From Brisbane, Australia to Vancouver, Canada - May, 2018

I had to completely drain all oil and fuel and other fluids from the bike, disconnect the battery and provide a full itemised inventory with photos of everything being shipped with the bike. I chose not to ship any dangerous goods to simplify the process, but I could have if necessary but there would have been more paperwork at the Brisbane end and more charges.

I dropped off the bike to Australian Packers & Craters in Brisbane (www.auscrate.com.au). They were the cheapest (just under $600) I found to manufacture the crate and they do motorcycle crates frequently, they had 3 or 4 bikes in their workshop when I dropped mine off so they're doing them every week. They manufactured it in 3 days, then the agent arranged for a truck to pick it up so I didn't have to go back and see it. AusCrate emailed me some photos of the bike inside the crate, they also weighed it and gave me the final dimensions, can't recommend them highly enough.

When I entered Canada at Vancouver International Airport I declared that I had unaccompanied goods, presented my paperwork, no problems.

The ship arrived on the ETA date which was good (7 weeks from when I left it in Brisbane) but it took 5 business days to actually get the bike after it was unloaded. It took 3 days to get from the unloading port to the forwarding yard. Once in the forwarding yard I was able to present to the Canadian Border Services Agency at their office near Downtown with all my documents. I cleared Customs then and there, no visual inspection required. I simply imported the bike and my personal effects as a 'Temporary Vehicle Import' and didn't need to pay any fees or deposit. Then I had to wait another day for a flatbed truck with a crane to deliver it to my Vancouver address because the forwarding yard didn't want me to dismantle the crate on site. This was about $320CAD (included in destination charges), but there wasn't really any other options.

Overall would recommend Customs & Forwarding Services, the price was good, the process was fairly easy once it was explained to me but very frustrating waiting for it at the destination end when all you want to do is hit the road!

Any questions I'd be happy to answer them; ryan...@outlook.com