Motorcycles are themselves the most enjoyable human transportation method! You can easily move anywhere by riding a motorcycle. But it is not always possible to shift a motorcycle by driving it yourself. Suppose you are moving to a new state for the sake of a new career opportunity or for some personal reasons. Naturally, you would be involved in packing or any other shifting related process. In this circumstance, you might not be able to ride the motorcycle to take it to the new location. Also, long-distance moving matters a lot.
Moreover, if you already have another four-wheeler to drive yourself to your new home location, then you won’t be able to shift your bike yourself. So, you need to plan for perfect transportation for your valuable vehicle.
In this article, we will provide you with some useful tips about how to transport your motorcycle safely across the country.
Here you go:
How to prepare your motorcycle for transport
The very first task before transporting your bike is to make it ready for shipment. Here are a few steps are given below:
- Get your bike cleaned properly before transportation.
- Take photos of your motorcycle from different angles with the date and time stamp on in your camera. Take some close up to mark if there are any existing damage signs.
- Keep the gas tank roughly ¼ per cent full while loading.
- Make sure that the motorcycle’s battery is fully charged.
- Note down all kinds of mechanical problems that your bike may face during shipping.
- Get your bike’s tires appropriately inflated before loading.
- Fix the fuel leakage problem, if there is any.
Choosing a proper transport vehicle
Now it is time to decide which shipping method is preferable according to your convenience.
- Always select an enclosed transportation vehicle to transport your motorcycle, specifically when you are planning for long-distance moving. As motorcycles are much smaller than cars, it would be easier to load them to an enclosed trailer or truck. Moreover, motorcycles are more prone to damage because of bad weather while transporting. Therefore, a confined transportation system will be the best choice to ship motorcycles.
- If you are planning for a short distance transport that is not more than a hundred miles or a few more than that, then you can go for an open-air trailer.
Moreover, if you have an urgency for same-day delivery, open trailer shipment will be cheap and reasonable for that purpose.
Hiring a shipping company
The most important part of the motorcycle transportation process is to hire a professional and reliable transporter that would assure your bike’s smooth and secure arrival to your desired destination. Moreover, you must compare the shipping cost of different transportation companies before selecting one.
Any vehicle shipping service cost varies from country to country. Also, there are lots of logical factors and other critical criteria to maintain while planning to transport vehicles. Therefore, the certain transport company needs to verify those needs before giving you quotations for the finalized cost.
The price of shipping motorcycles across the country depends on the size, weight and distance of the delivery location. Such as,
Most of the motorcycle shipping services allow both lightweight and heavyweight motorcycles to ship. The weight should be between 200 pounds to 500 pounds. In case of heavier weight bikes, you will be charged extra and also the trailer would be changed to handle the motorcycle’s weight.
Shipping costs would be like, for 1000 miles the charge will be around $450 to $600. $200 to $400 could be charged for distances less than 1000 miles. For coast, to coast transport or longer shipment, the price would be hiked from $700 to more than $1200.
If motorcycles are picked up and delivered to urban areas, then the shipping cost would be cheaper than shipping them to any remote area. Also, additional fuel charges would be included for extra distance.
Also, ask for their insurance policies before finalizing the booking process. The insurance valuation differs from company to company.
The most essential thing to remember is to call that particular shipping service at least 24 hours before your bike’s picked up by them. And, also ask them to call you to inform you about the bike’s arrival time.
Finally,
It usually takes ten to fourteen days for interstate shipping. But sometimes, the shippers make it faster than the stated schedule.
Hope the above discussion will help you to get a concept about motorcycle shipping across the country.
