Dennis, I have two crazy friends, well most of my friends are crazy.... anyway, they are from Austria and ship there bikes all over the world. What they did was take a base pallet like you have and create there own frame around it. Some of the clever things they did are
1: the sides are all 1" steel posts - (the square stuff with holes in it). So when they unpack there bikes then lay them on the base and use that clear plastic packaging wrap to secure them to the pallet. They then ship the pallet to there destination. 2: all they need to put the crate together is two socket wrenches. 3: They have a cross member that goes from one side post to the other across the seat. This keeps the bike in place. They have other points to secure it but the single cross member pushing the bike down on the seat really works well. 4: Once the bike is in the crate they wrap the whole thing in that clear plastic shipping wrap. That way the customs people can see in and if they do need to get to the bikes it's just a matter of cutting the plastic and then re-wrapping. I hope that all makes sense. I'll see if they have any pictures but I will be surprised if they do. Keep um rubber side down. S On Sep 9, 3:14 pm, "Dennis" <[email protected]> wrote: > Two years ago, I shipped my '85 700SC down to New Zealand and I built the > crate myself entirely out of 3/4" plywood. It was a lot of work and it was > heavy and expensive. > > I'm going to ship my other bike, an '86 700SC, down there this November and > I was thinking I was going to have to do the entire crate building exercise > all over again. > > But, several weeks ago a group of us went on a big ride (235 miles - that > was pretty long for me) and along the way we stopped into a few motorcycle > places to ogle the new bikes. Up in Bellingham, we went into a Triumph > place and, while everyone else was looking at the bikes, I was over on the > side of the building staring at a pile of metal pallets - used to ship > motorcycles. > > I went inside and talked to the owner and asked if they were his to sell, or > if he had to swap them back to the factory. He said they were his and he'd > sell them for $25 a pop. Zowie - it was a deal! > > Since then, I've been back up in my pickup and sorted through his stack and > got one which was the best of the bunch and brought it home. I've attached > a photo which I hope you can see. I've also attached a photo of the beauty > I am going to ship on this pallet. Have I mentioned I love these 700SC > bikes? > > So, there will still be some building required as I'm going to make a box > (sides and top) to put over the bike to protect it and so I can stuff other > stuff inside so I get my money's worth on the shipping. > > And, if anyone is wondering what it costs to ship a bike to the other side > of the world, it is $814, if you go direct to the shipping company. But to > get this rate, I have to transport the bike and pallet down to the harbor > myself all packed up and ready to go and, on the other end, I'll have to go > down to the harbor and unpack it all and show it to the New Zealand Customs > and Biosecurity folks and pay them some fees as well as paying some money to > the folks in the freight yard where it arrives. > > I've be moving down permanently to New Zealand at the end of November and so > I'll be our furthest south member then for sure. And, when ever I post > anything after that, my writing will always be upside down which is going to > make it a bit hard for all of you to read <smile>. > > Cheers, > > Dennis G. > - Seattle / '85 & '86 CB700SCs > > DSCN2248.JPG > 427KViewDownload > > DSCN2249.JPG > 414KViewDownload --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
