From Philadelphia, PA, United States to Quito, Ecuador - May, 2004

I crated the bike,a 2003 BMW F650GSL,with gear and extra parts and delivered it to a BDP warehouse in Harrisburg, PA. (The measurements of the crate were (in inches)82Lx46Wx48H and the finished weight 331K. The volume weight for which I was charged was 485 K at 2.05 per K) BDP trucked it to Philadelphia, where it was to clear customs and be loaded on to a plane bound for Miami, Fl. Customs in Philadephia would not clear the crate because it was not leaving the US directly, but going to Miami first. (This hiccup in the shipping arrangements stems from the Port Authority of Philadelphia choosing to maintain a federal law that was repealed a number of years ago.) After wrangling with customs for a few days, Bob Feldman chose to truck the crate to Miami. All of this he explained to me six days after I delivered it to BDP in Harrisburg. The crate rode to Miami, via semi, where again it was held in customs. At the same time I was enjoying the Memorial Day holiday and flying to Quito.

At my request, before the shipment occurred, Bob arranged for a consolidation company, Cal-Vima CIA. LTDA., in Quito, to help me get the bike through Ecuadorian customs. I contacted Claudio, at Cal-Vima, after my arrival in Quito and he told me of the issues in Miami. The folks in the BDP Miami office faxed an Export Power of Attorney (EXPA) form to Cal-Vima, which I promptly signed and returned.

At this point in the endeavor I was in contact via email and telephone with Philadelphia, Miami and Quito shipping agents at BDP and Cal-Vima. Everyone earnestly did everything in their power to speed the shipment of the bike. After receiving the EXPA form customs retained the crate for 72 hours, because they didn