Hello all !

First post on the HUBB, after so many hours exploring the vastness of it...
Unfortunately, I haven't yet found answers to my transportation questions.

We are soon leaving on a RTW with two bikes, from France to Canada, through Ukraine, Russia, the -Stans, Mongolia, Japan, Canada and the US. Nothing much original so far , but so many things to plan.

I've arranged the ferry from Vladivostok to Sakaiminato, with the help or Yuri. This far everything is good, just waiting for the confirmation.

Then we want to fly the bikes (2 x 250 kgs approx) to Vancouver, initially from Japan but air freight is more than the prices of the bike, so not an option (quote from Air Sea Express).
We have a quote for a boat shipping, with Air Sea Express Limited (approx. 4 000 $ USD + estimated 1000 $ USD fee on arrival) for a 10 day crossing.

So we though, why not try from Korea by air, so I asked Wendy and she gave me this answer :

Approx cost will be USD2500-USD3500/BIKE
(Airline will charge base on kg, so if you make it small, you can save huge cost)
Base on size, cost may changeable.

The cost doesn't include import fee from japan to korea
To move bike from ferry port to crating company, you may need to take an insurance for driving, etc.
This process will follow by ferry company

which is unfortunately not very detailed. And I then inquired about the cost of a ferry crossing to Korea (to get an idea of the global shipping cost), and as it would be an excuse to visit an other country, so why not ? But I realized that it was almost impossible to get a quote for a vehicle online (just even knowing which company allows vehicles is complicated..) So i contacted three of them (Pukwan, Camelia Lines and Kampu Ferry. Only two answered so far :

Thank you for your inquiry about our ferry.
We are so sorry, you can not board on the ferry the motorcycle one way.
Only round trip use is possible for people living in Japan.

Many thanks.
KAMPUFERRY

and :

You must be registered bike in Japan for temporary import/export a bike from Shimonoseki to Busan.

Unfortunately, your bike is registered in France, so you cannot travel from Shimonoseki to busan with your bike.

Thank you for your inquiry.

So, now, I don't know what to think anymore. I wanted to fly, knowing it would be more expensive, but to be sure to enjoy our bikes straightaway in Canada.

So, my interrogation now is the following, does anyone have done the crossing from Japan to Korea by ferry with a non-japanese/korean motorcyle ? If yes, any tips are welcome, prices, formalities etc.. ! I don't know if they say no by mail just to be dissuasive of if it's going to be a concrete no once there.

And if you have any more suggestions/contacts on how to do the crossing between Japan or Korea to Canada, reducing the global cost, they will be more than welcomed.

I've also contacted Interfracht Japan, and two Import agencies in Korea in order to obtain quotations as close of reality as possible, to make the best decision.

Sorry about the long post, but if you have fresh news/infos, I'm all listening !

Thanks for you help !

Boo