Is it a requirement to enclose it? Because you can use a good oak pallet cut to size, two or three ratcheting tie-down straps, and a shipping blanket or two, and cover the whole affair with a good tarp.
________________________________ From: Dennis <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, September 9, 2009 8:14:09 PM Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] A better way to ship a bike 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 <<...>> <<...>> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
