I flew my motorcycle from Vancouver to Glasgow, went around Europe for about a month (see this album for route and info), stored my bike for a few weeks, and then flew it back from Frankfurt to Vancouver. I found this post that describes how to fly and store very helpful and thought I will do the same to help whoever wants to do this next.
I did not look into other flying/shipping options much. I have rented a bike in Chile from rideadv.com before for a 10 day trip and that cost me about US $130 per day for a Kawasaki KLR 650. I started from Santiago and ended at Punta Arenas and so had to pay an additional US $390 for dropping it off at a different location. Since this trip was for about 40 days and since I was planning to start in Glasgow and end in Frankfurt, I found flying my bike cheaper and more convenient.
Another option you could look into is this company in Tours, France called Ride in Tours, that lets you buy a bike from them and sell it back to them. But since I wasn't doing a loop, and since I wanted to do this trip on my own bike, I didn't look into them much.
I used Air Canada's Fly Your Bike program (link might be broken as the program runs from the beginning of April to the end of September each year), which makes things very easy and relatively cheap, especially with the discount that they give you if you yourself fly Air Canada. It came to CA $1300 Vancouver to Glasgow and CA $1800 (€1200) Frankfurt to Vancouver for flying my bike after the discount.
Steps
I did my motorcycle trip from Glasgow to Frankfurt over a month and a week starting beginning of May.
Book passenger tickets - 3 months prior to flight
I booked my Air Canada tickets from Vancouver to Glasgow and from Frankfurt to Vancouver in February. I did this after calling up Air Canada Cargo and confirming that the Fly Your Bike program will be available during that time. You can book the bike flight via Air Canada Cargo only a month in advance unlike passenger tickets. Something that they didn't tell me when I asked if the program would be running is that some airports (like Glasgow) do not do flights until later in the summer. I got around it, but more on that in the section below - just make sure you confirm with Air Canada Cargo that whatever airport that the program supports (see list in the link above) that you are planning to fly your bike to/from, does it for the dates you are planning for your trip.Book bike flight - 1 month prior to flight
You can only book the bike flight a month in advance. I called up Air Canada Cargo in Vancouver and told them I wanted to fly my bike using their Fly Your Bike program from Vancouver to Glasgow. They will need the bike's weight and dimensions, which I found in my bike's manual. I was given a quote for CA $1250. There was no direct flight to Glasgow, so my bike was flying to London first and then it was on a truck from London to Glasgow as cargo flights from London to Glasgow for bikes were only scheduled later in the year. Book your bike flight one day before your personal flight so that the bike is waiting for you at the airport when you arrive. Air Canada doesn't charge for up to 24 hours of storage from the time the bike arrives and I think they are somewhat flexible too. My flight was arriving in Glasgow at 3PM on May 2. I booked my bike flight for 29th April, as then it would get to Glasgow on May 1, and I could pick it up on May 2 when I arrived.
The booking agent will also ask you to get dangerous goods forms which you will need when you drop the bike off. He gave me contact details for an agency called KelEx in Vancouver that does it, which you have to do two weeks prior to the bike drop off/flight (see below).
Later on when it was close to the time I was supposed to drop the bike off, I called up Air Canada Cargo to know what I could ship along with the bike, and the agent saw something wrong with my booking. The bike was being shipped as dangerous goods, and he wasn't sure if the truck from London to Glasgow was cleared to do dangerous goods. He also said the first agent had made a mistake and the cost for the freight, because it included the truck was actually CA $1800, but he could give me a discount and bring it down to CA $1500. Since this was pretty close to the trip, I didn't have much of a choice, but I told him I was told CA $1250 a month ago and that I would appreciate it if he could talk to somebody to honor the initial quote. And thankfully he could. I did not have the quote in writing (the confirmation email for the booking just has the dates and the flight numbers), so I was glad it came to the original quote. But maybe ask them to send you the quote via email when you do the booking. Also you pay only when you drop the bike off.
Customs - 1 month prior to flight
Something that I should have done earlier is figure out clearing customs in Glasgow. The process is actually quite simple, but finding it out was not easy, and it didn't help that I started looking into it 10 days before the trip. So wherever you are going, its best to figure customs out early to avoid storage fees at the airport and running around in a country you don't know, trying to get the bike cleared through customs.
