After an extensive research regarding the possibilities to travel with our motorcycles from Austria to Canada, there was finally only one carrier left for us to consider in January 2022: In-Time Hamburg. We were offered three options for the transport of our motorcycles.
Option 1: "Luxury variant": Bring the motorcycles incl. luggage to the airport yourself and leave everything to the carrier from there on.
Option 2: "DIY": Find a suitable transport container or build one yourself. Stow the motorcycles incl. luggage in this transport container. The box will then be picked up at the front door by the carrier and everything else will be taken care of by him.
Option 3: "Cheapest option": In contrast to the first two options, the motorcycles here go on their journey by ship (RoRo ferry). The motorcycles are picked up without luggage in front of the door and everything else is taken over again by the carrier. There is no fixed arrival date in Canada with this option.
For all options, the motorcycles must be picked up at the Canadian customs ourselves. Since a handling of the customs formalities by the carrier is no longer possible for legal reasons.
After careful consideration and many pro & con lists, we decided on option 2. First we tried to get an already finished transport crate. Since we could not locate a motorcycle dealer who could provide us with an old transport frame or a transport crate, it was soon a matter of planning and building crates for us!
One thing is always to keep in mind: for the transport there are some regulations for motorcycles as well as for the luggage, which have to be observed! 1. in the tank may be max. 3-4 liters of gasoline. 2. everything at the battery must be disconnected! 3. no other liquids (eg. engine oil, etc) may be separately in the box!
Planning:
In the first step, we measured our motorcycles roughly in the garage and tried to imagine mentally how or where we would best stow our luggage in the box.
With these thoughts in mind, we began our internet research, as we were not the first to want to build a crate. Our plan was first to build the crates so that we could transport the bikes without any disassembly if possible.
Here we immediately came across the first topic: ISPM 15 (International Standards For Phytosanitary Measures): This standard regulates that wood used for the transport of goods must be treated in a special way to prevent the spread of diseases. Of course, this also applied to our transport!
Since ISPM 15 treated wood is hard to come by and above all relatively expensive, we decided on an alternative and to build our crates entirely out of OSB boards (this material does not fall under the standard).
In the first design we planned to build all the side walls and the lid of the box the same as the floor from OSB boards. The first calculations regarding the weight surprised us. We had to realize that this construction would exceed our weight limit. Further research later, we were a bit smarter: it was also possible to replace the OSB boards for the side walls and the lid with sturdy cardboard!
Well, we now knew that we needed OSB boards and cardboard. But where to get them? This question also gave us several hours of further Internet research.
Finally we found out that there were only two possibilities for the wood: get all the boards ourselves and cut them to size - or: find someone who can do this! Since all DIY stores hardly offered OSB boards anymore, or only in thicknesses and lengths we couldn't use, it soon became clear: someone else would have to do it!
On the basis of our construction plan, we created a cutting list for the wood. We were able to order everything from a small wood dealer near Vienna and also had it cut to size. We also got the leftover boards. Since there was no possibility for us in Vienna to build the boxes somewhere in peace and also to leave them there until the pickup, we transported the wood to Carinthia and could assemble everything there in the garage of Kerstin's sister. (THANKS again for that!)
For all who are interested or want to build a crate themselves: here are our experiences with crate building!
Construction plan:
The plan was that a 2.2 cm thick OSB board acts as the base plate. A framework is placed on top of this (also made entirely of OSB boards) and then the cardboard is attached there on the outside.
Sounds pretty simple - doesn't it?
The construction:
Shortly before the start of construction, we got the information from our carrier that our crates were too long for the truck according to the construction plan and that a crate should not be 240 cm long, but max. 235 cm long. We decided to build the crate only 230 cm long and to shorten some boards accordingly.
This meant for us that we had to go against the original plan: the motorcycles had to be smaller! So: the front wheels, the newly mounted handguards, the mudguards, the windshields and also the handlebars had to be dismantled. Even though the dimensions of our motorcycles are different (the F 700 GS is a few cm shorter and the handlebars a few cm narrower), we built both boxes with identical dimensions.
To build the floor, we first built three beams, each made of 5 pcs of OSB boards (100 cm long, 10 cm wide and 1.8 cm thick), which we screwed together on top of each other with screws. The height of the beams was determined by the fact that a forklift or an ant needs a little less than 9 cm of space to get under the box. These beams were then in turn fixed to the base plate with screws.
For the framework, we first built four corner pillars, each made of 3 pcs OSB boards (126 cm long, 5 cm wide and 1.8 cm thick), which were also screwed together again. We screwed these pillars with a distance of 0.5 cm from the floor edge to leave enough space for the cardboard.
We attached the four corner pillars with two L-profiles each to the base plate with screws. Furthermore, we attached one 1.8 cm OSB board per side on the long side as a support for the upper construction, also with an L-profile.
On the corner posts, we screwed a crown of 1.8 cm thick and 5 cm wide OSB boards. In order to stabilize the framework even better, we attached another wreath with 2.2 cm OSB boards to the first one. We cut the boards for this ourselves with the circular saw from the scraps that we had gotten from the carpentry shop.
As additional stabilization of the framework, cross braces made of 1.8 cm OSB boards were inserted.
Finally, cardboard panels that we had cut to size ourselves were tacked onto this wooden structure and wrapped with stretch film for additional protection.
Load securing:
To be able to fix the motorcycles to the ground, we bolted on six retaining points with D-rings. Four points were fixed with two M8 screws each and the rear two points with two M6 screws each.
We lashed down the motorcycle cases with a couple of old tension belts, which we fixed to the floor with 2 screws and washers. The rest we fixed to the motorcycle with tension straps or zip ties.
For the construction of the two boxes and the disassembly work we needed about 2 days - including the unplanned re-cutting of the boxes by reducing the length! Since also the disassembly of the parts (especially the front wheel and brakes) was somewhat new for us, it certainly took us longer. But in two days it is absolutely manageable if you do not have to cut all the wooden slats anymore!
What we have not considered, however - if the front wheel is dismantled on the motorcycle, the box can also be less high. Our slats with 126 cm could certainly could have been at least 15 cm shorter!
Parts list (per box):
Floor
Base plate: 230 cm x 100 cm x 2.2 cm (1 piece)
Beams: 100 cm x 10 cm x 1.8 cm (15 pieces - 5 pieces per beam)
Scaffold
Corner posts: 126 cm x 5 cm x 1.8 cm (12 pieces - 3 per post)
Middle support: 126 cm x 5 cm x 1.8 cm (2 pieces - one piece per long side)
Top structure
First layer (long side): 229 cm x 5 cm x 1.8 cm (2 pieces - one piece per long side)
First layer (transverse side): 89 cm x 5 cm x 1.8 cm (2 pieces - one piece per transverse side)
Second layer (long side) 219 cm x 5 cm x 2.2 cm (2 pieces - one piece per long side)
Second layer (cross side): 99 cm x 5 cm x 2,2 cm (2 pieces - one piece per cross side)
Other material
Double wall cardboard: we had 128 cm x 120 cm sheets cut to size - but you can use any sturdier cardboard. If you have boards cut to size: the more you have different sizes and pieces, the more expensive it will be. So better order one size and cut it yourself!
4 lashing hooks large ,2 lashing hooks small, screws in different sizes, clamps and stretch film.
Tools
Screwdriver, open-end wrench, bits, stanley knife, circular saw with appropriate saw blade for OSB boards (we would have saved ourselves if we had measured and planned everything properly beforehand), stapler, hammer, insulating tape, angles, pins, tape measure.
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