Shipping an R1200

[bill12920]

avoid the mistake I made.....

Last month I bought an R1200C on Ebay, it was located in IN and I'm in FL so I googled 'motorcycle shipping' and the first results include FreightCenter who sub-contracts with HaulBikes.com. They gave me a good price and I took the deal. Well, weeks passed and they gave me one delay and excuse after another until, 37 days had passed and the bike was not even picked up yet!!! So I fired them but they weren't even the least bit ashamed or embarrassed by their terrible service and stuck me with a $125 cancellation fee!!!! $125 for absolutely NOTHING, ZERO services received!!!

Then I called Federal Motorcycle transport and, though they cost about $100 more than the others, they picked up the bike in 3 days and delivered it to me in 7. Moral of the story – ALWAYS use Federal when shipping a motorcycle, they are the professional team and not worth wasting time or money on the other players. Federal has shipped an R1200s, a K1200s and a CBX for me previously, all without any issues. I shouldn't have tried to save a few $$$ with the other guys and it ended up costing me $125 and 37 days for nothing!!

[buzzerbee]

You may not get a refund but I think you may wish to turn them in to the Better Business Bureau, which I know absolutely nothing about. Don't let 'em get off scott free as they stole money from you and will and have from others. ( It may be their common practice. ) 37 days is inexcusable. Thanks for the advice on Federal, should the need arise I will use them.

[mosearch]

Matt at Wolverine Cycle Logistics did a good job for me. Texas to California. Decent price. It did take a while; but he was very clear about the approximateness of the delivery schedule. When the bike arrived it was in great shape...I'd use him again.

[Tirefriar]

Last company I used was Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping: Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping | Motorcycle Transportation

They gave me best price and best service for shipping my MV cross country.

[CharlesWill]

eBay can be extraordinary assets for littler purchases, however transaction as a motorcycle ought to be made with the solace and security of an approved dealer.


forums.pelicanparts
pay for essay

[BigDav]

Originally Posted by CharlesWill

eBay can be extraordinary assets for littler purchases, however transaction as a motorcycle ought to be made with the solace and security of an approved dealer.

I bought my R1100s from an out-of-state dealer. I still had to arrange my own shipping. It was nearly 18 years ago. I don't remember who I used. I just remember I went cheap and opted for an open trailer and crossed my fingers.

The bike arrived in fine shape two or three weeks later.

[SergioK]

Seems like something that can easily be rectified if you paid via credit card, unless you have a signed agreement stating otherwise.

[swen1200]

I’ll add my horror story to the list of bad shipping tales.

Bought a bike at a reputable dealer on the West Coast and arranged through the dealer to have it shipped to NM. Declined the first opportunity to ship on an open truck. A couple days later the bike shipped in an enclosed trailer to the local BMW dealer, it arrived without issue. I paid the driver cash he gave me the shipping paperwork and all was good, or so I thought.

A couple days passed when I got a call from the shipping agent demanding payment, the driver told him I did not pay. Several angry phone calls and text messages, threats of liens against the bike, threats against me followed.

The back story...

The sales manager arranged through a shipping agent to sent the bike, the shipping agent arranged with a trucking company to deliver the bike. The truck driver kept my money, quit after his last delivery and left the truck parked somewhere in Texas.

The driver told the trucking company he hadn’t gotten any money, they didn’t get paid, the booking agent didn’t get paid and everyone wanted money from me.

When I took delivery of the bike I was given all the copies of the shipping invoice. The documents contained only my name and phone number. The bike was listed as a BMW, no model, no VIN. And it was delivered to dealership in NM. The general manager of the dealership was present when I collected the bike.

There was no way the booking agent or the trucking company could find me or the BMW, calls to both dealerships ensured they did not share customer information with third parties. Confident all the threats were groundless I stopped answering the phone and sent a letter, no emails, to the shipping agent explaining what had happened. I never heard from anyone again.

The lesson is simple. If you are shipping a bike YOU arrange the shipping with a recognized, reputable company.

[Kevin8]

Originally Posted by Tirefriar

Last company I used was Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping: Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping | Motorcycle Transportation

They gave me best price and best service for shipping my MV cross country.

Keyboard was great for me, too. I shipped a R12s from Jacksonville, FL to the Philly suburbs a few years ago with no issues, and pretty quick, too. Their claim to fame is the dollies that the bike get's mounted to for transportation. The dolly eliminates pushing and tying the bike down repeatedly if it's moved on and off multiple trucks to get to the destination. Much less opportunity for damage. I guess they can do the same with pianos, hence the name.

[kpolito99]

I have done a fly and drive for my past 3 moto purchases and past 4 autos.

Why waste money transporting wheels when you can catch a one way flight and enjoy riding or driving them home?

[cygnet]

LOL Try riding it across Canada when it's -20 shipping sounds good to me.

[kpolito99]

That is why they make heated grips

[jduke]

Originally Posted by Tirefriar

Last company I used was Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping: Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping | Motorcycle Transportation

They gave me best price and best service for shipping my MV cross country.

Same great service I received, highly recommend them.

[spk74]

I just shipped a bike from Texas to Ohio, used uShip...you make a listing and transporters offer bids. You can do enclosed or open (which I found more economical), some offer tracking, etc.

[jduke]

uShip is just a middleman. If you have a problem you still have to deal with the actual shipper. Keyboard Motorcycle Shippers owns and operates their own trucks. One point of contact and responsibility. To me, if you can't "fly and buy" this is the best alternative.

[wiggledbits]

The problem the OP had may have been from Haul Bikes. I used them once and it took 6 weeks to get delivery. No updates about where it was after pickup, an hour warning that it was being delivered to my house. It did make it unscathed I just didn't know where the hell it was for 6 weeks. If I need this service again it will not be done Haul Bikes.

[Droptarotter]

I used JC motorcycle shipper twice.
The first time, the driver broke the mirror on my R12S and tried to hide it by crazy gluing it back on. I discovered the problem when I went to pick it up and rotated the mirrors to get the bike out of the storage it was in. I told the girl at the storage facility and she told me the driver made a comment about the damage.
I contacted JC and to their credit, after a bit of work from me, I had a check for about $400 for damage and labour. so I think they did a pretty good job by taking care of the problem.

Second time I had a bike shipped from New Brunswick to BC and JC farmed out the delivery because they had to use a Canadian carrier and all worked out fine.

Both times, I was able to track the bike. I would use JC again.

Cheers

[bykemike]

I sold and shipped a pristine BCR to a guy, Fl to CA, when it arrived at the destination he commented about the missing oil fill cap on the engine. A nice aftermarket BMW logo cap.

I always take pictures of any bike I ship as it is going onto the truck. Good thing in this case, nice clear pic of the oil fill clearly snug in its place. I guess one of the Handlers on the route liked the way it looked. Saved me from a negative feedback!