Private clients · Worldwide from Toronto

Motorcycle Shipping Overseas from Toronto

A motorcycle is one of the easiest vehicles to take abroad when it is crated properly. Yours is strapped upright onto a timber base at our Toronto warehouse, crated to export standard in our own crating bay, and shipped as its own singly handled LCL ocean shipment, or by air when time is short, door to door.

Get a shipping quote +1 (365) 829-5000

How it works

From your garage to a garage abroad, in four steps

Step 1
Prepare
Fuel drained low, battery disconnected, fluids checked, mirrors and screen padded or removed. We walk you through it, or do it at the warehouse.
Step 2
Crate
The bike is strapped upright by frame and wheels onto a custom timber base, and a crate is built around it in our crating bay.
Step 3
Ship
Our own truck delivers the finished crate to the ocean consolidator's terminal, or to the airline's cargo terminal at Pearson when the bike flies. By sea it ships as its own LCL unit, priced by its volume — typically 2.5 to 3.5 cubic metres.
Step 4
Clear & deliver
Cleared against the VIN and your documents at destination; our partner agent delivers the crate or the uncrated bike to your door.

Pick your protection

Three ways to package a motorcycle

Not every bike needs the full crate, and not every budget wants one. These are the three builds that leave our crating bay, from lightest to most armoured.

Open pallet
≈ $200–300
The bike is chocked and ratchet-strapped to a custom pallet sized to its wheelbase, with the bodywork covered and the whole unit wrapped. Light, forkliftable and honest protection for a short, supervised journey.
Best for: Budget moves on direct routings; the bike still travels as its own singly handled unit.
Frame crate
≈ $400–500
The same secured pallet, plus a timber skeleton built around the bike and sheeted in heavy plastic film. Nothing can lean on the machine or snag it, at a fraction of a full crate's cost and weight.
Best for: Most standalone shipments, and anything sharing container space with other freight.
Fully enclosed crate
≈ $800–900
A solid ISPM-15 plywood crate, built around the strapped bike: walls, lid, and a forklift-proof shell that takes a knock without passing it on. The armoured option, and the one high-value machines get.
Best for: Collectible, new or high-value bikes, air freight, and rough or multi-handling routes.

Packaging price only: these figures cover the pallet or crate itself (materials and the labour to build it) in Canadian dollars, and nothing else. Receiving the bike, handling, ocean or air freight, documents and delivery are all quoted separately, whichever build you choose.

Two ways to ship

By sea as LCL, or by air

Every bike travels as its own singly handled unit, start to finish. The only real choice is the speed of the water or the speed of the air.

LCL ocean freight: the standard way
After crating, our own truck delivers the bike to the ocean consolidator's terminal. From there it rides in a shared container — but nothing about the handling is shared: a single unit on its own pallet, loaded and braced so nothing rests against it, with its own customs file, priced by the space it takes — typically 2.5 to 3.5 cubic metres. Cleared and delivered at destination by our partner agent.
Air freight, when the calendar demands it
A rally date or a season that will not wait: the same palletized or crated bike can fly through our air freight desk out of Toronto Pearson — crated at our warehouse and delivered to the airline's cargo terminal on our own truck. It costs several times the ocean rate, so we quote both and let the deadline decide.

Can-Am Spyder ratchet-strapped by its wheels to a custom timber crate base at our Toronto warehouse — A client's Can-Am Spyder strapped by its wheels to the timber base built for it in our crating bay.

Covered motorcycle inside the crate as the plywood walls go up — Covered, and the walls go up around it.

Finished heat-treated motorcycle crate with dimensions marked, ready to load — Sealed, stamped and measured, ready to load.

Why the crate matters

Built around your bike, not bought off a shelf

Eight weeks at sea is a long time for anything on two wheels. The crate is what makes it uneventful — and who builds it decides whether the insurance is real.

Timber base sized to the wheelbase; the bike is strapped by frame and wheels, never the bars
Fuel, battery and fluids handled to ocean regulations, so the shipment is never reclassified as dangerous goods
Built in the crating bay at our Toronto warehouse — which keeps all-risk marine insurance valid
VIN recorded and photographed inside and out for the customs file
Ships as LCL: a singly handled unit in the ocean consolidation, or by air when the date demands it

Cars ship too — driven into a dedicated container, blocked and braced, with a timber deck built above for your household goods. Details on the international moving page. The step-by-step owner's guide is in shipping a motorcycle overseas from Canada.

