Can anyone help finding out what’s the difference between shipping a motorcycle as accompanying luggage or as cargo?
How does this affect customs clearance?
Any info much appreciated.
Thanks a lot
Fernando
DD

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I am interested in this also, as there are many cargo ships that will take a small number of passengers on board Due to recent legislation changes

Who has what level of responsibility for the goods from where to where, and custom bureaucracy.

1. The two will usually represent a difference in shipping price.

2. It can be the difference whether or not you can enter your shipping destination. E.g. in Thailand overseas vehicles can enter as luggage (or by road) and you only have to sign one document made on the spot. If the bike arrives as cargo there will be loads of paperwork and you will be charged full import duty, even if your intention is to drive out of the country the next day.

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Thanks a lot Erik.
Now I have t find out what's the score about this arriving in India.
The charter plane that's taking me there recommend to take it as cargo just because it sounded strange to them to declare a vehicle as accompanying luggage.
Also, I've heard loads about India's 'bureacrazy'.
Fernando

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Hi Fernando,

I am just guessing here, but if you take your motorcycle as luggage on a plane
you might have a few minor problems.

- Checking your luggage. Does your motorbike fit on the scale they use for
weighing checked luggage? :confused1: And does it fit on the conveyor-belt ?

- Overweight. Most tickets come with 20 or 30 kg of luggage and 10 kg of
hand-luggage. Since hand-luggage needs to fit in the
overhead-compartments, that might present a bit of a problem. First of all, it
probably does not fit and second of all I just can not imagine a stewardess
helping you to lift your bike into the overhead-compartment. She might get
oil-stains on her uniform.
So it will become checked-luggage with about 200 kg of overweight. At 15 U$
a kg that might put you off.

- Trolleys. When you arrive at your destination you need to put your luggage
onto a trolley and show it to customs etc. Does you bike fit on the trolley?
Does the trolley fit through the doors with the bike on it? Does it fit in the
elevator (sometimes you need to take a long long way around if your trolley
does not fit in the elevator).

All this kind of puts me off. And then I have not even considered a wooden
crate. Suppose your bike is crated and then you need to lift it into the
overhead-compartment... you get splinters in your hands etc.

OK, seriously now: Taking a motorbike as personal luggage is usually not
possible. Only at trains or larger freight boats with 'roll on, roll off' facilities,
but they usually are very expensive.


By the way, in Thailand you don't have to pay any customs or import duty's.
Not by sea, not by air. You get the same piece of paper that you get at any
land-border.
Only difference is that in the port you need to pay (a small sum) to the
shipping-company for handling and at the airport you need to pay a (even
smaller) fee for warehouse-storage.
Since at the land borders there are no warehouses and no forklift-trucks to
move your crated bike, you don't need to pay it.

Hope this helps (a bit...)
Maarten

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This January Thai custom as well as the Clasquin import/export agency in Bangkok confirmed that a motorcycle arriving in Thailand as cargo is subject to full import duty (thus I had to re-route my shipment to Port Klang to avoid it). Now, I thought these messages was a bit odd since I've previously have shipped a bike by air from Kathmandu to Bangkok without paying any import duty and only signed the paper we get at the land-borders. When asking Eagle Eye - the agent most of us use in Kathmandu - how this was possible, he explained that he ship our bikes to Bangkok as luggage and not as cargo to avoid Thai import duty.

And yes, back then they pushed the crate with my bike through the X-ray machine and it went on the conveyor band etc... And, as with most of the luggage when flying, it was put in the luggage room in the belly of the plane.

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I am afraid you were misinformed. That happens a lot here.
Biggest problem is the poor (read no) knowledge of English, even at international companies.

At one point I had to persuade a very large international shipping agent (McNels) with
an office here in Bangkok to ship my bike from Singapore to Bangkok. The agent was absolutely
convinced that customs would impound the bike on arrival.

Naturally nothing of the sort happened. You simply receive what is called "the white paper".

As a matter of fact you could not pay the import duty if you wanted to since it is illegal to
import a motorcycle from outside Thailand without previous approval of the
ministry of trade. Thailand has a law that motor vehicles need to be
manufactured for at least 60% inside Thailand (a stupid way to protect and
stimulate local industry).
Special import has a 300% import duty.

They pushed your crate though the X-ray machine? You must have a small bike.

Maarten

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Maarten, it is an interesting topic with many conflicting answers. I've posted a new thread about it in the Southern Asia section.

PS: The bike is about this small:

Attached Images

 

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Some very funny entries!
Thanks to all.
I flew with the bike from Bishkek to Dehli.
No crate available or needed. The bike was loaded on the plane (an Il 18 f40+ years old) and rested on its side. I neither liked this not thought was safe. It was not tied to anything. I stood the bike and put on the side stand. We took off with four of us standing in the middle of teh cargo bay holding the bike still.
We rolled the bike to the nearest thing available to havre it tied to, a bar above the cargo door. Facing forward, to land we had to hold on to it again so it didn't run forward (I did engaged a gear, but i wasn't going to risk it sliding forward and coming off its side stand).
On the airwaybill the bike was declared as for personal use.

I've already gave the few tips that may be of help to someone arriving with a bike to Dehli:
get your 'segregated report' from the airline,
with it, carnet the pasagge, driving license, passport, bike docs and photocopies of every thing go to the NEW CUSTOMS building, second floor, BONDS office. there they will start the customs clearance process. It took a day. the next midday I was able to collect my papers and carnet, free to go.
It is very bureocratic, but everyone at the customs was nice and helpful.
f
PS. My apologies for my bad English.

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I am trying to gather info for shipping my bike to Thailand. Either by ship to Malayasia or by plane to Bangkok.

If I ship either way to either place do I need a Carnate? Cash deposit at Thai Customs in Bangkok if I do not have one if the bike is flown in?

Anyone have any info on flying bikes to Bangkok from the USA? I have tried searching the internet for THAI AIR Cargo and Luhfthansa but am reaching dead ends when it comes to procedure and costs of shipping motorcycles.

Need all the help I can get...Thanks.

Biggus

when you go in the same plane or ship as the bike than it can be seen as acc.luggage, this is not possible when you and the bike travel seperately ofcoruse. As acc.lugg there is much less paperwork involved to get the bike out of (air)port = less fees and taxes to be paid. Normally you only need the tem.importpapers (often for free) and do not have to pay the various handling, storage and etc fees, nor do you need a shipping agent to clear the stuff.

I heard a guy accompanied his bike on the ferry from Vladivostok to Sokcho (South Korea) and circumvented a load of paperwork by declaring his bike as 'Hand Luggage'.

Might try it sometime .

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I did this 2 weeks ago, and my bike went with Malaysian Airlines, whereas I myself flew Thai Airways from Chennai. So I dont believe I would've had any chance to even try to get the bike as hand luggage...

After about 30 minutes in the customs at Suvarnabhumi airport, they filled up the correct "Simplified Customs Declaration Form" (which in fact is the same as temporary import paper), and I was out of there with the bike in about 2 hrs. Surely you do NOT need to pay any import duties to enter your bike into Thailand as cargo. Though there was a guarantee sum of +1 million baht, in case I wouldnt take it out of Thailand within 30 days, but if I obey that, no import duties or taxes.

They might not know, what is the correct procedure everywhere, so thats where the confusion might come from.

Actually crossed into Malaysia today, and they just took that same paper from me at Thai customs and had me sign it there. Took less than 2 minutes... and if theyre ever going to claim I didnt take my bike out of Thailand, I'll show them the Malaysian stamp on the carnet.