Riding Season Doesn't Have to End in October: Shipping Your Motorcycle South for the Winter

Every fall a certain kind of call picks up. Someone is heading south for the winter — a condo in Scottsdale, a rental on the Gulf Coast, a few months in the Texas Hill Country — and the car is sorted, but the motorcycle is sitting in the garage up north with four months of snow ahead of it. They want to know if it can come too. It can, and with a little planning it is one of the easier things to ship.

Start with timing. Late October through December is snowbird season, when thousands of vehicles head south to Florida, Arizona and Texas, and the trucks running those lanes fill up. Book two to four weeks ahead of the date you want the bike to arrive, and if you are shipping a car on the same route, ask about both at once — pickups from one address are simpler than two separate trips. By our published estimating method a 1,500-mile trip runs roughly 4 to 7 days in transit, plus the pickup window.

Next, choose how the bike rides. There are three common ways. Open transport puts the motorcycle on a car carrier, strapped into a wheel chock — the usual choice and usually the lowest cost. Enclosed transport keeps it out of the weather and road grime, which matters more for a show bike or anything with fresh paint. Crating bolts the bike into a frame or box, which adds cost and prep time but gives the most protection. For a daily rider heading to the sun, open transport with a proper chock is what most people choose.

“The car is sorted, but the motorcycle is sitting in the garage up north with four months of snow ahead of it. It can come too.”

Ask the company you are considering how they secure motorcycles. A bike should ride upright in a wheel chock with soft straps over the bars or frame, not just leaned against something or held by a single strap. If they ship bikes regularly, they will answer that easily.

Then get the bike ready. Run the fuel down to about a quarter tank. Make sure the battery is charged, and if you have an alarm, turn it off or tell the driver how to disarm it — an alarm going off at 2 a.m. at a truck stop does nobody any good. Check the tire pressure, take off saddlebags, tank bags, GPS mounts and anything else that can come loose, and fold the mirrors in if they fold. Hand over one key and keep the spare.

Take good pickup photos. Every side, the tank, the fairings, the exhaust and the odometer, with a date on them. Bikes pick up small scratches and scuffs easily, and you want a clear record of what was already there before the bike went onto the truck.

Think about the paperwork you will want at the other end. Keep the registration and proof of insurance with you rather than in the bike, and check with your insurer how your policy treats the time the bike is on a truck and the months it will be ridden in another state. If you plan to ride a lot, look up the riding rules where you are going before you land.

Delivery day is quick. Walk around the bike in good light, compare it with your pickup photos, note every new scratch or dent on the Bill of Lading, and then sign. That signature records the bike's condition at delivery, so take a few minutes to do it right before the driver pulls away. Then check the tire pressure again and go for a ride.

How it works with us is simple. We put your shipment in front of vetted, licensed auto transport companies, they compete with their best offers, and you choose the one whose dates and price work for your trip. You book directly with that company, and you never pay us a cent. Want to ride all winter? Get your free estimate and compare offers before the snowbird rush fills the trucks.