Shipping a Motorcycle to a Rally: The Season and How It Works
Most people who ship a bike to a rally do it for one reason: they want to arrive rested and ride the roads they came for, not spend four days on an interstate getting there. The logistics are straightforward once you understand that rally weeks are the busiest and most expensive time to move a motorcycle, and that booking around them is the whole game.
The Rally Calendar Drives Everything
American rally season runs roughly March through October and the major events are predictable year to year, which is exactly why capacity tightens around them.
Daytona Bike Week opens the season in early March in Florida and is the first big draw of the year. Spring brings Arizona Bike Week around Scottsdale, Myrtle Beach Bike Week in South Carolina in May, and Americade at Lake George in New York at the end of May.
Summer is the peak. Laconia Motorcycle Week in New Hampshire runs in June, the Republic of Texas rally fills Austin, and Sturgis in South Dakota in early August is the largest of them all and the one that distorts the market most. Fall brings the Myrtle Beach fall rally and Biketoberfest back in Daytona in October.
Exact dates move a little each year, so confirm them with the event before you book anything. What does not move is the pattern: demand for motorcycle transport into those regions spikes in the weeks before, and out of them in the week after.
Book Well Ahead of a Rally
This is the single most useful piece of advice on the subject.
For Sturgis, book six to eight weeks out. For the other major rallies, four to six. Outside rally season, one to two weeks is normally enough, which tells you how much the events change the market.
The return leg deserves as much thought as the outbound one. Everybody leaves at once, and riders who arranged transport in and assumed they would sort the return out later routinely find themselves paying a premium or waiting several days. Book both directions together.
Give a range of pickup dates rather than a single day. On a rally lane a two or three day window is frequently worth real money, and it improves the chance of getting a carrier at all.
Open or Enclosed for a Motorcycle
Motorcycles are different from cars here, and enclosed is the more common answer rather than the premium one.
A bike has no bodywork protecting its mechanical parts. Road grit, rain and debris hit the engine, the chrome and the paint directly, and a bike on an open trailer for several days arrives dirty at best. For a rally bike, which is frequently a bike somebody has spent money on, that matters.
Enclosed transport also comes with proper motorcycle handling: a chock or cradle that supports the bike upright, soft straps rather than chains, and a crew that has secured bikes before. Ask specifically how the bike will be tied down, because a motorcycle secured badly is the way most transit damage happens.
Open transport is cheaper and it is a reasonable choice for a workhorse bike or a short move, particularly if the bike travels in a crate or on a pallet.
Crating, Pallets and Multiple Bikes
Not every motorcycle travels standing on a trailer deck, and the alternatives are worth knowing.
Crating puts the bike in a wooden frame built around it. It gives the best protection available, it is what dealers and manufacturers use, and it costs more because somebody has to build the crate and because the crate takes space. It suits a very high value or vintage bike, or one going a long way.
Pallet shipping straps the bike to a pallet and moves it through the freight network rather than on a motorcycle carrier. It can be cheaper on some lanes and it is worth pricing, though it involves more handling and the bike passes through terminals rather than staying on one truck.
Several bikes traveling together is the cheapest way per bike. Riding groups heading to the same rally frequently arrange a single enclosed trailer between them, which spreads the cost and means everybody’s bike arrives at the same time and place.
Preparing the Bike
Wash it so existing marks are visible, then photograph it from every angle in daylight, including the tank, the fairings, the exhaust, the wheels and any chrome. Note the odometer.
Leave the tank low, around a quarter or less, and make sure there are no leaks. Fold or remove mirrors and anything that protrudes, since these are what catch during loading. Remove the windshield if it is easily removable and prone to flexing, and take off saddlebags and loose accessories.
Disable the alarm, disconnect the battery if the carrier asks, and check tire pressures, since a soft tire makes a bike harder to secure properly. Fit soft ties or note the correct tie down points, because a strap on the wrong part of a fork or a frame does real damage.
At delivery, inspect before signing. Compare against your photographs and note anything unexpected on the bill of lading while the driver is present.
What It Costs
Distance sets the base, and after that the variables are the transport type, the timing and the bike itself.
Enclosed costs more than open. Rally season costs more than the shoulder months. A large touring bike or a trike takes more space than a standard motorcycle and prices accordingly. Rural pickup and delivery points cost more than ones near a major highway.
The comparison worth doing is against riding it there yourself: fuel, several nights of lodging, meals, the mileage and wear on the bike, and the days of your own time. On a long lane that arithmetic frequently favors shipping, and you arrive fresh. Our guide to transporting a motorcycle across country covers the service in more detail.
Common Questions
How far ahead should I book for Sturgis? Six to eight weeks. Four to six for the other major rallies, and one to two outside rally season.
Should I book the return at the same time? Yes. Everybody leaves at once, and arranging the return afterward routinely costs more or means waiting.
Open or enclosed? Enclosed is the common choice for motorcycles, because a bike has no bodywork shielding its mechanical parts from road grit.
How is a bike secured? On a chock or cradle with soft straps at proper tie down points. Ask before you book, since bad tie downs cause most motorcycle transit damage.
Can I leave luggage on the bike? No. Remove saddlebags and loose accessories. Personal items are not covered by cargo insurance and they shift in transit.
Get a Quote
Call Ship A Car, Inc. at (866) 821-4555 with both zip codes, the make and model of the bike and your rally dates in both directions, or price the move with the instant calculator.
