The thing I hate to do in life is ship a bike! Haul bike or Motorcycle shippers or ?

[KNUCK]

Too far for me to get so have to roll the dice again. I have used Haul Bike 2 times in the last few years, fair price and no damage but the promise date and delivery date were 3-4 times longer than promised. Customer service about this issue was really customer no service and oops attitude. One time it sat in Vegas warehouse for 2 weeks till it fit their schedule.
I have never used Motorcycle shippers seems they are much smaller company so wonder how it will go. Thought of using Uship but don't really want my bike next to a goat or wood chipper for 2,000 miles. Would be fine if Jennifer Brennan hauled it, maybe. Any thoughts on this dilemma?

[Rubone]

I've only ever used Federal and never had an issue with damage, time, or cost...

[1950FL]

I used Keyboard Motorcycle shipping. $650 to ship my pan from Maine to Colorado in 2019. It took a long time and the bike did sit at their consolidation hub for a few weeks. But I got what I wanted, no damage and a good price, even though it took a long time.

Here is their contact info:

Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping
Elizabethtown, KY
Office: 270-737-5797
Fax: 270-737-6640
http://www.keyboardmotorcycleshipping.com/

Kelly Cecil
kcecil@keyboardcarriage.com


John 1950FL
AMCA #40796

[Architect]

I used Federal to ship my Road Glide back and forth from Salt Lake City, they damaged it in both directions. (We had used them 4 times prior with no issues). After we had words at the depot in Salt Lake when we flew in, I figured they would handle her with kid gloves on the way back, nope ten times worse. The bike was strapped to a pallet, but apparently either my pallet of the other pallets in the truck were not secured to the truck. Every corner of the bike had rub marks and my front brake lever was broken from an impact so hard that it bent the handle bars. Saddle bags and lids, tour pak and the front fairing all needed to be repainted.

Then the day of delivery, I am at work my wife takes delivery. She sees a lot of it, but not all. Honestly I didn't see the broken brake lever myself until I tried to put the bike away and it was gone. Well Federal and the shipper STI starts all this BS that if it was not noted to the driver, tough **** we are not covering it. Well I had pictures of the bike in their depot in Salt Lake when I dropped it off and then pics when the dropped it off in my driveway. Still took 4 months of some serious BS to get them to pay up. They started all this **** that since my bike was older with lots of miles there is depreciation? What, show me the evaluation you did on my bike when you picked it up and the agreed value? I paid for $15k value, that is the value. Then they didn't want to paint the "entire" saddle bag, just the damaged parts? What!?!?!?!?!?

Then they mailed me a check for half of the estimate to fix the bike, I mailed it back. Finally I found the email addresses for the entire Board of Directors of STI and sent it off to all of them. That got an apologetic email from the President, they stalled for two more weeks, then he apologized again and sent me a check for the full estimate.

It then took another 8 months to get it all sorted out. I had to take half the bike apart for new paint, parts had to go out for Powder, parts to be ordered, labor etc, etc, etc. The very last part to get her whole again was installed 12 months after delivery. It totally sucked and yeh it was all their fault.

What I will say form the experience is that Federal is a Broker for shipping companies, not a shipping company. That is a big thing to understand. When the bike was damaged, they sent me to the shipper STI, who was self insured and gave me the hard time. Federal felt bad and tried to help my cause, but they had no real influence. We had plans to ship our bike to Cali this Spring, we were going to use 1-800 Haulbikes. They are a shipping company and not a broker, why deal with a middle man. Good luck.

[Rollo]

Sorry to hear your issues with Allied. Like Robbie all my experiences have been good so far and I have used them several times. I have also used Haul Bikes but had much the same experience as mention above. My bike were all done within the Allied system and no outside contractors. Always on an Allied truck and their terminals. Their system especially for cross country deliveries is different than most in that they have a hub system where it is picked up on one coast and hauled to the middle of the country and put in a terminal until the truck headed to the other coast has a full load. They have always been shorter in duration and delivered on the date promised. Guess every one has their own story to tell on shipping!

Tom (Rollo) Hardy
AMCA #12766

[Rubone]

I used Federal to ship my Road Glide back and forth from Salt Lake City, they damaged it in both directions. (We had used them 4 times prior with no issues). After we had words at the depot in Salt Lake when we flew in, I figured they would handle her with kid gloves on the way back, nope ten times worse. The bike was strapped to a pallet, but apparently either my pallet of the other pallets in the truck were not secured to the truck. Every corner of the bike had rub marks and my front brake lever was broken from an impact so hard that it bent the handle bars. Saddle bags and lids, tour pak and the front fairing all needed to be repainted.

