I have two weeks (plus, maybe a couple more days) for a Alaska trip this summer. Would like to ride my GS 1200 to Alaska and then ship it back from Anchorage to N. California. I have been reading through the various forums and calling various shippers. Here are a couple of questions for the wise ones here at ADVRider. 1. The shippers I have talked to, suggest I need to crate the bike. To price of crates range from $300 to $500. That seems like a lot. Can I rent a crate? Any ideas? 2. If you use a crate or pallet, what do you do with it when you claim your bike? Do you throw it away? Dumpsters? What? 3. Others shipped bikes from Alaska... where did you get your crate / pallet? Do you ask for something different if you want to just secure a bike inside of a container? 4. During July, is the price different if you ship North to Alaska or South from Alaska? 5. Can you recommend a preferred shipper? I have talked with KgM Motorcycle Transport, Classic Motion, Northland Services. I have asked these shippers about shipping from Seattle to Anchorage. Thanks All! I will post a matrix of what I learn for others as I compile my information.
Call Keith at Route 66 Transport. His number is 810-614-8038. He brought two of my friends bikes up to Alaska last summer. And back. He also brought 3 bikes back from Alaska to guys in the Sacramento area. He put them in a 40' enclosed trailer set up for motorcycles. No crate. Also, all their luggage was on the bikes and already packed. He had talked about maybe making Alaska an annual thing. I rode up and back, but if I go back in two years, I'll definately ship with him if he does it again.
I have shipped my Harley twice from Fairbanks to Seattle with Alaska Airlines. Once in Nov, 1993, and again in Feb 2007. This option is only available in Alaska and to Seattle. The planes have an extra large door to allow room for cargo pallets and pods. They aren't used any farther south. The shipper has to be "approved" by Alaska Airlines, which means an application and review before approval. The bike does not have to be crated. You can leave the battery in, but it has to be disconnected. Depending on which person you talk with, you can leave one gallon or 1/4 tank of fuel in the bike. Oil can stay in engine. The cost is based on the weight of the bike, and there is an additional HazMat fee, about $25 last time. My Harley was a little over 650 pounds, and seems like the cost was about $650 in 2007. Shipping from Fairbanks, I was told to allow about 3 days for arrival in Seattle. When I shipped, I trailered the bike to the freight terminal, presented the shipping paperwork which I had initiated a few days earlier, they had me back up to a door and unload the bike inside. The bike was rolled onto a metal shipping skid, and I was even allowed to attach the tie down straps myself. They move the skid with a forklift, and it is considerably larger than the bike, so nothing extends past the edges. I was able to fly to SeaTac 3 or 4 days after I shipped and took a cab to the Freight Terminal. Simple, just hooked up the battery, put on my riding gear, strapped on my bags and took off, hit the first gas station to top off the tank. No crate to buy, or get rid of later. The hardest part would be finding an approved shipper in Anchorage, and the best way to do that would be to advertise on Alaskaslist or Craigslist in the motorcycle section. I would get references tho. And probably a local shop might have the approved shipper status. Good luck... RRBob
I concur with RailroadBob. Except for the fact that he said you have to be an Approved Shipper. I am not one and had no trouble. You DO have to get a hazmat permit, which is $50 if I recall, and can be done at an office about 2 blocks away from the freight terminal. Easy. I dont recall the name of that place, but the freight people will tell you who it is. OR you can fill out some tedious paperwork yourself and avoid the $50 BUT the odds of screwing that up and delaying the shipment made the $50 look cheap.
The first time I shipped, there was no requirement to be an approved shipper. I did everything myself, no problems. The second time was after the attacks on the WTC, and security was considerably tighter. Possibly that has eased now, but security in these days impacts all of us in some way, especially traveling or shipping, especially internationally. If you think this method might work for you, I suggest contacting AK Air directly, and find out the current requirements well in advance of your trip. If an approval is required, no telling how long it would take to do all the paperwork and submit, and wait for a reply. If no approval is required, you can still find out current shipping costs and other requirements. Either way, it is a pretty painless way to ship, especially when you compare amount of time and costs of crating, and trucking or barge shipment.
Carlile has done well by us. Shop around for rates, but give them a shot. Shipping from AK to anywhere will be much less expensive than bringing something into AK. We provide a crate and crate motorcycles for $300. We usually use the largest crate we can find to avoid too much work on the unit. Most times there is extra space for things to be strapped down, dry bags, etc. How it works with us is we'll get you a quote from Carlile, you drop your bike off and the bike arrives at the destination a few weeks later. The actual boat ride is about 5 days or so, budget a few days on both sides for logistics, and you should be set. We do it all the time, it's pretty straight forward. Any questions, just give me a call!
Is shipping insurance available when sending a crate by barge? It doesn't happen very often, but occassionally, due to the nasty weather in the Alaska Gulf, a barge is lost, sometimes more than one.
Insurance is available I believe, best ask the shipping service directly about that issue. Happy I can help, don't hesitate to ask!
Just talked to Keith and he is not running up to Alaska anytime soon. I am looking to get a bike up here from Oregon in Feb/Mar timeframe. I may also need to get one down to Lower 48. If anyone needs a bike moved, I may have to drive it and have a two bike trailer. Maybe we could make a deal. Still looking for alternatives. Lyden quoted me about a 1000 dollars from Oregon to here.
As we spoke on the phone, that quote is about par for the course for getting bikes up here. Going back down is much more reasonable. Hopefully this gives everyone an idea of why bikes cost MSRP plus shipping...
Im contacting your company today. Hope the above shipping is still available. Ill be up from LA third week in May 2014.
We used Vic Hoskins trucking they are based out of Idaho from Wasilla to Seattle. 400 per bike but they only go as far south as Seattle. I went to the Harley shop and bought a pallet for an Electra glide strapped the bike to it and donated the pallet to the scrap metal pile in Seattle.
Joni at Classic Motion is the best in the business. Just put it in her hands and let her work her magic. Done. CD
And I'm sure it was an isolated incident but I know of a very special Ducati that didn't fair very well on its voyage. Like totaled, not so well!:eek1 Although it was the fault of the shipping company and not Classic Motion who were outstanding in handling the situation.