I have been contemplating a European Road Trip for some time now. I think it would be really neat to have my bike shipped to somewhere in England and take a few weeks to ride all around the country with my father. Question, has anybody ever done something similar? About how much does the shipping cost from say the east coast of the US (I'd ride out there)?

 

Cant help with costs but sure they will be shipped into Southampton which is my home town and if you looking for a guide for a few days to show you best of south coast let me know?I will fire up my my sporty!

 

If you do come over I would recommend what im hoping to do soon and go to south wales which is nice then for £105 catch ferry across to ireland and have 2 hour ride upto dublin which is great and you will luv it! Then ferry from dublin back to north wales (snowdonia) which has awsome views and rides and carry on in uk?

 

You can ship by plane through Canada, otherwise it's freight on a slow-*** boat. Check out ADVrider, they do it all the time.

 

I went on a cruise once that had about 20 bikes on it and at every port they unloaded all the bikes and the riders cruised around the islands for the day then packed them back on the boat and were off to the next island. I thought this was pretty cool....

 

Can you give me specific info about this? What type of cruise was it, what cruise line, how can I get more info? I love the idea.

 

Sure, we were on Royal Carribbean on the eastern carribbean cruise out of Miami. Check this link out, I googled it and found some info on it.

http://www.cruise-eta.com/motorcycle-cruise/

 

WOW!!!
That would be the ride of a lifetime!
Does anyone rent Harleys to do such a trip?
I'd think renting would be somewhat cheaper than shipping a bike round trip from the U.S.

 

I have rented twice in Europe. Once from a dealership at Innsbruck, Austria and once from dealership at Florence, Italy. Both trips were amazing and worth every penny for the memories.

Now I would have much preferred having my bike on both of these trips, but the cost and the down time for shipping in my mind is too prohibitive. You are going to give up your bike at home for one to three weeks before and after the trip. The cost has got to be way up there. If you were going for several months or moving there, it is likely worth it. But for a one or two week trip I would just rent a bike.

All of that said, your ideas sounds amazing and I like the other post about taking the ferry to Ireland. I was in Ireland in 2004 and was supposed to rent a bike from a dealership in Northern Ireland for two days and do some riding. It never worked out and I regret that, riding in Europe is a great time.

 

There are HD dealers that rent bikes in the uk, not sure if the Dublin dealer does. Ive just got back from a week end in north wales (Snowdonia) but with the missus and kids so in our car but would luv to go back on the bike as some of the mountain roads are superb! there were loads of bikers there and on way back we passed a huge group of Harleys and my missus said "look at the grin on your face" lol
Im going to Dublin in august but flying from Southampton (home town) as flights are only £52 return!! and will be visiting Dublin hd and I might see if I can get just a half day rental as will have missus and kids again so I can ride while they shop!
Me and a couple of buddies are going to the breacon beacons in wales this year and from there looking to ferry across to Ireland then back to north wales and through Snowdonia so cant wait for that! I know im already going to Ireland but its such an awesome place and cant wait to take my own bike