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Sometimes Your Ride Needs a Ride
Motorcycle Shipping: A Quick Guide to Understanding Your Options
Whether you’re moving across the country or you want to hit up a rally like the H-D Homecoming, Daytona Bike Week, or Sturgis and don’t have the time to ride both ways, you’ll need to consider some type of motorcycle transport. In doing so, there are four general ways in which to get your bike from point A to point B without you in the saddle.
4 Most Common Motorcycle Shipping Methods:
- Do It Yourself
- Hire a Freight Company
- Use An Independent Hauler
- Tap a Professional Motorcycle Shipper
While all of these methods are viable, each has its ups and downs. Let’s take a look.
Do It Yourself
Not only is doing it yourself one of the most cost-effective ways to ship a motorcycle, but it’s also the only method where you have complete control. You decide exactly when and where your bike gets loaded, how long it will take to get to its destination, and exactly where it’ll get dropped off. Plus, you’ll never have to let it out of your sight or get handled by strangers.
Now, if you don’t have your own pickup truck or flatbed trailer and choose to rent, your costs can start to add up. Don’t own a ramp? There’s another cha-ching. You also need to ensure you have the proper tie-downs to prevent damage or scratches to your bike. Ever see a random mattress on the side of the highway? Well, let’s just say you better be an expert at securing your precious cargo, too.
Hiring a Freight Company
Freight companies make their living shipping random items across the country and they’re pretty good at it. They’re also generally reliable and fast. Depending on where you want your bike to go, they can get it there safely within 3 to 7 days. So far, hiring a company that ships freight sounds pretty great. Well, until you consider you need a crate.
In addition to paying for distance and weight, you’ll need to pack your bike in a specialized enclosed motorcycle shipping crate. And that’s not something many of us have just sitting in the back of the garage. The good news is that you can buy crates online or build one yourself. But again, there go those precious assets of money and time. Cha ching and tick tock. The other thing to think about when hiring a freight company to ship a motorcycle is that, because they carry a lot of other items for a lot of other customers, they have predetermined drop-off points which may be nowhere near where you’d like your bike dropped off.
Using An Independent Hauler
There are individuals and small companies all over the country that make their living by hauling things all over the country. Just go online and type in “motorcycle transport near me” and consider your options. Much like the DIY method, you can usually dictate when and where your bike gets loaded, how long it will take to get to its destination, and exactly where it’ll get dropped off.
The downsides of using an independent hauler are also similar to the problems you’ll encounter when doing it yourself. In addition to paying for another person’s time, you might be paying a person who doesn’t have the proper motorcycle tie-downs or doesn’t know how to properly tie down a motorcycle. Hey, that’s not a mattress on the side of the road… that’s my custom 1956 Panhead Chopper. D’oh.
Tapping a Professional Motorcycle Shipper
Still reading? Still thinking we’ll say that this is the best way to go? Okay, you’re on to us. As a professional motorcycle shipping company, naturally we’d recommend going with a professional motorcycle shipping company to ship a motorcycle. But even though there are a lot of upsides to hiring a company like ours to get your bike where you want it to go, going with a company like ours is not without its downsides. But first the good stuff…
A professional motorcycle transport company will have the specialized equipment and specific expertise needed to ship a motorcycle safely and securely because motorcycle shipping is all they do. At Federal Motorcycle Transport, we take pride in providing the best care and attention in the moving of your bike. We use custom pallets specially designed to secure your bike and air-ride trailers, which dampen vibrations. Both H.O.G. and AMA members trust us to ship their bikes and our shipping process is geared towards getting your cycle to its destination as quickly and safely as possible, so you can focus on enjoying the ride once you’re where you want to be.
And now for the downside… A professional motorcycle transport company is going to be a little more expensive than the other methods. But look at it this way, repairing a custom 1956 Panhead Chopper that got dumped on the side of the highway could get way, way more pricey.
Call us at 855-506-9590 or contact us for a free custom quote.