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[JCZ]

Many of you have shipped your bikes one way and then rode them in the other direction (or vica versa) with one of the major motorcycle transports.

Did you ship your bike with anything in the saddlebags or tour pack?  Did you ship with everything (tools, clothes, camera gear, etc.) or just selected items?  If it was just selected items and you took the rest on the plane with you.......what went on the bike and what went with you?

For those who shipped their bikes with any thing in them........was everything still there when you picked your bike up?

When Jon and I shipped across country we shipped with a few things (I don't remember what we shipped and what we checked at the airport).  We had our rain pants in one of the leg fairings and our rain coat in the other leg fairing.  We were half way across the country when Jon realized that he did not have his rain suit.  We had the dealership in Atlanta "detail" our bikes when they arrived (wasn't much more than a quick wash but we got charged for a detail).   Jon called the dealership and they didn't know anything about it missing but he left his name and address, anyway.  A couple months later his rain suit was shipped to him via UPS.

Now that it costs to check any bags or boxes, I'm beginning to wonder what we should do on our next trip??

[mwg]

We've shipped our bikes a couple of times to allow us to ride ither areas of the country and we always ship them loaded (tools, clothes). I usually bringour helmets and electroncs with us on the plane. Typically we rode with a bigger group and a couple of the guys will go ahead to offload the bikes.. Keyboard shipping is pretty thorough  in inventorying what's on the bike.

[hogasm]

JC when we shipped our bikes to Billings Montana for the Nelson GTG we used Keypost
They did a great job, checking every thing on the bikes and did a inventory or what was in the bags, after which we could lock them or not. We shipped our rain gear, leathers, bike cleaning supplies on the bikes, and the helmets in my tour pack. We wore our boots on the plane and only carried 1 change of clothes, and our toiletries. We shipped to the HD dealership everything else. They were very nice at Billings HD and even picked us up at the airport.

[Cvostu]

You know JC,  if you  leave soon- you can be here on time for the Key West trip.  Take your raingear

[JCZ]

Rain gear??  I thought you guys scheduled no rain.   :nixweiss
I hate it when that happens!

[tjstreetglide]

I have shipped ours on several occasions and used KGM up here. Sent everything with them except what we needed at the Hotel for a couple days. I never had a problem. They itemise everything when you ship and when you pickup. Good outfit if they our in your area.

[The Bolvine Gigolo!]

And while we're on that thought, I'd like to know your opinions on the shipping companys. I spoke with Federal ( Jock ) used to ship to our GTG, around 710.00 for me from Charotte, NC to Calif. And Keyboard was 650.00. is there others to check on???

[JCZ]

And while we're on that thought, I'd like to know your opinions on the shipping companys. I spoke with Federal ( Jock ) used to ship to our GTG, around 710.00 for me from Charotte, NC to Calif. And Keyboard was 650.00. is there others to check on???

I got your voice message earlier.......no problem. 

Jon and I used Keyboard before and we were very happy with them and that's who we plan to use again.

[shortdog]

Hey Guys,
It seems you all want to go East to West.
If you should ever want to go N/S or S/N on the East coast give Amtrak a try. They have the Autotrain which runs daily between Sanford, Fl. and Lorton, Va.
Take what you need as carry-on for one night along with electronics, leave the rest on the bike. Load up at either end and leave at 4:00 p.m. arrive the next a.m. around 8:00.
Cost for two bikes, sleeping compartment, dinner and breakfast is about 600 bucks. Great experience! Cost is less if you don't use a sleeper, but you will be sitting in a reclining chair ll night. Also the train has a full bar lounge car and shows movies through the evening hours.
Bikes are well secured on carts, two to a cart. Load on the cart yourself and the staff secures your bike. Staff assists with unloading and seems very conscientious with the handling. Bikes are loaded last and come off first at a separate area from cars.

[Grizzly]

Many of you have shipped your bikes one way and then rode them in the other direction (or vica versa) with one of the major motorcycle transports.

Did you ship your bike with anything in the saddlebags or tour pack?  Did you ship with everything (tools, clothes, camera gear, etc.) or just selected items?  If it was just selected items and you took the rest on the plane with you.......what went on the bike and what went with you?

For those who shipped their bikes with any thing in them........was everything still there when you picked your bike up?

