Motorcycle transport

I did this years ago, I can't remember the company but I don't think it really matters. Most companies that do it are just the middlemen essentially, where they merely just arrange for a truck or a few trucks to transport your bike. These drivers are like private contractors. It's like calling a taxi cab dispatch. Your experience is going to vary more depending on who your individual taxi driver is rather than what company it is.

But you definitely want to find a company that specializes in motorcycle transport, as they have specifically designed pallets that are built with wheels chocks and contact points, or at least mine did. They may have even thrown a wooden box over it but I wasn't there to watch them do that. Your motorcycle is going to get thrown in the back of a semi with a whole bunch of other shit that needs to be transported across the country so you're depending on warehouse people to pack it properly, truck drivers to not crash, loads to not shift, and people to not scratch it. So I imagine just like with UPS, most companies have a small defect rate but shit does happen.

My advice is to go with a carrier that's low price but specializes in motorcycle transport. You can also save a lot of money (I saved about $300) by selecting "point-to-point" shipping instead of door to door shipping. which means you drop it off and pick it up at a designated warehouse instead of having it dropped at your door. Lucky me had warehouses fairly close to both my houses when I moved. Another good thing is you might be able to watch them load it onto the pallet and tie it down or box it up for safekeeping, so you can critique anything that doesn't look right on the spot like I was able to. Where as door-to-door, one truck might come get it from you, but it may drop the bike off at a warehouse where it may get on two or three more trucks to get to your other door. Obviously everytime you load and unload that bike, it can sustain damage.

In all I paid about $450. Consider gas I spent to drive it to and from the warehouses and maybe an uber ride home and call it $500. Door to door would've cost me anywhere between $700-1100 based on the quotes I was getting for a coast to coast shipment.

I've done it a few times (5) from varying distances. Just be sure to get specifics on how the bike is readied for shipment, if by a dealer for example. Otherwise, most are the same and Uship can sort out a bunch, getting quotes from various shippers. Again, specifics are important. Do they drop off at a local receiver, or door step? Good luck, G.

We were at the Apillia dealer about an 70 miles from my house last Friday, the sales manager is friends with my buddy and he says they ship bikes all over the country, they use UPS or FedEx freight, they put the bikes on a pallet, box them similar to how they are shipped to them, take photos of everything, and document everything, bikes are fully insured by the shipper and he tells the buyers to uncrate the bike in front of the delivery guy and make sure it is okay if not, take photos and they will file a claim with the shipper, he says only to use a reliable shipper and even though they cost more, UPS and FedEx are the best they have used, typical cost is 500-750 depending on where it's going. They have had only one or two minor incidents and they were covered, so who ever you choose make sure they are reliable.

Thanks everyone for the responses! Yeah I recommended Uship and alot of documentation beforehand and after of course. Def not worth skimping on in any way, the only issue is since it is a private seller, the palleting of the bike may be of issue but we'll see.