I knew from this post that you might need to go through a customs broker for getting your bike into the UK. The customer service contacts listed for London and Glasgow were for London Heathrow airport on the Air Canada Cargo website, and they didn't know about Glasgow customs. But I got a response from Air Canada Cargo customer service (cargo.customerservice@aircanada.ca) with the contact info for an agency in Scotland that does it for them, called Air Liaison, who in turn gave me the number for SwissPort who handles cargo for Air Canada at Glasgow airport. I called up SwissPort (+441418872441) and talked to a guy called Stewart who pointed me to a customs broker called Mathew at Air Sea Scotland.
I asked Mathew about what I would need to do, and asked him whether I needed the C110 form as mentioned in this post. He said that the C110 is outdated and I needed a Transfer of Residence (ToR) form. So I searched around for that, filled it up, and emailed the customs office that handles ToRs. I didn't hear back from them for a few days and since it was getting closer to the trip, I called them up. They said I can't use a ToR for a temporary import. So I searched around on the Internet again, and found this website: https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/temporary-imports, which says I need the C110 form, to import temporarily, a foreign motorcycle, and use it for 6 months, with my BC license plate, which is exactly what I wanted. I am not sure how I could find this out even though I have never done anything like this before, while a customs broker whose job it is to do this, didn't know about it and sent me on a peacock chase. I mailed Mathew about it, and he then said, yeah, that might be the way to do it :-P It might be that very few people fly their motorcycles to Glasgow from outside Europe.
I followed instructions on the temporary imports website, filled up the C110 form, and mailed citex.temporaryadmissionsteam@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk. This was just two days prior to the bike flight and I was cutting it close. But I got a very quick response from an agent saying my request has been put on a queue and it will be processed within 10 business days. I mailed him back saying I was shipping the bike in a couple of days and he graciously said he will process it the first thing the next day (Friday). But that didn't happen which caused me a bit of stress as I dropped the bike off on Saturday and it was on its way Sunday. But I got the confirmation for the temporary import on Monday, which I sent off to Mathew at Air Sea Scotland, who said he had everything he needed. And he charged me £140 for it. I did search around for other brokers around Glasgow, but other brokerages are for commercial shipments. If you are planning to fly your bike to Edinburgh, an agent at https://www.extrordinair.co.uk/ was very helpful, had received motorcycles before, but they only handle Edinburgh.
So in summary, for clearing customs for your bike in the UK (but things are in flux because of Brexit):
- Find a customs broker (Air Canada Cargo customer service can probably point you to people who might know)
- Follow https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/temporary-imports to file a C110 and get a confirmation form
- Send C110 confirmation to your broker, along with bike registration, and anything else the broker needs (I sent a copy of my passport, ICBC registration and insurance, and green card insurance)
Get insurance - 1 month prior to flight
You want to do this a month before if you want the insurance papers shipped to you cheaply via regular mail.
I was riding my bike in Vancouver before the trip and so I had insurance from ICBC. I was planning to cancel before the trip, because I had bought insurance for a year. But I needed the license plate for the trip in Europe (you can drive with foreign plates for 6 months in Europe - see section above). And I didn't want to cancel and then get insurance just to get a plate. But the ICBC Autoplan broker told me about how ICBC will give you a refund if you can prove the bike is out of the country for more than 30 days, and if it was covered with some other insurance for the period. After the trip, I did request the refund using the European insurance papers, freight bills with VIN/license plate number, and customs release notes with VIN/license plate number, but apparently it will take up to four months for the refund. So I would suggest getting local insurance till the trip, and let it expire rather than cancel, so you can keep the plates and use them in Europe - the fact that the plate says insurance has expired doesn't matter as you would need to get European insurance anyway.
You need to get something called Green Card insurance, which is third party liability insurance, for riding your motorcycle in Europe. It is valid in all EU countries. You can also get comprehensive insurance which is more expensive, but covers theft and damage. My bike was new and since I wasn't sure about the places I would be going to and the risks involved, I did get comprehensive insurance also. If you are going to visit major cities (I read theft is pretty common in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and cities in the southern France, probably any major city) and planning to stay in places that only have street parking, it might be worth the price if your bike is valuable. I have a BMW R1200R and even though I was told they aren't stolen as often as other bikes, this post changed my mind.
