Suggestions on building a crate to ship a bike?

[sigar]

Hey everyone,

I want to ship my CRF450 from California to Hawaii for my honeymoon. The options are designing smaller individual boxes and shipping it via UPS, and then assembling it in Hawaii, or building a big crate so that I can ship it on a freight boat. The idea is to keep the the boxes/crate as small as possible so that I can keep the shipping rate down. It also needs to be secure enough so that I don't end up with a mangled bike. Has anyone had any experience with this. Any suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Chili]

I have no experience with shipping a bike but have some experience with a honeymoon, you sure you need the bike? Did I miss something in the honeymoon manual? ;)

 

[bluerider125]

well, i don't know exactly what dimensions, but i would use 2x4's and 1x6's. take the handlebars off, but keep the bar clamps on the tripleclamp, to make holes for tie-down straps. make the crate about six inches wider than the tank shrouds, and screw in tie-down loops on the bottom 2x4's. make the crate approx. 2" higher than the tripleclamps. roll the bike in backwards (with the top already nailed on), and use some straps through the bar clamps to the tie-down loops on the floor. the crate shouldn't be taller than maybe 4 feet tall, two and a half feet wide, and 7 feet long. of course, i just came up with these figures off the top of my head, but it's a rough estimate. just drain the gas tank and the carb, in case the loading people don't pay attention to the "this side up" sign you are going to paint on the side. :confused:

 

[Skid Jackson]

last time i was at the kaw dealer they had a stack of crates they had broken down and looked like they were getting rid of them. you might call around and see if you can get a crate from a dealer.

 

[mx547]

apparently you're not hurting for money...pay the shop to crate it.

 

[osheen]

Go to a Honda dealer and get a CRF crate. Not just any crate but the actual crate for the CRF. Any other crate and the bike won't fit and you'll have to murphy it together.

I've built lots of crates from wood and they get heavy, about 200lbs of 2X4s and OSB.

 

[sigar]

Thanks for the replies. With regards to using the CRF crate, my concern is that I would like to cover all the sides with something like plywood to protect the bike, and the thin sheet metal crate probably won't support that. Please keep the ideas coming. Thanks.

 

[zilla]

I shipped a bike to Hawai once and took it to a place called Boxers. The guy specialized in overseas shipping and build a crate to suit. A word of caution.. Drain all the fuel before crating. Cost around $700 to get it there.

 

[sigar]

Cost around $700 to get it there.

Yowza, I'm trying to get it there and back for $300. Thanks.

 

[Glitch]

Sigar, I think it cost around $300 to just ship one way in the continental US, so $300 there and back seems impossible.

 

[Coop]

Get a CRF crate and bolt some plywood to it if you really need to do ship it. But I think you're going to be hard pressed to do it for $300 there and back. I shipped a KX250 from PA to CA a couple years ago. I got the crate for free from the bike shop, but had almost what you want to pay just shipping it across country.

 

[lawman]

i shipped a ktm 400 from memphis to colorado by forward air. got a street bike crate from dealer, a steel frame but no sides. built up from there with plywood & lots of sheet metal screws & bubble wrap. had to remove the wheels & lay the bar/controls down. it got real heavy, real fast, & added greatly to the shipping expense, but it got there intact. but $300 there & back to hawaii? if you pull that off, pls let us know how you did it.

 

[sigar]

Thanks, for the replies everyone and keep them coming. I've been working on this off and on for a couple months, and have good reason to believe I can get CLOSE to my goal of $300 there and back. The key is to shop around, I've had quotes as high as $1200 one way, and as low as $250 one way. Again, please keep the suggestions coming and thanks.

 

[efivecoat]

I used yellow freight to ship a KTM from MO to NC, for $150. Get the CRF crate, when you're done packing the bike wrap it in plastic, that's how mine came, no problems. Also be sure to drain the oil and zip-tie any loose parts tight.