Sometimes, you find yourself needing to have your bike delivered to a distant location. Whether you are moving, broken down, or simply want to maximize your vacation time spent riding in a specific area, there are companies that will haul your motorcycle for you.
Fly-And-Ride
First, assuming the bike is ride-able, consider a fly-and-ride scenario. If you are not worried about putting the extra miles on the bike, either you or a trusted rider you know could ride the bike to the final destination and take a flight back home. This could end up being the cheapest option or easiest logistically, but be sure to factor in all expenses such as fuel, food, and lodging, not to mention wear and tear on the bike, especially tires.
Shipping Company Testimonials
The following are comments from fellow NERds on their experiences when shipping their motorcycles:
Motorcycle Shippers
NANCY: Used three times: Washington State, Phoenix, AZ, and San Jose, CA. I believe they subcontract to shipping companies. They will pick up at your home or you can drop at a depot for a small discount. If they pick it up at your home, They come with a truck with a lift gate. The bike is strapped to a special skid once it’s on the truck. They inspect for existing scratches, etc and you sign off on it.
They will deliver to a private home, which is what we did, or deliver to one of their depots. You can greatly shorten the turn around time by dropping at the depot and picking it up at the depot. They only deliver and presumably pick up from “neighborhoods” on certain days, sometimes only once in a two-week time period, so it makes sense that there will be lead time and lag time on each end unless you do depot to depot. They depots tend to be near airports or industrial areas. We dropped at the depot last time and it was about 40 minutes from here. Our bikes were in CA in a week.
You can ship the bike wet. All the hard luggage is supposed to be empty but no one cares or checks. We stuff them full which saves on carrying or shipping camping and some riding gear. The driver does not take the keys. You take them with you or mail them to the person who is receiving the bike at their home. They give that person a call 24 hours in advance and then give them a window on the day. We know lots of techies all over the place who ride and work from home. Win! The other options for discounts are multiple bikes and round tripping. They used to stack discount but not anymore.
If shipping two bikes, tell them it’s one shipment not two. Saves money.
I’ve heard good things about Allied Federal. The person who received our bikes at the dock last year actually recommended them.
Federal Motorcycle Transport
ADAM ROCKETMOTO: We ship a lot of bikes. You can have one or the other, best or cheapest, but not both. No shipper can or should guarantee that there will be no damage in transit. But if there is, and the bike is properly insured, the shipper will make good on it, pronto.
Our experience with many independent bike haulers, especially those found on UShip, can be dicey at best. I would suggest steering clear of those.
Our Motus bikes come in via Federal. They do a decent job and if there is an issue they will immediately tend to it. You will pay a couple hundred more to ship by an outfit like Federal rather than an independent, but you’ll save a lot of hassle if there are any issues. Trust me on this.
CK5 Transport Services, LLC
DAVE: We shipped my wife’s bike to Daytona one year…they’re both riders…and they’re very respectful and understand our “anxieties” about turning over our rides. Always cleaned upon delivery. Great couple run the company!
HaulBikes.com
LOU: Not my personal experience, but I have a friend who had his bike shipped to/from Delaware to Colorado recently via Haulbikes, and both times there was damage done to the bike, One the outbound trip, they did cover the repairs done at a Denver dealer, but they refused to do anything about the damage that was caused on the inbound trip.
Hazal Holdings Transport (via uShip)
TAMMY: Just used them to transport my bike from FL to MA. It ended up for an entire week in Stugis (hmmmm rally week…imagine that). And had significant damage to the point I was not able to ride it when it arrived. They promised it by the 4th of August and finally delivered it on the 12th of August. Now they are not responding to texts, calls or emails. Please, do not go through what I did and still am going through. Avoid them like the plague!