Shipping Norton from Vermont to Northern California

Hello all. This is my first post to this forum.

I have a 1973 Roadster 850 which is being restored by a shop in Vermont (Classic Bike Experience). When completed in April/May I will need to ship it to Northern California. Any suggestions for shipping carriers that go coast to coast? The shop has carriers they work with for East Coast customers, but none of them include California in their territory.

Thanks,

Tom

I have used Federated several times shipping bikes from California to Ohio. I have always been pleased with the service.

Here is their website: http://www.funtransport.com/

Chris

Why not ride it down and then fly back?

I had my bike shipped from Classic Bike Experience using Keyboard, I checked their site and it looks like they go to California. They were good to deal with, both CBE and Keyboard, no issues.

Ride it

If you Google "ship your motorcycle" you'll get tons of options. Be aware that many "services" are brokers that will take a cut and refer you to the actual shipper that will charge you again. I purchased a '77 R100 /7 from a guy in Seattle and had it shipped to my shop in the Boston area, cost me $673 with lift gate service and only took 7 days from when I made the deal to receiving the machine. I shipped a Norton to CNW last fall that they purchased from me; they use Van Dam trucking. I don't know what they charge, but John (owner and driver) is one of the coolest motor heads I have ever met. Van Dam, essentially, circles the country so if they just went past you, you may be in for a long wait.

RE: riding you new motorcycle home: Not a great idea. You'll need to be able and capable of doing some very critical services in the early stages of break-in; not the kind of care you want to be doing on the side of the road in upstate New York.

However.

If you do decide to make the journey then I will step up and offer you your first service, complete, at no charge for labor. I am a comfy day's ride south of Essex, VT. If you can find another member in New York who can provide another complete service, then another member in, say, Indiana or Ohio your break-in should be complete. You'll still more services, but mostly chain tension and lube; always vary your speed and revs.

Best wishes,

Bill.

I've used Forward Air (trucking). They are generally depot to depot but have heard of them dropping off...you just need to check and were very reasonable. They have metal motorcycle specific enclosed shipping containers you can rent. We used them to ship the raffle bikes to the winner from the Bonneville Vintage GP. http://www.bonnevillevintagegp.com

Cheers,

Tom Kullen
http://www.smithsgaugesusa.com

Keyboard and J.C. Motors.

Over 40 successful moves between these two, with good price, communication and transit times.

Weather may affect shipping to many parts of the east right now...