Then the day of delivery, I am at work my wife takes delivery. She sees a lot of it, but not all. Honestly I didn't see the broken brake lever myself until I tried to put the bike away and it was gone. Well Federal and the shipper STI starts all this BS that if it was not noted to the driver, tough **** we are not covering it. Well I had pictures of the bike in their depot in Salt Lake when I dropped it off and then pics when the dropped it off in my driveway. Still took 4 months of some serious BS to get them to pay up. They started all this **** that since my bike was older with lots of miles there is depreciation? What, show me the evaluation you did on my bike when you picked it up and the agreed value? I paid for $15k value, that is the value. Then they didn't want to paint the "entire" saddle bag, just the damaged parts? What!?!?!?!?!?

Then they mailed me a check for half of the estimate to fix the bike, I mailed it back. Finally I found the email addresses for the entire Board of Directors of STI and sent it off to all of them. That got an apologetic email from the President, they stalled for two more weeks, then he apologized again and sent me a check for the full estimate.

It then took another 8 months to get it all sorted out. I had to take half the bike apart for new paint, parts had to go out for Powder, parts to be ordered, labor etc, etc, etc. The very last part to get her whole again was installed 12 months after delivery. It totally sucked and yeh it was all their fault.

What I will say form the experience is that Federal is a Broker for shipping companies, not a shipping company. That is a big thing to understand. When the bike was damaged, they sent me to the shipper STI, who was self insured and gave me the hard time. Federal felt bad and tried to help my cause, but they had no real influence. We had plans to ship our bike to Cali this Spring, we were going to use 1-800 Haulbikes. They are a shipping company and not a broker, why deal with a middle man. Good luck.

Thanks for sharing that information. It has been a while since I used them and perhaps things have changed. They used to be affiliated with Allied Van Lines, perhaps no longer.

[riggpigg]

I also used Federal for several hauls, then last year they damaged(Badly) a bike I shipped to NYC, then damaged a bike I received from Indiana.....never again. Bike left outside for three weeks, bird **** all over an expensive bike.....Haul bikes took our chase bikes to SS marie and home from FLA.......great job by them.....

[Rollo]

Things have obviously changed at Allied Federal. Haul Bikes was my second choice just because the delivery date was a moving target and usually tow to three weeks later than originally promised but a 41 knuckle with side car did arrive eventually and undamaged which is the most important thing. Good luck!

Tom (Rollo) Hardy
AMCA #12766

[KNUCK]

Well I was leaning to Federal until you opened my eyes as to them being a broker! Not what I want for my bike. I really have had it with Haul bike from past delays so I am now looking at Moto Shippers. Smaller company and seems a little more into customer service and care about the bike. They only haul cars and motorcycles so that sounds better I think. Will see what happens in the next few days.........

[jwl]

I know how nerve racking and anxious it is to ship anything because crap does happen. My advice would be to go with Haulbikes. The drivers I have dealt with seem to actually care at least a little bit. They have always been on time for me but that was before all of the virus bs and all the unrest in larger cities. Many freight companies are experiencing longer delivery times as of late. I would take a deep breath and go with Haulbikes and hope for the best. Safe delivery would be my first concern. You've gone your whole life without this bike. What's another month? What's the advantage to getting your bike quickly if it has to spend a month or 2 being repaired once you get it? Good luck! I hope whatever you do works out for you. Congrats on your new acquisition!

[Steve Swan]

the last bike i had shipped by haulbikes from NH to CO was summer 2018, took about 2.5 months. 2017, i had a bike shipped from MA to Co, 2 wks. prior to that, approximately 10 bikes shipped over a 5 years span and several between 2000 and 2010. haulbikes, prior to 2018, has always been timely and caring about their cargo. 2018 it changed and from hearing others stories first hand and reading here, unless i missed something, i'd probably still go with haulbikes as i have not yet heard of a story where haulbikes damaged a motorcycle.

[exeric]

I used Haulbikes in late October of 2018 and was happy with them. The price was very good, the bike was delivered quickly (probably luck), and in good shape. It was not a pristine bike so I didn't care if it was on an open bed, and that may have been why it was such an easy deal. If I was shipping a trailer queen, I'd be nervous with 2nd, 3rd, and additional parties involved.

[1950FL]

As I mentioned earlier in the post I used Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping and was happy with them. They are not a broker but the actual shipping company. They had a slick frame they put the bike in and they agreed to ship a box of parts along with the bike. Has anyone else used them?

IMG_1683.jpg

[Chris Haynes]

I've only ever used Federal and never had an issue with damage, time, or cost...

A neighbor shipped his bike with Federal. He was not at home when the bike was picked up by them. I watched as they covered the bike with furniture pads. Shoved it against the wall of the trailer. Put several ratchet straps around it and started winding them. I could actually see his fenders bending. Not a good thing.

[Highlander]

I have used Keyboard Carriage several years ago and my experience with them was positive. They only ship motorcycles and pianos. They allowed my bike to have fuel and camping gear in and on the bike for shipping. Others I checked with required the fuel to be drained from the bike and I could not have any gear on the outside of the bike. They have a skid specifically designed for bikes to be strapped to, which they can roll around in the trailer and strap to the trailer wall next to a grand piano.