Roll on roll off vs Crated transport
 

Here's an interesting one - I need to ship the bike to Melbourne in OZ - it's not a tempary shipment - she's going over there for good. I'm up to speed on all the import tax / forms etc - but I seem to have conflicting advice from shipping companies on transporting her.

So far I have one quote, which seems quite reasonable - £700 for a roll on roll off service - no crate.

Just wondering what everything thinks about the roll on roll off service as opposed to the crating...

It takes 42 days - which doesn't really matter I don't need the bike there fast - but I do want to make sure that she gets there in one piece - but as a reasonable price as it's coming out of my re-location package...

sorry - questions questions questions today!

m

£700 sounds pretty expensive (supposing your talking freight by sea). We paid about 450 euros Sydney to Helsinki, plus 150 at the receiving end (this 150 was a bit of a rip-off, dont know if you can collect it cheaper in Oz). Was supposed to take 42 days, but in reality it took around 60.

Out of curiosity, which company offers a ´roll on roll off´ service between UK and Oz, on what kind of ship, and is that service a regular one?

If youre sensitive about scratches, etc. when transporting, then a closed crate will be the best.

Thanks for coming back so soon.

It's with a company called International Car Shipping. Overseas Shipping Cars, Boats, Transport shippers UK US International Moving Transport recommended via my international removals company.

Here are the roll on roll off ports

Autoshippers UK car shipping by sea, container, roll on roll off. International Ro Ro ports

It's a lot cheaper than a container, but I'm not sure about crating companies - all the quotes I've had back so far seem to be about £300 just to crate it up and put it in the container with my house move - which seems very steep!

This company does both container and roll on roll off and they say 'ro ro' is better.......

m

If you're taking the bike there permanently, aren't you as well to sell it here and buy another there? £700 plus whatever you get selling it here might get you the same or better once you're there.

Yeah thought had gone through my mind... the bike is pretty much worthless really - it's got high millage for a three year old bike (40k - and it'll have even more post Russia trip!) - it's been serviced by me rather than a dealer - and after two accidents (all repaired professionally and totally safe and cosmetically sound) I'm concerned that I wouldn't even get the £2.2k Parkers say it's worth... so if I'm looking at buying something for £2.9k ($6270 AUD) then I can't actually get very much out there... even if I do sell it at top whack.... which as I say is unlikely... poor brute may not be worth much dosh, but she means the world to me.....

silly I know.

m

Matt, if you wouldn't mind I have some questions along the same lines and your thread seems better than starting a new one.

I just received a $950 USD quote to ship a bike from Belgium to Costa Rica, it's high but with fuel prices up this may be normal. Any opinions on breaking the bike down to decrease size versus crating the bike in a 'roll out' state

Thanks

Yeah of course :-)

m

RoRo out of the UK may not be such a good idea as the boats get unloaded in Singapore and then re loaded onto a boat that has come down from Japan. Vehicles can sit on the wharf in SIN for a week or more.

I am amazed that RoRo would be cheaper than grouped seafreight which has direct container services ex Tilbury and Southampton to most Melbourne.

Dont forget that your bike will be up for a few more expenses when you get it here - a vehicle engineer has to inspect it and approve it - $150 - $250. Unless its in pristine clean condition it'll get a quarantine wash - $80 and a quarantine inspection - $140 +-.

Matt,

I'm pretty sure the bike will be shunted around quite a bit... Same as JimOD I'd propose to get rid of it and look for another bike in OZ. They are fairly inexpensive there. A newSuzuki 650 DR only costs around 8,000 AUD. Very reliable. Even the older 2-valve Beemers (GS) seem to be fair priced.

Check with Get Routed - dave@getrouted.com.au but the last time I looked they had a shipment bound for Sydney being loaded in Felixstowe, Suffolk on 10 Sept. He might even do you a good price.

It's a specialised motorcycle shipping service in containers and crating is not necessary.

Their prices include Marine Insurance, Quarantine inspection, Customs Clearance. Ride your bike to their Felixstowe depot and ride it away from their Sydney depot.

Or maybe transport could be organised between Sydney and Melbourne.

All the best,
Maggie