OzVMX Forum

Clubroom => Bike Transport => Topic started by: evo550 on April 16, 2012, 04:50:40 pm

Title: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: evo550 on April 16, 2012, 04:50:40 pm
Anybody had any experience with this less common route ?
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: Rookie#1 on April 16, 2012, 05:04:54 pm
This is probably a bit wrong but i know the guy who is selling this item on ebay at the moment has strong contacts in the US on east coast, he is quite close with Michael Kiernan (expat aussie) who owns "Michaels Motorcycles" and regularly works together with him to get bikes from east coast US to Aus. I only know this from having a lengthy conversation with once about a a GPZ1100 he was selling. Very nice bloke and seemed happy to assist like minded people where he could, sooooooooooo i reckon give him a bell and see if he's got anyway to help ya out. If not i reckon at the very least he'd be able to point you in the right direction. His number can be found within the description of this listing  ;) :)

Cheers, Brendan




http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/190665617112?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649


Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: bishboy on April 23, 2012, 11:27:01 am
This mob ship out of New York, but not sure if they ship to WA.  I was looking at them last year but didn't end up buying the bike, it was about $600 (to Brisbane) but you then have to pay insurance, customs etc etc, probably about another $600.  Don't know if they're any good or not.

http://www.schumachercargo.com/ (http://www.schumachercargo.com/)
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: Freakshow on April 23, 2012, 05:41:30 pm
And the rest Bishboy.  You would be surprised at all the cost and where they come from.  I have just been looking over my bills and putting them into spreadsheets so i know what my bikes cost, in case i ever have to sell them.

Any way on average each $2,000 bike costs me $3800 when its sitting in my garage in SA ( this is based on data from 16 bikes, via 2 differant shippers over a 5 year period ) it seems to cost the same no matter how many ways i have skinned it....... (and thats with creative measure).  One unit i paid $4k for owes me near $8K but it was shipped complete and paper work by the book......

Unless its a hard to obtain units, you would in all honesty probally find a cheaper alternative in AU already

Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: jimg1au on April 23, 2012, 06:54:43 pm
my cz400 cost me 250.00 shipping from la to sydney in 2 large tv boxes
my yz125x cost me 120.00 it was in boxes
i am picking up my champion complete roller on thursday so far 450.00 shipping from east coast to west coast will update when i get it
my montesa cost me 220.00 from long beach to sydney
the bigest cost is internal shipping in the usa it can be expensive.300.00 bsa650 motor east coast to west coast 80.00 long beach to sydney
cheers
jim
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: firko on April 24, 2012, 11:29:19 am
The last two bikes I shipped in cost me $450 each. A couple of weeks ago a BSA frame, 2 Yamaha engines in a box and a gas tank in another box cost me $250 all up. All out of Long Beach, California. Shoreline brought my TM400 engine in for $120 to my door.

East Coast shipping is a different deal. A mate shipped his '69 Mustang out of New York and it ended up costing him much more than if he'd had the car shipped from Ohio to the west coast. That's why I always advise people to buy their bikes from states as close to the west as possible, purely to save on internal shipping costs.

I've used three different shippers over 10 years and the difference in fees between them is astounding. I've switched to the same shipper as Jim and despite his being a tad slack at times, he's the cheapest by a long shot and he ships into Sydney thereby avoiding additional  interstate shipping costs.
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: Freakshow on April 24, 2012, 12:13:44 pm
im not sure slackness makes a differance unless its a top shelf investment. i have in the past paid for service and still got the same level as i always have even with what i thought was cheap shit still goes pear shaped on almost every one.  ::)

i think if you paid nothing for it then send it cheap and gamble.   Im still losing stuff today and have done everything possible to send them correclty on steel skids and photo on pick up.  issue seems to be the loaders dont gave a fork no matter what you pay the shipper , you still have a bunch of mexicans loading it...............  im just not really sure anymore. :-[

im trying to post a bike from NZ, see if thats any differant.  But that mexican might be a little smarter than most ... i hope  ;)
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: jimg1au on April 26, 2012, 01:17:17 pm
my champion roller cost 350.00 as it was the same as a motorbike

(http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp221/jimg1au/flattrack/cr2503champion.jpg)

Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: Freakshow on April 26, 2012, 03:45:57 pm
Are the forks some kinda honda jobs.  what are the tripples in it then.   Be Cutting them tubes down or refork it as it will be a handfull like that, champions are really light on the front and can be a real handfull. mine wont stay on the ground and its a pain in the arse unless its a speedway type track.

product Line the tank if you see lines in the underside, ytou will have to anyway if you going to use methonal on that cr motor in there as it would be the old gel glass.

