The funny part about shipping the bike by air was that what I expected and what happened did not quite match. I presumed that when Air France Cargo flew the bike, they were going to fly New York to Paris and then Paris to Budapest. Well, that was not the case. The bike certainly logged frequent flyer miles on its flight from JFK to Paris. But once it landed at CDG Airport, it was done flying. From there, Air France Cargo loaded it on a commercial truck and sent it to Linz, Austria. And from Linz the bike was transferred on another truck and hauled to the Budapest Cargo Airport. So, ironically enough, the bike ended up “seeing” more of Europe by the time it landed than we did.

But, that being said, we dropped the bike at JFK on April 5; it cleared customs by April 10th, and shipped out by the 11th of the month. The neat part about Air France Cargo’s system is that one can track the bike’s progress online. The bike arrived in Budapest on April 21st, and we picked it up on April 24th (since the customs and shipping people are not eager to deal with non-essential items on a weekend). An hour and a half of running paperwork back-and-forth from customs to cargo (thankfully within 50 yards of each other), a brief customs inspection of the bike, plus about 40 Euros later (handling and paperwork fees), and we were ready to take possession of the bike.

To my delight, the bike and the spare tires were intact and, other than a thin layer of dust, in good shape.

















The folks at Berklay Cargo had done a good job of strapping it down for the trip. And to their credit, they use a good quality aluminum skid and some nice cam straps—worth the money. I hooked-up the battery cables, checked the fluids, and cranked the engine. Without any hesitation, it fired right up—what a relief!

With the help of a friend [a big ‘Thanks’ Mihaly!] we were able to salvage the skid and we took off for a gas station to fill the bike and head for the Romanian border.





























The trip to the Romanian border was pleasant if a bit windy. The Hungarian autobahn is a real delight. You have to purchase, however, a highway sticker from a gas station before entering. It costs about $6 for a 4-day period. But, traffic is fairly light and traffic moves at “European” speeds (80-100+ mph). It is quite an experience moving at triple digit speeds and being passed by German sedans (to remain unnamed…he he he) as if stationary. I can see why my friend, Mihaly is eager to purchase a Suzuki Hayabusa.












The autostrada ends at Szeged—a pleasant town about 40 miles from the border, renowned for the Hungarian Paprika. In the next couple of years, the Hungarian government plans to finish the last miles of freeway to the border, so a journey across the country would be as quick or as slow as one would want.
















From Szeged it was a quick jaunt to the border. The Hungarian border guards were really chatty and friendly, curious about the bike and its registration. When I presented them the Kentucky registration, the response was somewhat amusing—“This is it?”—as they turned the piece of paper from one side to the other. Clearly, the paper did not measure up in its look and feel to have traveled such a long way. Passports stamped and with nothing to declare, we were off to the Romanian border check point.
















The Romanian customs and border patrol folks here were equally curious and pleasant. “You brought the bike from where?” “How much did it cost to fly it? And was that really worth it?” “Nice bike!” Another series of stamps in the passports and a wave later, and we were riding the bike into Romania. The bike had finally arrived at its destination!



So, for those of you reading this blog who may be interested in a similar journey to Europe, and who may ask the question “was the whole shipping process worth it?” I can answer “Yes, IF.” IF you plan to stay longer than 2-4 weeks and IF you want to ride YOUR bike and IF your bike is paid for (you may not be able to clear US customs if you have a lien) and IF you have the funds then by all means ship it. Otherwise, you may be better off renting a bike in Europe—and nowadays you have your pick, from Harleys, BMWs, Hondas, Kawasakis to Aprilias and Triumphs.

If you plan to ship to Europe or otherwise, good resources for shipping companies would be WebBikeWorld (excellent bike-centered site), as well as Berklay Cargo (ships out of JFK anywhere in Europe) and Warren Motorcycle Transport (ships out of several US airports to Germany, mainly).