So after the usual working through and figuring out what bike I was going to ride across Canada, a couple of weeks go I took delivery of my sweet new ride - a BMW F800GS. A big thank you to Bob and his team (Ashton, Tim, Chris and others) at Bob's BMW (http://www.bobsbmw.com/) for getting me all sorted with the bike and kit. Bob has been very helpful in every way and is supporting our efforts by not making any money on the bike and accessories that he has supplied. Bob is very active in the community and is currently running his second Ultimate Bike Raffle (http://www.ubr2.com/) in support of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
Ok, so I have the bike, I just have barely enough time to break it in to allow me to get the first service completed at Bob's prior to our departure and then all hell breaks loose! The original freight broker that I worked with to have the bike picked up from Bob's (after he graciously agreed to have it crated using another bike's metal crate) informs me that the crate arrangements will not suffice and a host of other uncertainties pop-up?! Good grief...now what? Do I ride the bike all the way across the country from Maryland to Vancouver? Yikes - that would be insane!!
So, the manic search for a solution begins. As luck would have it I hooked up with Mitch from Estes Forwarding. He really helped me out - managed to secure a 5 day shipping guarantee and connected me with the Steve and his team at Craters & Freighters who took care of getting the bike in a solid wood crate! Here they are using a gate lift to get the bike into their shop:
Here's the bike all secured to the crate bottom and ready for it's own road trip to Seattle...!
The bike is now in Seattle on it's way to Ride West BMW where it'll undergo the break-in servicing and be ready for me to pick up when I get to Seattle this Friday and hook up with Riz. We then ride up to Vancouver and get sorted out for the begining of our adventure on the 30th!
Ok, so I have the bike, I just have barely enough time to break it in to allow me to get the first service completed at Bob's prior to our departure and then all hell breaks loose! The original freight broker that I worked with to have the bike picked up from Bob's (after he graciously agreed to have it crated using another bike's metal crate) informs me that the crate arrangements will not suffice and a host of other uncertainties pop-up?! Good grief...now what? Do I ride the bike all the way across the country from Maryland to Vancouver? Yikes - that would be insane!!
So, the manic search for a solution begins. As luck would have it I hooked up with Mitch from Estes Forwarding. He really helped me out - managed to secure a 5 day shipping guarantee and connected me with the Steve and his team at Craters & Freighters who took care of getting the bike in a solid wood crate! Here they are using a gate lift to get the bike into their shop:
Here's the bike all secured to the crate bottom and ready for it's own road trip to Seattle...!
The bike is now in Seattle on it's way to Ride West BMW where it'll undergo the break-in servicing and be ready for me to pick up when I get to Seattle this Friday and hook up with Riz. We then ride up to Vancouver and get sorted out for the begining of our adventure on the 30th!
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