Anyone have recent experience with shipping a bike coast to coast?

My personal experience is bad. The shipper broke my windshield via careless unloading (as I watched) then blamed it on the loading. I think the quality of the service depends more on the individual doing the shipping than the company. IF you read the reviews of the major services they go from "perfect" to "criminal" and everything in between. I'd try to avoid shipping if at all possible but if you must, I'd try to get a crate from a dealer that the bike came it, disassemble the bike to fit as it originally did, shrink-wrap it, and then have it shipped.

I'd try to avoid shipping if at all possible but if you must, I'd try to get a crate from a dealer that the bike came it, disassemble the bike to fit as it originally did, shrink-wrap it, and then have it shipped.

I would ONLY go this rout if I were to ship again. My busa was trucked from Minesota to Wisconsin and it was dropped--confirmed for me after I enquired with an employee after he went to work for a different dealership. The busa was a two year old floor model so the crate was long gone. I was nervous about it enough to ask to be aloud to drive the truck to MN and back. They would not agree to it. The bike was in but they took 2 weeks to "do some extra stuff on it." I looked it over very closely, even laying on the ground. Noticed a couple chips in the RH lower and that was all. Later discovered the upper was touched up and some of the black fairings had long, light scuffs in the clearcoat + the 2 black spots under the chin of the lowers were not fairing protrusions for positioning but a couple more chips in the orange paint.---looked to me like it was strapped improperly and damaged the paint + some other rough handling. Then they dropped it unloading and had to replace a mirror, tail pod, side/lower panel and perhaps an engine cover. dumfukers should have just let me go get it myself in a U-haul.

never again. I could have just gotten black and orange fairings for about the same price I paid for the last 08 B/O busa in the country. General rule: don't let dealerships do anything but sell you a bike.

* Last updated by: Rook on 3/20/2016 @ 9:21 PM *

It's unfortuante. This is what you get these days. Pay someone to work on your bike. If you ever work on it, you find stripped bolt holes, wrong fasteners, broken body work and that's if you're really lucky enough they did anything at all. Pay someone to ship it, might as well be paying to shit it.

I don't have rose tinted glasses that everything used to be perfect, but it seemed better than it is now.

Thanks for the input guys. I am just trying to help a friend who is on the east coast get a bike there from here ( California.) Just hoping someone had had decent experience with a company they could name..

Offer to ride it to them!

Best of both world: They get their bike intact, you get a paid-for trip across US (and return plane fare too right?)

mebgardner...That was the first option.. Just trying to compare the economics,,, But I would be hauling my 14 out along with his bike so I could do a midwest dragrace event coming home :)

and... I have never been to Virginia, that is a good enuff reason for the trip . I have two greatgrandchildren in Va , one of whom I have yet to see.

* Last updated by: chrly on 3/22/2016 @ 4:50 PM *

That sounds like a lot of good reasons to avoid a shipper.

Go baby, Go!

I hope you get it figured out. Virginia has a lot of good road to ride and a ride to the beach aint bad either! I'm close to Richmond if you need anything I will try to help you out. Hope you have a safe and happy experience.