When Jon and I shipped across country we shipped with a few things (I don't remember what we shipped and what we checked at the airport).  We had our rain pants in one of the leg fairings and our rain coat in the other leg fairing.  We were half way across the country when Jon realized that he did not have his rain suit.  We had the dealership in Atlanta "detail" our bikes when they arrived (wasn't much more than a quick wash but we got charged for a detail).   Jon called the dealership and they didn't know anything about it missing but he left his name and address, anyway.  A couple months later his rain suit was shipped to him via UPS.

Now that it costs to check any bags or boxes, I'm beginning to wonder what we should do on our next trip??

My wife and I run an annual charity ride and this year we are shipping 54 bikes on 2 transport trucks to Vegas and spending two weeks touring Nevada, Utah, Colorado & Arizona.  Bikes will all be packed with our riding gear and I sure hope we don't have any issues... The company we are using comes very highly recommended and therefore we have confidence that everything will go well.

[JCZ]

So it looks like nobody (other than Jon) has had a bad experience with shipping their bikes loaded?

Jon's problem was with the receiving dealership not the carrier.

[2UP3DOWN]

Hey JC

Mel and I just returned from a trip out west (Utah) using Singletary Transport out of Tampa.  He picked up our bike in Orlando and unloaded them in Grand Junction, where we met him.  After our ride, he loaded the bikes back up and drove them back home.

We packed the bike full... Saddlebags and tour-Pak were packed.  We wound up leaving some extra clothes in the truck while we rode the mountains.  Twas the best riding experience we've had to date.  It had the same excitement and adventure as the trip we took out west when we saw you guys... but we did that for eight days!

No problems with the gear on the bike.  Butch did a great job and I'd use him again and again.  For those living in the Central Fl area, look him up.

~Matt

[Jock]

Many of you have shipped your bikes one way and then rode them in the other direction (or vica versa) with one of the major motorcycle transports.

Did you ship your bike with anything in the saddlebags or tour pack?  Did you ship with everything (tools, clothes, camera gear, etc.) or just selected items?  If it was just selected items and you took the rest on the plane with you.......what went on the bike and what went with you?

For those who shipped their bikes with any thing in them........was everything still there when you picked your bike up?

When Jon and I shipped across country we shipped with a few things (I don't remember what we shipped and what we checked at the airport).  We had our rain pants in one of the leg fairings and our rain coat in the other leg fairing.  We were half way across the country when Jon realized that he did not have his rain suit.  We had the dealership in Atlanta "detail" our bikes when they arrived (wasn't much more than a quick wash but we got charged for a detail).   Jon called the dealership and they didn't know anything about it missing but he left his name and address, anyway.  A couple months later his rain suit was shipped to him via UPS.

Now that it costs to check any bags or boxes, I'm beginning to wonder what we should do on our next trip??

JC,

I suppose you have already read my post regarding Federal

 

but I will attempt to answer any questions regarding my experience here.

"Did you ship your bike with anything in the saddlebags or tour pack?"  - You bet - I had a storage bag on the tour pack and some other items strapped to the seat.

"Did you ship with everything (tools, clothes, camera gear, etc.) or just selected items?" - These type of items were placed in the saddlebags and tour pack.

"what went on the bike and what went with you?"  -  There was very little that I did not ship with the bike since I wanted to ensure I could get it all on it...only one item - my more expensive camera...the other one shipped with the bike.

"For those who shipped their bikes with any thing in them........was everything still there when you picked your bike up?" - Federal give me the option of locking the entire bike if I choose to do so...I did not and everything was perfect...they review everything at each transfer and conduct a check list.

Of course every experience is different but for me...I would choose them again until something changes...

Good Luck!  I know this is an important decision.

[JCZ]

Yes Jock, you're the one that got me thinking about shipping the bikes loaded. 

We were very happy with Keyboard and the Service Manager at the dealership in Atlanta told us that he'd never seen a motorcycle crated and shipped as carefully as Keyboard and he'd seen a lot of them.....that if he ever had to ship it would be with Keyboard.  So we're pretty much locked in with Keyboard, besides the fact that they are cheaper.

Our (Jon's) bad side experience was with the dealership itself and not the shipper. 

Just checking to see if anybody else may have had a bad experience that we weren't aware of.  At this point, I think we'll just ship them packed.

See you on Oct. 2.

[amigo Jorge]

Amigo JC....Steve Otton told me that you spoke with him. Is everything set? Are you going to ship the bikes to Peterson South? You know that anythying that I can help you out I am here....

If you want to ship your stuff by UPS you can do it to my office or home and I will have ready for you when I pick you up at the airport....

Let me know.

Jorge