Fancy shipping your own bike to the US?

Shipping or flying your bike to America isn’t as taxing as you might think, and for anything above a three-week trip it can actually work out cheaper than renting a bike.

The cheapest option is to boat the bike there and back. The benefit of sea freight is the cost, likely to be around £600 each way. The downside of sea freight is the time the bike takes to get there (six to 10 weeks) and the uncertainty about arrival date. It also gives you less choice of cities to send it to: New York, Miami and LA are the most common. Alternatively, air freighting a Gs-sized bike costs around £1200 each way, but doubling the cost does allow you to nominate any city and you know exactly when it will land. You can even fly on the same plane as the bike often goes in the hold of a regular passenger plane.

Using an agent such as James Cargo is the easiest option for either sea or air freighting. You simply leave your fully loaded bike with them, with less than a quarter tank of fuel. If it’s going by plane then they crate it up, and the next time you see it it’s at the airport in America. Documentation is minimal. You just need a letter of exemption from the Environmental Protection Agency, which is free and takes around a month to come through. You also need insurance, with Motorcycle Express offering two months’ cover, including breakdown cover, for just under £400.

Legally you are allowed to temporarily import your bike into the States for a year, but cannot leave it there. If you want to leave a bike out there you’re probably better off looking to buy one, just as long as you have someone to leave it with.

One of the advantages of an organised tour with the likes of HC Travel is that they can take care of all of that for you.