If you wish to transport your motorcycle abroad, you will need to take some extra precautions. You will not be able to drive it yourself so the main issues will be protecting the bike while it is in transit. The first thing that you need to do is to hire an international moving company Los Angeles to take care of your bike and perhaps the rest of your belongings. You can ask them for all sorts of helpful advice and they will be more than glad to assist you. However, there are still some things that you will definitely need to do to prepare your motorcycle for international transport, such as empty the tank, secure the loose parts and take some pictures of your motorcycle.
All in all, this will not take a lot of your time, but it is best to know in advance what you will be doing. That is what this article is for. To teach you about:
Prepare your motorcycle for international transport – Tips and tricks
The list below is obviously not completely exhaustive, but it serves as a great moving day checklist of things that you need to do. In order to give your bike the best chances of surviving the transport unscathed, you will need to:
- Empty the gas tank and remove the battery
- Prepare your motorcycle for international transport properly – Wash your motorcycle
- Secure all loose parts
- Check for fluid leaks and inflate tires
- Make pictures of the motorcycle and the container you are shipping it in
- Prepare your motorcycle for international transport – Choose the carrier
Empty the gas tank and remove the battery
As your bike is not going to see any driving, you don’t need to have any gas in the tank. While not really being that dangerous if you leave some, it is always best not to take any chances when it comes to international transport. In fact, most of the movers Orange County highly advise this course of action. After emptying the tank, you will also want to remove the battery as well. The reason behind this is that the battery is also considered to be a hazardous item for international transportation. The best way to deal with the battery is to transport it in a way that is proper. Simply ask your moving company for more details.
Prepare your motorcycle for international transport properly – Wash your motorcycle
This is the perfect time to make sure that your bike is shiny and sparkling. While this will make your motorcycle look awesome, it will also serve another important purpose. It will make it a lot easier to figure out if there are any dents, scratches, or similar on the bike itself. And it will also make it a lot easier to figure out if there are new ones after transport. Make sure to take your time and thoroughly clean everything.
Secure all loose parts
After your bike is as clean as it possibly can be, it is time to do something about the loose parts. Parts like saddlebags and any others that are loose need to either be secured or removed. You are doing this to protect your own motorcycle from any damage in transport. Most likely, your bike will be moving and shaking quite a bit, no matter how secure it is, and those parts that are loose can damage it. While most of the time your bike will not have any damage from these parts, why take that risk?
Simply devote some of your time to figuring out which parts need to be removed or secured and your bike will be all the safer for it!
Check for fluid leaks and inflate tires
With the bike being pristine and all the loose parts are either secure or removed, it is time to figure out if your motorcycle has any fluid leaks. Carefully examine all the parts that might have a fluid leak, making sure that there is none present. If there are such leaks, you may want to service the bike before transporting it, depending on the severity of the leaks. You will also want to inflate the tires before giving your bike to the moving company. You can inflate them a bit more than you usually do since your bike will be in transport for quite some time.
Make pictures of the motorcycle and the container you are shipping it in
Also, make sure that you take multiple pictures of the bike, from various angles and various sides. This is to ensure that you are able to document that any damage incurred during the transport actually happened during the transport. You can show these pictures to your moving company and once they sign that they are taking the bike in original condition, you’re set. If you already have the container in which the bike is to be shipped, take pictures of that, too. Again, this is to prevent you from being responsible for any potential damage.
Prepare your motorcycle for international transport – Choose the carrier
Whether you are preparing for an international or interstate move, you can ship your bike in various containers, depending on the location. Obviously, if you are shipping it overseas, you will need to hire a special shipping container. But if you are shipping it via land roads, you will have the selection of:
- Utility trailer
- Enclosed trailer or moving truck
- Pickup truck
All of the options have their pros and cons. The price will most likely be the deciding factor but the safety of your bike needs to be in there, as well. Basically, the options always range from the lowest price-worst convenience to the highest price-best convenience. You will need to figure out where will your bike go on that scale.
Hire professionals to prepare your motorcycle for international transport
Of course, if you simply do not wish to bother with any of this, you can simply hire professionals. They will do the work for you. This method guarantees that everything will be done correctly and leaves you with a lot more free time.