I am in the Air Force and getting ready for a PCS in a few weeks. I am curious if anyone has had any experience with having their bike shipped by TMO. If so, what was your experience like? What would you do differently or the same if you did it again? Basically, what advice do you have for getting my bike from point A to point B without getting any scratches or dings? I know the moving company is responsible for paying to have any damage repaired, but I would just prefer to avoid any damage in the first place. Thanks.

 

No experience myself, however try going over HD dealer and get shipping container/pallet from them, they usually throw those away since buyer pays for shipping charges.

 

Just had mine shipped from Ft Lewis, WA to Hawaii. The movers i dealt with tried to strap my bike to the inside wall of the truck, wasnt happening like that! So i requested a 3rd party mover that handles bikes.
Its always hit or miss wheather or not the moving company will damage your ride. Call the movers before they get there and see if they are going to bring a crate for it on the moving day. Just be direct and firm on how you want it moved and you shouldnt have any problems.

 

No experience with shipping a bike but used Forward Air for freight.
They have there own containers for bikes.
https://www.forwardair.com/prepaid/MCmainpage.jsp

 

if you can at all avoid having them ship it, i.e. you are pcsing w/in conus and can trailer it. I had mine shipped to guam and they bent the handle bars. Had it shipped back from guam and they scratched the tank. My POS yamaha made it fine both ways

Maybe there are others with positive experiences.

 

hey man, i did the same move as streetbob bommer from ft lewis ( McChord for you) to schofield. I used a third party using my money and not the govt travel. Travel will ship your bike in a box with your other stuff. This means it will prob fall (Had three guys get their bike and it had fallen over) and your other stuff will break. If your traveling within the US then there are a lot of companies with good credentials. I did the same research before i shipped mine. I bought a harley crate ( about 125) and the company strapped the bike to it and put the cardboard cover over and screwed it all down.
When I received it, my bike was perfect.
Hope you have good luck in your travels to your next station.

 

You could ask MoCo's shipping service partner Federal Motorcycle Transport to give you a quote...

Here's how they ship:

 

I'm Air Force also. TMO shipped my bike from CA to England. I was in Korea at the time so my wife took care of it for me. She knows how I am with my bike and took tons of before pictures of pretty much every angle. She requested that they build a separate crate for the bike, so the shipping co. came out a couple days early and measured. The fluids had to be drained but they can only check the gas and engine oil without tools, so that was what was drained. Also the battery had to be disconnected. They also filled out one of the papers that shows a blank bike for them to mark any scratches, mine was completely blank. I didn't get to see it go in the crate, but I watched it come out. It was blocked and braced very well, and completely stuffed with moving blankets. I still managed to get a little damage. The bottom edge of the back fender was chipped.

Filing a claim was pretty easy. I had to get a quote from a shop, so I got one including labor to remove and install the fender. Then just submitted the estimate to the shipping co. and two weeks later had a check in the mail.

If you have any other questions let me know.

 

Thanks for the input from everyone. I talked to some people at work today who had their bikes shipped in the past. It seems like it really comes down to the company I get assigned. I am going to have to give them a call and see if they will supply a crate. If not, I will have one ready.

Again, thanks.

 

no personal experience,coz I thibk it is troublesome,why not ride it there?haha