How much did it cost you to ship your motorbike, would you do it again?

I posted on here some time ago asking for some advice re shipping a motorbike & was given a few useful links. After seeing what was involved & reading stories, both on here & other forums, I realised the general consensus was that 9 times out of 10 it's really not worth it unless it's a particularly valuable bike or you have an emotional tie to it. We decided to just sell before we moved.

However at the Isle of Man TT this year there was a group of guys around the bike admiring it. When we approached them & started talking it turned out they were Australian & had never seen the model before. We explained we'd be moving over but that we wouldn't be bringing the bike. They thought that was crazy as it's quite a rare model in Australia, in their opinion.

I've had a wee look around & it appears they're right, I couldn't find any for sale in WA (or the UK). Whilst it's not a hugely expensive bike it looks like it'll be very difficult to replace. So we're back to shipping it I guess lol.

ive a fair idea of what's required re shipping but we're not ready to apply for the import permit yet as we don't have much of the paperwork they request ie proof of house sale, employment resignations etc.

I'm getting a couple of quotes next week from the companies we're considering using to ship our household goods (they both have companies they work with to ship vehicles) but I'm curious, have you decided it was worth shipping your bike & if so what did it roughly cost? If you had the choice would you do it again?

FYI the bike we're shipping is a KTM 990 Adventure Sport

I think you're right about the rarity of it in Australia. You don't see a lot of Katooms here. I don't think the 990 was sold here; but the 1050,1190 & 1290 are sold here.

There is a forum member here who does vehicle imports. Have a search for Iron Chef, there is an ongoing thread where they calculate the worth in importing the bike.

Edit; the thread is called

"Is it worth bringing my car? The Iron Lady's trusty new calculator reveals all!"

Sorry, don't know how to link to it in Tapatalk on iPhone!

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Just make sure you can get parts easy enough if its a model not sold here.

Cal x

Thanks suzukiscottie, had a look at that thread. I didn't realise they done bikes, there isn't anything on their site, but I saw a couple of enquiries. I've dropped them an email so hopefully hear back.

Did you ship your bike? If you did, would you do it again given the option?

Hahaha Cal this is a very good point!!!!!! I've checked & there are KTM dealers so I'd like to think they'd be able to source any parts, & I'm pretty sure they'll know how to charge for them too lol.

Had another wee rummage around & ive found 1 for sale in NSW. 1 year older & heaps more km on the clock selling for $13k. Mine has a current uk value of just over £5k ($9k)

No, didn't ship mine. Sold it in the Uk, and then later on I bought exactly the same bike, but a newer model, here!

I wouldn't worry too much about spares for a mainstream brand. Often main components are the same, engine sizes are often different because the cylinder bore is just made bigger. And there's always the choice of shipping a part from elsewhere in the world.

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It's probably only worth considering if a) your bike is like part of your family and/or b) you can pack it into a container with your household goods, which keeps the shipping costs down a fair bit.