As mentioned in this post, Green Card insurance from Motocamp Bulgaria was the cheapest, probably because the coverage is lower. I could get 30 days of insurance for €60. You send them a scan of the bike registration and a copy of your passport and let them know an address that you want the insurance mailed to. These are the other places that sell green card insurance, but they were all more expensive:
I purchased comprehensive insurance from Knopf Tours (see last link above). I also used Knopf Tours for storing my motorcycle after my trip was done in Europe (I went to India for three weeks after), and also to get the bike dropped off at the airport for the flight back (see storage and Frankfurt drop off below). They charged €350 for comprehensive and green card insurance for 30 days and it took 10 days for the papers to get to me. Liability coverage amounts, and deductible for comprehensive coverage were suspiciously identical to that offered by Tour Insure (see second link above), and prices also were about the same. But I went with Knopf Tours as I was using them for storage and drop off.
I was touring for the month of May and the first week of June. But I only got 30 days of comprehensive + green card from Knopf Tours. They only do periods of 30 days and I definitely did not want to spend another €300 for 7 days. So the 30 days of green card insurance that I got from Motocamp Bulgaria that I mention above was used just for the one week of June. I decided to risk crashes/theft without comprehensive insurance for the last week of my trip.
Get dangerous goods form - two weeks prior to flight
When you book your flight tickets, the agent will ask you to get dangerous goods forms two weeks prior to the flight. He gave contact information for an agency called Kelex. They send you a form to fill up, which also has payment details. You can get the dangerous goods form for the return flight too, which I did. Price was CA $132 one way, CA $180 for round trip. They can scan it and send it over email, which you have to print in color, which is what I did. You can also pick it up from them in Delta, or have them courier it to you for a fee. You need to have three copies with you when you drop the bike off.
Get International Driving Permit - a week prior to flight
You can get an International Driving Permit (IDP) from any BCAA (or other AA). You can walk into any BCAA location with your driving license, two passport photos (they can take the photos for about CA $15), and CA $25 and walk out with an IDP in about 15 minutes. The IDP is just a booklet that translates your license into different languages for the various countries you plan to visit.
Bike drop off at Vancouver - a day prior to flight
This is the easy part. Just follow the instructions on the Air Canada Cargo Fly Your Bike page under the Requirements at time of tender section. You can have only about a quarter tank of fuel. You need to give them a spare key. My bike was key-less, so I gave them the emergency key. They don't need to start the bike, but they might need to open up side cases if you have any. This was the list of items I printed out to include for the flight:
1 helmet
1 motorcycle jacket
1 pair of motorcycle pants
1 pair of motorcycle gloves
1 pair of motorcycle boots
1 tyre pressure gauge under seat
1 tank bag with tire puncture repair kit
1 charging cable under seat
Zip ties
1 multi tool
1 hex key set
1 fuel tube for emergency fuel
2 bungee cords
I should have also included a motorcycle cover and a motorcycle disc brake lock which I forgot and took with my personal luggage. I really wanted to put my camping gear in the tail bag, but you are only supposed to have things related to motorcycling along with the motorcycle when its flown.
I dropped the bike off at the Air Canada Cargo office/depot near the Vancouver Airport at 4900 Miller Road. A security officer went over the bike with me. I then made the payment, and opted in for the insurance. Though the website says its 3% of the value of what you want the bike insured for, its actually 0.3%. So for say $20000, you only pay $60. I found that worth doing, but you probably don't need it.
Bike pick up from Glasgow
My bike was cleared through customs by Air Sea Scotland while I was in transit. I called Mathew at Air Sea Scotland, made the payment for the clearance, and was told where I could pick it up when I got off my flight at the airport.
I could trolley my luggage over to the cargo section which was pretty close by. They were expecting me and pointed me to where I could get it. It was still on the pallet and some staff removed the straps, I jumped on it, and got it off. Then I got my gear out, packed my luggage into the side cases and tail bag, and drove to my friends place. Took about 30 minutes. Pretty smooth!
