Whether you’re moving to another country entirely, or you are simply selling your old motorbike via the internet, there are many reasons for needing to send you motorcycle abroad. Being such an intricate, prized possession though, you might be concerned on how to do this in a safe, stress-free manor. Parcel delivery comparison websites such as https://www.parceldelivery.com/ are great for helping you to find your ideal parcel delivery service for your bike, as well as keeping general costs down. So, in order to help you with your shipping process, here are five tips for when you want to send your motorcycle abroad.
- Use The Right Crate
Let’s face it – shipping an entire motorcycle overseas is totally different to sending a small packaged item, so how exactly do you ship your bike abroad? Well, wooden crates are often the best to handle, and most of the time you can find some that are durable to withhold the weight of your motorcycle. However, many crates these days are usually metal, equipped with a cardboard wrapper. Naturally, these will work better than wooden crates, but getting a custom size in near impossible. Just always bear in mind that while these are lighter, the volume of the bike inside is what will affect the cost.
- Enquire About Marine Insurance
Depending on whether you decide upon air or sea shipping, it might be worth investing in marine insurance to further protect your motorcycle while it’s in transit. Motorcycles are very precious items, and certainly don’t come cheap, so protecting it from damage via sea freight is imperative if you want to save yourself some money in the long run. After all, considering your motorcycle will be surrounded by oceans for several days during transit, it’s just a risk that you can’t take.
- Check The Fuels & Fluids Inside
Bike batteries can weigh an unbelievable amount, so it’s understandable if you want to ship this along with the bike. It’s actually a very common misconception that you can’t ship the batter with the motorcycle, however this isn’t true at all. Having said this, it’s vital that you disconnect the battery from the bike, and tape the terminals securely instead to ensure optimum protection for your motorcycle and its mechanics. Similarly, you’ll want to drain the majority of the bike’s fuel before shipping it, while leaving approximately a litre to allow you to drive yourself to a nearby petrol station once it arrives in the destination country.
- Remove The Accessories
If your motorcycle is equipped with any added accessories, it’s in your best interests to remove these before you ship the motorcycle. Firstly, these accessories will cause the weight of your parcel to increase dramatically, when really you’re capable of detaching them and instead carrying them with you in your suitcase when traveling to the desired destination. As a result, the cost of your shipping is going to decrease thanks to a lighter overall volume. Furthermore, removing all accessories and keeping them with you prevents anymore items from becoming damaged should your shipment face difficult scenarios during transit.
- Ditch The Stands
When packaging your motorcycle into a crate, it’s imperative that you don’t rest the bike on the centre-stand or the side-stand. Instead, the only way to appropriately store your motorcycle within the crate is on its wheels in a vertical position. By doing this, you prevent the risk of the springs being harmed, where if it was packaging on its stands, the motorcycle would face high amounts of damage after jolting up and down during transit.
Initially, shipping your motorcycle may seem daunting, but after following these 5 simple steps, you should have nothing to worry about. Of course, there are more things that you can do to ensure maximum safety for your motorcycle shipping, all of which can be found with a little bit of research.
