Shipping San Fran. to Melb.

[Mick22]

Got a bike in San Francisco I want to ship to Melbourne, can anyone recommend a shipping company they have used to get a bike over ??

or is anyone in the process of filling a container that wants to sell a space??

Bike is not crated but will pay to get it crated if required

[Freakshow]

YOu will need to get the bike to Long beach , most if not all the aussie containers leave from there. bike is best sent loose ( they will pack crate it in) or bust it down onto a pallet and ship it and declare it as parts ( cheap on customs no GST or levy)

You need to plan to move the bike.  i paid $350 i think to get 3 bikes in a ute  form the bay area back to long beach dockyards  ( even get it to anahiem)

there would be 2 or 3 shippers that will bring you bike to AU, but in the current costs youll be looking at about $1,000 per bike plus you customs.

Most clearances are out of sydney or Qld, so youll need to add the local leg of the transport.

as a rule of thumb to have it on you door will be twice what you pay for it  ( assumes a 1-5k bike)

[firko]

As Freaky says, most of the shippers ship out of Long Beach California so you'll need to get it down there from San Francisco. That should cost around $200us. Many of us use Peter Leahy on the Gold Coast to ship out of Long Beach but there are others including John Cain in Newcastle.
Give Peter Leahy Custom Imports,  Centrepark Complex, Unit 50, 211 Brisbane Road Labrador Qld Australia 4216. Ph 07 5537 5288 24/7 0412 109 059. Fax 07 5528 9899 ...a ring and he'll sort out the USA-Australia shipping. All you'll have to do then is to organise to truck the bike from Labrador to Melbourne. The prices have recently gone up but they're still a bit cheaper than some of the others.

[jimg1au]

go with a shipper as some times they want a title before it is shipped out oh the usa.mostly a bill of sale will do. i freind had a car frame for a hot rod it was old but customs usa wouldnt let it go till there was a title.the shipper got him 1 and now the hot rod is 75% finished
cheers
jim

[firko]

Mick.....If the bike is a complete runner be certain that the bike has a clear title and that all of the paperwork accompanies the bike. The US authorities have recently tightened up the rules wheras previously you could get away with exporting a bike with just a bill of sale but since the crackdown you need full title paperwork.
One way of avoiding that situation is to dismantle the bike and bring it in as used parts which sidetracks the title situation. I try and bring all of my bikes in that way but you have to be careful that the bike is dismantled enough to look like 'spare parts'. Last year I shipped my B&S as parts by simply removing the engine and putting it in a milk crate but I was told I was lucky to get away with something that 'dodgy'. Remove the wheels as well and you'd be pretty right.

[jimg1au]

this is how i get my stuff here i have imported 3 speedway bikes 1 cr250 2 mx360&cz400.never paid more then 400.00ausd to get them here.

[jimg1au]

one more

[Freakshow]

Agree with above, it all really depends how good your contact is at the other end and how helpful they want to be.

IF you used the RS bike below for sale @ $3000 USD as example,

convert the price to AUD, 
add the $300 to truck,
$1500 shipping and fees
$300 trasport in Au and a few Customs unknows

it will owe you roughly again what you paid for it, the only variable in there is the customs and the how you word the dec, parts is cheaper no duty etc, but all the other stuff is a fixed cost.


So depending on what you want to pay will detirmine how you send it and who you should use.

[firko]

Jims got it by the balls. The only problem is to find a seller willing to dismantle the bike for you. I've been lucky with most of my sellers as has Jim but Jonesy once got caught with a bloke who wouldn't ship anywhere and wouldn't dismantle the bikes. Al had bought two GRM trials bikes but the bloke would only allow local pickup. Eventually our mate Mike McCook agreed to travel interstate to pick up the bikes for him and store them at his house until a plan B can be formulated.

The moral of this tale is 1: Always sort out any shipping with the buyer before you commit yourself to bid and 2: Try and nurture a network of local Americans that can assist you when 'shit happens'. Between Al and I we've gained a great little network of racers who bend over backwards to help us out when we need someone on the ground over there.
For example, 6 years ago I bought a Hindall Kawasaki from Leon Roach in California and we've remained in touch ever since. Lately he's been assisting me with some rare Cheney parts and is even making new side panels for the bike after I was ripped off by Simon Cheney on the crap he sent me (another story now in legal hands). By coincidence, Leon is also mates with Vegas Bob who I bought my Boyd and Stelling from and Brian OConnor who I bought the Hindall Ducati from, who lives on the other coast but is connected through the Ducati MX 'brotherhood'. Between these blokes and McCook in Pennsylvania, Mike Middleton in Fresno, California and  Ben Penny in the UK (and a few more) we're really well covered for help when needed. Of course we offer our help to anyone on this end to even out the kindness.

I realise we've strayed a little from the original thread but the above tips are handy for newbies to the USA import scenario. Once you've got a system in place it's as easy as pie to find, buy and import stuff from the USA.

[jimg1au]

you should have seen the job the guy from nevarda did on the 3 speedway bikes,the boxes could have gone around the world 4 or 5 times and not got any damage.i paid the guy 400.00us to pack everything and del to long beach for me.the exersive cost 4500.00 aud at my door.

[Mick22]

Thanks a lot for the help fellas, some really helpful info for me in there

Hadn't thought to offer the guy some dollars to disassemble for me!

Firko - spot on about the title. If it doesn't have a title you can't get it out anymore but apparently (i haven't verified this yet) if you have a bill of sale you can apply for a new title for a small fee.

Jim - which shipping agent do you use??

[Mick22]

as a rule of thumb to have it on you door will be twice what you pay for it  ( assumes a 1-5k bike)

Just about spot on Freaky

Paid $1300 for the bike

Got all my shipping sorted today, will owe me $2500 cleared in Melb. (but passed experience tells me there may be a few 100 extra here or there)

Thanks guys again for the help

[lc4]

Hey Mick 22 if you havent already organised something I know a guy that ships into Melbourne from Pomona in LA. I have shipped in a Honda Pilot through him a couple of years ago and recently got a price on a bike at $500.00. As with all the other shippers you will need to get the bike dropped to his storage yard.

[paul]

does any body have a contact that will ship into melbourne  from long beach or close by

[Freakshow]

YEs.