Beyond two wheels

Every kind of machine that rides

Motorcycle shipping is the main event, but the crating bay does not check badges: if it rolls, it gets a base built to its wheelbase and a crate built around it.

Cruisers & touring bikes
Harley-Davidson, Honda Gold Wing and Valkyrie, Indian — the big, heavy machines that deserve a proper base and through-bolted chocks.
Adventure & dual-sport
BMW GS, KTM, Triumph Tiger and everything panniers bolt onto — the bikes most often crossing oceans for the riding on the other side.
Sport & naked bikes
Ducati, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki — lighter crates, fairings padded and wrapped, and nothing strapped to the plastics.
Three-wheelers & trikes
Can-Am Spyder and Ryker, Harley trikes and conversions — the wide track just means a wider base, like the Spyder in our photos.
Off-road & powersports
Dirt bikes and motocross, ATVs and quads, side-by-sides (UTVs) — crated or skid-mounted depending on size and destination.
Snowmobiles & watercraft
Sleds, personal watercraft on their trailers or off them, even golf carts — quoted by size and weight like everything else in the bay.

What's included

One price, the whole job

A motorcycle quote is door to door and itemized, like every quote we send. This is what it covers.

Preparation at our warehouse: fuel down, battery disconnected, fluids checked
Custom timber base and export crate, heat-treated ISPM-15 lumber
Strapping by frame and wheels, with bodywork protection where it is needed
VIN photographs and the packed inventory for the customs file

The crated bike delivered to the ocean terminal, or Pearson's air cargo terminal, on our own truck
Ocean or air freight and destination port charges
Customs clearance assistance at destination through our IAM partner agent
Delivery to your door, with uncrating on request; transit insurance offered on every quote

Named separately on the quote, never buried: destination duty or tax where the country applies one, inspection fees if customs selects the shipment, and registration at destination, which stays the owner's side of the deal.

Where the bikes go

Routes we crate for most

A crated motorcycle can ship anywhere we move households. These are the lanes that see the most bikes, each with its own destination guide covering the vehicle rules.

From the crating bay

Different machines, same method

A touring cruiser, an adventure bike, a three-wheeler: each gets a base built to its wheelbase, straps on the frame and wheels, and a crate around it.

A Honda Valkyrie in its crate: strapped, padded and ready for the lid.
The base comes first, sized to the wheelbase, with the bike strapped upright.
A BMW GS strapped down, with wrap protecting the bodywork.
The finished crate: dimensions and weight marked, ready to load.

Motorcycle shipping quote

Request your motorcycle shipping quote

This form is for shipping a motorcycle overseas. Tell us the bike, the route and how you want it packaged, and we quote it as soon as possible.

Prefer to talk? +1 (365) 829-5000

Good to know

Motorcycle shipping: frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to ship a motorcycle overseas from Canada?

The crated bike ships as LCL ocean freight priced by volume — typically 2.5 to 3.5 cubic metres — plus the packaging build, documents and destination charges. Send the bike's model and the destination for a firm number.

Does the motorcycle share a container with other cargo?

It ships as LCL, in a shared container run by the ocean consolidators — but as a singly handled unit: on its own pallet or in its own crate, loaded and braced so nothing rests against it, with its own customs file. Sharing the container is what keeps the price sane; the packaging is what keeps the bike untouched.

How do you prepare a motorcycle for ocean shipping?

Fuel down to a quarter tank or less, battery disconnected (removed on some routings), fluids checked for leaks, mirrors and windscreen removed or padded, and the bike strapped upright by its frame and wheels — never the bars — onto a timber base inside a custom crate.

Can I register the bike at destination?

That is the question to answer before spending anything: every country has its own vehicle import rules, inspections and taxes, and some tax vehicles even inside a duty-free household move. We confirm the rules for your destination before you commit — tell us the country and the bike up front.

Is the motorcycle insured during shipping?

Yes — professionally crated and loaded vehicles are covered under the same all-risk marine transit insurance as the rest of a move, declared at the value you set. Owner-crated bikes generally are not insurable beyond total loss, which is one of the reasons the crate is built here.

What documents do I need?

Ownership or title in your name (plus a lender's export letter if financed), a bill of sale or valuation, your passport and destination residence documents, and the VIN details. The export declaration from Canada is filed as part of the move paperwork.

Tell us the bike and the destination

Make, model and country is enough to start. We confirm the import rules for your destination and price the crate and the space before you commit to anything.

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