more news about this subject? I'm planning to do the same :-)

Not sure if you have found a solution yet but I arranged air shipment for my Moto from Capetown to Montevideo, Uruguay in March 2019 right before COVID shut everything down. I chose Uruguay instead of Buenos Aires based on lower shipping costs, lower fees on the ground, and overall less BS with customs on the receiving end. Be prepared to deal with a little bit of South African bureaucracy when exporting but it is not terribly hard to do. I found a great shipper located in Capetown who was very helpful. Not sure if you would consider exporting from Capetown instead of Johannesburg. Montevideo is only 6 hours from Buenos Aires. I hope this is helpful.

Shipper info:
LYNDON FRANCIS
EXPORTS
ECONO TRANS
28 MILNER ROAD
PAARDEN EILAND,CAPE TOWN REP SOUTH AFRICA
TEL ; +27-(0)21 5115513
FAX ; +27-(0)21 5114707
E-mail ; lyndon@econotrans.co.za
Website: Econo Trans

I shipped my bike from Buenos Aires to Cape Town in 2016 using Javier at Dakar Motos in Buenos Aires. Super helpful and knowledgable. I know you're trying to go the opposite direction, but they have a lot of experience with both import and export.

That said, I'm sure you've found many other threads on here discussing the incredible increase in freight prices. I'm trying to ship from US to Europe in April/May and have been shocked by how much more it will cost than last time, and the lack of availability.