To ship my SG from Winchester, Va. to Los Angeles, Ca. thru HOG cost me $614 each way. As a matter of fact I got my tracking notice today and my bike is in Sterling,Va. and should be home tomorrow or Friday. Took 8 days each way it looks like.
Gary

 

I just got back from a cross country trip. 7,300 miles total. I left on 8/25 and got home on 9/13. I spent a weekend in CO at my son's house, then went through Wy, ID, and Wa where I spent 6 days in Seattle. From Seattle I went through Glacier NP, MT, ND, MN, WI, and back home. I had a couple of 800 mile plus days on the way out and back, but while in the mountain west states I kept it down to 350-400 miles a day. I shipped the wife to WA and rode the bike.

 

i really want to do a 48-state road trip one of these days:

 

I always caution people about bike transporters....I worked for Haulbikes and all in all a good company......GET IT IN WRITING....is my caution...take photos of bike ....all sides....and confirm all times and dates.As a driver we would do everything we could but accidents happen...delays happen....and they will take their sweet time to pay a claim.Have a great trip take lots of photos....be safe.

 

Been to Sturgis 3 times, rode the first time, trucked after that. Cost about $800, bike is away from home for three weeks. Next year the company is offering to drop in Los Angeles and pick up in Sturgis. Haven't gotten a rate yet but my buddy and I figure it to be in the $1,400 range, so this got us thinking differently.

Why not take that money and use it to rent instead? We're thinking about renting in Vegas ($100 to $150 daily depending on the deal) and taking off for a couple weeks traveling the west coast. We get our choice of bikes too. I've rented from 3 different sources in Vegas and always got a bagger. Big difference from my bar-hopper Deuce. We wont be limited to the haulers time frame and our bikes wont be in transit.

So my sugeestion is consider renting. I think the HOG rate is about $100 a day vs the regular rental rate of $150 daily.

 

This is good advice no matter who you are dealing with.

Tom

 

fourhour had a point about renting a bike. One thing to look at is Eagle Rider's specials page. They have some really great deals on touring bikes for one-way rentals, on the order of $50-60/day with unlimited mileage. It's a great deal if the strat/end points and time frame meet your needs.

Rob

 

No offense, and I appreciate all of the ideas and help but I didn't spend $25K on a bike to leave it at home and rent a bike. This is why I bought it and I consider the cost of shipping to be part of the total trip cost, like hotels or gas. I once rented a bagger in Vegas for a day and that was fine but if I'm going to be on it for two weeks I'd rather it be mine.

I agree, I think taking pictures of everything is a great idea. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it arrives as it left.

 

I could never leave my bike at home and ride some rental on a trip either. That's why I have my own bike. There are a lot of companies out there that can ship bikes. When I was selecting a company I talked to a couple of service managers is popular shipping locations like Orlando or Seattle to see what they had to say about them. For instance Downtown Harley in Seattle said he has seen hundreds of bikes get shipped in and out of his shop through the years and Haul Bikes has never had a claim for damage. He did say he had seen damaged bikes come in from federal and some others. And no, I don't think he was on the Haul Bikes payroll. Just another data point for the selection process....

Tom

 

This was just the thread I was looking for. I was thinking on taking the train but this might be a better alternative!

Thanks!