Powder coat that frame black .
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: Freakshow on April 26, 2012, 03:46:34 pm
Fark $350 is cheap
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: firko on April 26, 2012, 03:55:57 pm
Quote
roduct Line the tank if you see lines in the underside, ytou will have to anyway if you going to use methonal on that cr motor in there as it would be the old gel glass.
Matcho Mick's doiing my Champion tanks as we speak. Freaky.....I think Jim meant that the bike cost $350 to ship.
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: evo550 on April 27, 2012, 11:23:52 am
...back to your originally scheduled program, I have found a shipper coming to the West coast advertising on ebay...Oh the irony!
Anywho my next hurdle, getting it titled, does anyone have a person in the U.S. who can title, presently untitled bikes. The seller is helpful, but is adament that it can't be titled.
Firko? Freaky?
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: firko on April 27, 2012, 01:49:23 pm
Yeah Evo, you can get title for a vehicle but I'm not sure how much you're up for with a bike. My shipper recently had to apply for title for a car and it cost him $600us. Whenever that situation has presented itself I've asked the seller if he'd remove the engine, box it up and send the bike as parts, no title needed. Of course you'll need to offer the guy some bucks for his trouble but I've never paid over $100 and haven't had a knockback yet.
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: Freakshow on April 27, 2012, 03:21:16 pm
Quote
roduct Line the tank if you see lines in the underside, ytou will have to anyway if you going to use methonal on that cr motor in there as it would be the old gel glass.
Matcho Mick's doiing my Champion tanks as we speak. Freaky.....I think Jim meant that the bike cost $350 to ship.

yeah i now that. :)
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: bishboy on April 27, 2012, 04:44:05 pm
Do you need to get it titled, my bike just arrived and it only needed a bill of sale.

How are you guys getting it shipped so cheap?  Mine was $1000 all inclusive (but it did get shipped to Melbourne instead of Brisbane and it's gettting delivered to my door for free), just hope I can keep the bike, might have to sell it due to current circumstances  :'(
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: Freakshow on April 27, 2012, 04:55:01 pm
to your door thats not far off the mark.
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: jimg1au on April 28, 2012, 03:13:04 am
may be for you but way off for me. mine is an easy pic up in ashfield
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: evo550 on April 28, 2012, 12:39:56 pm
Do you need to get it titled, my bike just arrived and it only needed a bill of sale.


Every shipper I've spoken(about 7) to said YES.

my champion roller cost 350.00 as it was the same as a motorbike

(http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp221/jimg1au/flattrack/cr2503champion.jpg)



Did you need a title to ship a roller ? or is that considered parts?
Title: Re: Shipping from U.S. east coast to Aus west coast.
Post by: firko on April 28, 2012, 01:05:46 pm
Quote
Did you need a title to ship a roller ? or is that considered parts?
A roller is considered parts.
Quote
Do you need to get it titled, my bike just arrived and it only needed a bill of sale
You're lucky, nearly everyone I know bringing bikes in has had to have title on complete bikes. I didn't have title on my last two bikes and had to go through a bit of drama to have someone remove the engines at the shippers yard before they'd load them. It used to be that a bill of sale was all you needed but the US Feds changed the rules in a bit to prevent stolen bikes (Harleys mostly) leaving the country.
Quote
How are you guys getting it shipped so cheap?  Mine was $1000 all inclusive (but it did get shipped to Melbourne instead of Brisbane and it's gettting delivered to my door for free)
It really pays to shop around, the difference in shipping costs vary quite a lot. I've paid as high as $1000 plus and as low as $350. No university degees are needed to work out which one I'm using now, especially seeing he ships into my beloved Sydney. ;)

What a lot of newbie bike importers overlook is internal shipping. Buying a bike east of the Rockies in the US will usually cost $500+ to get to the West Coast shipping yards. Then, when the bike finally arrives at your importers yard here on Oz he'd better be in your home city or you're up for transport to your front door...add another $300-500. A bargain on eBay can soon turn into costing you more than a locally sourced bike if you don't factor in those things.