Book return shipment from Frankfurt
I had been in touch with Air Canada Cargo sales coordinator called Uwe at Frankfurt airport. He had given me a quote early on in March:
With Air Canada TicketMontreal, Toronto Euro 1050.00 + CAD 90.00 Handling charges in CanadaCalgary , Vancouver Euro 1130.00 + CAD 90.00 Handling charges in CanadaWithout Air Canada TicketMontreal, Toronto Euro 1350.00 + CAD 90.00 Handling charges in CanadaCalgary, Vancouver Euro 1430.00 + CAD 90.00 Handling charges in CanadaEuro 45.00 creating a Shippers Declaration for transportation of Dangerous goods.Insurance 3% Insurance value ( if wanted )
He asked me to fill up a form with the booking details which I did around March. I then sent him another email end of May (30 days before return bike flight from Frankfurt to Vancouver) and he made the booking for June 30 (my personal flight was on July 1). I had trouble doing the payment as Uwe wanted the payment to be by credit card. But I was planning to have the bike dropped off by Stefan at Knopf Tours (see drop off below) and could not give my credit card details to Stefan either - they needed the card physically. After some back and forth, Uwe said he could accept a bank transfer. So he gave me details for Air Canada Cargo's bank account and I made the transfer (CIBC global money transfer is great). So I could pay a few days after the bike flight was booked and did not need to do it during drop off.
Storage near Frankfurt
After my trip, I dropped my bike off at Knopf Tours in Heidelberg. I was going to India for three weeks and so stored the bike with Stefan at Knopf Tours. I was flying back to Vancouver from Frankfurt after the three weeks. Stefan offered to drop the bike off for me at Frankfurt airport around the same time I was flying back. Fee for storage was €35 and fee for drop off at the airport was €175. I could have come a day earlier to Frankfurt, hopped on a train to Heidelberg, and dropped the bike off myself (Uwe said it will take about 3-4 hours for the drop off). But avoiding a night in a hotel, train ticket price (around €30), and the convenience of not having to worry about it made me take up Stefan's offer.
I rode in to Knopf Tours, unpacked all the stuff that I couldn't ship with the bike into another bag, handed over the paperwork for the flight (the dangerous goods forms for Frankfurt to Vancouver, copies of registration/insurance and passport), paid the fee for storage and drop off and got on a train to Frankfurt from the Heidelberg station that was pretty close by.
Bike drop off at Frankfurt
Stefan's son dropped the bike off (they truck it) but there was some trouble. I got an email from Stefan saying his son couldn't drop the bike off because of a payment issue. I guess since the payment via bank transfer wasn't common, the staff were confused (Uwe at Air Canada Cargo was away too). It eventually got sorted out but I did call Air Canada Cargo to confirm that the payment had been made. So some stress, but mostly smooth, and I would recommend Knopf Tours for the storage/drop-off service.
Pick up from Vancouver
This again was pretty smooth. I got off my flight, lugged my luggage to the Air Canada Cargo office, to get the flight paper work to clear customs. Since it was a long weekend, the customs office close to Air Canada Cargo was closed. But I could still go to the customs office in the airport (right next to the arrival area where you await arriving people). Unfortunately they couldn't let me keep my luggage at the Air Canada Cargo office, and so I had to lug it all the way back to the airport. I had to wait a while for the customs officer to show up, but eventually one did. I handed over the papers that I had got from Air Canada Cargo. She cleared my bike through customs pretty quickly and gave me back the forms. I went back to Air Canada Cargo, handed over the stamped forms, got the bike out, repacked my luggage into the side cases and tail bag, and rode home!
Update: Remember the C110 form (see Customs section above)? It does ask you to send the temporary import department proof that you exported the bike back to where it belongs. Stefan at Knopf Tours also stressed getting back some proof about the bike being back in its country of origin to prevent problems if you ever want to temporarily import it back into Europe. I sent the agent who had sent me the C110 document an email with a scan of a page from the Frankfurt airport for shipment (will be in the set of documents stuck to your bike for shipment), as well as the receipt for the shipment with the PAID stamp from Vancouver airport (that you get from Air Canada Cargo). He replied that they have closed the temporary admission and updated their records accordingly.
Update: Remember the C110 form (see Customs section above)? It does ask you to send the temporary import department proof that you exported the bike back to where it belongs. Stefan at Knopf Tours also stressed getting back some proof about the bike being back in its country of origin to prevent problems if you ever want to temporarily import it back into Europe. I sent the agent who had sent me the C110 document an email with a scan of a page from the Frankfurt airport for shipment (will be in the set of documents stuck to your bike for shipment), as well as the receipt for the shipment with the PAID stamp from Vancouver airport (that you get from Air Canada Cargo). He replied that they have closed the temporary admission and updated their records accordingly.
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